Ok, I do tend to err on the optimistic side - but I was right on Jim Webb and Jon Tester. I think Betsy is going to win CD-4, and win by 3 points or more. She's WOW.
I had lunch with Betsy today and the biggest impression I got from her is she's nice. Yes she's professional, knowledgeable, competent, and thoughtful. Yes she has strong well thought out policy positions. But more than all of that, she's a very nice person.
Nice is a killer advantage for a candidate, especially a legislative one. And compared to Marilyn Musgrave, The Evil One, it is a gigantic difference. This gives her a couple of points easy. It also will make it a lot harder for MM to smear her as people will find any garbage very difficult to believe.
Ok, so what kind of Rep do we get with Betsy? She's a small business owner and that background has a big impact. It starts with a search for solutions and agreement, because you can't be successful in business without both. It also gives her a lot of confidence and credibility because she has, year after year, kept the money rolling in and the employees paid.
With Betsy we get a Rep that understands the small business world from the inside, as well as the high tech industry. Keep in mind that virtually all job growth in this country comes from small businesses and you realize how very valuable this is to have in Congress.
Her hot button is bringing sanity to the federal budget. And she had a lot of spot-on observations of the impact of the deficit spending and how to address it. So she would be a strong contributor on this issue.
With that said, she suffers from the common Democratic error of diving in to the core problem and how to resolve it and that doesn't sell that well. If instead she can concentrate on the impact the irresponsible Republican spending has on people, lost jobs, destroyed pensions, high unemployment, inflation outracing salaries - then this becomes a very powerful issue for her. She touched on these items too but she needs to make the impact the issue - people will trust her to know how to fix it.
I prompted her on Iraq and health-care. Very sensible answers on both. On Iraq it's bring them home a brigade at a time because there is no end game in sight. It's hard to argue with and her point of there being no end in sight should sell well in her district.
On health-care I heard one of the best answers to date - that we need to have full coverage with larger risk pools. As to what/how/when, work with others in Congress to find the best way to do it be it single payer, mandated coverage, etc. But we do need to find a solution that gets everyone covered and brings our spending down to levels found in the rest of the industrialized world. This is that business background in action - see the key parts, and for the rest figure out what meets those requirements best.
Granted, CD-4 has been heartbreaking for us Dems. We've lost time after time by close numbers. And to rub salt in the wound, we've lost to one of the most corrupt, bigoted, and ineffective members of Congress. But what is key is that each year we get closer. Each year the district is a bit more liberal. And we have a very strong candidate this year.
So your job? 1) Anyone you know in her district - make sure they are registered. 2) This is the competitive race in Colorado (Sweatshop Schaffer is toast). So everyone needs to click here and donate today. I don't care if it's just $25.00 - show Betsy some love today.
Update: I did not do a good job above of describing what I think we will get with Betsy. One of the most critical jobs in Congress, that is almost invisible to most, is the money people. No money, no programs. Alexander Hamilton, John Rockefeller, Warren Buffet, all of them were/are creatures of the spreadsheet (Hamilton used Quill 123).
Betsy will end up on appropriations, not to deliver earmarks for her contributors (as MM would use it) but as one of the people that figures out how to make the federal budget work. This may be invisible to most, but it is one of the most critical jobs in Congress. And it is essential that it be held by competent honest representatives, like Betsy.
