Political Coverage on KOA – The 2020 Election

April Zesbaugh and Marty Lenz lead the political coverage in KOA’s top rate morning drive time. I regularly provide analyses and commentary. Monday morning, we previewed Colorado’s first presidential primary in 20 years.

• Colorado has 67 delegates out of 1,357 in 14 states to be decided Super Tuesday, or a third (34%) of the total delegates (3,982).
• Record turnout – more than 900,000 already voted and counted last Friday. I expect 1.2 million, up to 1.5 million. Democrats are holding onto ballots to see the final field. Big turnout reflects that the primary is early in the schedule and the race is still competitive.
• Unaffiliated voters – More than 250,000 have already voted.
• Bernie Sanders ahead according to polls, but massive “stop Bernie” campaigns launched by his rival candidates and the Democratic Party establishment. Even Elizabeth Warren has finally started to criticize him. They are concerned about winning in November and down-ballot races, such as the Colorado Senate.
• Joe Biden’s strong showing in South Carolina (48%) should provide some bounce in attention, in support with many Super Tuesday voters casting ballots on the last two days and an increase in funds. But, polls have Biden behind in several major states, such as California, Texas and Virginia. In Colorado, he’s back in the field, behind Sanders and Warren.
• But many late polls have been volatile and close. Only the weekend polls could catch Biden’s bounce, if any. Ground campaign in Colorado by Warren. Massive advertising ($6 million spent) by Mike Bloomberg. Super Tuesday will be his debut on the ballot.
• The big question will be who is still in the race on Wednesday, March 4. Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are out. Difficult decisions for campaigns that only have a handful of delegates, if any, and little money for a national campaign for the remaining two-thirds of delegates.
• As long as a group of Democratic moderates stay in the race, Sanders will remain the frontrunner. But, he may not find a majority.