Also:

1) Colorado went to Bush in both 2000 (51%-42%) and 2004 (52%-47%).

2) Hell, Colorado narrowly voted for Dole in 1996 (45.8%-44.4%) in an election where Dole got spanked nationally.

3) Colorado just voted to ban gay marriage, and also voted against domestic partnerships.

4) Colorado did elect a Democratic governor in 2006, though incumbent Republican Bill Owens was unable to run (and may well have won) in that election due to term limit laws. Bill Ritter ran on a centrist platform (opposed to immigrant amnesty, in favor of penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers, etc.) in order to win against a conservative opponent.

It's a sign of how weak the present Republican party is that the Democrats were able to pick up a seat outside of Denver. (They benefited from an open seat, since the 7th's Republican incumbent ran for governor instead.) Even with that, the state went 4 Dems, 3 Reps.

So by anyone else's definition, Colorado is pretty divided. Pro's just not in touch with reality.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com