I've tracked this in the past and it starts with a lot and trails of over a week, then has a giant jump at the end. People like you and me who follow politics year round probably already have our votes in. People who don't really follow politics (like the rest of my family) haven't even started thinking of it yet. As close as the three main races are (I think McInnis/Maes is very close because of the McInnis plagiarism incident), every one of the remaining votes is going to matter.
(The CLEAR Act--which institutes both on- and offshore oil and gas reforms--passed narrowly today. Two Republicans voted yea, and 39 Democrats voted nay, including the congressman representing my district, John Salazar. - promoted by ClubTwitty)
UPDATE: Rep. Salazar was one of 39 Dems voting against the CLEAR Act today. Perlmutter did not vote, DeGette, Markey and Polis all supported this important legislation, which passed narrowly, 209-193. Lamborn and Coffman joined Salazar in opposition.
We've been writing about Colorado politics since late 2004. This means we've seen several election cycles come and go, and we've lived through--and diligently called the plays--for a number of hotly contentious primaries on both sides of the aisle.
In just about every case where a primary election is close at hand, the debate tends to get really heated. Because this is the biggest blog for political discussion in Colorado, everybody wants to get their particular spin in play here, and the first line of defense against an opponent's attacks is frequently one of our comment threads. One of the best examples of this phenomenon was the primary between Marc Holtzman and Bob Beauprez in 2005-06, which turned into a daily battle royale between supporters of each--although you'll find it to be the case for every high-profile contested primary that has occurred on our watch.
And inevitably, it gets out of hand at one point or another. Passions overheat, and people forget the basic rules of civility. Particularly in the case of an underdog seeking to take out a better organized opponent, it's a standard practice to very deliberately ramp up the acrimony to a fever pitch. All of which, being entirely predictable, we don't get very worked up about: our readers expect and enjoy vigorous debate, and when things do go too far our community usually self-polices very well.
One thing we can't tolerate, however, is flagrant violations of our basic rules. In the last few days we have been forced to ban a couple of users who were trying to expose the identities of members of our site, in the context of debate over the current Democratic Senate primary. We have said repeatedly that this is never acceptable behavior, as it endangers the ability of many of our most valued community members to express themselves freely. The particular incidents that resulted in bans were egregious and repeated violations of this policy--there was absolutely no question that the individuals involved knew the rules and chose to disregard them.
Anyway, our point is simple: chill out. Don't do things you know are wrong just because you're really fired up. Understand that what you do while carrying your candidate's flag in a public forum reflects on them. And above all, remember that you will still have to live with your actions on August 11th.
If you need a refresher, check out our posting rules. As we've always said: You can say just about whatever you want on Colorado Pols, and you've got more liberty to express those opinions here than just about anywhere else online in Colorado. But there are still lines that we ask you not to cross, with "no outing of someone's identity" at the top of the list.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Today "The Fix" provides its list of the 10 most interesting primary fights in the country, and Colorado's Republicans made it into two of the top three!
Most interesting, however, is that "The Fix" notes that Scott McInnis leads Dan Maes by 15 points in the race for the Gubernatorial nomination, while Jane Norton may now be leading Ken Buck 45-40 in the Senate Primary:
3. Colorado governor (R, Aug. 10): What happens if you hold a primary and the party regulars don't want either candidate to win? That's what's happening in Colorado at the moment with scandal-plagued Scott McInnis (plagiarism) and Dan Maes (campaign finance violations) battling it out. A survey shown to the Fix and conducted by a Republican pollster in the last few days put McInnis ahead by 15. If he manages to win the nomination, there will be a major push by establishment Republicans to push him out. But will McInnis go? (Previous ranking: N/A)...
1. Colorado Senate (R, Aug. 10): Just when Weld County prosecutor Ken Buck looked like he was going to pull off an upset against former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, he made a series of impolitic comments -- the most potentially damaging of which was calling elements of the Tea Party "dumbasses". A poll conducted by a major Republican firm looking in at the governor's race in the last few days showed Norton ahead 45 percent to 40 percent, which suggests that Buck has incurred considerable political damage. (Previous ranking: 3)
Check out this absolute gem of a letter to the editor in this week's Colorado Statesman, which is in reference to this column by Aaron Harber. We thought it was a joke until we read who signed the letter:
I beg your pardon! Comparing Scott McInnis and Bob Beauprez is ludicrous. McInnis' problems are the result of character flaws, whereas the political environment and outside factors contributed as much to Congressman Beauprez's election outcome as any policy issues or campaign strategy.
