A momentous election

The term momentum is often used in sports to describe a teams sudden, furious, dominance over its opponent. Momentum is so valuable because it’s a very difficult thing to acquire, it’s even more difficult to hold onto, and whoever has it last usually wins. 

Somehow the Democratic Party is riding a tidal wave of momentum into the watershed Nov. 4 election. If they can hold on tight and ride this wave into shore, they’ll soon control all three branches of government.

For the first time in Colorado, a state that has voted Republican in nine out of the last 10 presidential elections, the number of active registered Democrats has eclipsed the number of active registered Republicans.

Colorado is still widely considered to be a must-win for Sen. McCain. Since the mainstream media has long been depicting Colorado as a microcosm of Democratic growth nationwide, the voter registration numbers are not unimaginable. What is unimaginable, I’m sure even to the people at ColoradoPols, is that the Republican nominee could be giving up on the state entirely.

It seems like Democrats are gaining momentum in every area of the political battlefield. The Colorado Independent reports that Democratic requests for mail-in ballots outnumber Republican requests by 23,000! During my brief stint as a volunteer for the Campaign for Change in Colorado campaign organizers stressed that we encourage people to sign up for a mail-in ballots. They said it would reduce long lines at the polls, increase ballot study time, and most importantly, combat the huge advantage Republicans had in participation. The hard work looks like it’s paying off.

Although it may not seem like it, there are negative aspects to increased political participation. Gains in this area have been met sternly with widespread scrutiny over election efficiency and regulation. The expected increase in voter turnout, as well as past and present voter fraud concerns, has led political officials across the country to approach this election with cautious optimism.

In a recent report Colorado was named one of the countries least-prepared states to deal with increased voter turnout. The Rocky Mountain News reported today that U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter has asked Secretary of State Mike Coffman and Arapahoe County clerk Nancy Doty to appoint an independent election monitor to oversee election activity in the county. Things could get ugly, but proactive approaches like this are the right move.

One thing’s for sure, the Democrats are riding on top of a wave of momentum. They can see the shore in the near distance. All they have to do is hold on tight, avoid a catastrophic wipeout, and soon they’ll be sipping celebratory champagne on the White House lawn. 

If you haven’t heard, early voting has already started. If you have requested a mail-in ballot and have not received one yet, be patient they’re working on it.  

Click here for a printable voter guideline detailing each amendment on the ballot, courtesy of ProgressNow.

To fill out a sample ballot, via the Denver Post’s PoliticsWest, click here.