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McCain just lost Colorado

by: Alan

Sat Aug 16, 2008 at 10:31:58 AM MDT


( - promoted by Colorado Pols)

Some of you may remember I got the chance to see John McCain back in March of '05, when he opened for President Bush at a Social Security privatization "town hall" (which lives in infamy, but I digress).

McCain got started with a hilarious deadpan, something to the effect of "Hello, I'm John McCain of Arizona and I've come for your water." Got great laughs, and he's kept using variations of the line ever since when he visits us in Colorado. It's on tape all over the place.

Just one little problem: it's not a joke.

State officials assail McCain's remarks on Colorado River Compact

Water experts of all stripes were left questioning the prudence of Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain after he told a newspaper the critical 1922 water compact between seven Western states should be revisited.

"I don't think there's any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties," McCain told The Pueblo Chieftain. "I think that there's a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource."

The Colorado River Compact governs how seven Western states, including Colorado and Arizona, share the Colorado River.

"Conditions have changed dramatically," McCain said...

John Redifer, a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and political science professor at Mesa State College, said McCain's position makes sense in light of Arizona's needs, but not as a national policy.

"I wonder if he is running for president of the United States or for something in Arizona when he makes those statements," Redifer said. "I'm really kind of surprised that someone running for president ... that needs to carry the state of Colorado would make a statement like that."

Colorado's statesmen also questioned McCain's plan, with Congressman John Salazar, D-Colo., saying he is "totally disappointed in McCain."

Salazar, via his spokesman, Eric Wortman, pledged to fight McCain's plan.

"Over my cold, dead, political carcass," Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer said...


That's right, even Bob "Referendum A" Schaffer is posturing on this one. And that's the thing--no one in Colorado could possibly support this and expect to remain in elected office. Colorado's water rights should be "revisited" because of the "reality" of Arizona and California sprawl? Oh my god. Lethal.

More reaction in the Pueblo Chieftain, who broke the original story yesterday:

McCain: Renegotiate 1922 Western water compact
Alan :: McCain just lost Colorado
"Senator McCain's position on opening up the Colorado River Compact is absolutely wrong and would only happen over my dead body," Salazar said. "It's an anathema to the fundamental principles of Colorado's water rights and our compacts."

The senator said that when the state's compacts with the lower basin states were negotiated, everyone knew at the time that those states would grow in population faster than Colorado. As a result, the upper basin states' water rights needed to be protected.

"We did not want California to gobble up all of the water supply on the Colorado River, and they would have done that under the doctrine of equitable apportionment," Salazar said. "In my view the compact is sacrosanct. I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that it is not opened up."

Salazar isn't the only Coloradan to be distrustful of downstream states. Two years ago, his successor in the attorney general's office, Republican John Suthers, created a special legal team to prepare for a possible - some believe, likely - lawsuit from those states in an effort to gain more Colorado water.

Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, said there's no need to renegotiate the compact.

"Just last year, the seven states entered into a new implementing agreement, and that agreement is working as intended," Ritter said. "It would be sheer folly to re-open the compact at a time like this when all of the states are working cooperatively on this issue."

McCain stressed that he has no intention of taking additional Colorado water, but emphasized that talks should occur...


This really is nothing short of unbelievable, coming from a man who visits Colorado often enough you might get the impression that he wants to, imagine for a moment, carry the state. So much for that, eh?

Next time McCain lands the "Straight Talk Express" 737 in Grand Junction, they're going to greet him with pitchforks if there's any justice. And those jokes about Arizona plundering our most precious resource? I'm going to spend an hour or two this evening tracking down some seriously toxic Youtubeables. Stay tuned...

Cross-posted at ProgressNowAction
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McCain just lost Colorado | 48 comments
"Over my cold, dead, political carcass"
After November, a carcass is all he'll have.
He's trying to channel Charlton Heston, but coming out Jerry Lewis.

"What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." - Christopher Hitchens
Looking forward to seeing the next McCain-Schaffer joint appearance
I'm sure all those irrigation-water-using farmers who Musgrave counts on are thrilled with McCain's position as well.  
[ Parent ]
Arizona embodies modern conservatism
Vote for Republicans while your entire existence is predicated on the federal government subsidizing you (in this case, through funding for water management).

