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CO-Sen: Salazar to Interior?

by: James L.

Mon Dec 15, 2008 at 12:21 PM EST


It seems like Barack Obama is determined to have a Salazar in his Cabinet. From the Denver Post:

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar is a leading contender to become President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of the Interior, two sources have confirmed.

Reuters News Service used even stronger language in a report Sunday, saying Salazar had become the top candidate for the job. [...]

A source close to Obama's transition team told The Denver Post late last week that Salazar was under consideration for the Cabinet position.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak, said at the time it appeared that it was all but up to Salazar as to whether he wanted the post.

A second source close to the process also confirmed Sunday that Sala zar was a leading contender. The senator's spokesmen did not return telephone messages seeking comment.

A vacancy here would be filled by an appointment from Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, but would also add another race to the growing list of 2010 Senate contests. (Oh right, his term was up anyway.) If Ken Salazar indeed gets the gig, who would you like to see take his place in the Senate?

Update: In the diaries, Adam Kretz gives us a lengthy list of possible Salazar successors.
James L. :: CO-Sen: Salazar to Interior?
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CO-Sen: Salazar to Interior? | 41 comments
a better Dem
Salazar was already up for re-election in 2010, so it wouldn't add a race... and it's not like Salazar was a shoo-in already. Though it would obviously makes thing more complicated.

I was never one to advocate primary-ing him (I'm not sure what that would mean and it was highly unlikely it would get anywhere) but hopefully we'll get a more progressive Dem to replace him.

Oh yeah
Good point -- I'm a bit groggy today.
[ Parent ]
haha
You're telling me... In the Hawaii thread, I read Akaka as Alaska.... lol I was like, what does this have to do with Hawaii... Then I read a little closer... and I said to myself, wow, Erik, you're dumb.

I'd say I get the duh award of the day James. lol

[ Parent ]
Diana DeGette
Replacing a Blue Dog with a progressive would be a tremendous trade.

Barring that, I'd be comfortable with Ed Perlmutter.  

no, a Denver
liberal is not going to play well statewide, especially aginst a strong Republican challenge.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
An Illinois Liberal
won the Presidency by almost a full 9%.

Colorado Dems have the wind at their backs, and should fight to elect the most progressive member that they can.  

[ Parent ]
I like moderates
and Obama really did run in as the more moderate candidate in the general, while McCain was fierily appealing to the Republicna base Obama was ought seeking to moderator himself an offer himself as an option for moderates and independents, both groups which he won big and owes his presidency to, something we should not forget so soon. Anyway, I was talking about Colorado, not the nation, and Democrats have a very fragile statewide coalition in Colorado and nominating someone like Degette might upset that by pushing away counties like Adams, Jefferson, Araphroe, Larimer, even Weld to a degree though it still leans Republican anyway.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
It won't be easy
but I think we have to move to switching from 'more Dems' to 'those that want to fight with us' (instead of the 'lesser of two evils' stuff).

Obama won Colorado by 9%. I think DeGette could win by 2%, and that's worth the risk to me. Of course, she may have no desire to risk losing such a race, and/or she may not have the field/grassroots chops to run and win such a race. I really have no idea.

But we need more women and more progressives in the Senate. 2010 might be the opportunity to get both in a number of states.

[ Parent ]
Just barely beat me to it
Lots of possible names to replace him, which are in my diary on the side:

http://www.swingstateproject.c...

No no no
We can do much better at Interior than Salazar.  Just pick Grijalva and be done with it already.
If we get Salazar
After being teased with Grijalva, I will be quite unhappy.
[ Parent ]
What about
if Grijalva took himself out of the running?  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
I don't understand
How that would lessen the suckitude.
[ Parent ]
Well
then Grijalva wouldn't even be an option, so you can't blame Obama for not picking him.

