State of change: Colorado politics in the twenty-first century

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.