Now that 2010 is here (and most of you are back to work after the holidays), it's time to take our look back on the decade that was.
We asked your opinions on what the Oughts Brought, and now it's time to start revealing the winners. We'll be here with this all week, folks, so check back for more categories every day.
Best/Worst Politician and Best/Worst Campaign awards after the jump.
Dethroned Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave vowed revenge on the left in a fundraising letter in which she quotes the Bible and portrays herself as a political victim who stood up for family values.
"I tell everyone I'm recovering," wrote Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican who lost her re-election bid in 2008.
"It's certainly not easy to lose your seat in Congress. And harder still to be true to your values as I have been, but the radical homosexual lobby, abortionists, gun-grabbers and all the rest of the extremists finally spent enough money, spread enough lies and fooled enough voters to defeat me."
Musgrave, who was not available for comment, is raising money for "Votes Have Consequences," a project aimed at exposing "pro-abortion politicians."
"Using everything - the Internet and guerilla-style publicity campaigns along with old-fashioned grassroots organizing methods - we will go on the offensive against a select group of politicians from all over America," Musgrave wrote.
"We'll do to them what the most rapid and relentless left-wing groups did to me over the last six years but with one major difference: 'We'll tell the truth.' "
Musgrave served three terms in Congress before losing to Fort Collins Democrat Betsy Markey 56 percent to 44 percent. The seat had been viewed as safe for Republicans until Musgrave nearly lost in 2006.
As skeptical as many of us are about the "new leadership" offered by young Colorado GOPers like Josh Penry and Ryan Frazier, I think they at least represent a welcome shift away from the tactics of the old guard (Musgrave: "You've always hated gays, so vote for me"; Tancredo: "You've always hated immigrants, so vote for me"). I guess that's a start.
...Musgrave's letter prompted Markey to send out her own appeal for contributions.
"You'd better believe I will be at the top of her target list when it comes to trying to trying to knock Democrats out of Congress," Markey wrote.
She accused Musgrave of "spewing the same hate-filled language we heard during the campaign."
Among the left-wing groups that targeted Musgrave was Progress Now. Director Michael Huttner on Monday disagreed that his organization distorted Musgrave's record.
"That's complete nonsense," Huttner said. "She is as crazy as ever. She's a right-wing nut job, and the voters in her district held her accountable."
In her first public comments on her re-election loss - made in a mass phone call to Georgia voters - Rep. Marilyn Musgrave blames her defeat on "leftist special interests" who "smothered the truth with vicious attacks and lies."
Musgrave's remarks came in a so-called "robocall" that went out to 200,000 Georgia voters Monday and today on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican who was forced into a runoff with Democratic challenger Jim Martin. The election is today.
"Hello, I'm Marilyn Musgrave. Until last month I was the congresswoman from Colorado," Musgrave said in the call, which was paid for by the Susan B. Anthony List, a political committee that supports anti-abortion candidates.
"Leftist special interests from around the country poured money into my district to defeat me. They overwhelmed us with money. And they smothered the truth with vicious attacks and lies.
"We are seeing the same pattern in Georgia. Pro-abortion radicals and liberal activists won't stop until they have a chokehold on our government. You can stop them with your vote. It's too late to change the results in Colorado, but on Tuesday you can cast your vote for Saxby Chambliss."
Musgrave has made no other public comments since shortly after vote totals started coming in the evening of Nov. 4...
The incumbent didn't make the traditional post-election appearance to thank supporters, and never conceded defeat or called Markey to congratulate her. Musgrave has declined all interview requests since the election.
We're, pardon the pun, speechless. Original post follows.
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While she still has yet to concede her defeat in CD4 or even thank her volunteers, Musty is back on the campaign trail....in Georgia.
The NRCC has apparently decided to pull out of CD-4, leaving Rep. Marilyn Musgrave to fight Democrat Betsy Markey on her own.
Both the DCCC and the NRCC have done extensive polling recently, and from what we understand, the numbers aren't good for Musgrave. So today the NRCC sent a letter to local television stations pulling their advertising buy after this week. In other words, the NRCC is going dark for the last week or so of the election.
Could this finally be the year that Musgrave runs out of her game-winning drives? It's beginning to look that way.
Put aside, for a moment, whatever you think of the race in CD-4 between Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and Democratic challenger Betsy Markey. The ads being produced this year by the organization "Vote Vets" are some of the best political spots on television (which isn't all that difficult considering the crap we've seen in Colorado from both sides, but nevertheless...)
