Sarah Palin

Republican presidential nominee John McCain will spend the morning of Election Day in Grand Junction, his campaign announced Sunday.

McCain will hold a rally at the Grand Junction Regional Airport on Tuesday morning, his campaign announced. Doors open at 8:30 a.m., and the event will start at 11:30 a.m.

Colorado will be a major destination for the Republican presidential ticket during the final hours of the campaign: GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be in Colorado Springs the evening before to hold a pre-election rally.

• In case you forgot, Barack Obama (D) supporters want Broncos fans to remember that John McCain (R) is a Raiders fan.
• Sarah Palin (R) will be in Colorado Springs on Monday.
• Michelle Obama will be in Littleton on Monday
• John McCain will be in Grand Juction on Tuesday.
• Stuart Rothernberg moves Colorado from Lean Obama to Safe/Likely Obama and the 4th Congressional District from Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic on Oct. 29 to Lean Democratic today.
• "The reality in Colorado is that a big piece of the election is already over," writes Kirk Johnson in the New York Times. "The state’s heavy emphasis on mail-in and early voting means that close to 1.5 million votes, or about 46 percent of the registered total, are already in the can, cast and waiting to be counted."

Colorado Republicans may be looking at some big losses next Tuesday, as the races for president, U.S. Senate and the 4th Congressional District are all trending towards Democrats replacing Republicans.

But while polls indicate Democrat Mark Udall will easily beat Republican Bob Schaffer, the presidential race and --especially -- the 4th Congressional District will likely be fairly close.

Meanwhile, Colorado's six other congressional races aren't likely to be competitive.

LOVELAND--Bill Ayers who? For Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Monday, it was all about Joe the Plumber.

Palin focused on attacking her Democratic presidential opponents' domestic policy -- especially taxes and energy -- during a Monday afternoon rally in Loveland.

"Our opponent is not candid with you about his plans for taxes," Palin told a cheering crowd at the Budweiser Events Center.

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UPDATED 7:17 P.M. 10/16/2008 

Sarah Palin will hold rallies in Colorado Springs, Loveland, and Grand Junction on Monday. 

The Colorado Springs rally will be held at Security Service Field, 4385 Tutt Blvd., according to John McCain's presidential campaign. Doors open at 6 a.m.; the event starts at 8 a.m.

The Loveland rally will be held at the Budweiser Events Center, 5290 Arena Circle, McCain's campaign said. Doors for that event will open at 10:30 a.m.; the rally starts at noon.

The Grand Junction rally will be held at Suplizio Field at Lincoln Park, at the corner of 12th Street and North Avenue. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the rally will start at 6 p.m.

Free tickets are required for all three events.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is leading Colorado by 7 percentage points over Republican opponent John McCain, according to a Time/CNN poll released Wednesday.

Obama led McCain in Colorado 50-43 in the poll; Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr polled 3 percent, independent candidate Ralph Nader polled 3 percent, and Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney polled 1 percent.

Asked to choose just between the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets, 51 percent of those polled said they supported Obama  and running mate Joe Biden;  47 percent chose McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The poll was conducted Oct. 11-14 among 762 likely voters in Colorado. The survey's margin of error was +/- 3.5 percent.

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The Democratic presidential ticket has made more visits to battleground states than their Republican counterparts, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The presidential candidates, their wives and runningmates have made 150 total visits since the nominating conventions -- 95 by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), his wife Michelle Obama and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.); and 55 by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), his wife Cindy McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska).

But in Colorado, there is no such disparity. Obama and McCain have each visited four times, while Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama have also visited the state once each since the conventions. Below is our map of their visits (excluding wives):

Gov. Bill Ritter, speaking Sunday on CBS' "Face The Nation," said "the gloss has come off" Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and defended Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's economic policies.

Asked about Palin's influence on the race, Ritter said, "I think early on there was an impact, actually, and that kind of leveled the playing field for a little while. And this distancing we've seen between Obama and McCain and Obama going ahead, I think, is some sign that the sheen has come off a little bit, the gloss has come off of Sarah Palin and people are really paying attention to the economy."

Ritter also said he disagreed with a suggestion by Colorado Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams in Saturday's New York Times that Republican presidential nominee John McCain should highlight Obama's ties to controversial figures Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers.

"That would be, I think, typical of Dick Wadhams to think that kind of negative campaigning would sit well," Ritter said.