MONTROSE – A handful of Colorado’s top Democratic dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, State Sen. Gail Schwartz and U.S. senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet stopped in Montrose last week to rally support for President Barack Obama’s bid for reelection and to reinforce the notion that Colorado, as a battleground state, is in the spotlight once again as the Nov. 6 election nears.
“I am here to represent Barack Obama and to tell you he needs Montrose County this November,” Salazar told a crowd of energized Obama supporters at the Coffee Trader in Montrose on Friday morning, Oct. 5. “The truth is Colorado is right in the spotlight of the nation and the world in this election.”
The delegation, which also included Colorado’s Lt. Governor Joseph Garcia, was on a Western Slope campaign swing that had started in Grand Junction earlier that morning and would take them to further south to Durango that afternoon.
The stop came just two days after the first presidential debate, where Republican hopeful Mitt Romney was able to gain a few percentage points on Obama’s lead with an enthusiastic and upbeat debate performance. While the debate was mentioned periodically during the rally, those stumping for Obama on Friday said they hope the Labor Department’s jobs report, released earlier that day and indicating a sharp decline in unemployment numbers (from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent), would overshadow the debate.
“We saw the debate and we think we saw Romney,” Garcia said. “We know the guy can’t be trusted. He changes the things he says every time he speaks in front of people. Today we had another great jobs report. We have added between 100,000 to 150,000 jobs every month for two years straight.”
When Udall took the stage, he laid out three areas where distinctions can be drawn between Obama and Romney. One, Udall said, is that Obama supports the wind energy production tax credit, which is “important for our state.” Two, Udall said Obama supports the Dream Act “and Romney does not.”
The third distinction, Udall said, is that Obama supports women’s right to choose and that the Republican Party does not.
“Romney has taken so many positions, he could be an advanced yoga instructor,” Udall said.
Upon taking the stage, Schwartz suggested the Republican Party is expending too much of an effort at curtailing people’s right to vote, and that everyone there has a duty to go out on Election Day and “beat on doors” to ensure everyone votes.
“Rural Colorado will make a difference,” Schwartz said.
In an interview after the rally, Bennet in his many stops campaigning for Obama, said he’s mainly heard that people want to ensure that the U.S. remains in an economy that creates jobs and grows.
“There has been huge enthusiasm, and we are all together,” Bennet said.
Montrose residents Joyce and Ron Corley showed up to support the president’s reelection bid because they both believe Obama has moved the country forward since being elected – and that he relates to the middle class.
Ron Corley, a veteran of the Korean War, was admittedly dismayed at Obama’s debate performance, but said his support for Obama is unwavering.
“In the debate, I think the president was steered wrong by his advisors,” Corley said. “He should have come down on Romney, and I’m not sure why he didn’t. He is moving the country from where it was before. He has moved it, especially with jobs.
“The Republicans will tell you that Obama cooked the books with the drop in unemployment rate. My question to them is if he did it, why didn’t he do it three months ago instead of now?”
Joyce Corley said it was great to see support for Obama in Montrose.
“I am really excited to see this big of a turnout,” she said. “Today was really refreshing. I think the real message Obama brings is that he is for all the people and that he really cares about the middle class. He can relate to everyday, average Americans.”
gjarvis@watchnewspapers.com
Twitter: @gusgusj
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