Looking for proof that the political landscape is a smidge different in every square inch of Colorado then it was when Barack Obama came to Invesco on the back of progressive cries for hope, change and more government?  

Look no further than the two truly excellent TV commercials being run by Chris Romer and Michael Hancock in the closing weeks of a Denver Mayoral race where Republicans are only a small percentage of the eligible voter universe.  

In what is a truly compelling TV ad, Mike Hancock sounds like a Wisconsin-sized union buster — teachers union buster, that is.

Check the chill-deciminating spot:

We love the ad; it's one of the best we've seen in a long time. It paints the crime of failing schools in the moral terms it deserves, and the defenders of the failed status quo are the moral scoundrels that Mr. Hancock indirectly suggests.

Chris Romer, himself a bold school reformer, has got a lighter but likewise powerful spot up on the airwaves where the Democrat sounds like a red-tape cutting terminator.

Here's Romer’s ad:  



We love the Hancock and Romer ads for their own sake, and commend both camps for running on reformist messages.  

But as keepers of the conservative cause we would be remiss if we did not point out how truly remarkable it is that two of the leading candidates for Denver Mayor are running campaign advertisements in the closing stretches of a Dem-dominated race that could just as easily be cut for candidates in an El Paso County Republican Primary.    

The world has changed dramatically in the last few years, and even though it isn't for the better, it's good to know that even in Democrat country cries for reform are beginning to win out.  

The race isn't over yet, with the Denver Post poll last weekend showing a three-way race between Romer, Hancock and Mejia. Of particular interest to Peak readers — Romer continues to lead among Republicans as in the last poll we wrote about. Hancock's support draws from middle-aged voters and African Americans, according the Post's analysis.

If no candidate takes over 50% of the vote, it leads to a runoff. So it seems now it's a race to make the big game.