Take a look at "Vote Vets" most recent ad in Colorado:
Those of you with better memories than ours may remember better, but if we're not mistaken this is the furthest behind Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave has ever been heading into an election. As Roll Call reports:
Democrats descended on Denver this week for their nominating convention as a way of signaling their commitment to making the Centennial State - and the Mountain West as a whole - competitive in the presidential race. The poll done for Roll Call seemed to bear that out, as McCain led Obama by just 2 points, 48 percent to 46 percent.
Meanwhile, Musgrave trailed Democratic challenger Betsy Markey 50 percent to 43 percent in the poll conducted by SurveyUSA for Roll Call [Pols emphasis]. Seven percent remained undecided. In an equally troubling sign for Musgrave, 51 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable view of the three-term Congresswoman, while 31 percent viewed her favorably.
The poll of 618 likely voters was taken Aug. 22-24. It had a 4-point margin of error.
The survey found that Markey had a big lead among female voters, 53 percent to 38 percent. The two women were essentially tied among male voters.
More importantly, Markey had a huge lead in two voter groups that will be essential in deciding the election: independents and moderates. She led by 30 points among independent voters, 59 percent to 29 percent, and by 41 points among self-described moderates, 67 percent to 26 percent. Musgrave will have to close the gap in those two groups in order to have a chance at making the race competitive heading into Election Day.
Democrat Betsy Markey, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Marilyn Musgrave in CD-4, is featured prominently in an article in today's New York Times:
The fierce tactical positioning of candidates here and elsewhere - some call it pandering and waffling - is producing a convergence of sorts around the idea that more is better, that an expansion of energy production from all sources and places will somehow fix things, lower prices and restore stability to the economy.
"It's a very fine line to walk," said Betsy Markey, a Democrat who is challenging Representative Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican, here in the Fourth District.
Ms. Markey opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for example; Ms. Musgrave heads there this week to decide for herself. Both candidates support expansion of renewable energy like wind, but Ms. Markey says that Ms. Musgrave's long record on the issue - voting against renewable energy standards in Congress as recently as last August and against tax credits for the wind industry this year - tells a different story.
Markey also is running her first TV ad of the campaign (after the jump):
UPDATE:Fort Collins Now political columnist Rebecca Boyle writes:
Democrats cheered the news Wednesday that Vice President Dick Cheney was in Colorado to raise money for U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, the Republican from Fort Morgan, who is in a fight for her political life in the 4th Congressional District.
Musgrave's opponent, Betsy Markey, made hay of the much-maligned veep's visit in a fundraising email, exhorting supporters to counter the money Cheney would raise.
"A single event with Dick Cheney will bring thousands of dollars into Marilyn Musgrave's campaign. Dollars that will most certainly be used to distort and attack both my record and positions on the issues in ways that may very well make Karl Rove blush. Dollars that will go towards making certain that the corrupt, status quo that has been present in Washington is maintained and strengthened," Markey wrote...
For their parts, the Colorado Democratic Party and ProgressNow Action highlighted the fact that taxpayers funded the trip, because Cheney traveled via Air Force Two.
Cheney is hardly the biggest boldface-name Republican to campaign for Musgrave. In 2004 and 2006, President Bush came to Greeley to campaign for her.
Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer, a longtime political observer, said the visit would help Musgrave in terms of money, but little else...
Probably not the kind of ranking you really want to have if you're a Republican candidate in 2008.
Since taking office in 2003, Musgrave has voted in accordance with White House wishes 84 percent of the time, compared to an average of 80 percent for all House Republicans during the Bush presidency that began in 2001, according to a study released last week by Congressional Quarterly.
The three-term Republican representative from Fort Morgan sided with her party on 97 percent of the most partisan votes during her tenure, above the 92 percent average for her fellow Republicans and 93 percent for Democrats.
According to The Washington Post blog The Fix, Colorado's 4th district is now the 16th most likely to switch hands in 2008:
16. Colorado's 4th district (R): By far the biggest oversight on our most recent Line was the exclusion of this Colorado seat held by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) since 2002. Despite its strong Republican leanings -- President Bush won it with 58 percent in 2004 -- Musgrave is a consistent underperformer, and faces a well-funded opponent in Democrat Betsy Markey. This is a major weak spot for Republicans. (Previous ranking: N/A)
Musgrave has been counted out before and come back to win by narrow margins, but the conventional wisdom seems to be that 2008 is the year she finally loses. Republican Rep. Cory Gardner is still openly talking about running for CD-4 in 2010 and tells anyone who will listen that Musgrave is a likely loser this time around.