In the many years I have known Congressman Beauprez, never has anyone had the temerity to impugn his character as Mr. Aaron Harber has just done in the July 23 issue of The Statesman.
The anti-Bush climate during the 2006 campaign was entirely different from the present pro-conservative environment - to suggest otherwise is delusional. Congressman Beauprez's integrity is firmly in place, he has not changed his mind on any values issues; he remains pro-life, conservative, and supports family and friends (did you miss Cory Voorhis's letter about the support he received from the Congressman?).
Our friends over at "The Fix" have been regularly running a weekly feature that asks for nominees for "The Worst Week in Washington." We thought this was a good idea, so we thought it would be fun to start our own version that is Colorado-focused.
So...who is your nominee for the "Worst Week in Colorado?" Anything that happened between last Friday and today counts (so as bad as things have been for Scott McInnis lately, last week might not have been worse than the week before).
Our nominee is Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams, who not only had to deal with the official announcement that Tom Tancredo is running for governor under the American Constitution Party banner, but is also now the target of a recall effort from a website that popped up this week titled "Dump Dick Wadhams."
Click below to vote and to submit your own nominees.
In a year filled with bizarre candidates and strange statements, Tennessee Republican Basil Marceaux has moved to frontrunner status for "craziest politician."
Before it slips any further back in the rear-view mirror, last week's NEWS4/Channel 12 debate between GOP Senate candidates Jane Norton and Ken Buck featured an interesting exchange over the role of outside, particularly Washington D.C. interests in their respective campaigns.
Now the "family ties" that Buck is referring to, as we've discussed many times, are the majority of Norton's immediate family who either are presently or have worked in the past as lobbyists--especially Norton's brother-in-law Charlie Black, without any exaggeration one of the most influential lobbyists in the history of the game.
So it's fair for Buck to raise those kinds of questions--as if there was ever a doubt that Norton was a progeny of deeply-vested GOP interests in Washington, something the Republican base has known since the moment she entered this race. And the feeble comeback about Bill Ritter serving as Buck's best man (or was it the other way around?) just doesn't blunt the charge.
And for the record, Norton diffidently notes that she "didn't pick" her brother-in-law, or sister (omitting lobbyist husband, ex-husband, and we suppose you have to omit the lobbyist kid). It doesn't quite square, however, with what she told the Colorado Statesman'sErnest Luning:
CS: What has been the role of Charlie Black in your campaign?
JN: He's been my brother-in-law (laughs).
CS: Right, and in terms of the campaign, what is his involvement?
JN: Oh, I called him from time to time and asked for advice.
CS: Does he still provide ongoing advice to you?
JN: Sure.
Bottom line: maybe these two seemingly contradictory notions really aren't? Maybe it's true that Jane Norton has no choice whatsoever when it comes time to call Charlie Black for advice.
Of course, that's more or less exactly what Ken Buck is saying.
(Maybe Maes' company can help collect the debt? - promoted by ClubTwitty)
In an interview aired Wednesday, Colorado Public Radio asked gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis if he had kept his promise, which he made 14 days ago, to give back the $300,000 he got from the Hasan Family Foundation for his bungled two-year water fellowship.
McInnis said he had not given the money back yet, but he might do so later.
"I've got to make it right," he told Colorado Public Radio. "That's my point. What shape that takes, whether it's the funds or whatever it is, it's going to have to be done. I have got to make it right."
We're pleased to continue to host the Friday Jams Fest, an excellent tradition started by a former front page guest editor--and a theme for this week occurred to us.
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. The ballad existed in a number of folkloric variants from many different countries, and has been remade in a variety of formats.
"So the point is [Tony] Hayward was right just like I was. Now he's been forced out of a job. He was attacked unmercifully and he has been forced from his job, all because he was right. He didn't show sufficient compassion. He didn't show sufficient empathy, didn't show sufficient understanding. So he's gone."
