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Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION. State of Change: Colorado Politics in the Twenty-First Century -- CONTEXT OF COLORADO ELECTIONS -- PARTY BALANCE: A RED STATE BEGINS TO TURN BLUE? -- STATEWIDE REGISTRATION TRENDS -- POPULATION GROWTH AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE -- DIRECT DEMOCRACY, FISCAL POLICY, AND MORE -- CONTENTS OF THE BOOK -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- CHAPTER ONE. Colorado: Sometimes Red and Sometimes Blue -- COLORADO GOVERNORS: WHERE DEMOCRATS DOMINATE -- THE STATE LEGISLATURE: SURPRISING UPSET -- COLORADO AND THE US SENATE: AN EVEN STRUGGLE -- COLORADO AND THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: A THREE-SEAT SWITCH, THEN A SWITCH BACK -- COLORADO AND THE PRESIDENCY: REPUBLICANS SHINE -- THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: COLORADO'S PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES -- THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION -- COLORADO'S PRESIDENTIAL VOTING PATTERNS -- WHY COLORADO WENT DEMOCRATIC -- REDISTRICTING -- TERM LIMITS -- CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM -- WEALTHY CONTRIBUTORS -- SOCIAL CONSERVATISM -- PRESIDENTIAL COATTAILS -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- CHAPTER TWO. What's Going On? The Shifting Terrain of Federal Elections in Colorado -- EXPLAINING DEMOCRATIC SUCCESS IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS SINCE 2004 -- THE "GANG OF FOUR" AND OUTSIDE GROUPS -- POPULATION, DEMOGRAPHY, AND VOTER REGISTRATION TRENDS -- COLORADO AND THE REPUBLICANS CIRCA 2004 -- GEORGE W. BUSH, IRAQ, AND THE ECONOMY: WAVE ELECTIONS -- THE CANDIDATES: PRAGMATIC MODERATES OR IDEOLOGICAL CONSERVATIVES? -- MONEY -- WE'RE NOT DEAD YET, OR WHY REPORTS OF THE COLORADO DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S DEMISE ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED -- COLORADO REPUBLICANS REPLAY THE GOLDEN OLDIES: NAME CALLING, ATTACK POLITICS, AND FIGHTING THE LAST WAR -- CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- CHAPTER THREE. Colorado's Central Role in the 2008 Presidential Election Cycle.

""A rare and comprehensive examination of the state's political system and a good historical record of the evolution of our state.""--James A. Null University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Colorado has recently been at the center of major shifts in American politics. Indeed, over the last several decades the political landscape has altered dramatically on both the state and national levels. State of Change traces the political and demographic factors that have transformed Colorado, looking beyond the major shift in the dominant political party from Republican to Democratic to greater