EDITORIAL: Colorado key state to Obama’s re-election effort in fall

It’s an exciting time to live in Colorado, not only because of the Broncos’ new addition to the quarterback position, but because Denver will play one host to a presidential debate that is sure to directly affect the election’s outcome.

According to the Commission on Presidential Debate, the University of Denver has been chosen as one of three sites in which President Barack Obama will face the GOP’s presidential candidate and plead his case for four more years.

Mitt Romney is still the most likely candidate to face Obama in DU’s Magness Arena in early October but still needs 1,144 delegates to make it official, a mere formality at this point.

The former governor from Massachusetts has been on GOP primary cruise control since Rick Santorum suspended his campaign and Newt Gingrich is expected to drop out of the presidential race Tuesday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Colorado will be key to Obama seeking victory in November, as it is one of only a couple of states that could very easily go blue or red.

Colorado, a state with nine electoral votes, is almost certainly going to be a swing state in this year’s election. In the last 10 presidential elections, Colorado has voted Republican eight times.

Obama has achieved political success in Colorado before; the state favored Obama and Joe Biden 54 percent to 45 percent to John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008.

However, Denver had the unique opportunity of hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention, one in which Obama accepted the party’s nomination for president and addressed a crowd of 84,000 people at what is now Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Obama will face the daunting task of being re-elected to presidential office. If he can resonate with voters in a state that has only voted Democrat twice in the last 10 elections, culminating at the debate in October, he will be able to call 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home for four more years.