President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
50%
50%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
52%↑
48%↓
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
March 13, 2006 09:00 AM UTC
21 Comments
Let us not forget that the big horn, where Peggy has her day job, tried to get rid of the caucus system in Colorado not too long ago. Decidedly failed I might add. We kind of like the grassroot approach. By the way, it isn’t as easy as you might think to get credible signatures. You have to be very very very very organized. I am not seeing that kind of operation and coordination from the Lamm camp. Just a comment passing through this blog.
Insightful post, TakeBack.
All those things “stack up” against any chance for Lamm.
Peggy Lamm is doing the only thing she can in a district where she has no base. It’s relatively simple to collect enough signatures and Peggy’s best bet is to avoid the Democratic grass roots and try for a vote based on name recognition. If, by some miracle, she actually beats Perlmutter in a primary, however, the Democrats will be up the proverbial sh*t creek without a paddle because her credibility on simple things like supporting Owens in 2002 (and then lying about it), or skirting voter fraud (the Jeffco DA is still investigating her) will give Rick O’Donnell an advantage on a key issue –namely ethics and honesty.
Thank you for the detailed travel log. I hope that didn’t take too much time out of your busy day.
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No problem.
It’s not nearly as much time (and time is money) as it’s going to take for Peggy to petition her way to the primary ballot.
Why bother to assume when her cash position can be readily figured? Let’s face it: she’s going to petition because she’s forced to do so – she simply doesn’t have the juice at the caucus level, and going the petition route is going to drain what little cash she has at this point.
Cheaper to petition than to “fight inside”? Do tell – who’s votes are being bought on the “inside” ?
It’s already been said, but bears repeating: you’re whistling past the graveyard.
Just teasing on the Whom thing, EZMak. Im’s the goof who earlier quoted George Santayana that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to DEFEAT it. (ouch!) Seriously, I’m with you on both your points. Petitioning can add name recognition, especially since Peggy probably as a newbie to the district doesn’t have much chance of getting her 30. But it eats up cash that she may not have and, this late in the game, just a week before the caucuses, looks like a desperation ploy. Iron Mike, I loved your reference to trading down in trophy wives! Maybe I’m just a grouch because I went to the state convention as a delegate for Mike Bird for Gov. and got outflanked by Benson later. Bird is best known to history as co-author with Steve Arveschoug of the 6 percent general fund spending limit that still guides Colorado’s budget.
Peggy’s strong suit is Field Director Kathryn Poindexter who will be out getting petition signatures, and if Kathryn were the candidate I would be signing. I suspect Peggy will get what she needs to get on the ballot.
Unfortunately, this also points out Peggy’s short suits.
This creates a credibility problem after she made polling calims that even she apparently never believed.
She has a credibility problem already from her claims that she isn’t sure where she lives. Those were stacked on top of a credibility problem from claiming the E-List fundraising was helping her last quarter. That was stacked on top of a credibility problem from claiming her endorsement of Owens was accidental.
Now her supporters want me to believe that despite Ed landing the SEIU endorsement, Ed landing the AFSCME endorsement, and Ed having Kerry host a fundraiser, her numbers could possibly be better than Ed’s this quarter.
I do not find that claim credible.
I’m going to stand against you on this one Voyageur…
Benson lost because of the incident with his ex-wife… And those DUI things… I also suspect the electorate just will not respect a man when his first wife was more of a trophy than his second. It just runs contrary to the American dream.
Had those items not been on the agenda, I’m sure the good people of Colorado would have given him a fighting chance and we’d be wondering today if Governor Bob Schaffer has what it takes to win reelection against a “challenging DEM field”.
I actually think that by petitioning on she has a shot at the Primary because it will be cheaper to get the signatures on the street than to fight the inside fight that Ed has all but cornered. Just watch, Herb will get his clock cleaned and go back to DC, but Peggy may have a chance if she can just earn more money to go up on the air for the August vote.
“The Lamm camp (who I am not a part of thank you Voyageur) is thinking long term here.”
Have you no decency, Sir! It should be: WHOM I am not a part of, thank you, Voyageur! 😉
Seriously, EZMak, Bruce Benson tried that route when running for governor, deliberately avoiding the caucus. He had the cash to buy his way onto the ballot and to win the primary. But he lost, big time, to Romer. Eschewing the caucus and convention is a poke in the eye with a sharp stick to the party cadre. They remembered in November. I’m not saying they voted for Romer, but they didn’t work for Benson either, putting their energies behind other Republicans. As a handicapper, I’d say Lamm is a stronger candidate against ROD than Ed, because she’s more articulate and, yes, of the female persuasion. But you have to be nominated first and bypassing the caucus and assembly alienates the people you need in November. To me, it’s a strategy of desperation and I doubt that she has the cash to pull it off. This race looks like Ed’s to lose, as least as far as the nomination goes. But I also agree with Dan Willis that the Ds disunity is making things look brighter for ROD in November, despite the drag of Bush’s unpopularity.
Haha, thank you for the grammer lesson. I deeply apologize.
I will concede that making this call this late in the game wasnt’t the best timing, and should have been done sooner, if you will concede that going the alternate route will increase name recognition and visibility throughout the district.
