Mike Miles in the Post

I'll have more to say on Mike Miles in the coming months I imagine but in the meantime, with Mark Udall bowing out of the race for Campbell's Senate seat, Mike Miles looks to be inheriting some establishment support.

Colorado's Democrats are learning to love Mike Miles.

No big-name Democratic insider has yet accepted the formidable challenge of sending U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Ignacio, into retirement in the 2004 election.

But Miles, an outsider, has been running hard for more than two years, and formally announced his candidacy last summer. He's traveled all over the state, raised $100,000 - in small donations from folks who know him, or have gotten to know him - and has slowly earned the regard of the party establishment.

"I'm nobody, and I am everyman. I'm an ordinary guy with some extraordinary experiences," Miles says. "I have no currency except for heart and honor."

In an era that's brought us Howard Dean, Governor Schwarzenegger and Mayor Hickenlooper, is Senator Miles such a far-fetched dream?

Christopher Gates, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, now ranks Miles on his list of credible challengers, on the strength of his grassroots campaign.

When Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, announced last week he would not run against Campbell, he urged skeptical reporters to consider Miles a serious candidate, with a compelling biographical story.