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September 13, 2012 03:56 PM UTC

Obama Wheels-Down In Denver Once Again

  • 39 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

FRIDAY UPDATE: Golden Mayor Marjorie Sloan sets the record straight:

I’m the person responsible for the Ulysses S. Grant statement  and I’m really sorry for my miscommunication. President Obama is indeed the first sitting president to visit GOLDEN since Ulysses S. Grant and I told him so while greeting him. I should have been less ambiguous in my antecedents (“here” could mean either Jefferson County or Golden) or more willing to speak up in the middle of a presidential speech.  

Marjorie Sloan

Mayor of Golden

—–

UPDATE #3: The Colorado GOP appears to correctly take issue with President Barack Obama’s claim, as reported by CBS below, to be the “first sitting president to visit Jefferson County since Ulysses S. Grant.” They point to a 2004 New York Times article about President George W. Bush’s rally at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison–very much located in Jefferson County.

We’re thinking this may not be the only such visit either: we have to think other Presidents have found the backdrops afforded by Jefferson County to be irresistible, like Dwight Eisenhower, whose wife Mamie was raised in Colorado and who spent a great deal of time in our state. But regardless, this was clearly an error by Obama, fairly (and easily) called out by Republicans.

Having said that, AP’s Kristen Wyatt notes helpfully:

You’d hate to be the staffer who “discovered” this little factoid.

—–

UPDATE #2: CBS News:

After a week largely focused on the turmoil in the Middle East and his administration’s foreign policy, President Obama on Thursday revived his economic campaign pitch in one of the most critical counties in one of this year’s key swing states.

“We don’t believe in a top-down, trickle-down economy that says to everybody you’re on your own,” Mr. Obama said to a crowd of supporters in Golden, Colorado, against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. “We believe the economy grows from the middle class out, from the bottom up.”

…Mr. Obama noted Thursday that he is the first sitting president to visit Jefferson County since Ulysses S. Grant. “Back then you couldn’t even vote — you guys were still a territory,” the president joked with the crowd.

—–

UPDATE: 9NEWS reports from Golden at noon:



—–

The Washington Post has a good story today on the battle between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for suburban Denver voters–just as Obama arrives in Golden.

For Obama, who won Colorado four years ago by nearly nine percentage points, the focus has been heavily on Latinos and women. One of the quirks of the new unaffiliated voters who have moved into suburbs across the country – including in other battlegrounds such as Virginia and North Carolina – is that the men who describe themselves this way tend to vote Republican, according to polls, while the women are more likely to swing between the parties.

Just as non-ideological as their male counterparts, unaffiliated women voters are also particularly moved by issues that affect them, such as contraception and abortion. The proof came two years ago, when Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) eked out a narrow victory over Republican Ken Buck largely by targeting women in the suburbs and portraying Buck as ideologically extreme.

“We created the largest gender gap in the country,” said Guy Cecil, who was Bennet’s campaign manager and now runs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The suburbs of Virginia, the suburbs of Indianapolis, the suburbs of Denver – you have people who are turned off by the sort of extreme points of view that now represent most of the Republican Party.”

Obama is following a similar playbook…

The story identifies Jefferson and Arapahoe counties as “a central focus for both campaigns.” Given the frequency of return visits by both the Obama and Romney campaigns–belatedly for Romney, who inexplicably spent several months making stops in the unpopulated hinterlands of the state–it’s a story our metro area readers already know well, with traffic jam anecdotes.

We’ll update through the day with further coverage of Obama’s visit to Golden.

Comments

39 thoughts on “Obama Wheels-Down In Denver Once Again

  1. Calls it the Obamarama.  Rode her bike to work today, which makes me proud to no end.  Apparently the crowd is blocks long.  Haven’t seen crowds like that since the good old days of E-days.  Of course the crowds were exactly half as big as I made them out to be then…

  2. Along with about 20,000 others.  What a zoo.  The City is going to have a mess to clean up in that park what with all the rain yesterday and the mud today.  Beautiful day.  One of those days that only happens in Colorado on a fall day.  Spectacular setting with mountains and mesas all around.

    The speech was pretty much what he said at the convention.  Nothing firery, nothing new.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed with his convention speech and I wasn’t impressed with this one.  Nothing to really excite the crowd.  Certainly nothing new to move undecided voters.

    If he’s not going to come out swinging like Clinton and rouse up a crowd, he might as well go back to the White House and save the money.

    As you all know, I’m an Obama voter because I hate what the Republican Party and its candidates have become.  But there was nothing like Clinton’s speech to enthuse me.

