October 20, 2010 11:30 PM UTC

New Radio Spot Aims to Shut Down Tancredo on West Slope

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• by: Colorado Pols

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This new radio spot from the Colorado Conservation Victory Fund is notable for a few reasons: for one thing, it attacks American Constitutional Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo, which one could interpret as recognition of his improving poll numbers. But more interesting to us is the target audience–this ad hits Tancredo over the much-reviled Referendum A, a failed 2003 ballot initiative that would have created large diversion projects of Western Slope water for Front Range use. To this day, support for Referendum A is a litmus test issue for many Western Slope “water buffaloes,” and Tancredo’s support for it could badly hurt him in an area of the state he is certainly counting on to overcome Hickenlooper’s popularity along the urban corridor.

Shorter version: a hard shot in a soft spot, this ad is a very good investment.

UPDATE: To be sure, everything said about Tom Tancredo and Referendum A above applies to GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck, as this related TV spot from the national League of Conservation Voters, now playing in West Slope markets, makes clear: