Now, in the final days of the campaign, Buck was on
the defensive as he met with a friendly group of Republican
businesswomen in a
“I’m not taking your birth control. I’m not taking your
I’m not taking your student loans,” he said. “If I was the person in
that commercial, I wouldn’t vote for that guy. It’s the most ridiculous
thing I’ve ever seen.”
Ridiculous or not, Buck’s once-solid lead over Democratic Sen.
as extreme, energizing some of their own base voters and drawing closer
in polls.
The result is that in a handful of states —
“It now appears that the long advantage that the Republicans and Mr. Buck had has dissipated,” said
There are two key reasons, Ciruli said. First, the
Democrats are targeting messages to women on issues such as abortion
and rape, and to older women on
Second, Ciruli said, Buck has made controversial
comments on social issues, such as likening homosexuality to
alcoholism, providing a target for Democrats and deflecting attention
from his successful attacks on the Democratic economic agenda in
“He made some serious faux pas,” Ciruli said, “getting into social
issues and reinforcing the Democratic message that he’s too extreme.”
Buck, a county prosecutor, won the Republican
nomination by tapping into a grass-roots, tea party-inspired backlash
against the political establishment. He surged to a lead over Bennet by
indicting the Obama-Democratic agenda on such things as soaring federal
spending and debt, bailouts for
The message appealed to
a Democrat who voted for Obama in 2008. Laid off from her job as a
nurse practitioner, she sees nothing in all the federal spending that’s
helping her.
“I don’t like
said of the incumbent appointed two years ago to fill a vacant seat,
who’s now seeking a full term. “Take the stimulus. What has it changed?
I read that we’re getting money, but I’m not sure where it’s going.”
Two years after he was nominated in
Just 39 percent approve of the way he’s doing his job, while 56 percent
turn thumbs down, according to a recent McClatchy Newspapers-Marist
poll.
With energetic support from conservatives and swing
voters, Buck led by a solid 8-point margin weeks ago, 50-42 percent in
a McClatchy-Marist survey.
Then the Democratic campaign kicked into gear just as ballots were mailed for the start of early voting, which began Monday.
First, the Democrats turned to a massive voter file
built over five years with records from every election in the state,
from city council races to the 2008 presidential election.
“We’re watching every single ballot as it gets reported so we know who’s voted and who hasn’t,” said
Then they turned to their list of volunteers, also built over the years and boosted by such things as sign-up cards at
thought to be a Democratic voter who hasn’t yet mailed in his or her
ballot.
Although Obama isn’t scheduled to appear in the state — he hasn’t been here since before the August primary — he and the
Among the
—Reaching out to African-Americans in interviews with African-American radio stations and newspapers.
—Meeting with Hispanic media and staging a
—Releasing an official
—Taping an interview with “The Daily Show’s”
voter audience that is a big part of the president’s base,”
In
To someone such as
who has a gay son, that was enough to turn her opposition to Buck into
aggressive work to defeat him. She’s contacting friends to urge them to
vote against Buck.
“It had a great impact on me,” Stone said. “I do
think it has changed the tide. Buck was ahead. Now Bennet is within the
margin of error, and I do think Bennet will pull ahead.”
At his appearance with the businesswomen, Buck said
the Democrats were trying to steer attention away from such issues as
the economy and federal spending, and that he’d stick to an economic
agenda in the
“They don’t want to talk about health care. They
don’t want to talk about the stimulus. They don’t want to talk about
bailing out auto companies. … They’re doing the same thing in every
state. They’re trying to tighten these races up,” he said.
As soon as he invited questions, Buck used the
opportunity to address whether he’s anti-gay. He stressed his work
prosecuting as a hate crime the murder of a transgender 18-year-old in
“We’re not going to change Roe versus Wade,” he assured the Republican women. “But if we don’t change
Buck acknowledged that he’s paid a price, but he thinks that his economic message will get through in the final days.
“He froze our numbers with those commercials,” he said. “Well, they’re not frozen anymore.”
He added in an interview, “Everything tightens at the end, but not enough for them to pull ahead.”
races around the country, said: “He has made some mistakes. Some
Democrats may be coming home, but the fundamentals of this race remain
the same.”
Bennet, who’s never run for public office, refused requests for an interview, as he did during his primary campaign.
Both camps — and their allies in outside groups — are talking through television ads. Outside groups have poured money into
The majority of the
Regardless of what happens on the airwaves,
Republicans aren’t ceding the get-out-the-vote drive to the Democrats.
They have an edge in the number of early ballots requested: 557,000 for
registered Republicans and 504,000 for registered Democrats.
“We’re in
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(c) 2010, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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