Senator Ken Salazar stopped by the Big Tent today. It was a welcome surprise to see some local politicians coming to get some face time with the bloggers (Ken Gordon stopped by too, but I wasn’t able to have a substantive interview with him.) It says a lot about the sway of new media that an incumbent Senator is already trying to get his name out with the national blogs. I told his assistant that I was with Pols, and he immediately jumped at the chance for an interview. I asked the Senator about the Convention, what it means for Colorado:
“It seems like it was just yesterday that I was on the phone with Howard Dean saying, ‘You have to bring it to the West, you have to bring it to Colorado.’ And as he worked on it, very hard really, for the last two and a half [years], it is finally here, and it is 100 times more wonderful and more thrilling than I thought it would be. So I’m very proud with what Denver has done.”
In addition, I asked the Senator to comment on how new media is affecting this election, and Colorado specifically:
“I think new media is essentially what has energized this election in 2008. I think new media has brought about the young people of America to be so engaged and involved and educated about their choices in this election. It is absolutely phenomenal. And I must admit that, coming from my own three statewide elections: Attorney General in 1998, 2002, and then US Senate in 2004-new media is new. It was not around in my ’98 or 2002 campaigns, it was coming in a little bit in 2004, but from ’04 to ’08 it has become absolutely phenomenal. So, it’s very, very important, and it’s going to have a dramatic impact on the outcome of these elections.”
Out of curiosity, I couldn’t resist asking him about John McCain’s comments about renegotiating the Western States water compact:
“I think he didn’t quite know what he was saying-that he was poking a hornet’s nest in here in Colorado. Because Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike know that we’re the mother of rivers-most of the rivers in the West start here in Colorado. And when you start messing with our water, you’re messing with our livelihood, and it’s something that the people of Colorado will not stand for.”
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He sees this as gigantic and is clearly getting up to speed on it. He drilled me for 10 minutes about it when I met with him. His showing up at the Big Tent is clearly due to the importance he ascribes to the blog-o-sphere.
blogging from the DNC. Thanks! I find your posts to be more insightful than what pundits on TV have to say.
Why I have almost never watched TV news in the last ten years.
Yes, our guys on the scene are doing great!
Those blogs of the state meetings were awesome.
He’s doing a superb job
for the kind words. It’s my pleasure, I’m having a great time down there.
I see you’re having fun but you are doing a great job too !
…but it’s grown on me. Now I can’t imagine him without it. A very sly move for a balding gentleman.
They keep the sun out of your eyes and the rain off your face. I have one old Stetson I’ve had for 35 years, made from Beaver felt. They are basically immortal and its like wearing an umbrella on your head in sun or rain. I really don’t care that much about the ethnic garb of my people, but Western hats are just very practical. I also, like him, wear bolo ties. They are ultra comfortable yet pass as a tie in situations, increasingly rare, where a tie is warranted.
I too think hats are great functional and style items, but please, take it off when he comes inside!!! It drives me nuts for both Ken and John to wear their damn hats inside.
The great Houston Oilers football coach Bum Phillips wore his trademark Stetson at all road games, but never at home in the Astrodome–said his mama always taught him to take off his hat when he came indoors. Did old Mrs. Salazar neglect that part of her boys’ upbringing?
…he did not talk ill of Mrs. S?!!
Probably a case of Mama tried, but they refused…
Are a varied lot of people from prospectors and blacksmiths to gas station owners and truck drivers. I don’t wear a Stetson hat because I do not feel natural in it. Instead I wear a hat I bought at F.M. Light & Sons on a fishing trip instead. Canvas Aussie style hat. Quite useful for keeping the sun off when bike riding, but not out of place in Denver.
Then there’s John McCain.
If my 91 year old mother surfs and emails, why can’t McCain do likewise, at least now and then?
She was/is extremely pretty. Easy on the eyes. Not bad for an old broad….. ouch! ouch!
OK, I’m a sucker for smart, confident women, too. I wonder how many conservative/Republican men can honestly say that.
Meant to post this in the Hillary thread.
Musta been too excited.
Sen. Salazar has done more for this state as a renewable energy hub than anyone. Certainly Gov.Ritter deserves credit too.
Sen. Salazar knows how to run a business.
He also has served with distinction as the AG.
Some bloggers I’ve met at “Drinking Liberally” have dogged him for not voting with the liberal wing of the party often enough. I say a man that tries to represent all Coloradoans, and not just the left deserves credit.
He has my respect and loyalty.
Even though I AM more liberal and some of his votes have ticked me off. I’d say 85% of them have been just fine. And in 2004 the more liberal Mike Miles simply could not have been elected state wide. Salazar has been one of the most successful freshman in a class including Obama. He has brought Colorado a lot of respect and influence. He’s a good man.
Military Appropriations Act
Bankruptcy Act
Credit Card Act
Introducing Alberto Gonzales
Objectively, Salazar has some serious, serious not liberal, but Democratic flaws. He has sided with power, money, and unconstitutional cockroaches.
Now, who would be better and still win an election?
No one on the bench now. But if there ever is, and I move back to God’s Country, count me on the anti-Salazar wagon.