U.S. Senate See Full Big Line

(D) J. Hickenlooper*

(R) Janak Joshi

80%

20%

(D) Michael Bennet

(D) Phil Weiser

60%↑

50%↓

Att. General See Full Big Line

(D) Jena Griswold

(D) M. Dougherty

(D) David Seligman

50%

40%

30%

Sec. of State See Full Big Line
(D) J. Danielson (D) A. Gonzalez (R) Sheri Davis
50%↑ 40%↓ 30%
State Treasurer See Full Big Line

(D) Brianna Titone

(D) Jeff Bridges

(R) Kevin Grantham

40%

40%

30%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(D) Milat Kiros

90%

10%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Somebody

90%

2%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd*

(R) H. Scheppelman

(D) Alex Kelloff

70%

30%

10%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert*

(D) Trisha Calvarese

(D) Eileen Laubacher

90%

20%

20%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank*

(D) Jessica Killin

70%

30%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(R) Gabe Evans*

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(D) Manny Rutinel

(D) Shannon Bird

45%↓

30%

30%

30%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
January 28, 2010 09:18 PM UTC

Ken Buck wins the General Election after running to Jane Norton's Right

  • 11 Comments
  • by: CoalCreekWildfire

Ken Buck wins the primary by running to Jane Norton’s right. Can he win the general election?

“The evidence shows that most Americans are both philosophically conservative and operationally liberal” (1)

Voters want their taxes cut, but not at the expense of their entitlements. Ken must convince voters that he is the candidate most likely to cut taxes while avoiding talk of cuts to entitlements and government programs.

Policy wonks are interested in the details; voters don’t vote for Policy Wonks.

A variant on this idea is that:

“Americans are conservative egalitarians who accept higher taxes and more government spending so as to give people equal opportunities” (2)

Ken must convince voters that he will keep Federal education, jobs, and income support programs intact while doing a better job of:

1. Limiting fraud by enforcing strict eligibility rules

2. Limiting dependency by enforcing strict time limits and job hunt rules

Voters will give Ken, as a Republican, the benefit of the doubt here.

Finally, Ken must be optimistic and upbeat about our ability (as Americans) to get through this tough time with our dignity intact.

We associate this plan with Reagan, although it predates him. Barack Obama successfully modeled his campaign on it, effectively running to the right of John McCain. (3)

Obama’s upbeat “Hope and Change” clearly paralleled Reagan’s “Morning again in America.” (4)

On taxes, Scott Rasmussen credits Obama with capturing the “tax cut” position:

“… Mr. Obama’s tax-cutting promise became his clearest policy position… he stole the tax issue from the Republicans… 31% of voters thought that a President Obama would cut their taxes. Only 11% expected a tax cut from a McCain administration.” (3)

Others credited with successfully running a “Reagan” campaign are Bill Clinton and the Red State Democrats. They, in effect, ran to the right of their competitors.

If Ken comes across as sincerely upbeat and energetic, convincingly promises tax cuts, and avoid being pinned down on details of Federal spending, he can easily win both the primary and general election by running to the right of Jane Norton.

(1) Benjamin I. Page and Lawrence R. Jacobs, Class War? What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality, University Of Chicago Press, 4/29/2009

(2) Andrew Gelman, Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science, Blog Post (viewed 1/27/2010 14:32) http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~…

(3) Scott Rasmussen, The Polls Show That Reaganism Is Not Dead, WSJ Opinion Section 11/10/2008 (viewed 1/26/2010 10:39 AM MT) http://online.wsj.com/article/…

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…

Comments

11 thoughts on “Ken Buck wins the General Election after running to Jane Norton’s Right

  1. You state it as fact yet I see no fact in your diary to back up your assertion that Ken can “easily win both the primary and general election”. Although I must confess I look forward to watching Jane and Ken in their race to the bottom/right.

    1. It sounds like a GOP activist fantasy dreamland to me.

      Buck can win, but I don’t think that he has a chance if he continues the “Conservative choice for Colorado” campaign that is currently on the airwaves.

      From an electability standpoint, Norton is in a much better position than Buck.

      1. Jane Norton is trying to position herself as a generic Republican with no strong stand on anything. The voters want change – but they also want people who will stand up and state what they stand for.

        Jane offers one of those – Ken offers both.

        1. She’s taking plenty of “strong stands” on just about everything. Here’s a few off her issues page:

          The $787 billion “stimulus” plan has not created new jobs or helped our economy; it has made things worse.  I oppose additional “stimulus” packages.

          I oppose earmarks.

          I oppose cap and trade.

          I support the appointment of strict constructionists to the federal bench.

          I am pro-life and believe abortion should be outlawed except in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.

          I opposed all federal funding of abortion.

          I support the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. I support the Federal Marriage Amendment, which reserves the rights of marriage for a man and woman.

          As your Senator, I will make securing our borders and ending illegal immigration a priority.

          I oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants already in our country.

          http://www.janenortonforcolora

  2. Straight from CCW:

    Ken must convince voters that he is the candidate most likely to cut taxes while avoiding talk of cuts to entitlements and government programs.

    Hey, CCW, if you cut taxes then you either cut spending or increase borrowing. What you’re saying is the your candidate is a sniveling coward who won’t level with the voters. What a pile of horse apples.

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Gabe Evans
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

174 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!

Colorado Pols