Book Review: The Blueprint, How the Democrats Won Colorado
18th February 2026
While Republicans are catching up or holding their own in some states, they are still losing elections in places where they should be winning, like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.
As a full-time political operative back in the 1980s and early 90s, I remember Colorado being a reliable, even sleepy, Republican state. The GOP controlled the governorship, both US Senate seats, and five of the state’s then-seven congressional districts (they now have eight).
That was true up until 2004. Then something happened. Within four years, it had practically reversed. Beginning that year, Colorado Democrats began to reverse their fortunes. And in doing so, created a model that has been exported to dozens of other states, including Virginia. This was documented in the book “The Blueprint” by Adam Schrager, an Emmy Award-winning journalist from Wisconsin, and Rob Witwer, an attorney, former counsel to the Colorado GOP, a former Republican member of the Colorado House of Representatives, and a Denver attorney.
I hear you asking, “Why are you reviewing a nearly 16-year-old book?” Perhaps you’re asking, even as someone who is politically attuned and active, “Why should I care?” Because it remains as relevant as ever, and Republicans everywhere have, with a few exceptions, failed to heed its lessons, no more so than in Virginia in their disastrous 2025 election.