When are Colorado "journalists" going to learn that simply writing down what a campaign manager says and not fact-checking isn't reporting? It isn't journalism. It's the regurgitation of talking points with no digestion, analysis, or understanding. It's stenography.
In recent reports, several Colorado media outlets uncritically repeated the talking point of Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, that retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard was outspent twice by his Democratic opponent, Tom Strickland, when he ran for Senate in 1996 and 2002. In fact, Federal Election Commission (FEC) data show that while Strickland outspent Allard when the two candidates competed in 1996 for Colorado's open U.S. Senate seat, Allard outspent Strickland during his 2002 re-election campaign.
I guess screaming BOULDER LIBERAL and 80303 aren't working any more. Now Wadhams is trying to spin his and Schaffer's abysmal fundraising efforts.
"We will not out-raise Udall, but on the other hand, we don't have to," Wadhams said. "The candidate who raises the most money does not always win. Wayne Allard was outspent twice by Tom Strickland.
Except that's not true. As the National Journal shows and FEC reports backup, Strickland did outspend Allard once.
1996 General Total Votes Percent Expenditures
Wayne Allard (R) 750,325 51% $2,233,429
Tom Strickland (D) 677,600 46% $2,894,916
But in their 2002 matchup:
2002 General Total Votes Percent Expenditures
Wayne Allard (R) 717,893 51% $5,223,592
Tom Strickland (D) 648,130 46% $5,160,517
Look how much Allard had to spend in 2002 to defend his seat. So at best this shows a 50-50 chance of winning a US senate seat in Colorado based on spending alone. However, since Wadhams brought it up, let's look at some other races.
2004 General
Ken Salazer (D) $9,886,551
Pete Coors (R) $7,858,598
Oh look, the higher spender won the race. Let's not forget Colorado republicans chose Pete Coors over primary candidate Bob Schaffer then by over 60%. What makes Wadhams think they want him this time?
RSS Feed
