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October 30, 2008 06:40 PM UTC

Eng Claims Tight Race with Coffman

  • 56 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

According to a press release yesterday from Hank Eng’s campaign in CD-6:

***Hank Eng Pulls Neck-to-Neck in Historically Close Congressional Race***

For the first time in the history of CD-6, the race for Congress is neck-and-neck.  In a poll conducted by Zenmango Media Group, Congressional Candidate Hank Eng has pulled within 5 points of his opponent, current Secretary of State Mike Coffman.

Zenmango Media conducted research between October 25th and October 27th, 2008 via online surveys among 609 Colorado voters residing across the Sixth Congressional District…  

…Shockingly, Coffman is losing ground in Douglas County, historically one of the most Republican counties in the state.  The new poll results show that Hank Eng and Mike Coffman are in a dead-heat, each standing with 41% of the vote in Douglas County.    

Eng believes that his television ad campaign is working. “This is the first time that the Democratic candidate has been able to reach the airwaves and the new poll numbers show that I have been able to reach out to the constituents of CD-6 who clearly understand what is at stake this year.”…

…Other interesting figures from the poll include Hank ahead of Coffman amongst women and registered Independents, and Coffman with an incredible 64% negative rating.

First off, this is not the first time that a Democrat in CD-6 has been on TV. In 2004, Joanna Conti ran TV ads – albeit ridiculous ones – in an attempt to unseat Tom Tancredo.

We also have a hard time believing this poll, not the least because it was an online poll. If Eng was really as close as they claim, Coloradans certainly would have heard about it by now, and the DCCC would have dropped at least a small amount of money in the race.

We’re not saying it’s not going to happen for Hank…well, yes we are.

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56 thoughts on “Eng Claims Tight Race with Coffman”

  1. …but I believe the Bidlack/Lamborn race is closer than this one.

    Even so, poll numbers have no sway with the DCCC – they targeted one race to pimp the Dem platform (Markey), and they took their toys and went home when they felt the race was won….

  2. Neither race is winnable.  Dems have had much better candidates before for these seats and have always gone down.  A beer says Eng does about 43-45% only slightly better than has ever been done in that district.

    1. You don’t have an unlimited amount of money so you have to focus on where it will do the most good.  CD-4 was it this time around and it should pay off nicely.

      Maybe they could’ve spent less on 4 and more on 6 but whoda thunk it would actually be this close in 6 ?  Hindsight is 20-20.

        1. I live in Denver now! I used to be out in Elbert county and with me and one of my friends gone I’m sure the rural gay vote in CD-6 was cut by a third.

        2. military background, etc.  However his campaign was a disaster from the start.  This is a special year and I think it’s possible that Eng will do better than Winter. Maybe by enough to get us some more attention in 2010, especially if  it’s the only seat to strongly contest with CD4 in the Dem column and CD5 still hopeless.  

          I remember the Conti ads.  They were both making fun of Tancredo for his anti- illegal stance, the point supposedly that he was a one horse pony.  I thought at the time they were silly because very few people are passionately PRO illegal immigration, no matter how sympathetic they may be to the need for comprehensive reform and workers in certain fields such as agriculture.

          Winter kept trying to tell people that illegal immigration was a non-issue in Arapahoe County at a time when one rarely heard roofers, painters, the guys pouring your driveway etc. speaking English here.  At the time, the hysteria over this issue was high and Winter sounded out of touch. Many voted again for Tancredo on this issue alone.

          Different time, different main concerns and Eng may profit from large Dem turn out and straight Dem voting, though winning would  probably require the proverbial dead girl or live boy in Coffman’s bed.

          1. I contributed to Winter’s campaign and was initially impressed with him but by the end of his campaign, I became thoroughly convinced that he was running one of the worst campaigns in recent memory. Way too much time blogging, no time out canvassing or phone banking and a complete refusal to hire competent staff.

            I don’t think Eng is going to get much more, points wise, than Winter. But…I find it hard to believe he could run a campaign more incompetent than Winters did.  

