To be sure, information about the telephone poll is limited. In addition to knowing that 500 likely voters were called, I’d like to know where those voters live (roughly). Specifically, I’d like a sense of how Hickenlooper polls among likely voters a) outside of Denver and b) on the Western Slope in particular, where McInnis ought to enjoy a broad base of support, being as he calls Grand Junction home.

It’s early, and such minutiae will come. In the meantime, Democrats must be pleased to see so much swing so soon just by virtue of tapping a quality candidate to replace Bill Ritter. So that tells us about name recognition. Now let’s see how both campaigns approach the issues.