UPDATE: You knew this launch would be classy, especially when Tweeted:
Good Lord, he's plagiarized Dave Schultheis! Who plagiarized...oh, wait. It's worse.
--
That's the advisory we got yesterday evening, Former Rep. Tom Tancredo will officially launch his run as an American Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate this afternoon.
Release follows, mostly so we can all chuckle together at Team Tanc's creative misspelling of the word "gubernatorial"--sure, it's kind of how you say it in some parts of the country. Just not here.
Oh, and July 28th was yesterday, but the press will figure that out.
A committee called Colorado Freedom Fund is up today with a new ad that positively hammersScott McInnis over his ongoing plagiarism scandal. We've heard it's a substantial buy that will run with high penetration through the primary.
Tattooed, folks. This is the ad you knew was coming the moment this story broke.
McInnis told an audience in Fort Collins yesterday that he was definitely the "candidate for November" should he emerge the winner in the August 10th primary. Unfortunately, any Republicans entertaining the idea that McInnis might survive the primary and recover anything close to viability will see this ad, over and over, and begin to understand how wrong they are.
Our friends at "The Fix" have a fun item up about the "first families of politics" in each state. Here's what they came up with for Colorado:
The Salazars: Former Gov. Sen. [corrected--Pols] (and current Interior Secretary) Ken Salazar (D) is the younger brother of Rep. John Salazar (D).
The Romers: Former Gov. Roy Romer's (D) son, state Sen. Chris Romer (D), is running for mayor of Denver.
The Udalls: Sen. Mark Udall (D) is the cousin of New Mexico's junior senator, Tom. Both of their fathers, Mo and Stewart, were involved in politics -- Stewart, most prominently, as Secretary of the Interior, Mo as a Congressman from Arizona
Who else would you add to the list? Who would be the first family on the Republican side of things?
*Side note: It's interesting to see that "The Fix" unequivocally declares Sen. Chris Romer as a candidate for Denver Mayor. Not that we disagree, but Romer hasn't made that announcement himself just yet.
Just when the "repeal Obamacare" bandwagon was really starting to fill up, The Hill reports:
Americans view Democrats' signature health reform bill more positively now than at any point since it was signed into law, a new poll found Thursday.
50 percent of the public say they view the new healthcare law favorably, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll that has been tracking public opinion about the legislation since it became law.
35 percent of adults said they view the law unfavorably, while 14 percent had no opinion.
The July numbers mark the strongest support for reform since it reached a low in May, when the Kaiser poll found that the public opposed the law, 44-41 percent.
The positive numbers play heavily into this fall's impending midterm elections, in which Republicans and Democrats will jockey over the reforms in the healthcare bill... [Pols emphasis]
There is where we say again that we have confidently predicted this shift in public opinion for months--just like conservative strategists such as David Frumknew that once the health reform legislation was law and began to be demystified, support would inevitably head back toward to the strong levels seen after the election of Barack Obama. This is why Republicans did not want health care reform legislation to pass in any form while Democrats were in charge; no matter how many conservative-appeasing compromises were made. Because health care in America needed fixing, everybody knows it, and it's slowly becoming apparent just how irrational the opposition to what's essentially the conservative Heritage Foundation's health care plan really got.
Nobody who can get coverage now, and couldn't before, is going to admit that they think the whole thing is terrible. And as the reforms continue to take effect, it's only going to peel more support away from politicians who say they want to take these reforms from consumers. The 2010 election season may indeed represent the only year where Republicans will be able to capitalize on opposition to health care reform at all, after which time these reforms will be sufficiently popular and established that no candidate will ever dare to oppose them again (crazies notwithstanding).
Shorter version: make sure you've thought it through before jumping on the bandwagon.
In a debate with Ken Buck on Sunday's YourShow, Adam Schrager's thoughtful public affairs TV show on Channel 20 that solicits questions and show-topic ideas from viewers like you, Jane Norton cited Schrager's own Truth-Test reporting to support her contentions that 1) under Ken Buck, the Weld County DA budget increased by 40 percent and 2) as director of the Colorado Health Department, Norton cut the department's general fund budget by 28 percent.
