President Bush and other Republican leaders might voice optimism about their party's chances in 2008.
But at a Wednesday night panel discussion in downtown Denver focusing on the future of the GOP in the West, conservatives sounded about as cheery about the future as a group of Democrats the day after the 2004 presidential election.
"Colorado's not all of a sudden a liberal state. It hasn't moved to the left. It's been a few people who have dumped several million dollars in it. But what they've done is (Democrats) have run people who don't have voting records."
-- Rich Beeson, political director for the Republican National Committee.