On Election Day, 80 percent of voters in Colorado rejected Amendment 69, a ballot measure that would create a first-ever, statewide single-payer healthcare system. Dubbed ColoradoCare, the program would have been a historic lurch to the left.

It is a case study for Republicans in Washington. It demonstrates that even left-wing voters support private health insurance and can be persuaded about the flaws in socialized medicine. This plays into the decision about pulling the plug on Obamacare.