DENVER-
When Democrat Ken Salazar went to Washington two years ago as Colorado’s newly elected junior senator, he was dead last in the Senate’s ranking system based on experience, seniority and state population.
Now his party is in the majority, he is a member of the powerful Finance Committee and is ranked No. 89—which means, among other things, he got to chose a better seat on the Senate floor.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chose him to deliver the Democrats’ first-ever Spanish-language preview to the State of the Union Address. And in two years, he will become the state’s senior senator when Republican Wayne Allard retires.
Much of Salazar’s growing clout comes from Democratic victories nationwide and the party’s efforts to make inroads in the West, said Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
But Salazar also “played his hand very skillfully” as a freshman senator when Democrats were in the minority party, he added.
“He’s established a very moderate, middle-of-the road image in a state where that’s admired,” Loevy said. He also built a reputation as someone who reaches across the aisle to work with Republicans.
But with Democrats now in control of Congress, Salazar could get more pressure from the party’s liberal wing to conform, Republican political consultant Katy Atkinson said.
“Now the Democrats have a party line they have to hold,” she said, and that could conflict with the views of conservative-leaning constituents back home.
“Voters in this state don’t seem to be particularly fond of liberalism,” she said.
Salazar said voters sent Democrats a message last November and he hopes the party recognizes it.
“I hope they heed the fact that we in the West have been able to get the Democratic Party back in the saddle, and that’s by being moderate pragmatists that don’t see Republicans as devils,” he said.
“We want to work together for good solutions for our county and states,” he said.
Salazar showed his willingness to work with Republicans when he joined the bipartisan “Gang of 14” that thwarted a move by the GOP, then in the majority, to eliminate Democrats’ ability to filibuster President Bush’s judicial nominations.
The group, which included Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., defused the so-called “nuclear option” of getting rid of the filibuster. It was seen as a blow against growing partisanship.
Salazar joined another bipartisan group to hold up renewal of parts of the Patriot Act because of concerns about civil liberties. He worked with Allard to secure $98 million for a new veterans’ hospital on the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center campus in Aurora.
On Wednesday, he endorsed both Republican and Democratic versions of proposed resolutions opposing Bush’s decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.
Atkinson said Salazar’s biggest impact likely has been on his own party. She noted he was one of the few Democrats to publicly support Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman during his successful campaign as an independent candidate.
Lieberman had lost in the primary to a Democrat who attacked his backing of the Iraq war.
“I think (Salazar’s endorsement of Lieberman) sent a message of moderation, that he believes the Democratic Party needs to have a big enough tent to allow for people who support the Iraq war,” Atkinson said.
A few weeks into the new session, Salazar said things already feel different.
“There is a change in the air of Washington,” he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Salazar said Democratic leaders have indicated that Congress will work more days than it did last year. With only a one-vote majority in the Senate, Democrats will have to consult with Republicans to make sure work gets done, he said.
Salazar said he’s watching to see how Bush will work with Congress now that his party is no longer in control. When Salazar was elected in 2004, he expressed hope that Bush wouldn’t be partisan, but has grown more critical of the president after two years in Washington.
“Most people who worked with him closely saw him as being the campaigner in chief as opposed to being the commander in chief,” Salazar said. “As commander in chief, he needs to recognize that he represents all 300 million Americans.”
