President

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said in February that "I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience," noting that McCain (R-Ariz.) "voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings" and has a "legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language."

Yesterday, he announced that though he is not endorsing the senator, he will vote for him.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama would win Colorado - and the presidency -- if the election were held today, GOP strategist Karl Rove stated Monday on his Web site.

If the election were held today, Obama would win every state John Kerry won in 2004, while adding New Mexico (5 EV), Iowa (7 EV), and Colorado (9 EV) to his coalition," Rove wrote, citing the latest wave of state polls to be released in the past few days.

As the Grand Junction Sentinel's Mike Saccone observed on his blog Political Notebook, "When Karl Rove says a Republican is doing poorly, well, that's not a good sign for conservatives."

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Denver), former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer (D), and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) will be touring rural Colorado areas later this week to campaign for Barack Obama's presidential bid, Salazar said Monday.

The rural policy tour, which will be held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, includes stops in Sterling, Fort Morgan, Windsor, Greeley, Pueblo, Canon City, Salida, Gunnison, Montrose, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Edwards and Dillon, Salazar said during a conference call Monday.

Klobuchar, who serves with Salazar on the Senate Agriculture Committee, will join Salazar and Romer on part of the tour, Salazar said.

This week's Winners & Losers: CLICK HERE

Sarah Palin: Getty Images PhotoMany Colorado Republicans were impressed -- if not relieved -- by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's performance during Thursday night's vice presidential debate versus U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).   

Colorado Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams said the debate was "a clear win" for Palin.

"It will energize the McCain campaign at a point it needed some infusion of energy after a couple of difficult weeks," Wadhams said.

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

Barack Obama's campaign recently released an application for the iPhone. Among its more innovative aspects is what one could call a distributed phone bank -- a "Call Friends" feature which searches through your address book and prioritizes contacts which the user is encouraged to call.

Apparently, area codes are used to determine which states each contact is in, and voters in swing states are ranked higher up on the list. According to various reports, Colorado is at or near the top of the list of priority states.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall is up 7 points over Republican Bob Schaffer in a poll released Wednesday by Ciruli Associates - including a 21-point Udall lead on the Western Slope.

The poll also showed Barack Obama leading John McCain up by a single point in Colorado, 44 percent to 43 percent.

The survey was taken "just prior" to the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 - meaning it was also conducted before the U.S. House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout package on Monday.

In Ohio, the Obama campaign is downplaying the role of out-of-state volunteers, but not so in Colorado. Check out the Obama campaign video below in which volunteer Ed from Park City, UT says: "If you live in Utah, there's not much really you can do there that's gonna help the Obama campaign, but you can hop in your car, come over here, visit your friends in Colorado and make a big, big difference."