Opinion

By Hannah Hayes

A yard sign lives on in my neighborhood. It’s been up since 2001, proclaiming “United We Stand.” Passers-by can’t help but puzzle the sign’s meaning at the end of 2008. The owner’s pride exudes from the entire property, but the sign reeks of the prejudice of these last eight years.

Do you want to avoid one of the almost 46,000 malls or shopping centers in the United States during this holiday shopping season? Do you hate to circle endlessly to find a parking space at the mall? Do you despise wall-to-wall crowds and the opportunity for an ID thief to nab your personal information or steal your packages? You are not alone.

Colorado is now a one-party state. The election of 2008 definitively put Democrats in the driver’s seat at both the state and federal levels.

In addition to their control of the state House, state Senate and governor’s mansion, this year Democrats added wins in the U.S. Senate race (Mark Udall) and 4th Congressional District (Betsy Markey). Of Colorado’s nine seats in the U.S. House and Senate, only Congressman Doug Lamborn and Congressman-elect Mike Coffman have “R”s next to their names.

It’s been an interesting few years as it relates to general consensus about when to put school mill levy overrides and bond issues on ballots. Historically, lower voter turnout benefited these questions because teachers and parents were the more motivated voters. When those motivated supporters made up the largest possible percentage of the vote, the measures stood the best chances of winning.

Hannah Hayes

Spending several nights in a Roy Rogers themed hotel room recently took me back to the childhood room my brother and I shared. Just think turquoise and brown. I loved all the ’50s Western TV shows, so, to further indulge nostalgia and my interest in politics, I watched a few episodes of “Maverick” when I got back home. Bret Maverick was an entirely different legend of the West than Roy was. Bret was always scheming, gambling and being run out of town. Roy Rogers knew it’s how you ride the trail that counts.

When witnesses testified about being in untenable situations before legislative committees on which Cliff Bryan served in the mid-’80s, the folksy appliance salesman-turned-state representative from Loveland often said, “It seems like we’ve put these people between the fire hydrant and the dog.”

Immediately following the Democratic National Convention, a USA Today/Gallup poll showed Barack Obama leading John McCain by a comfortable 50-43 margin. USA Today/Gallup’s prior poll, released before the convention, showed Obama leading 48-45. The net difference of four points was the “bounce” provided by the convention.

Even now, as the memories of the Democratic National Convention are starting to fade, the crowds and cameras have left, and the speeches turned into expired sound bites — I’ve come to understand that history is served best when it is not regurgitated back as a spectator sport.

Be careful what you wish for! For as long as I can remember, Coloradans of all political persuasions have lamented the fact that we weren’t players in presidential politics. We weren’t players in the nominating process because of our timing and relatively few delegates. We weren’t players in general elections because we were such a lock for the Republican nominee. A Democrat hasn’t had the majority of presidential votes in Colorado since I started voting.