Republicans looking for a silver lining to Tuesday's election should take a look west, to Grand Junction.

More on that in a moment on the Face The State Radio Minute.

Remember when then-U.S. Senator Tom Daschle, of South Dakota, was toppled in a 2004 upset by Republican John Thune? Daschle, the Democrat majority leader, should have been safe from such a challenge.

Fast-forward to 2008. Republican challenger Laura Bradford has pulled off a surprise victory against incumbent Democrat Bernie Buescher for a state House. What's more, Buescher is chairman of the powerful Joint Budget Committee and was rumored to be next in line for the Speaker's chair.

He'll be searching for a new job now, in large part because Mesa County residents were uncomfortable with Buescher's close ties to Gov. Bill Ritter. The state's top Democrat should look closely at Bradford's coup as he prepares his own re-election bid for 2010.

It most certainly was not a Republican year nation-wide. But Bradford showed us it was far from a GOP shut-out.

For FaceTheState.com, I'm Brad Jones.