    Why can’t the man sell himself.  Answer, he’s a community organizer who only wants to reach concensus.  Give me Hillary any day.

    1. The President sure knows how to step on an applause line.  Same thing as at the convention.  Keeps going, even when no one can hear him because of the applause.  He needs Drama 101 from high school.  Never step on your laugh/applause lines.  Seems like he is in a hurry just to be on time.

      The good thing was that he was exactly on time.  Stepped to the mic at exactly 11 am.  You got to give the campaign credit for that.

      1. fiery attack mode may not have been ideal in the face of ongoing violent crises. You know how quick the chattering classes are to reduce everything to “extremism on both sides”,  “failure to reach across the aisle on both sides” and all that other “even handed” crap. He also may be a little distracted by the death of his ambassador, ongoing threats, managing the military (drones, marines warships) response and search for perps, etc.  Just sayin’. And You’re still voting for him.  Bet a lot of similar minded people are planning to join you.

        In the debates he really does need to show how much better prepared and open about his plans he is than Mittens, how much more qualified to be the leader on the national stage and keep us safe with a level head and how much more the middle class gets with him and his Dems.

        1. Other are free to disagree or yell fire in a crowede theater as far as I am concerned.  But, the fact is that he isn’t going to change and he just simply doesn’t inspire this year with the SOS.  Had he given Clinton’s speech rather than his own, he would have fired up the crowd and gotten some volunteers and other stuff he needs.  As it is, a lot of us can now say we saw the President of the US.  Yawn.  He’s my 5th.

          1. hasn’t been making his most inspiring speeches. Respect your opinion. Still think there are a lot of indies out there like you who will vote for him over Romney because they are as smart as you are.  Hope there will be enough of you.

    2. This isn’t 2008.  The Denver Post estimate of 8400 seems a stretch.  I saw no signs for or sign of Miklosi or Perlmutter.  Kind of strange as it was in Perlmutter’s district and he was one of the first Members of Congress to endorse Obama in 2008.

        1. I was referring to the stage with the President where Perlmutter and his signs could be seen by the media.  Yes, there was a Perlmutter presence in the back.  

    3. Obama has a perceived lead and doesn’t need to dangle his ass out there like Romney.  Who knows what issues he is dealing with behind the scenes that takes away from his campaigning?

      I don’t want him to go into a prevent defense but we’ve seen that his opposition will twist every phrase to make Obama seem as bad as possible.  As long as Obama is giving the standard stump speech, Romney can’t go after him with new lies.  They lie and blame Obama even before events happen.  Romney is doing crazy John McCain stuff that will create even more gaffes than Obama giving a boring speech.

      1. Except why doesn’t he just do what I stated above which is stay home and save the money.  These things cost cities and counties a lot of money which they can’t afford right now.  If its the SOS why not stay home and campaign from the White House lawn?

        1. Granted campaigning should be the presidents lowest priority but if you shut it down like John McCain did then you might not be able to get it cranked up again and then have to hand the White House over to idiots and a narcissist.  That’s not a good alternative.

          Obviously he must have a lot on his mind.  He appointed Stevens and must have known him.  It must be a shock to lose someone in the diplomatic corp who was spearheading new initiatives in the Middle East.  My guess is he is evaluating what is going on and deciding how to respond.  I’m sending him my best thoughts to act with care and conviction.

    1. Craig is a valuable window into those who may very well ( but stuff happens, might not) support Obama in the election without being in any danger of swooning. You can go to a Romney rally in Colorado and see people loving him and cheering every word, too.  Never forget it’s the Craigs we need more of and I’m just glad he’s voting with us this election.  

      1. Ask for a short tour, and you can get 3 free(8oz) beers 5 days a week. If you wait for shift changes and bring more than one type of scanable ID… ahh college.

    1. If you’re a resident or business in Golden who is on the City’s e-mail list on Tuesday afternoon you got an e-mail from the City announcing that tickets were available and that Obama would be the first president to visit the City of Golden since US Grant.

      Downtown Golden folk,

      President Obama will speak at Lion’s Park this Thursday, 9/13, at about 8:30am.  Tickets are still available at the regional field offices and right downtown at the SW corner of 13th and Washington.

      Obama will be the first President to visit Golden since Ulysses S. Grant in 1873.

      Needless to say, this will be an exciting event for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.  

      Regardless of your political persuasion, things will get quite hectic in downtown that morning.  It is difficult to predict how many people will come to this event, so arrive early and be prepared for a busy morning.

      If you’re a merchant, you might want to stock in supplies of anything with a political nature.

      If you have parking lot, you might want cone/rope it or staff it.

