WP: Democrats Eye Colorado and See Chance to Tweak Republican Noses

[kskiska]

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. -- The congressional candidates' debate was supposed to be about foreign policy and the economy, but Democrat John Salazar started off by offering a farming tip.

"Being a potato farmer, I've learned that if you want to increase your harvest, you have to rotate your crops from time to time," the plain-spoken Salazar said. "Well, now it's time for Colorado to rotate its congressional crop, so we can get more of a harvest out of our representatives."

For most of the United States, there is almost no rotation of the political crop anymore in elections for the U.S. House. Politicians have created such extensive incumbent-protection mechanisms that more than 95 percent of the lawmakers who run for reelection routinely win. And most districts have been designed to be one-party monopolies, so there is rarely a party shift even when a seat opens.

But Colorado this year seems to be in crop-rotation mode. In two of the state's seven districts, Democrats have a chance to pick up seats from the GOP, which dominates the House delegation 5 to 2 going into the Nov. 2 election.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18732-2004Oct8.html