George Bush carried Colorado.

In the Senate race, popular Republican businessman Pete Coors, CEO of one of Colorado's big home-grown businesses, was defeated by Democrat Attorney General Ken Salazar.

Senator-elect Salazar is a moderate Democrat. He's a Catholic who is pro-abortion, pro-gun, pro-death penalty.

He didn't push his politics much. He pushed his rural upbringing in Colorado, his modest family life, and his efforts to get a law degree and become Colorado's top-ranking lawyer. In other words, he was a candidate for whom most voters could nod their heads in approval.

When it came to voting for President, Bush pulled in a higher percentage of the Hispanic vote than he did in 2004. (My own suspicion is that as charming as Northeast liberal arrogance sounds to columnists, it doesn't play well to people elsewhere who don't trust such a person to do right by them.) But Hispanics and Republicans switched their vote from Republican to Democrat when it came to the Senate race.

Salazar, with his combination of good personality and moderate politics, beat the good-looking, smart Republican who had practically unlimited money to spend. This is in a state that has more registered Republicans than Democrats.

Just thoughts for the Democrats for four years from now. It was their race to lose, and they lost it. There's a lesson to be learned there.