||"A historical political resource."
Colorado Dreamin': How Colorado voters could mess things up for either Bush or Kerry
|Last Edited||Tony82 Aug 18, 2004 12:29pm|
|News Date||Wednesday, August 18, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0|
|Description||[I]f it's a Florida comparison that Governor Dean seeks, he should head for the Rockies. There, he'll find a ballot measure that could put the outcome of one state's presidential vote in doubt--and, yes, could require the courts to decide, as they did four years ago, who gets to sit in the Oval Office... |
HERE'S WHY the Colorado measure has national implications: had it been in effect four years ago, Al Gore would be president. And if it goes into effect beginning on November 2, it could decide this year's race as well. Because George W. Bush won 51 percent of the state's vote in 2000, he
earned all 8 of Colorado's electoral votes. But adjust that to reflect the state's popular vote and Bush would have received only 5 electoral votes,...
However, the initiative could end up backfiring on Colorado Democrats. Here's how:
Start by assuming that Kerry wins the same 20 states that Gore carried four years ago. That leaves him with 260 votes in the realigned Electoral College, to Bush's 278. Now, let's assume that Kerry adds New Hampshire to his column, which is another 4 electoral votes. The count then would be 274-264, Bush. Give Kerry Colorado and its 9 electoral votes and he wins the presidency, 273-265. But not if the reform initiative passes.