      8th will be closed from Washington Avenue all the way to the Briarwood for the duration of the President’s visit.

      10th will be closed from City Hall to the Rec Center from early in the morning until the visit is over.

      Otherwise, parking will be at a premium and traffic will be stalled wherever the motorcade goes.  Avoid the Highway 58 entrance into Golden.

      Good luck and make the best of it!

      Mark Heller, JD, AICP

      Executive Director

      Golden Urban Renewal Authority

      922 Washington Avenue, Suite 100

      Golden, CO 80401

      303 279 4162

      mark@gura.com

      http://www.gura.com

      The President in his remarks stated that he had just had a very nice welcome from Margery Slone (Mayor of Golden) who told him that this was the first visit by a sitting President to Jeffco.  I don’t know whether the Mayor in all the excitement told him wrong or the President in all the excitement just got it wrong.  Hell, I don’t know how he even keeps track of what state he is in, let alone City and County.

      The truth is that he is the first sitting President to visit the City of Golden since US Grant.

      Another example of Republican Rule No. 109, When there’s something you don’t want to talk about, change the subject.

      Much ado about nothing.  Move along.

    2. If you’re a resident or business in Golden who is on the City’s e-mail list on Tuesday afternoon you got an e-mail from the City announcing that tickets were available and that Obama would be the first president to visit the City of Golden since US Grant.

      Downtown Golden folk,

      President Obama will speak at Lion’s Park this Thursday, 9/13, at about 8:30am.  Tickets are still available at the regional field offices and right downtown at the SW corner of 13th and Washington.

      Obama will be the first President to visit Golden since Ulysses S. Grant in 1873.

      Needless to say, this will be an exciting event for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.  

      Regardless of your political persuasion, things will get quite hectic in downtown that morning.  It is difficult to predict how many people will come to this event, so arrive early and be prepared for a busy morning.

      If you’re a merchant, you might want to stock in supplies of anything with a political nature.

      If you have parking lot, you might want cone/rope it or staff it.

      8th will be closed from Washington Avenue all the way to the Briarwood for the duration of the President’s visit.

      10th will be closed from City Hall to the Rec Center from early in the morning until the visit is over.

      Otherwise, parking will be at a premium and traffic will be stalled wherever the motorcade goes.  Avoid the Highway 58 entrance into Golden.

      Good luck and make the best of it!

      Mark Heller, JD, AICP

      Executive Director

      Golden Urban Renewal Authority

      922 Washington Avenue, Suite 100

      Golden, CO 80401

      303 279 4162

      mark@gura.com

      http://www.gura.com

      The President in his remarks stated that he had just had a very nice welcome from Margery Slone (Mayor of Golden) who told him that this was the first visit by a sitting President to Jeffco.  I don’t know whether the Mayor in all the excitement told him wrong or the President in all the excitement just got it wrong.  Hell, I don’t know how he even keeps track of what state he is in, let alone City and County.

      The truth is that he is the first sitting President to visit the City of Golden since US Grant.

      Another example of Republican Rule No. 109, When there’s something you don’t want to talk about, change the subject.

      Much ado about nothing.  Move along.

  3. The story is that when Grant was out here, he took the mining road between Central City and Idaho Springs.  The miners heard him yelling, “Oh my God!  Oh my God!” all along the road.  

    I guess it’s either that or Monica Lewinsky’s great-great-grandmother was a passenger in the carriage, too.

  4. I’m the person responsible for the Ulysses S. Grant statement  and I’m really sorry for my miscommunication. President Obama is indeed the first sitting president to visit GOLDEN since Ulysses S. Grant and I told him so while greeting him. I should have been less ambiguous in my antecedents (“here” could mean either Jefferson County or Golden) or more willing to speak up in the middle of a presidential speech.  

    Marjorie Sloan

    Mayor of Golden

    1. …between many Republicans (who shall remain unnamed in the comment) and Mayor Sloan: Mayor Sloan understands that leadership is about taking responsibility… even for minor miscommunications.  

      1. What a ridiculous statement, Arapa. As if “covering” for the President is saving him from some MAJOR scandal. It was a simple misunderstanding, Mayor Sloan owned her part in it, end of story.

        I joked with her after the rally that Republicans like you would jump on this as if it was some kind of deal breaking lie instead of the simple confusion that it was. Thanks for confirming my low expectations.

      2. a disrespectful jerk at EVERY opportunity? Mayor Sloan came here to clear up a misunderstanding and provide the truth.

        Thank you, Mayor Sloan…and please overlook our resident adolescent. He suffers from a degenerative condition known as “neo-conservatism”. We are hoping he will seek treatment soon.

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