Ideological or electorate groups attempt to influence the partisanship of legislatures to benefit their interests on specific ideologies and issues. The closeness of the race will determine how much support ideological groups, such as the NRA, provide to a campaign. These groups function similar to parties because they represent people who have similar ideals when it comes to specific issues and broad political ideology.
Interest groups primary service to candidates is fundraising; however GOTV efforts, mass mailings, issue advocacy, polling, campaign consultants, research, advertising supporting candidates and opposing opponents greatly aids potential winners. In Colorado the final 96-hour Republican GOTV effort puts people on the streets to garner eleventh hour support from unlikely voters. The NRSC, Murray Energy Co., and business PACs were the main providers for Wayne Allard in 2002. His opponent, Tom Strickland, was supported by various labor unions, the DSCC, and Brownstein and Hyatt (one of the many law firms aiding his campaign). The close race, the possibility of the Senate changing party majority, and the major hit Colorado’s economy took motivated these groups to give heavy donations and support to favored candidates in 2002. The climate in 2004 is forecasted to be very similar.
Colorado has leaned conservative in the 1990’s and Republicans are doing extremely well. Environmental groups have strongly supported Democrats; yet Colorado voters have elected many officials who have very loose ideals on environmental regulation. Coors was the president of a conservation PAC, Ducks Unlimited. This can be used as leverage in efforts to garner environmental groups’ support or keep them neutral. Coors must also appeal to women voters. Recently his company has run advertisements many women find appalling. Implications of men committing adultery and scantily clad women groping each other have not pleased women’s rights groups. Coors’ needs support from Republican women in the voting booth and anti-abortion issues. Keeping national groups such as EMILY’s List out of the election will be helpful in avoiding this topic.
The Republican Party’s ownership of the seat and a mainstream conservative platform will be useful in a successful campaign. Coors will be aided by the Republican advantage in 527 groups in the state. Thirty seven 527 groups openly support Republicans and only fourteen support the Democrats. The other 104 support non-partisan issues or are composed of corporate contributions. Coors’ business ties and name recognition will hopefully gain him overwhelming support from non-partisan PACs. If the race is not close his opponent will not receive the support he needs from mixed, access and ideological groups. If national labor and women’s groups do not believe the race is close they will likely throw their support elsewhere.
Funding
Senate campaigns are extremely expensive. The average campaigns cost $2.2 million in 2002. The 2004 Colorado Senate campaign is expected to cost each candidate $6 million. Candidates rely on individual donors and national parties far more than PACs. The Republicans hold the fundraising edge because of their majority in both chambers of the US and Colorado Congresses. In the 2002, the tight Colorado Senate race was fueled by increased party donation. The DSCC donated $14,448 and the NRSC gave $20,500 to their respective candidates. Open-seat race candidates receive more contributions than do incumbents and challengers from national parties.
The Coors family and the Republican Party have an excellent relationship. In addition, his celebrity and validity as a candidate will attract money from the RNC and the Hill committees. In 2002 the Republican Party gave 52% of its party contributions and coordinate expenditures to open-seat Senate contests.
Business has financially supported Republicans in recent years and this trend will continue due to Coors’ tenure in the industry. Real estate, energy and natural resources, insurance, finance, banking, and agribusiness PACs have greatly aided the Republican Party. Defense, conservative, second amendment rights, pro-life and Christian coalitions are ideological interest groups who support the party. Wayne Allard received $1,778,351 from business interests and only $5,500 from labor unions. The Democrats have found support from lawyers and lobbyists, education, and unions. Tom Strickland raised $371,250 from labor unions and only $94,241 from business interests in his 2002 Senate campaign.
Coors is behind his competitor in fundraising due to his late entrance in the race; however of the $4,226,402 of individual donations to Colorado state parties in 2002, the Republicans received 74.1% of the contributions. In 2002, funds for 8% of Senate campaign spending came from candidate contributions. In Coors’ case he will not give himself and funding just as Allard did in 2002. He will not need to donate money because individuals, leadership PACs, and the national party will provide ample funding. Coors’s main target will be donations of fewer than $200. If he shows he has more support from the general public, the Democratic national party and labor unions will assume the election will not be close. If this occurs these groups will be more likely to donate other elections having a better chance at changing the partisanship of the Senate. Coors has tremendous name recognition; getting numerous small donations will prove his influence.
