This page is an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College

Evaluating Outcomes & Personal Strategy

Why did Salazar Win?

Primary Reasoning:

• Salazar crafted a message for the political middle: the champion of the people
• Designed a campaign that could get Independent and Republican voters to his favor
• one-third of voters in Colorado unaffiliated with a political party
• big voting bloc in election results that Salazar was able to influence with his message strategy
• Succeeded in broadening his independent appeal:
• Focused more on issues facing Coloradoians than on the Kerry campaign
• Made the issues and the people more important than the party
• Colorado facing fiscal crisis
• "Salazar called for tax hikes on the rich and tax cuts for the middle class; pay-as-you-go rules for new programs to limit federal spending; tax breaks for small businesses that buy insurance for employees" (Couch).

Other Influential Factors:

• led the way in fundraising
• $9.5 versus $7.7 million (Crummy)
• volunteer support
• GOTV
• Entered the race a month before Coors
• Strong job by campaign staff contrasting his detailed positions with the general proposals by Coors

Did Candidates Compromise their Principles for Victory?

Both Candidates:

• "Although candidates cannot control the actions of their opponents, they can pulicize their own commitment to ethical campaigning and invite others to join them in pledging a clean and ethical campaign" (Lawton & Wood, 67)
• Salazar asked Coors to join him in running a clean campaign and asking out-of-state groups to refrain from running negative attack ads in Colorado (Crummy)
• Coors broke promise less than 96 hours by issuing a negative attack ad Tax Attack
• Salazar went negative after Coors initial attack, however, Coors was criticized more by both parties for abandoning his campaign promise as he did.

Coors:

• Coors ran on a strong Republican platform connecting to President Bush's campaign as frequently as possible.
• Did little however to separate himslef and his vague issue explanations made him appear as a puppet of the Republican Party.

• Examples of Issue Flip Flops

• Campaigned against Gay Marriage
  • Coors Brewery reversed its anti-gay policies under Pete Coors' leadership and became one of the most gay-friendly work places in the country (Florio)
• Very Strong Pro Life Position
  • Employee insurance at Brewery covers abortion
• These discrepencies were well publized and Coors appear to be compromising his views in the name of the Republican Party.

Salazar:

• Ran a consistent campaign with detailed issue positions
• Salazar Website – lays out a lot of information.
• Limits his ability to be inconsistent
• Focused more on his current strengths of experience and indenpednce rather than changing to fit a Democratic image.
• Very little compromise in his principles in the pursuit of victory

Works Cited

Honor Code

Part of an Assignment for:
POL 318

© Davidson College, 2004, Department of Political Science, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Created by Laura E. Noyes (lanoyes@davidson.edu)

Created: 9/10/04. Last updated: 12/5/04