He just got a seat on Ways and Means. It looks to me like he doesn't want to go anywhere

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
Grijalva got a seat on Ways & Means last week
Grijalva would be infinitely better than either Salazar at Interior, but apparently the mining, logging and agribusiness industries don't agree and that is what counts.
[ Parent ]
Every statewide position in Colorado is held by Democrats.
One of them has to be willing to throw his or her hat into the ring.  
I'm 99% sure that isn't true
Repubs have at least one of two statewide offices.  I believe SoS is one.
[ Parent ]
SoS and AG, I believe.
But now that Mike Coffman has taken Tancredo's place, Ritter will get to appoint the next SoS.
[ Parent ]
SoS Mike Coffman
Is now Rep-elect Mike Coffman. He replaced Tom Tancredo. Gov. Ritter will be choosing his replacement this week, and the three finalists are all Democrats: House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, State Sen. Ken Gordon, and former State Rep. Bernie Beuscher.
[ Parent ]
Ugh
Please say this isn't true.
Call me crazy
But I actually like Ken at Interior. He's not as progressive as Grijalva, but water and environmental issues are actually the one area where he's a pretty solid Democrat. He knows as much about water rights as anyone in the west, and, something very important for me, he is VERY strong on Native American land and water rights.

It also gives us the chance to put someone more progressive in the Senate. I think it could be a win-win.  

Good points
After thinking a little harder on this one it might turn out to be a plus.  Any one of a handful of possible Colorado Dems would be far more progressive than Salazar in the Senate.  And if's he's as strong as you say about some of the big issues at Interior this may work out sell all-around.
[ Parent ]
so do you think
it will Andrew Romanoff, or Joan Fitzgerald who get appointed to replace Salazar? Both would be great Senators, and I think SoS is going to be filled by Buescher anyway, since he lost his reelection.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
I like FitzGerald...
I felt a little bad in not backing her for House, but I really like Jared Polis & I'm so happy he won that Boulder seat. And since FitzGerald is more moderate, she'd probably be a good pick for Senate. I'm for it. :-)

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)
[ Parent ]
yeah
Fitz-Gerald immediately came to my mind when reading that Salazar might get tapped for Interior.
[ Parent ]
Fitz-Gerald
Has already stated she is retiring from politics after her failed run at CD-2. She used to be a clerk and recorder in Jeff Co. and would've resurfaced for the Secretary of State job had she been gearing for a comeback, IMO.
[ Parent ]
I wasn't so happy after
I read his pompous comments to "House Democrats" published on the Wall Street Journal editorial board. He delcared that none of them had made a business plan before, or had his experience in business, and also basically said government shouldn't interfer in business and shouldn't loan banks or auto companies money because government is incompetent and business is basically good. Those comments upset me a good deal since I'm more of a social conservative/economic liberal anyway and Polis sounds like one of those Dems who happen to be a total, polar opposite to me.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
I think if it weren't a political calculation
That Sen. Andrew Romanoff would represent Colorado. He's got ties to some in the Hispanic community though, so it might blunt criticism if it's him.

Were I a betting man, I'd rank the candidates like this (in likelihood of being picked):

1. Andrew Romanoff (barely)
2. Federico Pena
3. Cary Kennedy
4. Polly Baca

[ Parent ]
Not just that
He also has experience with administering protections of natural resources. He was CO Gov Roy Romer's Natural Resources Director before he became AG.

As for possible replacements, my preference would be for either Romanoff or Perlmutter (unlikely). I'm certain there are others, but those are the two that pop up in my mind.

[ Parent ]
I kinda like this idea of a post too
while Salazar is hardly the most progressive of Dems I've never a problem with him, and while not being progressive he hardly qualifies for being progressive. Unlike most liberals I like moderates though. I think Salazar would be a nice compromise over Grivjava and a smarter move politically, as Salazar would be a more popular choice all around. Obama promised a new kind of politics that would be marked by a willingness to compromise. Obviously here he's offering a midway compromise to industry consortums that fuel much of the wests' economy, and I think they will except. Aside from that though Salazar is a pretty good dem on environmental issues, knows a lot, and is a steady conservationalist. I know this, he will be ten times as good as anyone Bush has had in the last eight years and probably twice as good as anyone Clinton had the guts to appoint. Don't even make get into Reagan and Bush Sr.