I want a nickel every time someone uses the "We are all triguardian" joke, or I start posting more naked pictures of politicians.
Arizona has the Hummer of water projects
A bunch of canals that evaporate millions of gallons of water for no particularly good reason except political pork barrel politics.
[ Parent ]
what's more important to John McCain.....
...those golf courses in the Phoenix suburbs or Colorado's agricultural industry?
  I think we all know the answer to that one.
"Conditions have changed dramatically, so I'm not saying that anyone would be forced to do anything because I'm a federalist and believe in the rights of states,"
McCain stressed that he has no intention of taking additional Colorado water, but emphasized that talks should occur.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I would never advocate any course of action that would damage the state of Colorado's rights over the water, or any other water resources that is going to be one of the most precious commodities for Colorado and the entire West," the presidential hopeful said. "I would never support any policy or any federal role that would impair the state of Colorado or others state's rights to their resources. But I know there have been discussions amongst the governors. I encourage those discussions as to how we best use a scarcer and scarcer resource in the West."



Some men see things as they are, and ask why! ...I dream things that could be and ask,  Why Not !
[ Parent ]
How frakking out of touch can this man be?
There was a long and complicated process to arrive at the 2007 guidelines that run through 2026.  Where has this "leading senator of the west" been to not know about the currently completed compact.  He could of gone to Wikipedia like he did for Georgia and gotten a current update on the recently completed negotiations.

What an idiot.

[ Parent ]
That's not entirely fair
After all, McCain doesn't know how to use the Internet and he's probably never even heard of (the) Wikipedia.
[ Parent ]
So I take it you disagree with Schaffer's "over my cold dead political carcass" response?
Why was Schaffer so livid about it if you're not?
[ Parent ]
These comments
Sound more like they came from a 1st term congressman from the SW than a Presidential candidate. Doesn't he have anybody telling him that he doesn't need to say things like that becuase he is already going to win Arizona? He HAS to win Colorado to win the presidency.

Excpect this to pop up in 527 ads against McCain closer to the election.

We are all triguardian, but some of us are more triguardian than others.

he doesn't have that big of a lead in AZ, so maybe he's worried
   If you're doomed to losing the election, at least have the ability to carry your own state!
[ Parent ]
FYI...
Al Gore lost his home state in 2000.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
Case in point
He should have promised moonshine for everyone and a possum in every pot.
[ Parent ]
And made a promise
to clarify federal law, making it clear that if a married couple gets divorced, they're still cousins.

"Please don't eat any peanuts out of anyone's crap." - LaughingBoy
[ Parent ]
Citing the Daily Sentinel would have been nice
Not to mention Mike Saccone, whose byline appeared on the article you quoted.  Yes you provided a link, but it would have been more proper to mention the source of your quote as well.

When I use lots of words, they always form an analysis (and, while producing high volume, also produce high information-density).
--Steve Harvey, 2009
This is not new,
McCain going off inflicting his own wounds, not staying on "talking points" of the day.  His handlers apparently are beside themselves for his straying off script.

One of many factors why Obama will win.  

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign
"Brian, what's my position on contraception?"  

I want a nickel every time someone uses the "We are all triguardian" joke, or I start posting more naked pictures of politicians.
[ Parent ]
According
to McCain campaign staffers, John McCain   does not speak for the McCain campaign.
no, Joe Lieberman does.....everyone knows that

[ Parent ]
How does blind, partisanship see anything?
What strikes me over the last couple of years on this blog is how Republicans can voice their opinion with so little weight....in terms of data, science, facts, etc., essentially saying I'm right because I say I am (no pun intended).

Their positions (i.e., anti-tax, anti-abortion, etc.) do little to solve problems, and are simply personally feel-good positions that belie the complex set of problems the planet faces.

Can policy debates EVER focus on facts here?


