Tuesday Open Thread

18 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. Well, I wrote about Ike McCorkle's internal polling showing him ahead of B**bert yesterday, but he sure as heck finished behind at least 2 candidates in a Dem nominating convention for the CD4 special election. Trisha Calvarese won by a lot (among 120 voters), John Padora second, and McCorkle was knocked out before the final round of voting.

   Of course, small-sample party nominating events or vacancy committees aren't always representative of how a district would vote in a full-out election.

   Being a very distant part-time observer of CD4, I'd love to hear if anyone knows anything about Calvarese.

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   1. There's a website:  Paid for by Trisha 4 Colorado.

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      1. Thanks, but I'm looking for pithy anecdotes and gossip. Political websites might as well all be done by AI these days. 

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   2. Touting herself as a Bernie Sanders intern in CD4 suggests she doesn't quite understand the lay of the land. Ike must have annoyed the committee folks over the years 

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      1. Didn't Ike pick up some baggage recently (i.e., run in with law enforcement)?

         Not that such baggage would be a problem for GOP candidates, to wit:  Greg Lopez, and not to mention the top of the ticket with his 91 felony charges.

         I don't think that running Bernie Sanders acolytes is a particularly good strategy in competitive districts. However, given the partisan makeup of CD-4, I'm willing to venture an experiment to see what happens if we run an open and avowed, "free stuff" socialist in CD-4.

         You never know. Maybe she can make it work! And there's really no downside to conducting the experiment.

         Think about it …. the Squad comes to Limon.

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         1. When the squad comes to Limon that's the day thousands of heads spontaneously explode. It would be like that famous scene from Scanners.

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            1. Or Mars Attacks! I think the music is already there.

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               1. "Ack..Ack!"

                  💀

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               2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v38Ir_e2yZc&t=53s

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         2. I did look at Trisha's website "issues" page. Though I didn't get additional info by clicking on headers or graphics (just me?), it did look like her main points were meant to show support for working class economic issues, and she has a labor communications background. I'm sure I'm missing plenty, but is she really a hard core "free-stuffer?"

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2. I've recently seen lots of back and forth about the benefit of the Biden campaign reaching out to Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, and a host of other never-Trump Republicans.  And the Haley donors.  And trying to find the elusive Republican-leaning but anti-crazy suburban voters (especially Moms).  It got me thinking, and I wrote out a bit for Daily Kos, with some of it copied below.

   I’m unworried about Biden winning in Colorado.  But in Colorado, there are others running for election who clearly will back Trump (the existential danger) AND others (dangerous, but perhaps not at an existential level) in the broader MAGA cult. 

   We know there are some anti-Trump Republicans who can speak out in Colorado:

   • The Republicans who were part of the effort to disqualify Trump.  Plaintiffs Norma Anderson, Michelle Priola, Claudine Cmarada, and Krista Kafer. Colorado attorneys associated with the effort may be registered Republicans, but they clearly are willing to work to oppose Trump:  Mario Nicolais (who was an active Republican, but now is Unaffiliated), Martha Tierney, Eric Olson, Sean Grimsley, and Jason Murray.

   • Former state GOP chair Dick Wadhams has the right idea.  Commenting on Dave Williams, a new GOP chair, he said “The party will be led by a MAGA-stolen-election-conspiracist who wants to reject unaffiliated voters from the Republican primary,” Wadhams said at the time. “None of them understand a changing Colorado electorate that rejects Trump.”

   I’d like you to recommend Republicans willing to speak against them. Who have you known or read about that would be clear voices and able to appeal to Republicans and the Unaffiliated who could vote a Republican ballot?  WHO ought to have Shad Murib and other leading Colorado Democrats approach?  And if they can be encouraged to speak out,  WHEN should those effort appear:  now, before the primaries? in July, just after the primary’s winning candidates are certified?  Or should it be a traditional “general campaign,” kicking off after Labor Day?

   So, in comments below, make your suggestions: 

   • what race?
   • who is a Republican who could be approached to speak out? and
   • when? Should there be an effort to push before the primary to see if the worst can be avoided?  Or should it wait until after the primary, making it a clear choice between a Democrat and a MAGA minion?

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3. CHB told us interminably about the “reasonable ” Republicans like Priola and the like who would ride to the rescue of the GOP. But,….um..how about an update, CHB? How is that goin”?

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   1. Whatever happened to CHB? Haven't seen him in quite a while.

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4. Meanwhile next door…

   This is what desperation looks like. Stay in your lane Marge. 
    

   

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   1. Maine splits theirs, too. I wonder if she’ll go to work on them, as well.

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      1. Maine has a Dem governor, and Dem majorities in both houses of the legislature.

         Maine, statewide, usually goes Democratic.

         I will not shed any tears if the governor and the legislature follow Nebraska's lead and change to winner-take-all.

         It will simply offset the loss of one electoral vote in NE.

         What I find funny is how desperate the right wing nuts have become. As their House majority dwindles, they realize how precarious their position is. Ditto thew Electoral College.

         Although I can never forgive him and his administration for its handling of HIV/AIDS, Reagan & Co. at least had the imagination to think big and aim for a landslide.

         The current GOP:  If we can just pick off that one electoral vote in NE, all will be ours!

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5. Eastman officially booted in California:

   

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   1. Someone needs to set up a scorecard to keep track of the licensure status of all the lawyers associated with Trump's final days.

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