May 31, 2012 11:10 PM UTC

Can Diana DeGette Really Speak for All of Colorado?

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• by: Colorado Pols

In the wake of President Obama’s visit to Denver last week, CD-1 Representative Diana DeGette scored a choice quote on The Hill:

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said Bennet was successful largely by contrasting his liberal positions on social issues like abortion against those of the conservative Buck. Obama can build on that strategy, DeGette said, arguing that her constituents are much closer to Obama than Romney on issues like birth control, the Violence Against Women Act – which is stalled in Congress over GOP objections to its scope – and gay marriage, which Obama endorsed earlier in the month.  

“The president is in sync with the voters of Colorado on that,” DeGette said. “[He] would really do well to talk about those issues here.”

DeGette isn’t wrong, necessarily, especially considering recent polling that gives the president a healthy lead in the state, especially among hispanics and women.

Still, DeGette’s quote begs the question: does the congresswoman from Colorado’s safest district really grasp the entire Colorado electorate? There’s no question that DeGette’s constituents are “much closer to Obama than Romney” — district Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one, after all — but CD-1 in no way mirrors the electoral thermometer of the state as a whole. If it did, Colorado wouldn’t be labeled a “swing state” and The Hill most certainly wouldn’t dedicate pixels to profiling Obama’s “rocky path.”

And while DeGette may indeed be an effective legislator, she’s never really had the occasion to prove her mettle as a campaigner. After all, the Denver Democrat hasn’t had a real opponent in years. That’s less because DeGette can motivate voters and more because no Republican, logically, has been able to win a seat with a Cook PVI rating of D+21.

In short, if The Hill wanted to truly discuss Obama’s chances of winning in Colorado, they should’ve solicited quotes from the moderate candidates who have won statewide and not from the liberal representative who has little reason to leave her incredibly safe district.