September 07, 2008 05:51 PM UTC

Bob Who? Get Off The Stage!

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Pueblo Chieftain supplies an amusing anecdote from yesterday’s McCain/Palin rally in the Springs–Bob Schaffer needs to work on his name recognition, but his surrogates are doing a great job getting his opponent’s name out there.

While the large crowd was clearly happy to be there Saturday – some arrived as early as 6 a.m. – most stood in the sunshine for several hours waiting the GOP headliners to arrive. There was some grumbling – with only 12 port-a-potties for the huge crowd – the line was always hundreds long. And several elderly people who collapsed from heat or dehydration were carried into the media area where they were assisted by paramedics.

But the crowd came to be energized by McCain and Palin. They only showed their impatience indirectly. After former Rep. Bob Schaffer, who is running for the Senate, recounted the comments of several families in the crowd, the hangar audience called back “No!” when Schaffer asked if they wanted to hear more.

They may not know or give a crap who Schaffer is, but, as the Chieftain continues:

Good-naturedly, the Senate candidate explained that he’d been told to fill some time before the McCain speech with “stories.” When Schaffer reminded the crowd that he is running against “Boulder liberal” Mark Udall, they gave him the cheer he wanted.

It’s just one incident, but we think this invites a larger question. We’re willing to guess that at this point more people have heard “Boulderliberalmarkudall” than have heard the name Bob Schaffer, a logical consequence of the outside groups that have dominated Schaffer’s paid media efforts up to now, and the generally attack-driven campaign Schaffer is running. Which is obviously fine in the red-meat Springs.

But has the Schaffer camp done itself a disservice by spending all this money talking about their opponent at the expense of establishing their own brand? Particularly in places other than the Springs where the term “Boulder liberal” won’t be met with the same instinctive revulsion?