BMR, Yeah, I’ve heard of taking a bad situation and putting a good spin on it, but this one takes the cake. Lamm’s move to petition onto the ballot smacks of desperation, not political genius.
Would it be cynical of me to assume EZMak might be a campaign volunteer of Peggy’s?
BadMoonRising-
Thank you for the detailed travel log. I hope that didn’t take too much time out of your busy day. You make a good a point, but let’s just say your one assumption is wrong, and that somehow Peggy’s camp has lots of gasoline (or campaign cash). That may be a big if (I don’t know for sure because I’m not even close to a Lamm campaign vol.). But let’s say they do. What is wrong with talking to however many voters you need to sign a petetion to get on the ballot? Yes Ed will become stronger with the few party activists, but Peggy’s name recognition and visibitliy will tremendously increase throught the entire district; once again, the final goal of the campaign leading up to the last few weeks of the campaign.
I do concede that making this call late is a bad move, but what is the harm, if you are able to, in going out and contacting an enormous amount of voters in the district? This is what she will have to do by going the petetion route. The Lamm camp (who I am not a part of thank you Voyageur) is thinking long term here. Use your resources which you have to talk to voters on a large scale. This decesion will have its benefits as we become closer to election day.
The Lamm camp (who I am not a part of thank you Voyageur) is thinking long term here. Use your resources which you have to talk to voters on a large scale.
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ROFL Okey-dokey.
So let’s recap. As an example:
If you want to get to Loveland from Windsor, and you’re short on gasoline (in this case, campaign cash) you should:
a) Take I-25 and go southbound for about 6 miles; (the caucus route)
b) Get on Hwy. 257, go south to US 34, then westbound on 34 to Loveland, about 12 miles. (another possible ‘caucus route’, but twice the distance.
c) Get on Hwy. 392, go eastbound to US 85, drive south into Greely, make a few visits at coffee shops and diners, then drive drive to Johnstown and Milliken, make a few more visits, then finally head out to I-25 and go north to Loveland, and, ooops, wait, you’re out of gas before you even hit I-25. Aw, shucks.
Peggy seems to be making choice (C), and we have EZmack here to attempt to tell us that it’s a wise move.
Voyageur is right. If Peggy Lamm’s polling is right (something like 20 points ahead of Ed Perlmutter) then she should have absolutely no problem getting 1 in 3 delegates to support her. In fact if those #’s were correct it would be the easiest way to embarrass Ed and possibly put him away. So her decision to dodge the caucus this late in the game, it’s obvious that her bluff was called. That’s not picking favorites, it is common sense.
Sorry, EZMAK, but you sound an awful lot like whistling past the graveyard. If Peggy has concluded she can’t get 30 percent, even with EMILY’s list et all behind her, she really ought to consider dropping out in the interest of party unity. I don’t have a dog in this fight, as a Republican living in Denver, but I think I know a lost cause when I see one.
Voyageur… I disagree. Party unity behind Ed? Please Peggy can win this. Ed is one of those people who you vote for because he is the Dem. He brings nothing to the table just like John Kerry… I’d much rather have Peggy in the field just to keep the debate going.
It’s your funeral, Deminator. As I said, I’ve got no dog in this fight. But if Peggy is so appealing, why can’t she get 30 percent?
I think it’s a great move for Lamms’s campaign. She will go out with her army of volunteers and reach out to thousands of voters in her district. This will increase her visibility and raly even more support beyond the democratic left. Yes, this is more costly than the caucus system and I’m sure that played a role. This must mean fundraising is going extremely better than last quarter. Ed better watch out. Lamm will probobly have raised more money than him and will be contacting more voters than him. Keep it up Peggy!
Ouch. I have to agree, this doesn’t look good on Lamm’s political resume. Maybe the party regulars won’t care come primary day, but to party activists, I don’t think this looks good, and it may hurt Peggy’s volunteer and money-raising pool.
TakeBackTheHouse and BadMoonRising already said it all . . .
There’s really only one person on here that sees any positive in this for Lamm, and they’re grasping at the notion that signature collection is somehow going to fix all the problems with her campaign.
This makes the Peggy people nuts whenever it gets said on these boards, but enough is enough. How about some Democratic unity? Perlmutter has been shaping up as the only candidate that can make this happen against O’Donnell and the Party people seem to think so as well.
She’s got a ton of issues and they just keep stacking up on her, and like was mentioned before, Rick O. would take her to the cleaners with them. She may have been a strong candidate (female, name recognition) at one point, but seriously, it’s not happening for her this year, and just about everybody is saying so except her friends and staff.
I thought earlier calls for Peggy to get out were premature, RubyBlue. But at this point, she has nothing going for her and Ed is getting some serious traction. Unless she is raising a ton of money this quarter, something we don’t know yet but she knows, she should get out. Otherwise, she’s just being a spoiler. As it stands, with her decision not to contest the caucuses, Ed should come out of the assembly with about 85 percent. As a Denver Republican, I have no dog in this fight. But I know both Ed and Peggy and think it’s time for her to do the numbers and face reality.