    3. …it’s a winnable race for the Dems, since so many Repubs HATE Lamborn. No TV time for Hal has been the thing keeping him in the rear view mirror. $50K from the DCCC would put the seat in play.

  3. I can picture the Eng campaign now, a week before the election:

    -“Quick, we need to do something, even Hank’s neighbors don’t know who he is.”

    -“Hey let’s commission an online poll, after all, they are super scientific.  Then we can say, after no one over the age of 40 participated in it, that we are even in Douglas County of all places.  That should make people get excited about Hank, because after all, he did just move from Wisconsin two years ago.”

    -“Yeah, then ‘Hank the Crank’ might finally not sound angry and sad, but positive.”

    But as a concerned citizen, I just hope that they didn’t  spend too much of the money they don’t have–or raised, considering Hank has loaned his campaign $150,000 on that online poll.

    1. Good to hear the only election Coffman dosen’t have to try to fix is his own, and also good to hear you could find at LEAST ONE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE to belittle this year.  They are few and far between !

      Top shelf.

  4. I’ve seen, like, 6 yard signs for him in Douglas.

    Did they poll the entire state to get these number?  

    I hear Starin has pulled withink 45 points of Polis.

  5.    If the Eng poll were in fact, it would mean that the same folks who repeatedly and overwhelmingly re-elected a bigoted, right winger like Tancredo have suddenly decided to reject a moderately conservative Repub like Coffman and vote Democratic?

      That’s a bit too much to fathom.  I’m not saying it’s impossible, just extremely improbable.  

      1. And in complete denial, to the bitter end.

        Eng has as much a chance to win this election as I do. He’s probably about as well known as I am, come to think of it.  

          1. Being unrealistic is a recipe for disaster. I own my business and if I hadn’t been pragmatic,I would have lost it by now. Just as with any other career choice, you have to realistically face and acknowledge the challenges before you start.

            1. You own your own business and you’re voting for Obama? Haven’t you heard of this Joe the Plumber fellow? He seems to think that Obama is bad.

            3. I go around CD-6 a lot (well, the Arapaho portion anyway) and I see a hell of a lot more Hank Eng signs then I would expect. And there is that report that there are now more registered Dems in Arapaho County than ‘pubs.

              Will Hank win? No, of course not, and this poll leak is certainly good proof that he won’t. But I think he might get 45%, especially with Coffman’s SOS troubles and Obama’s coattails.

              Does that mean that CD-6 is competitive? It just might be getting that way… If once solidly red regions like Jeffco and CD-4 can start turning more blue, why not CD-6?

              1. If CD4 can go blue, so can CD6. But, and I stand by this point, to unrealistically claim that he has a legitimate shot at winning is counter productive. I saw it happen in 2006 with a couple of Colorado races–I remember Bill Winter’s, right up until election day, adamantly shouting down anyone that mentioned that CD6 was a lost cause and to turn your attention to either Perlmutter or Paccione’s race.

                He lost by 20 points.

                Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice…

                1. Winter definitely did himself no favors doing what he did. But based on this, I don’t think Eng is doing that. I think he’s just trying to generate a little press, some excitement, and maybe a few votes. Unless he’s being a blowhard about insisting that he’s got a real chance, I’d say that he’s doing no harm.

      2. It would be pretty embarrassing to have NO Dem in the race. One of these days the time and the candidate will be right to break through.  

        It would also be very helpful if we could get one close, get some name recognition and then have the same person try again the next time.  But few people are sufficiently masochistic to go through it more than once in such a tough for Ds district. Sorry you find these generous people who give there all in a such a thankless task so annoying.

        2. You just described Stan Matsunaka. Each time he ran I thought that was going to be the time Musgrave lost.

          You’re optimistic, I appreciate that, but understand how hard it can be to see that awesome candidate lose…twice.

          However, Stan did pave the way for Betsy Markey, so maybe you’re on to something here.

          We’ll see on 11/5.

