This election was never about a political message, polls or attack ads. It was about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. It was about the people.
This election was about the schoolchildren. Their zip code won't define the quality of their education.
This election was not about Republican or Democrat ideals, it was about American ideals.
He thanks Governor Ritter and Colorado.
He will fight for health care and jobs. He says the words of both political parties are obsolete. He stops speaking for a minute to turn around and hug Gov. Bill Ritter who just arrived.
He's going back to Washington to deliver the message that we have to change. He introduces his family and says this was not possible without them, it hasn't been easy on them. His young daughters address everyone, speaking in unison. (I couldn't make out what they said.)
He says change is hard, we can't get it done overnight but we can get it done together.
About Ken Buck: After the customary "he worked hard" and is dedicated, he says the pundits would be wrong to assume their stark differences mean that Coloradans are deeply divided. Coloradans just want an effective government.
He ends with recounting his family's history and flight from the Holocaust and more thanks to Colorado. Right after he ends, he shouts "There he is, my boss" as John Hickenlooper arrives. The end.
My thoughts: We sure dodged a big bullet with Sen. Bennet's win over Ken Buck. The Tea Party didn't take Colorado, we still have a Democratic Governor, two Democratic Senators, and three Democratic Congresspersons. Hickenlooper, DeGette, Polis and Perlmutter won by big margins. The two Republicans who kept their seats were in heavily Republican districts, their relection was never in doubt. Betsy Markey's district was always iffy. Remember, her predecessor was Marilyn Musgrave, a staunch conservative. Plus, she always seemed to be hanging on by a thread.
The only seat the new wave of conservatives pulled an upset in was that of John Salazar. His district also is not a traditional Democratic one And John Salazar bears a lot of responsibility for his loss -- he practically ignored the race until August, while Tipton campaigned for a year.
I would say the message for pundits about Colorado is "Still the same." We haven't lost our marbles and fallen for the shallow rhetoric of disgruntled, conservative Republicans. We turned out to vote much like we've always voted. We kept in place the leaders who have served us well, and we added to them a Governor who shares their values. And ours.
I'm sorry John Salazar and Betsy Markey lost, but there are many reasons for those losses, other than that there was a sea change in Coloradans' view of their Government brought about by tea partiers. That just didn't happen. We're smarter than that.
Colorado's election results, with 97% of the vote counted, are here.
