The weather was sunny and pleasant in Colorado on August 9, 1994. Primary election day was strangely quiet, however, given all of the excitement that appeared to have been generated over the contest for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. One Mike Bird supporter who had the temerity to wave a Mike Bird sign outside a north Colorado Springs polling place was chased by a representative from the local county election office. Other than this lone incident of overzealous campaigning, the registered Republicans of Colorado did their primary voting quickly and quietly in relatively empty polling places.

The Mike Bird faithful gathered in the friendly and familiar confines of the Mike Bird for Governor state headquarters on South Tejon Street in Colorado Springs. The Mike Bird campaign staff had spent most of the afternoon decorating the headquarters with red, white, and blue balloons and setting out a wide variety of after-dinner snacks. Two television sets were placed at each end of the room, but old-timers on the Bird campaign staff knew that the most reliable early information would be reported on the news-oriented all-talk radio stations.

Throughout primary election day afternoon, Chuck Baker on Colorado Springs radio station KVOR-AM conducted what he called his "exit poll." Baker encouraged his listeners who had voted to call in and briefly state for whom they had voted and why. The Mike Bird staff listened to the Chuck Baker "exit poll" as they decorated their headquarters for their election night party. They did not care for what they heard. Many of the Republicans phoning into the KVOR "exit poll" said they had voted for Bruce Benson, and most of them gave "he has the money to beat Romer" as the reason for giving Benson their vote. Surprisingly, Dick Sargent was doing very well in Chuck Baker's exit poll. It suggested that Sargent's very conservative issue stances had connected with the conservative audience that listens to the Chuck Baker show.

The polls closed at 7 P.M., and the Bird for Governor election night party began at 8 P.M. The large headquarters was quickly filled with a crowd of some 80 to 100 people, all of whom were in a good mood and having a good time. If it had been a cocktail party rather than an election night party, the hosts would have considered it a great success. It was notable that almost all of the people present were not all that interested in finding out the election results, either from the television or the radio.

Michelle Provaznik, the campaign manager, alternated between socializing at the party and getting telephoned reports on how the election was going. Shortly after 9 P.M. she circulated the word to key members of the Bird campaign staff that Bruce Benson was winning the primary election easily, even in Mike Bird's home county of El Paso County. A group decision was made not to ruin a good party by making a formal announcement about how badly the election was going for Mike Bird.

By about 9:30 P.M., however, the election night party was beginning to lose its steam. It was time to bring a formal conclusion to the Bird for Governor campaign. With his wife, Ursula Bird, standing close by, Mike Bird climbed up on a chair in an effort to get the party goers' attention. His loyal supporters immediately greeted him by loudly singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."

Early in his remarks Bird stated that he was now supporting Bruce Benson for governor. He also said that he was proud to have obtained his campaign goals even if he did not win the primary election. He had built a campaign organization in every one of Colorado's 63 counties, and he had campaigned personally in every one of those counties. Furthermore, he had worked through the "regular" nominating procedure, bidding for delegates at the precinct caucuses and putting his name in contention - successfully - at the Republican State Assembly. Bird noted, more proudly than reprovingly, that he had met the voters and debated the issues at every opportunity that had presented itself.

There were the customary expressions of thanks to his wife, his campaign staff, and the many volunteers who had worked so many hours during the long months of the campaign. Bird then reminisced about his 20-year career as an elected official in Colorado. He said he much appreciated the efforts of his many supporters, particularly those who were present, over those years.

Mike Bird concluded by quoting a well-known statement by former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.... Who, at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place should never be with the timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Things were as somber at Dick Sargent's campaign headquarters in Denver as they were at Bird headquarters in Colorado Springs. Sargent acknowledged that Bruce Benson's big-money campaign had carried the day, despite Sargent's stalwart efforts to convince Republican voters that the Colorado governor's office was not "For Sale." As if to highlight the point, on the building housing Sargent headquarters, right next to the Sargent for Governor sign, was another sign saying "Space Available."

As was to be expected, the mood at Benson for Governor headquarters on primary election night was upbeat and ebullient. Bruce Benson and his wife, Marcy, and his daughter, Ann, watched the early returns come in on television at a hotel in Englewood, a southern suburb of Denver. Good news was very soon in coming. All over the state, in county after county, Bruce Benson was receiving from 50 to 60 percent of the vote. Mike Bird and Dick Sargent were splitting what little was left over. In some counties, particularly those in the outlying, rural areas of the state, Benson was receiving 70 percent or more of the vote.

POST-PRIMARY ANALYSIS

The only small dent on Bruce Benson's bright shield of primary election victory was that the turnout of voters had been unusually low, perhaps one of the lowest in Colorado primary election history. The secretary of state's office reported that only 26.4 percent - slightly more than 1 in 4 - of Colorado registered Republicans bothered to go to the polls and vote. This contrasted with 1986, the last time there was a hotly-contested Republican gubernatorial primary, when 33 percent of GOP voters turned out. Bruce Benson had won a solid majority of the primary vote, but he had not inspired large numbers of Republicans to head out to their polling place and show their support.

The election results were no surprise to the Benson for Governor campaign. The Benson forces, which were doing considerably more public opinion polling than most campaigns, conducted three major polls prior to the Republican primary. According to Katy Atkinson, the Benson campaign manager, the polls not only showed Benson winning the primary but also revealed that Bird's and Sargent's criticisms of Benson were not getting through to the voters.

"The voters were not paying attention to Bird and Sargent," Atkinson explained. "Our polls showed the primary voters could have cared less about the caucus/assembly process and whether Bruce Benson was going to debates or not. The news media love to write and talk about political processes such as assemblies and debates, but the voters do not share that interest. The voters are only concerned with who the next governor is going to be."

THE ROY ROMER DEBATE CHALLENGE

The final comment on money and the importance it now held in Colorado primary election campaigns came from the Rocky Mountain News. Thaddeus Herrick, a political reporter at the Rocky, divided the amount of money Bruce Benson spent on the primary campaign - $2.1 million - into the total number of votes Benson received - 103,771. Herrick found Benson spent $20.23 for each vote received. Benson's two opponents, Mike Bird and Dick Sargent, did not even spend $2 per vote, Herrick reported.

THE "SIGN" ONE LAST TIME

The Bird for Governor campaign came to a final end on a strong, but somewhat strange, note. Mike Bird attended a "unity press conference" the day after primary election day with Bruce Benson, officially endorsing Benson for the fall general election. Bird stood, smiling and supportive, in the background as Benson took center stage before the television cameras.

Two days later Bird also attended a "unity dinner" sponsored by the Colorado Young Republicans and held in Denver. Bird received a standing ovation from the state "Y.R.s" when he was formally introduced. Incredibly - but true to form - Bruce Benson did not attend the Young Republican unity dinner. Katy Atkinson, Benson's campaign manager, refused to tell the press the nature of the schedule conflict that kept Benson from being there. When Rocky Mountain News political columnist Peter Blake heard that Benson would not be attending the Y.R. unity dinner, he sarcastically suggested that Mike Bird use "that tattered 'Benson' sign you've been hanging on an empty chair" one last time