natalie jennings

Romney’s heading to Colorado’s wind energy hub on Thursday. Will he make energy a big deal then? 

2012swingstates:

Colorado’s diverse energy resources are bountiful and their development is a crucial issue for many voters here. But the presidential campaigns haven’t made energy a centerpiece of their campaigns in the state. 

With rare exceptions tailored for specific campaign stops, other topics have taken precedence over energy: The economy, job creation, and, occasionally, women’s issues are driving the conversation about who will be president in 2013. 

“The American public has yet to really make the link between energy and the economy in their own collective mind,” The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza wrote in his new book, the Gospel According to the Fix. “Though very few politicians are talking about it, there’s actually good news on the energy front; domestic oil output is the highest it has been since the early 2000s, and the country is producing natural gas like gangbusters.”

Although there is tension between renewable energy and fossil fuel workers in Colorado, avoiding the topic altogether means neglecting a huge sector of the state’s economy and a significant voting demographic. 

The middle ground Colorado has found in energy resources is working, and turning a deaf ear to that could hurt the presidential hopefuls in the western swing state.

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