In many ways, the GOP Senate primary is ending right where it started.
Former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton is canvassing southern and western Colorado in a plane and three-car motorcades, eating sausage biscuits with business leaders and glad- handing the old-school state’s party establishment.
And she pulled in old friend Arizona Sen. John McCain — one of the big names who leaned on her to get into this race — for a brief Sunday media appearance in Centennial and a large rally in her hometown of Grand Junction.
Norton focused again on attacking the credibility of her GOP opponent, Ken Buck, who opposes nation-building in Afghanistan and has said he believes in leaving the country after ensuring it is stable and not a haven for terrorists.
McCain called Buck’s vision for a withdrawal from Afghanistan in the near future “naive” and applauded Norton’s vow to redouble efforts there.
“We need a lot of help right now, we Republicans, those of us who are fiscal conservatives and those of us who stand for a strong national defense policy,” said McCain, who made a rare departure from his own heated primary.
“We can’t scale back; we can’t take this for granted. We know it’s going to be close,” Norton said.
Staying positive on stump
Buck spent a more quiet weekend traversing a Douglas County parade and a Broomfield summer social.
Buck has peeled back his public events in the past two weeks, staying quiet after two public gaffes and burning more phone time to raise cash and rally fence-sitter voters.
In a two-day period last week, Buck raised $5,200 for his campaign, compared with $44,000 raised in that time by Norton.
“There is no sense we’re ahead in the polls,” Buck said. “I think I’m doing my best and reach out and talk to people. I’m working tremendous hours.”
The candidates paint themselves differently. One bills himself more Tea Party, more underdog, less monied. The other bills herself as the one with integrity, with more party street credibility, with more statewide appeal.
In these final days, one thing is clear: There is no clear front-runner.
Though the negative ads are ubiquitous, on the stump Norton and Buck are staying positive and doing their best to avoid missteps.
“Considering how close this is, both of them are thinking about November; they don’t want to say anything to jeopardize the moderate vote,” said Seth Masket, a University of Denver political-science professor.
At an El Paso County event late last week, a female voter told Buck she was happy he opposes abortion rights, noting that unborn people are future voters and taxpayers and the future of the country. Without saying a word, he smiled and handed her a yard sign.
Making last-minute votes
The next day at a Walsenberg breakfast, Norton quickly put to rest a question about President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
“It’s a settled issue,” she recalled telling the voter. “The Republican governor of Hawaii has validated that he was born in that state.”
Norton’s campaign managers say the higher the voter turnout, the better for them Tuesday. Buck’s people disagree, saying they have appeal and grassroots fervor statewide among voters who have never before been active in politics.
Some busy people, such as Sandy Plummer, 43, have whiled their summers away on matters other than politics and will decide at the last minute.
“I’ll spend the weekend looking online, their history, the way they’ve voted or spoken in the past on issues,” said Plummer, of Black Forest.
Staff writer Jessica Fender contributed to this report.
Allison Sherry: 303-954-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com
