Colorado just might make a president

That stop, in a conservative Republican area experiencing a surge in oil and gas drilling, suggests how the Democrats think Colorado can be won.

"If you want to whittle down, to some extent, the Republican advantage, you need to take 5,000 votes here, and 5,000 votes there," said Ciruli. Mike Stratton, a Democratic strategist in Denver, says Obama is sending a signal that he won't repeat Kerry's mistake of ignoring rural areas and other, more conservative parts of the state. Stratton sees an opening for Obama to win but says neither side is likely to run away with it.

Colorado "is probably as close as any place in the country," he said. "This thing could be 50,000 votes one way or the other."

Republican Wadhams agrees that the race "will go down to the wire."

If it does, don't be surprised if some TV commentator, in the days leading up to the election, invokes the memory of the late NBC newsman Tim Russert and, grabbing an erasable whiteboard, scrawls in big, bold letters: "Colorado, Colorado, Colorado."