It has also been rumored that the NRCC told Musgrave that they wouldn't be doing much to help her this year, but those rumors are often spread to spur candidates to raise more money themselves.
According to a press release from the campaign of Republican Wil Armstrong, who is running for congress in CD-6:
Today US Rep. Marilyn Musgrave endorsed Wil Armstrong for congress. Rep. Musgrave cited Armstrong's business experience as a critical factor.
"Wil is the only candidate in the race with extensive business experience" Musgrave said, "having spent years hiring employees, building businesses and managing them through fluctuating economies.
"Finally, Wil Armstrong is a devout family man who leads by example. He is a steadfast and principled conservative. Colorado families would be fortunate to have Wil Armstrong fighting for them in Congress."
In addition to her formal endorsement, Rep. Musgrave also released a short video clip of her support for Armstrong. The video is available at: www.armstrongforcongress.com/video.
In the video, you can almost hear Musgrave saying, "Was that okay, Bill?"
Just kidding, but how well does a Musgrave endorsement play in CD-6? No doubt all of the candidates would have been happy to have her support, but in the end, how much does it really do for Armstrong?
The scenario seems plausible enough--a battered Republican Party, realizing that John McCain can't win in November, pulls a switcheroo at the GOP National Convention and ends up with a new candidate instead.
The Huffington Post outlines this potential scenario, which might seem credible until this list appears at the end of the story of possible replacement candidates:
Here's a list of names. Some you know, some you don't. But each of them knows their name is in play. Among them --
Condoleezza Rice (Secretary of State)
Colin Powell (fmr Sec. of State)
Marilyn Musgrave (Colorado Congresswoman)[Pols emphasis] Mitt Romney (fmr Massachusetts Governor)
Mike Huckabee (fmr Governor of Arkansas)
Charlie Crist (Florida Governor)
Tim Pawlenty (Minnesota Governor)
Bobby Jindal (Louisiana Governor)
Mark Sanford: (Governor of South Carolina)
John Thune (Senator from South Dakota)
Dick Lugar (Senator from Indiana)
Chuck Hagel (Senator from Nebraska)
Michael Bloomberg (NYC Mayor)
Musgrave is in danger of losing her own congressional seat here in Colorado, but she would be a better Presidential candidate than McCain?
Seen and heard at last weekend's Republican State Convention (we meant to post this on Monday, but forgot)...
Republicans feel that the most likely legislative seat to be picked up in November is the one held by Rep. Wes McKinley. Republicans recruited a very popular Hispanic County Commissioner, Ken Torres, to challenge McKinley. It also doesn't help McKinley that an odd Colorado Ethics Watch report called him one of Colorado's Most Corrupt Public Officials, even though his only crime was some minor campaign finance reporting errors.
State Sen. Shawn Mitchell has been busy building a team to propel him into the legislative leadership ranks, but he may have overlooked his own vulnerability. Mitchell helped recruit a strong challenger against Sen. Brandon Shaffer and solid candidates for the open seats of Sue Windels and Stephanie Takis , as well as a challenger to Rep. Dianne Primavera.
But the GOP's own internal polls have Mitchell trailing against his Democratic opponent, Joe Whitcomb. Despite Mitchell's years of service in the legislature, his name ID is not strong, and the fact that he trails this early in the race has Republicans bracing for a Mitchell loss.
Republicans are confident of taking back SD-19 now that Windels is term-limited. They are privately touting an audit of State Board of Education expenses requested by Joint Budget Committee member, Sen. Steve Johnson, as a silver bullet in this race (Democratic candidate Evie Hudak is a current BOE member).
Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave was a dead woman walking on Saturday. Supporters of Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, as well as Rep. Cory Gardner, were telling delegates that should Musgrave lose to Democrat Betsy Markey this November, they will both immediately announce their candidacies. Both were privately telling delegates that Musgrave is a lost cause.
I'm not an impartial observer of the campaign process here in Colorado and don't pretend to be. But numbers are numbers and sometimes they speak for themselves with no need for spin.