Schrager immediately corrected Norton on the 40 percent figure, reminding her that 9News' Truth Test determined that Buck's budget had risen by 31 percent, not 40 percent. (Truth Test is an excellent 9News series that evaluates the veracity of political advertisements aired on 9News.)
After correcting Norton on her 40 percent figure, Schrager turned the mic over to Buck, who told Norton that 9News'Truth Test also showed that she did not cut her budget when she presided over the health department.
Schrager didn't intervene and render a verdict on whether his Truth Test supported Norton's claim that she cut the health department budget or Buck's claim that she didn't.
At a time when most Colorado Republicans are running away from plagiarism-tainted GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis as fast as they can...well, there's got to be at least one who hasn't been paying attention to the news for the last three weeks, right?
Naturally, cue former Sen. Wayne "Dullard" Allard. From a statement released by the McInnis campaign yesterday:
Stressing that Scott McInnis "has a proven conservative record of reining in government spending and fighting tax increases," former U.S Senator Wayne Allard and his wife Joan today endorsed McInnis for Governor.
Senator Allard said that McInnis would be a strong adversary to federal encroachment on states' rights and a staunch advocate of the 10th Amendment...
"I'm deeply honored to have the endorsement of the Wayne and Joan Allard," McInnis said. "They are highly respected throughout the state..."
"I've known Scott for years. His common sense conservative values make him the strongest nominee for our party, and will make him a great governor too," said Senator Allard.
Of course, this isn't actually news--Wayne Allard's wife Joan was listed as an endorser of McInnis over a year ago. Former Sen. Allard himself last made the news when he floated own his name as a possible candidate for President of Colorado State University. You'll recall that CSU ultimately decided they needed a leader with more, if you will, intellectual gravitas.
And now that we know Allard isn't fazed by academic fraud that would make Ward Churchill blush, it certainly looks as though CSU made the right decision.
"EnCana has chosen to take a wait and see approach," said Doug Hock, director of community and public relations for EnCana. "We remain active in the state and plan to drill an exploratory well on our state leased acreage in the near future. Until the results of this can be evaluated, however, we've made a decision to forgo further leasing of private land."
So, what do you tree-hugging-American-job-hating-libruls have to say in your defense now?
And if that wasn't enough, perhaps this next will convince you ...
A group called "New Leadership Colorado" sent out a press release late this evening showing Democrat Andrew Romanoff within striking distance of Sen. Michael Bennet in the race for the Democratic nomination for Senate. "New Leadership Colorado" claims that it has no ties to either Romanoff or Bennet, but obviously their interests are with Romanoff (because there would be no other reason to announce this otherwise).
The automated phone survey shows Bennet leading Romanoff 44-40, with what they say is a margin of error of +/-3.6%. Given that every other head-to-head poll released to this point has shown Bennet with a double-digit lead, this is good news for Romanoff, right?
Maybe.
The polling and memo was done by a Democratic communications firm called Zata3, a name that should be familiar to many politicos for their robocalls, direct mail and other communications tools such as text messaging.
But what Zata3 does not normally do is polling. That doesn't mean that they definitely don't have these numbers correct, but they are not a polling firm. You hire Zata3 to do persuasion phone calls or text messaging -- not polling -- just like you wouldn't normally hire a polling firm to do your direct mail (or for a real-world example, you wouldn't go to a dry cleaner to buy a sandwich). This is no knock on Zata3, it's just that it seems odd that you wouldn't use a professional polling firm if you wanted real polling results.
We wondered when we first got the press release at 6:17 PM why anyone would release something this potentially helpful so late in the day; normally you would never send something to the press this late because it would almost certainly get buried and not make it on the news. But perhaps that was the point -- to put it out late enough that news outlets wouldn't have time to really check into the data and the "pollster."
GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes says a round of automated phone calls telling registered Republicans he's dropping out of the race and endorsing his GOP opponent are false.
Maes has notified Attorney General John Suthers of the fraudulent calls and is denouncing those behind them.
Editorial note - whoever is doing this is despicable.
