A while back I had a
conversation with
Ralph about the good media coverage the Miles campaign had been getting recently. He was worried about the implications of this coverage. Now I freely admit that I have long since given up my subscription to the Denver Post and rely on the internet for most of my news, but frankly I hadn't gotten the same impression.
After the surprising results as Colorado's State Assembly this weekend I remembered that conversation and decided to do a little research. As I went through this process I'm wondering if I have recently been missing the forest for the trees.
Anyway, not wanting to feel that I just wasted an afternoon looking this stuff up, I decided to post my first diary and share the fruits of my labor.
Okay, here we go. Articles are listed chronologically and are taken from the Denver Post. Naturally to form your own opinions you should read the articles themselves. Hopefully the reason for excerpting these sections will become clear.
Democratic Senate candidate Ken Salazar took a solid lead Wednesday in early returns from the Colorado precinct caucuses, picking up 54 percent of the votes with 43 counties reporting."This was a real strong showing by Salazar, with less than a month on the campaign trail," Democratic Party spokeswoman Julie DeWoody said after Tuesday's straw poll at about 3,500 precincts.
...One of Salazar's Democratic opponents, El Paso County educator Mike Miles, trailed with 24 percent, and 22 percent of the Democratic delegates were uncommitted.
..."If this is a measure on where they stand, Miles needs to meet a 30 percent threshold and that's not there," she said...
Salazar leads in early caucus results (4-16-2004)
This article did not quote either candidate and contained only comments by party officials. That's appropriate, I think, because the focus was on caucus results. But if we're going to talk about Mike Miles getting good press "lately" I think that the caucuses are a decent place to use a starting point. Oddly, I'm not able to find the final caucus results.
Next we have a series of nice articles on Salazar's campaign that don't even mention Mike Miles. Overall they represent why I believe he should be running for Governor not Senator. If you're interested at all in Colorado politics they're worth the read. Salazar is quite bit more conservative than I am but he's a good guy.
Salazar opens state tour, targets Coors (4-17-2004)
Salazar's state tour rolls onto plains (4-18-2004)
Salazar airs 1st TV ads in Colorado Senate race (5-5-2004)
Mike Miles isn't about to throw in the towel. His campaign keeps sending out news releases. He continues to challenge Ken Salazar to debates. And he continues to be ignored - not just by Salazar, but also by the major news media.
...At last weekend's first round of county assemblies, Miles won more than a third of those delegates who will go to the state nominating assembly. He got even more than he thought he had after the April 13 precinct caucuses. He needs just 30 percent of state delegate votes to get on the Aug. 10 primary election ballot....
Miles to go in Senate race (5-2-2004)
That one qualifies as good press. It is a profile of sorts, comparable to the articles above regarding Salazar.
Underdog Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Miles is posing a tougher challenge to favorite Ken Salazar than many political watchers expected.
The Colorado Springs educator and former Army Ranger is drawing a devoted following, not only among liberals new to party politics but also longtime activists disenchanted with Salazar's centrism and party politics as usual.
On Saturday, Miles garnered 42 percent of the vote at the Denver County Democratic Party assembly and 45 percent in Boulder County. The previous weekend, Miles won 49 percent of the delegates in Larimer County's Democratic Party assembly and 45 percent in Jefferson County...
Dem is underdog in Senate primary (5-10-2004)
Overall I think that qualifies as good press.
Mike Miles has been relentless in his pursuit of the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. His dogged persistence in the last 2 1/2 years has paid off in a strong showing in the Democratic Party's county assemblies.
...Salazar beat Miles in 36 county assemblies, and lost to him in four. In Denver's county assembly, he outpolled Miles 58-42.
In April's Democratic caucuses, Salazar won 51 of Colorado's 64 counties. Miles took seven. Six counties will go to the Democratic Convention uncommitted to either candidate...
Miles enlivens Senate race (5-13-2004)
That article speaks well of both candidates so I think it would qualify as getting good press for Democrats in general.
...Colorado's Democratic attorney general, Ken Salazar, donned his white cowboy hat and hit the road last month in his 10-year-old pickup on a statewide tour.
His underdog opponent, Mike Miles, a Colorado Springs educator and former U.S. Army Ranger, lights up his fan base with fiery anti-war rhetoric...
4 Senate hopefuls, 4 plans to win (5-21-2004)
hmmm.... "White ... hat" vs. "underdog". Both statements are literally true but certainly carry very different images. Still, it was a short article about all 4 Senate hopefuls. And in the end, I think it ends up being neutral press for both Miles and Salazar.
...Udall and Bridges abruptly quit the race March 10 to back Attorney General Ken Salazar - who, as the highest ranking elected Democrat in the state, is the titular head of the party...
...Many have found that candidate in Miles, who denounces the war, supports gay marriage and opposes school vouchers. Salazar - a member of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council - supported the resolution to go to war, believes marriage should remain between a man and a woman and backed an experimental voucher program in Denver in 2003. He raised the ire of many in his party when he supported Republican Gov. Bill Owens in his fight with the legislature for budgeting authority.
Miles has fared better than many expected - with more than 40 percent of the vote at assemblies in Denver, Boulder, Larimer and Jefferson counties...
State Dems convene amid fervor, rancor (5-21-2004)
That article was really more about the state Democratic party and convention than either candidate. If you are a good party Democrat reading the newspaper this could get your attention in that it consciously compares Miles favorably to Salazar-- and uses quite a bit more ink on Miles than on Salazar. On the other hand if you're a moderate or (shudder) a Republican.... I dunno. I would think that Miles' resume would appeal to moderates and I can't ever really tell what a Republican is going to think. But a net gain press-wise for Miles.
...Salazar won wide acclaim from top party officials. His candidacy chased other Democratic politicians out of the race, and Salazar was hailed as an unbeatable candidate who had won two statewide elections to become attorney general.
On Saturday, Miles beat Salazar in his own party.
"I resent anybody telling us who is electable," said Etta Debenham, a Miles volunteer handing out fliers before the event.
"The person who is electable is the person who can motivate and inspire voters, and that's why I think he is the best candidate," said Debenham, a pottery artist who lives in Clear Creek County and was attending her first state Democratic Party assembly...
Miles wins top line on ballot (5-23-2004)
Yep, definitely good press for Miles. It's a also a "story" in that Mike Miles got 51% of the vote to Ken Salazar's 49%. Some people think this is mild upset. It may be to them, but to someone who has been a supporter of "Mike who?" for about a year this is huge.
So here's what hadn't registered with me before (the forest for the trees part). I was struck by something as I collected this string of articles. The percentage of support for Miles has been on the upswing. To participate in the State assembly, you must have first participated in the County. To get there, you must participate in the precinct caucuses.
So it appears that Mike's level of support from the same pool of voters is increasing. Now I know that there are other factors involved as far as voters in the State assembly. The most significant other factor is that your delegates have to actually show up, so maybe I should interpret that to simply mean that Miles' supporters are more committed. And yet, I heard anecdotally about some Salazar delegates who changed their votes. I admit outright that I didn't actually speak with any one who did, as I was busy with other things.
But if it's true, then I am even in stronger agreement with Etta Debenham that the person who is electable is the person who can motivate and inspire voters. I wish we would stop with making electability -- which is totally unquantifiable -- our first consideration. No one really knows what electability is.