"In short, we eat oil" ardy39

[ Parent ]
how Republicans can voice their opinion with so little weight....in terms of data, science, facts, etc.
   The answer is simple.  They're sock puppets spouting talking points from Rush Limp-baugh.
[ Parent ]
Resurrects Schaffer's Referendum A position
This opens the door to an extended conversation on Bob Schaffer's support for Referendum A in 2003 that two-thirds of Coloradans rejected and helped drive the Western Slope from the GOP. Why hasn't Schaffer had to account for his former water grab position?

Schaffer Backed Extreme Water Referendum That Was Overwhelmingly Defeated by Colorado Voters. In 2003, Schaffer backed Referendum A, a $2 billion water project measure that Colorado voters defeated in every single county and Western Slope voters slammed by a nearly 4-1 margin. Opponents called the bond proposal a "blank check" for projects that could damage the state's environment and fuel runaway growth. [ Denver Post, 12/10/06; Denver Business Journal, 11/7/03; Rocky Mountain News, 11/5/03; Rocky Mountain News, 11/5/03; Denver Post, 10/19/03]


"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" - Nietzsche  
Big Water Bob


"Please don't eat any peanuts out of anyone's crap." - LaughingBoy
[ Parent ]
The Pueblo Cheiftain editorial board
is well known to really, really care about water.  They must have just loved McCain's comment.  I like how they immediately send out the campaign staff to clean up...John McCain DOES NOT speak for John McCain.


"Sen. Inhofe thinks global warming is debunked every time he drinks a Slushie and gets a brain freeze" Jon Stewart
[ Parent ]
Wow. Can't Schaffer get an honest break?
It's bad enough he's being sunk by his own off-the-cuff comments (Marianas, etc.). Now McCain's doing it too.
[ Parent ]
Call John McCain (703) 418-2008
Tell him Colorado's water is non-negotioable.

We are all triguardian, but some of us are more triguardian than others.
The number does not accept unidentified calls
If they don't take calls from Skype, bullshit on them.

I tried.

When I use lots of words, they always form an analysis (and, while producing high volume, also produce high information-density).
--Steve Harvey, 2009

[ Parent ]
I'm sure...
That McCain is really worried about this as none of you were going to vote for him in the first place.

Most R's are still going to look big picture and vote for him, as distasteful as it might be.  No disrespect intended, but it still beats the alternative for most of us.

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  

The only thing McCain is worried about
is where he's going to get a lightsaber so he can finally duel Barack Obama.

We are all triguardian, but some of us are more triguardian than others.
[ Parent ]
HAHAHHA!!!
Classic.  Cheers.

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  
[ Parent ]
What's the alternative?
Is Barack Obama going to steal all our precious water and ship it to Iran?
[ Parent ]
Water?
Most recent arrivals to Colorado don't know beans about Colorado's water and could care less...

A question: What portion of Colorado's voting population is colorado native???

My guess is
30%.  I am.  Born and raised.  

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  
[ Parent ]
Another way of saying what you're saying
Ignorance of our state's most important issue is good for the GOP.

I'll agree with that, anyway, even though I'm not willing to presume the ignorance of a single Colorado voter--native or not. Again, that's what Republicans do.

[ Parent ]
ZZZZZZZZZZ n/t


"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  
[ Parent ]
Don't be fooled
McCain is going to steal our water because...



"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
let's just be a little intellectually honest
Most of you don't care or know about Colorado's water rights situation. It was a hit piece on progresstowardsocialismnow.com and you're just propagating it because it's negative toward McCain.

It's cool, I do the same thing. Just be straight up about it.  

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  

[ Parent ]
So you're in denial
about John McCain's own words?

"I don't think there's any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties," McCain told The Pueblo Chieftain. "I think that there's a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource."

Who's being intellectually dishonest here?

As every other Coloradan would say, over my dead cold hands John!  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
That statement doesn't bother me too much.
Especially considering the compact was signed in 1922.  There are new realities as far as population is concerned.

It doesn't mean that I'm not going to fight like hell to keep what we can for CO, but what he's saying doesn't sound scary, it sounds wise.

Where does Obama stand on water rights?

