Romney, Obama win Colorado

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 5, 2008 at 9:15 p.m.

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Colorado caucus-goers turned out in staggering numbers Tuesday, crowding elbow-to-elbow in schools, churches and libraries to deliver victories for Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama.

Initial tallies showed Romney, who had a campaign presence in Colorado for months, winning Colorado by a ratio of 3-to-2 over national front-runner John McCain. Obama, who made a personal appearance in Denver last week, surged to a 2-to-1 victory against Hillary Clinton.

But it was the turnout for the arcane and often ignored caucus process, more than the results, that stunned even veteran politicos in the state. As Denver Democrat Jeff Bridges said, "It was a ton of new people, and probably some fire code violations."

Explosion of voters

In a veritable explosion of democracy, enthusiastic caucus-goers poured into gathering spots across the metro area, snarling traffic and filling parking lots, while leaving organizers scrambling to find enough space and delaying the start of caucusing.

"It became almost unmanageable," said Larry Reynolds, chair of the Broomfield County Republicans who witnessed a bone-crushing crowd at Broomfield Heights Middle School.

"We had 250 people standing in line at 7 p.m. when it was time to start," he said. "Let's just say Robert's Rules (on parliamentary procedure) went out the window."

Traffic jams greeted hundreds of Democrats trying to get into Overland Highland School for the 41 precinct caucuses scheduled for there.

In all, nearly 1,500 Democrats attended, 10 times the number that showed up for caucuses two years ago.

"I have never seen anything like this," said state Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, of the Overland crowd. "They moved half the precincts (from the cafeteria) to the auditorium so people could even function."

The big turnout even extended to the plains.

"Risking life and limb, I drove through the snow to Wray for caucus," said state Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. "About twice as many attendees as last time. Romney 5, Huck 4, Paul 3, McCain 1."

Both Obama and Romney had appeared to be on their way to dominating wins from the earliest caucus returns.

"It's Obama country," said Renee Rivera, a volunteer coordinator for the Democratic Party at East High School caucuses, where the early count was breaking hard for Obama.

Former Denver mayor and national Obama campaign co-chair Federico Peña, was jubilant with the results, both here and across the nation on Super Tuesday.

"No one expected (Obama) to win 11 states tonight," Peña said. "We demonstrated here in Colorado that we can win if we have enough time. Even in a state that has a large Hispanic population that people thought we couldn't win, we've done very well."

At a gathering of Clinton supporters, former Denver mayor Wellington Webb said they were outnumbered by the Obama campaign.

"The last time I looked, we're still winning," he said of the national race.

Energy was like 'wow'

As a Colorado-specific indicator of how tight the race is between the democratic candidates, at Place Middle School in Denver, former Gov. Dick Lamm threw his support behind Obama, while his wife, Dottie, backed Clinton.

On the Republican side, Romney dominated McCain and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

"From the looks of it, it seems that Romney turned out his folks here," said Mike May, Colorado's House minority leader, reporting from a crowded caucus in Parker. He said that Romney won about 75 percent of the support there.

Republicans were excited about the enthusiasm in a year when Democrats are often referred to as the more energized party.

"I've had people say the Republican Party is down and out, but that can't be further from the truth when you look at the turnout at Cherry Creek High School,"

This is unbelievable. The energy was like 'wow,'" said Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, who visited several Arapahoe County precincts.

At Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch, Romney won 28 of 40 votes in the precinct 43 caucus.

That strong showing didn't surprise Tom Melrose, who ran the show in Room 117.

"People are pretty conservative, and we're a little concerned about McCain's liberal side," Melrose said, pointing to McCain's collaboration with Democratic lawmakers such as congressmen Joe Lieberman and Ted Kennedy.

McCain, who has been the national GOP front-runner, received only nine of the 40 votes in this Douglas County precinct.

At Mountain View Middle School in Colorado Springs, Romney also easily outpolled the other GOP candidates, caucus-goer Pat Kluckman said.

Kluckman reported that U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn talked about President Bush's vetoes and talked about why it was so important to elect a Republican.

In Boulder, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall was working the halls at New Vista High School, thrilled with the long line of eager folks preparing to participate in a Democratic caucus.

"This obviously shows how passionate people are," said Udall, who is running for the Senate.

"There's a movement in this country for change," he said. "What this crowd says to me is it's working. Our form of government is working, and it's a powerful statement about two phenomenal nominees, Barack and Hillary. That's all I'm hearing here tonight."

At East High School, Sheila Compton participated in her first caucus, won by Obama, calling it "terrific fun."

"There was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement in the air," she said. "I was swept up."

Not all of the votes were cast for the Big Four. Republican Mike Huckabee was winning some precincts in early returns.

Katy Atkinson, a Republican political consultant, said that her caucus site at the Auraria campus in Denver looked "like a Ron Paul convention," referring to the Republican candidate with a smaller, but passionate, following.

hartmant@RockyMountain

News.com or 303-954-5048

Staff writers Kevin Vaughan, Nancy Mitchell, Myung Kim, Jerd Smith, Sue Lindsay, Daniel Chacon, Tillie Fong and Ann Imse contributed to this report.

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