March 01, 2016 02:28 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Super Tuesday (Mar. 1)

• 9 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

It’s Super Tuesday, the day we stop caring what Iowa and New Hampshire think for another four years. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols! If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► With Donald Trump running roughshod over his Republican primary opponents, the next second-guessing of the GOP’s drain-circling dance with America’s Favorite Demagogue is about to begin. How is Trump winning with so few “campaign pros” on his team?

Because of Trump’s frugality, his disdain for political consultants and his early success winning three of the first four states by double-digit margins, his allies — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to voice their dissent — believe the campaign is unlikely to reverse itself soon. “This sh– is working, so they are not incentivized to change,” said the person involved with the billionaire’s political operation.

In the general election, the eventual nominee will gain access to data, get-out-the-vote and advertising reinforcements from the Republican National Committee. But in Trump’s case, the RNC would be attempting to integrate its operations with a campaign with which it has had a contentious relationship and that appears to lack the top-flight technical talent necessary to take full advantage of cutting-edge voter targeting techniques…

“This will be the ultimate test of what the RNC has built, because they will not have a partner with a data operation,” said Patrick Ruffini, a veteran Republican digital strategist.

Unfortunately for the GOP consultant class, Trump is winning primaries entirely without them. But what happens in the general?

► With the GOP’s presidential poll cancelled, all eyes are on the Senate primary and Sen. Tim Neville to make a big splash tonight with whoever shows up.

► Meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is hoping to pull off wins in key states tonight–including Colorado–to start pulling away from challenger Bernie Sanders:

A steady stream of Clinton surrogates have hit the circuit throughout the state with a message specifically targeting Latinos, women and young people.

Former President Bill Clinton jetted straight to Pueblo and Colorado Springs fresh off of his wife’s victory in Nevada. Actress America Ferrera and Chelsea Clinton made a swing through Boulder and Denver last month in a string of informal events billed for Latinas and their families. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who is fluent in Spanish, made his own rounds through Colorado last month.

It’s one of the four states where Sanders is concentrating the bulk of his focus – and ad spending – to stay competitive. Sanders nearly doubled the Clinton campaign’s spending in Colorado, with $1.3 million in ads heading into Super Tuesday.

Make sure to keep a tab open here at Colorado Pols for the results of tonight’s Colorado caucuses and Super Tuesday races across the nation.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Senate President Bill Cadman’s stonewalling on the hospital provider fee budget fight become harder to justify after yesterday’s opinion from Attorney General Cynthia Coffman. After hours of stalling. Cadman issued a blustery statement that netted him an avalanche of bad press.

► After months of negotiations and an agonizingly slow process of bringing all the stakeholders together, Gov. John Hickenlooper is formally backing a large-scale EPA Superfind cleanup of polluting mines near Silverton.

► Kumba-aqua! A compromise at the state capitol may finally allow rain barrels to be used in Colorado–if chief “water buffalo” Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg lets it happen.

► A bill addressing psychiatric evidentiary issues that cropped up in the Aurora theater shooting trial is moving, but another crass attempt to make the death penalty easier in Colorado died yesterday.

► George Athanasopoulos, a Republican retired Army officer who is frequently seen on social media talking Colorado politics, has filed in CD-7 to run against Rep. Ed Perlmutter.

► Oh yeah, and yet another Republican is hopping on the Senate primary clown car–that makes either 13 or 14 depending on how you count.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► High security: the brother of Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Nestor, who works in the sheriff’s office, has been charged with stealing guns out of the evidence locker.

► Incidents like the Planned Parenthood domestic terror attack in Colorado Springs last November may be fueling an exodus from the Colorado Springs Police Department.

ICYMI

► Jane Dougherty, the sister of a victim in the Newtown school shooting, has choice words for Tim Neville over his controversial “gun giveaway.”

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