With recent national endorsements and the support of loyal Tea Partiers behind him, Bob McConnell has a real chance in the GOP Primary for CD3.
Claiming the mantle of 'citizen-leader' (i.e. not-a-politician) McConnell came within 10 points of his Republican opponent, Scott Tipton (who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent John Salazar in 2006) at the State Assembly. Tipton is widely regarded as the establishment candidate, and a 'politician,' poison to western Colorado Tea Partiers.
Indeed, much of McConnell's support comes from an alliance of grassroots supported Tea Party affinity groups. Random reports from around the Western Slope paint the picture of a shoe-leather campaign, and provide insight to this candidate, as this recent article from the Mountain Valley News:
"I have a list of people that I would like to have resign when I get to Washington. I want resignations from Janet Napolitano from her position of Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Eric Holder for his refusal to respond to the allegations that some high ranking official offered Andrew Romanoff, seeking the US Senate seat now held by incumbent and Obama appointed Michael Bennett, a high ranking position if he would back out of the US Senate race in 2010. I want to add Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Beranke, to my list of people to ask for a resignation. President Barak Obama is on that list and so is Secretary of Agriculture Ken Salazar," said McConnell. [Emphasis Twitty}
The Secretary's proper department and governor's role in appointing Sen. Bennet notwithstanding, McConnell clearly can serve up the red meat to his base.
Bob McConnell, basking in the glow of his endorsement from Sarah Palin for the 3rd Congressional District, told cheering supporters Thursday that he dreamed the health-care bill pursued by President Obama would result in the president's political undoing in a conflict with a new GOP Congress.
...His dream, McConnell told the group, was that Republicans capture the House and Senate and repeal the health care legislation sought by President Obama that passed Congress this year with the vote of Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo, whose district includes most the Western Slope and Southern Colorado.
The president's veto would set the stage for voter outrage that would lead him to resign for the good of the country, McConnell told the group, resulting in the elevation of Vice President Joe Biden to the presidency and his appointment, with the consent of a Republican Senate, a "centrist" vice president. "Is that a dream?" McConnell told the group, to cheers.
(Eh, what's a little poison among friends, right? - promoted by Colorado Pols)
NOTE: We will be discussing this story on the AM760 morning show on Thursday. Tune in from 7-10am on your radio dial or on the web at www.am760.net.
As natural gas exploration expands throughout our energy starved nation - from the West and now into the South and Northeast - many folks living in drilling country are rightfully expressing concern that their groundwater may be susceptible to pollution from the fracking fluids that are central to drilling operations. These are very legitimate fears, as HBO's critically acclaimed documentary "Gasland" so graphically shows. And yet, to date, the Republican Party has expressed a rather callous "drill first, never ask questions later" attitude - callous, even for the GOP.
During the Bush years, Republicans managed to legislate an exemption for fracking fluid into the Clean Water Act. Then, Republicans in Congress blocked the proposed FRAC Act, which wouldn't even ban fracking fluid - it would simply require drilling companies to disclose what's in the fluids they are pumping into the earth near critical groundwater supplies. And now, in perhaps the most extreme step yet, Republicans here in Colorado (a state with one of the biggest natural gas reserves in the world) are demanding the Environmental Protection Agency never regulate fracking, regardless of whether or not the agency discovers that fracking is poisoning people.
State Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora, is announcing today she is halting her re-election campaign to take an out-of-state job running a national political organization.
Middleton plans to commute to the new job until her term ends in January and then leave Colorado, she said in an e-mail sent to Democratic legislators.
"This was a difficult decision for me but is primarily based on my family and personal needs and many of you know I had a difficult year with family issues," Middleton wrote in the e-mail.
"I have accepted a wonderful new position as president of a national political organization," Middleton wrote. "This is hot off the press, so they have to notify some folks before I publicize where I am headed."
Middleton's seat will likely be retained by Democrats, but the bigger impact could come after the election. Middleton was likely to push for the role of Speaker of the House -- though there are questions about how far she would have gotten after often siding against the caucus last session -- with the frontrunner still likely to be Rep. Andy Kerr.
Democrat Rhonda Fields has been mentioned already as a potential successor for Middleton.
At a time when most Colorado Republicans are running away from 