Udall has two attributes that we look for when we’re thinking about what makes a seat much less competitive: He’s a well established incumbent, and he has a strong partisan advantage.

In California, this polarized the electorate and created a huge Latino voting bloc.

My feeling is the Democrats in the 2nd Congressional District and a lot of voters in general are not going to be angry that Udall has done that.

The lay of the land appears very amenable to close, hard-fought campaigns.

They have the money. That’s the key. They would only do this if they feel they can draw on nearly unlimited resources. In this state’s political history, this is entirely new territory.

You can get a nomination and the individual winning is unacceptable to a large faction of the party. That’s a problem.

He has to make a credible case that what he’s doing isn’t damaging the party but, rather, reinvigorating it.

Our joke sitting there was that his drinking less than an ounce would shift to a shot and a beer.

I told him that if he ran (for governor) his bipartisan honeymoon as mayor would come to an end and partisanship would dominate quickly.

He’s the Holy Mother Church. He appears unacceptable to a big wing of the party.

Colorado has become a battleground state for both liberal and conservative forces. It’s one of the states in play.

I would say that the 7th right now is clearly the nation’s most competitive seat, with the Democrats having a clear chance to win it.

Fundamentally, he was two years out of sync. He felt pressure to keep working on the job and drawing his Cabinet together. There was too much weighing against it.

He really survived the first test.

Even if it was close, it would go down as a win for the mayor. He still has the magic touch.

Marc is running on the fact that he’s a job provider and that he’s going to provide economic development. Obviously this is something he’ll have to explain.

They’re going into this election without their standard-bearer.

The Democrats are hungry, the Republicans are dispirited, and in this state, they are very divided.

The last decade was dominated by Bill Owens. The Owens era is ending because of term limits.