If you are casting a ballot in Colorado in this fall’s presidential election, your vote will matter.
The tight-as-can-be race between Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., could be decided in the Centennial State, where the candidates have traded the lead in state polls over recent months. And where both candidates — along with their running mates, wives and surrogates — have been frequent visitors. (Although Obama has not visited Aspen since declaring his candidacy, McCain came twice this summer.)
Both men have weighed in on most of the hot-button issues on the minds of voters in the Roaring Fork Valley and Colorado’s Western Slope, from water rights to immigration to energy exploration.
McCain ruffled some Coloradan feathers last month when he stated that the seven-state Colorado River Compact “needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties.” He later said the comment was misconstrued and that he supported preserving the compact. However, he still sparked protest last week on the subject when he visited Pueblo, where local officials passed out straws at a press conference in anticipation of his visit, symbolizing how they believed McCain would suck up Colorado’s water.
Obama has acknowledged that water will be increasingly scarce in coming years and suggested states like Colorado will have to share the wealth. But he is against renegotiating the compact.
“Opening up the Compact would likely only result in undermining rights that have been long-held by the seven Colorado River basin states,” says a statement on his campaign Web site. “At a minimum, it would pit the seven basin states against one another in extended negotiations, instead of facilitating cooperative efforts to address the significant water supply challenges facing the arid West.”
Both candidates support variations of a kitchen-sink strategy of energy development — expanding drilling while investing in renewable resources like wind and solar power.
McCain advocates tapping into oil shale deposits in western Colorado and elsewhere, while Obama has not taken a stance on it.
Both senators also support the development of “clean” coal technology, although Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., was caught on tape two weeks ago flatly stating the opposite — “We’re not supporting clean coal” — while shaking hands at a campaign stop in Ohio.
Obama’s stated energy plan calls for developing more coal plants with low carbon emissions and more equipped with technology to capture and sequester carbon.
McCain’s energy plan calls for a $2 billion annual investment in technology to mitigate the environmental impact of burning coal for power.
On the immigration front — specifically, the visa shortage that is threatening a possible seasonal worker shortage in resorts such as Aspen — both men have taken nuanced stances.
Obama has advocated “streamlining” the process to assure “specialized” workers are given visas for jobs where homegrown ones can’t be recruited. But he has also said he wants to make sure employers aren’t simply looking abroad for workers who will take a lower wage.
McCain has elucidated a more specific plan, calling for adjusting the caps on worker visas. (These caps are expected to leave the Aspen Skiing Co. with 200 less available visas this winter.) His Web site states he will “[e]nsure that the cap rises and falls with market demand to meet the changing needs of the economy.”
Udall vs. Schaffer
The statewide race to fill outgoing Republican Sen. Wayne Allard’s seat still looks like a toss up, and pits together two candidates who are diametrically opposed in ideology.
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, is up against Republican Bob Schaffer, a former three-term U.S. congressman who represented the Eastern Plains from 1997 to 2002.
Udall is the brother of energy analyst Randy Udall, the former director of the Roaring Fork Valley-based Community Office for Resource Efficiency. His first cousin is Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who is also seeking an open Senate seat there.
Schaffer has branded Udall a “Boulder liberal,” and Udall does represent Boulder and has opposed the Bush administration since entering congress in 1999 — voting against the Patriot Act and the Iraq war (and last week, the $700 billion federal bailout of Wall Street) with an eye toward conservation issues and renewable energy.
Udall, in turn, has deemed Schaffer “Big Oil Bob,” and Schaffer did work in the oil and gas industry, Colorado’s Aspect Energy, after leaving the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004. The League of Conservation Voters ranked Schaffer third in its “Dirty Dozen” list this year for his record on environmental issues while serving in Congress.
Among Schaffer’s prevailing campaign themes are a simplification of the federal tax code, cutting federal spending, and strict enforcement of current immigration laws.
Their race remains a toss up, and has drummed up national interest. The candidates debated last Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Whoever prevails, however, will not have large shoes to fill. Outgoing Sen. Wayne Allard was listed by Time Magazine in 2006 as one of the five worst serving senators in the nation.
Salazar vs. Wolf
The race for the 3rd Congressional District pits a farmer against a rancher, vying for the massive district including Pitkin County and 28 others through western and southern Colorado.
Rep. John Salazar is vying for his third term representing the district, matched up against Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf. Brother to U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, he spoke at the Democratic National Convention and referred to the November election season as “a silo of hope.”
Both candidates espouse rural values and have focused largely on farming issues. Wolf has criticized Salazar for voting against expanding offshore oil drilling earlier this year.
Salazar has remained popular through his first two terms, and appears to be running away with this race. He has out-fundraised Wolf at about a 115-1 ratio.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