Parties
Peter Coors needs to support the national Republican agenda as much as possible. The Coors family’s long history conservatism, a Republican vacated Senate seat, the Senate majority up for grabs, and his celebrity status will make the RNC and NRSC tremendously involved in this race. Coors just recently visited Washington D.C. to raise money; but more importantly to receive advice. He was advised by Bill Frist and the Head of the NRSC George Allen to prepare for fundraising, polling, and research against his opponents. GOTV efforts, media relations, funding, issue research, campaign consultants, and agenda setting are other services national parties can provide. Coors’s has no voting record and needs to firm up his position of issues. Choosing a former RNC Chairman implies Coors will ally with his party and President’s agenda as much as possible.
Coors supports the second amendment, the war in Iraq, pro-life, a balanced budget, creating jobs, cutting taxes, a strong defense, social-security saving, and protection of property rights. The national party takes the exact stance on these issues. Education, affirmative action, the death penalty, and the environment are issues he wants to separate himself from his party to gain voters. Coors believes marriage is between and man and a woman; but has not supported Bush’s Constitutional amendment banning it. Senator Campbell came out against Bush. He believes the government should not be involved in the issue. Senator Allard and Governor Owens support the amendment; but allying with the president could cost him more votes than he would gain. If Coors did not support the amendment he might be seen as less of a conservative; however it is not imperative for him to support a constitutional amendment.
Environmental protection, preservation, and regulation limits are debated in Colorado. Coors’ is on the Board of Castle Rock Foundation a PAC advocating property rights, free enterprise, and economic growth. In 2000 Coors’ brewing company spilled 77,000 gallons of beer in to a creek killing 50,422 fish. If he takes a too anti-regulatory position on the environment Coloradoans might frown at the possibility of both Senators being in the dirty dozen. Campbell looked after the environmental interests of preservationists, not businesses. Campbell served on the Energy and Natural Rescores, National Parks, Public Lands and Forests, and Water and Power Committees. The only Native American ever in the Senate is considered a moderate Republican, partially because he was first elected to the as a Democrat. As of now Coors has not declared a stance on the environment; however his affiliation with the Castle Rock Foundation suggests he will protect property rights and attempt to reduce regulation. In order to convince undecided voters he will look after the interests of the state and not just business. He may need to take a more liberal stance on government regulation of the environment than his party to gain environmentally conscious swing voters.
Coors is against the death penalty. His Catholic background supports his belief. He must not flip-flop and back the president on this issue. Coors supports affirmative-action. Minorities and his business have clashed many times before. Coors needs to maintain his stance to not appear as if he is not looking after the interests of minorities. The Castle Rock Foundation’s main donors are the United Negro College Fund and the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Coors has made substantial efforts to gain support from minorities in his business career. He should not stop in his political career.
Media
A good relationship with the media is a key to a successful Senate race. Name recognition, projecting a favorable image, describing your agenda, undermining opponents, exploiting issues, and defending against attacks are the six purposes to campaign communications. The way a candidate advertises in a particular media outlet is very important to effective advertising. Knowing when to say something and who to say it too are very important which is why there are multiple ways to communicate to voters.
Television is the primary media outlet in Senate campaigns; in fact nine out of ten senate campaigns use it. Three fourths of viewers use it as their primary source of campaign information. Television is good for creating an image of a candidate. In an open-seat race this is very important. More television attention attracts voters and without an incumbent present, name and face recognition is extremely important. Coors’s acting experience, savvy, and good looks will help him gain a favorable image. In Colorado television spending is crucial. In 2002 Senate election, $10.5 million was raised by the candidates combined. Five million, nearly half, was spent on television advertising. From September 2nd to September 29th 2002, television spending on the Republican candidate by himself, the party, and interest groups reached $1,556,000; $86,000 more than the Democrats. From Labor Day to October 2, 2002 the Republican Party alone spent $694,000 on television ads.