          1. Just saying let’s give these standard bearers some credit for holding up our end in these elections.  

            Also, times  and demographics change.  What’s happening in 4 could happen in 6 one day.  I’m not saying it’s going to happen today, mind you. It just irks me to hear complaints about how annoying these people are who sacrifice so much to run campaigns they pretty much know they can’t win.  They probably couldn’t do it, couldn’t get out there every day, if they didn’t indulge in a lot of overly optimistic borderline magical thinking.  

          2. Angie Paccione. However you felt about her or her campaign in 2006, she really is the one who deserves some acknowledgment for paving Betsy’s way. She lost her race by 2 1/2 points and softened Musgrave up big time for 2008.

            The DCCC really felt they had blown an opportunity in 2006 and were determined to be a player this time around. And, we lucked out by getting a truly outstanding candidate in Markey who ran a solid campaign.

            I imagine even Betsy would be the first to admit that Angie opened the lid on CD4. Stan sucked as a candidate. Nice guy but crappy campaigns. And even he cut his deficit by half in his 2nd race. So I guess I’d give Colorado Democrats a whole lot of credit, too, for continuing to put up strong candidates every cycle. I guess the motto is keep chipping away.  

            1. And you’re right abut Angie. I was so proud to vote for her and to work for her campaign in ’06.

              I brought up Stan because of BC’s comment about someone being masochistic enough to run more than once in a “solid R” district.

              1. I learned so much and although I haven’t been involved in CD4 this time around, I really think we ended up with a great candidate in Betsy, too.  

  8. when I received the e-mail. But I thought that I’d just keep quiet in order not to hurt (even more) Hank’s standing here.

    Interesting to see that the proprietor didn’t have such misgivings.

  9. Take a look at http://www.zenmango.com/  Nice try Hank but no one thinks you are going to Congress.

    Now let’s get serious.

    Who will Governor Ritter appoint to replace Mike Coffman as Secretary of State:

    Rosemary Rodriguez, Ken Gordon, Andrew Romanoff, Joan Fitz-Gerald, Peter Groff, Abel Tapia or none of the above?

    1. Since he would’ve won the election outright, had it not been for the voting machine fiasco in Denver County.

      Added plus that he gets along with Coffman, as well as the majority of the Senate.

      I see Romanoff stepping in for Degette in CD1 when she runs off to the HHS position in DC…

      1. I don’t see DeGette getting offered the position though.

        I would be overjoyed if it did happen, because Romanoff in the U.S. House would be a perfect fit. That man is going places I tells ya!

        1. Obama will end up appointing 50 or so people from Colorado to positions in the federal government. And a lot of them are very compelling for soemone like DeGette and/or Romanoff. In fact, as the cabinet officers spend a boatload of their time on meet & greet stuff, the next level down can be more interesting.

          I think Romanoff is a slam dunk for something in Washington and DeGette & Groff a strong possibility. Maybe JFG too. Term limits means we actually have a nice bench of possibilities.

          1. I was just skeptical about the HHS appointment for DeGette. I don’t see it.

            Wait so Obama is going to raid all of our good Pols for his Administration??? Can’t we have one or two to stay and help out Ritter in 2010?

        2.    Ritter is going to want to name someone who can hold that office in ’10.  DeGette’s political shelf life runs out east of Monaco, south of Hampden, and west of Wadsworth.

            And why would she ever consider accepting it?  She’s got a House seat she can keep for the rest of life, she vice chair of Commerce Committee, and she deputy, assistant, regional whip (or some such title) for the majority Dems.

            She would be out of her mind to give that up to serve two years as Sec. of State.

           

      2. DeGette supported Clinton.  Obama is not going to appoint her to HHS or anything else.  

        My personal opinion is that Rosemary Rodriguez will be the next SOS.

        For a good laugh go to the website of Hank Eng’s “online pollster”.  Hank may get a higher percentage of the vote than Winter or Conti but won’t be headed to Congress.  

  10. I don’t live in the District.  But Hank Eng was in the Peace Corps, years ago, and so i do want to put in a good word for him…

    Plus, I am so sick of Coffman and his nasty tricks to make it more difficult for people to vote…just really pisses me off……I can just imagine what kind of crap he will try and pull in Congress…

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