December 30, 2010 04:44 PM UTC

Top Stories of 2010 #6: "Teflon Cory's" Triumph

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• by: Colorado Pols

In a year that Republicans were supposed to roll to victory at all levels in Colorado, the fact that the biggest wins for the GOP were two congressional seats–as opposed to the Senate seat or the gubernatorial race–is a testament to how things didn’t go the way the pundits expected here.

But that shouldn’t take away from the success Rep.-elect Cory Gardner enjoyed this year in CD-4, and gets credit for managing pretty well overall. As we noted in our recap of Election Day winners, politics is largely about taking advantage of the right opportunity, and Gardner did that. It wasn’t easy–Gardner had numerous opportunities to alienate different groups of voters, and blow this race even though it was his to win: good examples being that abortive Rep. Steve King (R-IA) fundraiser this summer, unwavering support for the so-called “personhood amendment,” and an “oops!” attack ad targeting the wrong Rep. Markey (Ed, not Betsy).

The fundraiser with Rep. King in particular, canceled by Gardner’s campaign after King asserted to a talk radio show that President Barack Obama “favors the black person,” was a moment where Gardner resisted the temptation to pander to the “Tea Party” base, subsequently weathering fierce scorn from Rep. King and King’s close friend Tom Tancredo. This incident differentiated Gardner from other Colorado candidates like Jane Norton and Ken Buck, who jumped at the chance to stand behind similarly wacky remarks by Tancredo.

We and others rightly pointed out that Rep. King is far from an unknown commodity, and is usually brought in on campaigns to fire up the base with exactly this kind of red meat–which makes it hard to understand why Gardner could not have predicted this. But the fact remains that Gardner quickly identified the risks, and took action in a way that affirmed moderate credentials; making him safer to support by “Tea Party”-averse independents and business interests.

It’s tough to know what Congressman Gardner will face in 2012. Much depends on what the district will look like after redistricting, and a number of qualified Democrats are available to take a shot. But there’s no question that Gardner, despite some unforced errors on the campaign trail, earned his seat; without saddling himself with the extremist baggage that, by comparison, his counterpart Scott “Half Off” Tipton did in CD-3. And this bodes well for Gardner’s career.