Boy, talk about losing control of the news cycle. First, Bob Schaffer calls a press conference to demand that Ken Salazar resign. Then, the Rocky runs an article essentially suggesting that the whole demand doesn't amount to much. Colorado has no such tradition, unlike Virginia. (Larry Sabato, a smart guy by any measure, has this one dead on.) And Schaffer himself has held full-time office while campaigning for a promotion.

Then, to add insult to injury, the Rocky runs an article about Schaffer's job as a consultant to a startup bank. Now, this is a bank "in organization," as banks are called until you could go to them and borrow money for, say, your Senate campaign. But Schaffer went ahead and described himself as a "bank director," which stretches the point a little.

Now, as resume-padding goes, this is so minor league it's closer to kickball. (Ben is all over this.) Schaffer hasn't trumped this up, hasn't tried to match Coors's business record with it. Nevertheless, on a day when you're calling on the state's attorney general to call it quits, that's not the day you want people distracted by trivia like this.

It also turns out that Schaffer's campaign is down to about $125K left in the bank. Coors, who has taken an unpaid leave of absence from the brewery to run, was in perfect position to second the suggestion. If he's as far ahead in money as all that, it could have added weight to the suggestion, and distracted Salazar during his own primary fight. Instead, he chose to turn it back on Schaffer.