Where does Obama stand on anything, actually?

How about abortion?  It's not my main issue, but it is for many.  Obama said it was "above his pay grade" to figure it out, but that he's pro-choice.

Isn't he a "Constitutional Law Scholar"?

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  

[ Parent ]
It bothers me
since he's lying.

"I think that there's a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource."

Really? Name one governor. I think there's a movement amongst his lobbyist.

But good effort trying to deflect the topic to Obama. Here's his issues page to ease your concerns about where he stands. Not hard to find... if you only tried.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
LB, Is it too much to ask you to just be factual?
Obama' s response was to the question: "When does life begin?...not where does he stand on abortion. He said the definitive answer to that questions was "above his pay grade."  He taught Constitutional Law at University of Chicago. He stated that he supports Roe v. Wade.  What is your point????

ColoPols in their infinite wisdom...headed this string "McCain just lost Colorado"

My response was to point how that most Coloradoans don't give a damm about water rights and therefore McCain's statement was NOT going to cost him Colorado...

As to the merits of renegotiating water pacts...hell, I don't know....but that is not the topic....

Try to follow along LB, ....this Obama crowd may be just too fast for you....

[ Parent ]
I was going to tell you
..that you were correct in me going off topic, until you were a condescending little silly person at the end of your post.

Since we're off topic, let's keep it off.

How hard did Obama weasel so that he didn't have to come out and just say, "I think it's ok to kill fetuses per the Constitution"?

After all, he's an expert on the Constitution, eh?


"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  

[ Parent ]
I am an old person, not a silly person, it is work, but I do try and keep up.
Obama took an oath to uphold the Constitution.

Your gripe is not with Obama, it is with the Constitution of the United States....so you should work to change it by working for a Human Life Amendment...which you are not going to do because......?  

[ Parent ]
I disagree
Roe is bad law, IMO.  I'm a federalist, and I don't think it's a privacy issue.

That said, I'm not a single-issue guy, but Obama's going to lose some votes over the abortion issue, no doubt.

I never would have guessed you were "older".  You must be young at heart.  Very feisty.

"Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"  

[ Parent ]
LB, I think Roe is god awful law, but it IS the gd LAW
Everybody thinks it is gd bad law....regardless of the individual's position on abortion....Prochoicers don't like ANY restriction...Prolifers don't like any legalized abortion...

Of course Obama is going to lost votes over the abortion issue...the dems always do.....what is not clear is how many votes McCain will lose over the same issue....

I have no idea what this phrase means: "I'm a federalist, and I don't think it is a privacy issue" ?

What I keep trying to do is focus the gd abortion issue on the facts and on the legal implications of the political strategies which both sides/parties are using....

You, for example, attack Obama for supporting the Constitution...which he and McCain both took an oath to support.  

You wave, metaphorically, dead fetuses around...you ought to be waving the dead constitution around....which is what is going to happen if who is a person becomes a matter of state law, not constitutional law.....the federal system will be dead...

Feisty? Silly? Most of the time I am just pissed...

Have enjoyed the exchange...hope you enjoy the speech...


[ Parent ]
"Not the Topic"?!?!
Unless you do to Senator McCain the same thing you accuse LB of doing to Senator Obama, renegotiating water compacts IS the issue at hand.  It is, after all, exactly what Senator McCain was saying, in context and in his own words.

That you say so boldly that it isn't the topic speaks to the fact that you only mind out-of-context exaggerations when they're about your guy, to hell with any of that garbage about the other guy.

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC

[ Parent ]
No, the issue at hand is will McCain lose Colorado over renegotiating
This is a political forum. My comments are on topic. I don't think McCain is going to lose Colorado because he wants to renegotiate the 1922 water pact.

I don't think McCain's stand on the water issue will cost him Colorado because the majority of Colorado voters don't understand or care about the water....capres?????

This is where I came in...And, Yokel....I don't know where you come in or get off, for that matter....however,  TYFYS

[ Parent ]
McCain
Don't count onit.  Real Clear Politics has McCain winning Colorado!
McCain just lost Colorado | 48 comments
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