Allard Out For 2008

As if Republicans don’t have enough bad stuff happening leading to 2008, with having to follow up on the worst president in American history and having 21 of 33 contested Senate seats being held by their party, it now looks like one of those spots is being totally thrown up for grabs.

Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) announced yesterday that he will fulfill a promise made to Colorado voters in 1996 to serve only two Senate terms and will not run again in 2008.

“The people of Colorado placed their trust in me based on a promise I made to them and I am honoring that promise," said Allard. "In an age when promises are cast away as quickly as yesterday’s newspaper, I believe a promise made should be a promise kept.”

Allard was already looking at a tough election in 2008 because Colorado is a state trending from red to blue with Democrats making big gains in the last two elections including a Senate seat, the Governor’s office and two House seats that had been held by Republicans.

My thinking is that, in addition to his promise, Allard could already see that he was about to face the same fight as that seen by Republicans Jim Talent (Missouri) and Mike DeWine (Ohio) in the last election -- and those two are now looking for work.

The presumed front-runner among Democrats is five-term Second District Congressman Mark Udall, who was already planning on running for Allard's seat.