October: When The Games Really Get Fun
(credit: CBS)
By Dominic Dezzutti
October is traditionally a fun month for sports fans. For baseball fans, playoff games begin to create interesting drama. College football begins to feature rivals and wild upsets. Even hockey and basketball fans can begin to cheer as each of those seasons begin.
It’s fitting then that politics, especially during an election season, should play out its most interesting battles and intrigue in October.
I know Colorado voters have had to withstand unnatural levels of political ads on all sorts of media for many months, but it’s in October where it all really counts.
The best ads come out now. The best debates are on tap, the major endorsements will be announced and thanks to mail-in ballots in Colorado, most Colorado votes will be cast, all in October.
Ballots are sent out in just over a week. Campaigns know that they have limited time to influence the key voters in Colorado.
Who are the “key” voters you ask? The key voters in Colorado are the unaffiliated voters that have yet to make up their minds the voters that are still trying to gauge how they feel about each of the big races.
That’s the key, how voters “feel”.
Fiercely partisan voters decided their votes months ago. Even moderately partisan voters have already decided how they are going to go.
The only votes left out there to capture are votes from the 5% of Colorado voters that usually end up deciding elections in this state.
Whatever campaigns think are the issues that will get voters to feel a certain way are what we will see in spades, beginning this week.
I realize that may seem obvious. But issues that garner a feeling are different than the issues that trigger different logical arguments.
Unaffiliated voters routinely vote on how they feel the economy the is doing, how safe they feel the country is and how they feel particular candidates are as people.
Because of this, few ads will be detailing new policy ideas or concepts. Ads these next two weeks will center on feelings, both positive and negative.
Ads that focus on fear will be in high gear, warning voters that a vote for candidate X will not only bring assured destruction of Colorado, but of the world as we know it.
Colorado has played host to tight elections for many cycles now. We’re used to the drill.
But this year’s election has more tight races than usual, especially for voters in the sixth Congressional district. The competitiveness of the races started the campaigns earlier than usual and it will also mean for an intensified homestretch.
We’ve been girding ourselves for this since the beginning the year. But now the drama of October is upon us.
Make some popcorn, tighten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.
Dominic Dezzutti’s Latest Blog Entries
- What Would You Ask the Candidates for Governor?
- Don’t Forget The Down Ticket Races
- The Impact of Colorado’s 3 Week Election Day
- Spicy, Meaty and Hearty: The CD6 Debate
- October: When The Games Really Get Fun
- Fight For The State Senate Hits The Airwaves
- High School Students Showing How To Be Responsible Voters
- Polling: What To Believe & What To Ignore
- Can Third Party Candidates Tap into Voter Anger?
- Club 20 Debates Feature Incumbents Going On Offense
About The Blogger
- Dominic Dezzutti, producer of the Colorado Decides debate series, a co-production of CBS4 and Colorado Public Television, looks at the local and national political scene in his CBSDenver.com blog. Read new entries here usually every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Dezzutti writes about federal, state and local matters and how our elected leaders are handling the issues important to Colorado. Dezzutti is also the host and producer of the Emmy award winning Colorado Inside Out on Colorado Public Television.
