Carman: The view of this election is a lot clearer here in flyover country
It would be a country where every vote, regardless of where the voter lived, had equal value and where the critical issues in every state mattered. It would be a country where the presidential candidate who received the most votes won. It would look a lot like every other democracy in the world.
If that's simply too radical, let's try this little thought experiment.
Consider what it would be like if Colorado were a swing state or home to one of the five counties likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election on Nov. 5. These are the folks who will decide our future.
Wouldn't it be nice to control the levers of power for once?
Sure, we'd be hammered with TV commercials. Our recycle bins would be overflowing with political mailers, our phones vibrating with calls from pollsters. Candidates would eat fried cheese at the state fair , drop into coffee shops and hold town halls.
They'd wear cowboy hats. They'd woo us.
And, instead of just jetting into Aspen on fundraising missions , they might show some interest in the challenges of living in Colorado. They might pretend to care and even pander to us, if only just a little.
So, just for grins, with 44 days left in this dog-eat-dog political campaign, let's indulge this fantasy.
Imagine a presidential candidate in 2024 who holds a rally in Boulder and is not afraid to talk about the impact of climate change. The candidate would be well versed in what must be done to address it and outline serious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions instead of shamelessly groveling at the feet of the 26,000 workers employed in fracking in Pennsylvania.
I mean, how many times have we heard about how important it is to protect fracking jobs in a state where, thanks to fracking, the drinking water from the tap is flammable because of methane contamination ? Is it just me or does this seem a little, well, awful?
Meanwhile, the more than 80,000 ski industry jobs in Colorado are increasingly at risk as historic snowpacks diminish and the spring snowmelt comes earlier and earlier.
Years of drought, heat waves and the near collapse of the Colorado River system also threaten the $219 million whitewater rafting industry in the state.
In fact, the whole $13.9 billion outdoor recreation industry, which directly supports 130,000 jobs in Colorado, is imperiled by climate change, which is largely being ignored in this election where demonizing immigrants and lying about crowd sizes have seized the moment.
If Colorado were a swing state, we would be hearing lavish support for the Protect the West Act , a measure proposed by Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow that would provide $60 billion to protect vulnerable areas from wildfires and assist communities still struggling to recover from the devastating Marshall, Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, to name just a few.
Never heard of it? You're not alone.
We'd hear a whole lot more about regulations to break the stranglehold the multinational corporate meat industry has on our food supply that has inflated prices for consumers while ranchers' relative profits for their cattle continue to decline. When it comes to protecting your right to eat as many burgers as your struggling cardiovascular system can handle, busting the monopolistic beef industry is a critical first step.
And there might be a real conversation about the Affordable Housing and Homeownership Protection Act , which, among other things, would make it a lot harder for private equity goons to swoop in from out of state and buy what's left of affordable housing here.
It's not the whole issue in the raging housing crisis for sure, but in cities and suburbs all over Colorado, the private equity greedheads are jacking up the rents and making it harder for ordinary homebuyers to compete in an already out-of-control housing market. It doesn't have to be that way.
I realize this is a fantasy and I understand that it would be political malpractice under our constitutionally inequitable electoral system for candidates to squander limited resources and even more severely limited time in states where the outcome is predictable and all-but guaranteed – even if the vast majority of Americans live in flyover country.
One advantage to living in the country's sprawling neglected political backwater is that we see the campaigns at arm's length and know B.S. when we smell it. Honestly, we don't expect to see high-quality, affordable child care paid for through tariffs on China, no matter how many times we hear it.
Maybe those folks in Erie County, Pennsylvania, will be disappointed when the candidate they pick fails to deliver on all the extravagant campaign promises. The candidates came through town dozens of times, after all. They must have meant what they said, right?
We know better.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun's opinion policy . Learn how to submit a column . Reach the opinion editor at .
