Two years ago the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) included two Colorado congressional seats at the top of its hit list.
Two years later, the DCCC apparently feels so good about Colorado that it doesn’t consider a single seat to be a major worry.
Today the DCCC released its top list of 2008 congressional candidates it deems most vulnerable, and Colorado was conspicuous in its absence. While not entirely surprising, this early list is a strong statement for Colorado Democrats who four years ago held only two seats (CD-1 and CD-2) out of seven.
In 2006, Rep. John Salazar was at the top of the DCCC’s “protect list” as a freshman congressman in a Republican district. At the same time, the open seat in CD-7 (which Republican Bob Beauprez vacated in order to run for governor) was tagged by many as the top target in the entire country. But after two blowout victories in November, one by Salazar and the other by Ed Perlmutter, things look a lot different to the big political heads in Washington D.C.
At first glance it may seem to be a surprise that both CD-3 and CD-7 are considered relatively safe, but with a closer look it’s easy to see why Democrats don’t have much to be concerned about in 2008. Both Salazar and Perlmutter showed themselves to be prodigious fundraisers, and with a Democratic majority in congress, their respective warchests will grow much bigger in the next 20 months. Both Salazar and Perlmutter absolutely destroyed legitimate opponents in November, which will certainly scare off all but the most determined
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