Ron Brownstein on Donald Trump and the Colorado U.S. Senate Race in CNN

Sen. Cory Gardner and President Donald Trump

Political columnist Ron Brownstein wrote a long opinion piece describing the close alignment of U.S. Senate races and the fortunes of President Trump in the states. I was quoted pointing out that Cory Gardner is as good a candidate the Republicans have produced in Colorado since Bill Owens, but that he will still have a struggle running with Donald Trump.

Republican incumbents Collins in Maine and Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado face the challenge of holding seats in states where Trump lost last time and now stands as an underdog again. Gardner's odds appear especially bleak given Trump's decline in the state. "Gardner is one of the best politicians the Republicans have produced in that state since" the 1990s, says Floyd Ciruli, director of the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Denver. "But I just don't think being the best Senate candidate the Republicans have produced and lots of money can deal with ... just what looks like [a] wave against Trump in terms of Colorado."

John Hickenlooper and Joe Biden

The latest Keating Group poll (Democratic pollster and consultants) reinforces the point that Trump and Gardner are running essentially together and are very behind the likely Democratic nominees, John Hickenlooper and Joe Biden.

Although these numbers are unlikely to hold going into the fall, it is a very deep hole to climb out of.