State Dem Leaders Support Salazar VP Bid; Salazar Open To Idea

With the Democrats looking to recapture the White House this November, many people are talking about nominating a Latino from a Western swing state for vice-president.

But they're not talking about Bill Richardson - they're looking at Ken Salazar.

The first-term Colorado senator's name has been bandied about as a possible veep candidate for more than a year, and many key state Democratic lawmakers say he'd be a great choice for their party's 2008 presidential ticket.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) feels that as vice president, Salazar "would be a strong voice" for major issues facing the Rocky Mountain states, said DeGette spokesperson Kristofer Eisenla.

"She thinks with how important ... those issues are in the Rocky Mountain West, we think (a Salazar vice-presidential nomination) is definitely a possibility," Eisenla said.

U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, is on board, too.

"Mark knows Ken would make an excellent choice, both as a nominee and as Vice President," said Udall campaign spokesperson Taylor West in a statement. "In addition to the judgment and experience he'd bring to the job overall, he'd also be a strong voice for the West and for rural America."

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) is "not surprised that Senator Salazar is on the short list" for Democratic vice-presidental candidates, said Perlmutter spokesperson Leslie Oliver.

"The senator is a very moderate Western Democrat, and (Perlmutter) thinks that the senator would bring solid Western values to the ticket, whoever the (presidential) nominee is," Oliver said.

State Senate President Peter Groff (D-Denver) was a little less enthusiastic.

"Senator Salazar has ably served the people of Colorado, and I think he'd be an interesting choice," Groff said in a statement. "I think it's time our nation's leaders looked to the West as a model of practical and effective solutions for America."

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) said the idea of Salazar on the Democratic ticket was "great."

Salazar himself was cautiously receptive to the idea while speaking to the Montrose Daily Press on Wednesday.

"I would say ‘yes,'" Salazar told the paper, "but the chances of that happening are extremely remote and it's not something that I think about because my job, frankly, is to be the best U.S. Senator that I can be - and to do that takes a lot of time.

"I think when people speculate about who's in the veepstakes, it could be anybody - like it's too early to tell," he said, according to a Daily Press article.

Having Salazar on the ticket would fit in nicely with Democrats' goals of building on recent political gains in the Rocky Mountain states and among Latinos, said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University.

"As a counterweight against the Republican successes in the South, it's reasonable (for the Democrats) to look for the Western states," Straayer said. "And the other (reason) is to make an appeal to Hispanic voters, which is a growing population here (in Colorado)."

Salazar would likely be a better fit for Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama because he's a minority, a moderate, and he lives in a region where Clinton polls poorly, said Jennifer Duffy, managing editor of the Cook Political Report.

In the Feb. 5 Democratic caucus in Colorado, Obama beat Clinton by a 2-1 margin.

"Frankly, with his victory in Colorado, Obama doesn't need to shore himself up there," Duffy said.