I'd like to see either Andrew Romanoff, John Hickenlooper, Ed Perlmutter, or Joan Fitzgerald get appointed to this seat.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

Eh...
I have no strong feelings either way. Salazar isn't my favorite Senator, but he's not so bad either. If he gets Interior, we may get a slightly better Senator out of it. If he doesn't, we may get a slightly easier 2010 election. But since we'll most likely get a center-left Senator & a fairly easy 2010 election either way, I'm OK with whatever Salazar does.

And if he vacates his Senate seat, I'd like to see Joan FitzGerald get the appointment. She isn't a hardcore progressive, but she's OK on most issues and pretty solid on environment & civil rights. We probably won't have to worry too much about her election in 2010.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

Dumb
How many vulnerable senate seats is Obama going to create?  It's one thing in New York . . . .  And what's so great about Salazar for Interior anyway?
Salazar hasn't been polling that impressively...
...so switching him out for another Democrat might not necessarily hurt our chances.  I'd rank him the second most vulnerable incumbent Democrat after Harry Reid (I'm pretending the State of Illinois doesn't exist atm).

I agree with those who caution that just because Obama won we shouldn't be deluded into thinking Colorado turned into one big version of Denever.  On the other hand we should have no problem finding people who are both highly electable AND vote more reliably Democratic.

NY-13, Democrat. Blog @ http://infinitefunction.wordpr...

That's a bit of a straw man argument
I don't think anyone that is advocating for trying to elect strong progressives/liberals is deluded into thinking it will be easy. But especially in off-year elections in swing states, you can win when you are the majority party by motivating your base to turn out in higher numbers than the opposition's base.

It's the same argument we're having here in Virginia about which gubernatorial candidate to support. And my argument for both is, use the primary season to find the most electable progressive candidate, and then turn out your base and win. The Democratic coalitions in both states are larger than the Republican coalitions, and people just aren't interested in the culture war bullshit any more, not with the way things are going. Liberal and progressive positions are more popular than the alternative, but they do require more work to explain. If not now, then when?

Anyway, perhaps this is all academic and Rep. DeGette has no intention of running. No idea. But I think Democrats in the great blue square state should be pushing hard for as progressive a nominee as they can get, and then fight the good fight. We're not talking about Idaho or Nebraska.  

[ Parent ]
How times change in just 8 years
An open seat in Colorado would have been considered an easy GOP win in 2000.  If Salazar does get chosen, we probably end up with a better senator for it.  
Ya, just look at who won in the past
In 1996 far-right nutter Wayne Allard won an open seat by around 5-6 points, then won re-election in a re-match with Strickland by roughly the same margin in 2002.  Ten years ago, sad to say, someone like Musgrave or Tancredo may have actually been able to win statewide in Colorado.

Even in 2004 with a very moderate Salazar runnign for an open seat he was only able to win by around 6 points over a stale but well-known GOP candidate.  Then in 2008 we get a pretty solid liberal in Udall elected by 10 points.  Things are moving in our favor VERY fast in Colorado.  

[ Parent ]
We built a Democratic bench
Udall was a State Rep. in 1993 before moving up to the US House.

Perlmutter was a State Senator in Aurora from 2000-2006.

Ken Salazar was Attorney General from 1998-2004.

John Salazar was a State Rep. in the late 90s and early 2000s.

In contrast, Tom Strickland was a lobbyist and lawyer who donated to lots of Democratic causes. Our Guv nominee in 2002 was a businessman with no political experience.

Colorado's use of the State House and State Senate mirrors what Republicans did in the late 70s and early 80s, when Bill Owens, Bob Schaffer, Tom Tancredo and Marilyn Musgrave all served in the House before being elected to higher office.  

[ Parent ]
Great news
A solid Dem can establish him/herself for two years, and we can move this seat somewhat to the left, while Salazar goes to a Department with little downside.

Not as good as appointing Snowe to something, but literally the next best thing.

What are the odds
that his brother John would get picked to be Senator?
Hopefully near zero
Don't get me wrong, I really like John.  He's a perfect fit for CO-03, just not statewide.  We can do MUCH better.
[ Parent ]
As close to Zero as possible
There's always an outside chance, but I think it's unlikely. He's got a safe seat in the House right now and a spot on Appropriations. I think even if offered it, he'd stay put.
[ Parent ]
CO-Sen: Salazar to Interior? | 41 comments

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