Mini-docudramas, feel good, and community action television ads are used in earlier stages of the campaign to inform the public of the candidate’s biography and agenda. Support from other politicians can be very influential in this stage. For instance, Coors could highlight recently retired Senator Ben Campbell and Governor Bill Owens endorsements of him. As the campaign moves forward a candidate can show issue oriented ads. Coors here has the opportunity to retain voters who vote on positional issues such as second amendment rights. Coors pledged to Denver Roman Catholic Arch Bishop Charles Chaput he would support Catholic interests such as, pro-life, marriage being between a man and a woman, and the illegalization of the death penalty. Valence issue advertising gains the support of party members and moderates. Cutting taxes, increasing freedom, property rights, and increasing defense are examples of what a Republican ads support. Attack ads usually begin when a candidate falls behind in the polls. The 2002 Senate race was defined by attack ads. Strickland criticized Allard of his major donor, Qwest, a telecommunications firm that went bankrupt and cost Colorado jobs. Allard ran ads exploiting Strickland’s former lobbyist position Global Crossings (a telecommunications company with questionable accounting practices.) Coors needs to defend his amateur status as a politician and highlight his more positive attributes. Salazar has always run as a moderate. Coors must exploit this by defining Salazar as a hypocrite and not supportive of the national Democrat’s agenda. In the last two weeks of the campaign Coors may stop attack ads and run ads summarizing his campaign. Highlighting major issues stances, justifying candidacy, and running pieces of previous commercials are done to gain support from those who have not been following the campaign and to secure current followers.
Radio ads do not provide and image of the candidate. Image recognition is imperative; yet Radio ads can be aimed at more specific demographics than television ads. Playing ads directed toward Hispanic voters on Spanish language stations and elderly voters on oldies stations is common practice in Colorado. Radio is also effective for those who are not comfortable in front of the camera, something Coors has no problem with. Many newspaper readers are voters making ads in papers great for informing the public of times and dates of campaign events and providing comprehensive issue stances. Newspaper ads are also bought to coax newspaper owners to endorse candidates. The lack of emotion and outreach to minorities are problems with newspaper advertisements; nonetheless they are very inexpensive.
The problem with advertising is the cost of it. Television is by far the most expensive and valuable. Free television coverage is priceless. Campaigns inform television and radio stations of debates, conventions, rallies, and other large events with specifics, including their crowd size, acoustics, and visual backdrop in hope for free coverage. Television coverage focuses more on the horse race aspect, while radio invites candidates in to speak on talk shows and reach voters. Newspapers are constantly being sent information on candidates. Biographies, polls, and breaking news are examples of what campaigns constantly send to papers in hopes for publicity. While most free media is uncritical there is the chance of it hurting your campaign.
Other methods of campaign communication are mass phone call, direct mail, newsletters, and the internet. All are easy ways for people to learn issues, agendas, and how to contribute. Having a good calling and mailing list is vital because sending people junk mail is never a good tactic. Telephone calls and mailings help motivate and identify voters. Well constructed internet sites encourage people to donate and help out with the campaign.
Sample Radio Ad: Played on a Christian Station.
Coors’ Voice: I am for family values
Wife: My husband and I have raised six beautiful children in this state
Coors: I believe in good Christian moral values and have received support from Bishop Chaput
Coors: I believe in the sanctity of marriage and life beginning at conception. My opponent on the other hand claims to be a Catholic, but where are his Christian values in office. He has supported abortion clinics, and if he is elected there will be no justice for the unborn.
Coors: Electing a good Christian, a forth generation Coloradoan, a man for families, a man that will represent you, a man who will put prayer back in school, cut taxes, boost the economy, and give you a better job to help you better support the most important part of your life: Family.
Additional Factors
The 2004 Presidential election will help Pete Coors become a Senator. The Presidential election will attract more Republicans than Democrats in Colorado due to their advantage in registered voters. Coors’ lack of political experience and strong issue stances can be downplayed by flying under a President’s wing. In addition, presidential election years tend to help the party holding the presidency in Congressional elections. This is not always the trend in Senate elections; however Coors’ choice to run along side an incumbent Republican president platform in a conservative state will help his gain votes. Moreover, in a midterm election the support of the president’s party is considerably less; therefore not giving Coors’ the opportunity to ride an incumbent’s coattails.
The 2004 Colorado general election ballot has been coined the ballot of the bulge. There is a potential for 125 indicatives to be present of the ballot. Many of these ballot proposals aid Coors in attracting voters to the polls and some do not. Doug Bruce proposed a $25 reduction on utility, vehicle, income, and property tax that will increase annually. This attracts poorer tax-cut advocates to the polls because $25 means more to those who have less. A proposal to allow prayer at student graduation has the potential to bring Christian voters out to the polls that would not normally do so. Tom Tancredo, the Republican sixth district representative, has proposed that the state increase taxes on cigarettes and a crack down on illegal immigrants. Mobilizing Hispanic voters will not help Coors. The potential deportation of family and friends will get Hispanics to the polls. If Republicans are adamant about the removal if illegal immigrants, Coors can kiss their votes’ goodbye.
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