Consider this...Democrats have won three special elections in the last few weeks in districts that are about as red as they get.
Ok, I do tend to err on the optimistic side - but I was right on Jim Webb and Jon Tester. I think Betsy is going to win CD-4, and win by 3 points or more. She's WOW.
I had lunch with Betsy today and the biggest impression I got from her is she's nice. Yes she's professional, knowledgeable, competent, and thoughtful. Yes she has strong well thought out policy positions. But more than all of that, she's a very nice person.
Nice is a killer advantage for a candidate, especially a legislative one. And compared to Marilyn Musgrave, The Evil One, it is a gigantic difference. This gives her a couple of points easy. It also will make it a lot harder for MM to smear her as people will find any garbage very difficult to believe.
But in all seriousness, we will commend Rep. Marilyn Musgrave for a willingness to be playful with kids. As The Fort Morgan Times reports:
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., made an appearance in Fort Morgan on Monday morning wearing a set of light blue pajamas, slippers and a colorful jester hat.
Although her whimsical visit to Green Acres Elementary School in Fort Morgan had nothing to do with politics or constituent concerns, the congresswoman said the purpose of her presentation was no trivial matter.
Musgrave, who was accompanied by the nightwear-clad faculty at Green Acres, said Sunday would have been the 104th birthday of the late children's author Dr. Seuss.
In an effort to promote reading in schools, Musgrave said, she took the opportunity to dress like a Dr. Seuss character and recite the familiar author's famed picture book, "The Cat in the Hat."
Politico reports on the financial mess that continues to plague the NRCC:
The accounting scandal now haunting the National Republican Congressional Committee was preceded by a series of decisions over the past decade to relax internal financial controls at the committee, according to numerous Republican sources familiar with the NRCC's operations during those years.
Under Virginia Rep. Tom Davis and New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who chaired the committee from 1999 until the end of 2006, the NRCC waived rules requiring the executive committee - made up of elected leaders and rank-and-file Republican lawmakers - to sign off on expenditures exceeding $10,000, merged the various department budgets into a single account and rolled back a prohibition on committee staff earning an income from outside companies.
These changes gave committee staffers more freedom to spend money quickly and react to a shifting political landscape during heated campaign battles, and House Republicans were able to claim larger majorities after the 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections.
But the actions also may have contributed to a perceived lack of oversight within the NRCC, especially over financial records, a failure that outside observers blame for an accounting scandal that could go much deeper than the allegedly forged audit a former treasurer sent to the committee's principal lender in January. NRCC officials contacted the FBI soon after discovering that the former employee, Christopher J. Ward, had submitted what they believe to be a fake internal audit to Wachovia as part of a loan application by the committee.
The Colorado angle to all of this is how the NRCC's financial woes end up hurting Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. Musgrave's re-election bids were bailed out in 2006 and 2004 by an infusion of NRCC cash, but the longer this scandal goes and the more it impacts fundraising, the more that Musgrave will be forced to rely on her own money means. The NRCC currently has about $6.4 million, compared to $35.5 million for the DCCC.
Fortunately for her, Musgrave is raising plenty of coin on her own. But if challenger Betsy Markey can close the fundraising gap, Musgrave may be on her own while Markey will likely have support from the DCCC. All of this bodes well for Markey...provided that she can raise enough money on her own in order to make the target list.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's (R-Colo.) entrance into the contentious battle for the open Appropriations Committee seat pits the House campaign committee chairman against two of his most vulnerable members.
Musgrave's decision to jump into the race, first reported by TheHill.com on Tuesday, has deepened the dilemma facing House Republican leaders - who will attract criticism with any decision they make.
Musgrave and Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), who is also seeking the seat, are members of the Regaining Our Majority Program (ROMP), a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) fundraising effort that is geared toward retaining members who sit in targeted districts.
There are currently 17 members who benefit from ROMP's fundraising efforts.
NRCC Chairman Tom Cole's (Okla.) decision to run for the open seat has ruffled feathers inside and outside the Capitol. Some Republicans believe that the coveted seat should go to a vulnerable member of the conference, while other GOP officials and groups are pushing for earmark foe Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)
D'oh! Musgrave is running against the guy who she needs to help fund her re-election bid? It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Cole reportedly wants the seat so he can use it to help raise money for the NRCC, which trails the DCCC in fundraising.
