November 05, 2008 10:03 PM UTC
ProgressNow's Election Night 2008 Winners and Losers
39 Comments- by: Alan
( – promoted by Colorado Pols)
ProgressNowAction’s Election Night 2008 Winners and Losers below, in alphabetical order.
Winners
Employees of Colorado
Due to the tremendous leadership of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, CEA, and SEIU, Colorado employees will not have to work for less, be silenced, or be treated as second class citizens. Firefighters, teachers, and nurses joined forces to become a credible voice. Their efforts appear to have killed 2 ballot measures, 47 and 49 that would have been horrible for employees throughout our state.
State Senator-elect Evie Hudak
Hudak is a true fighter and won this state legislative seat that was the most targeted by both sides. Hudak speaks her mind. She works tirelessly. She’s dedicated to children. And with Republicans outnumbering Democrats by 6% in Senate District 19, Evie appears to be a huge victor over extreme right-winger Libby Szabo.
“Democracy Superhero” Carol Kreck
This 60-year-old librarian turned into a Democracy Superstar after standing up for free-speech with her “McCain=Bush” sign. The video of her being escorted out of a McCain open town-hall in Denver got over 300,000 viewers on YouTube and a spot on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”
Congresswoman-elect Betsy Markey
Markey flipped the 4th CD that has a 35-year history of voting Republican. She stayed positive even while her opponent Musgrave made-up an entire story to smear her. Ethical and hard working, Markey will deliver on needs sorely overdue in the district. Hats off to her campaign and spokesman too.
The People of Colorado
Obama is the change we need. And the change doesn’t stop there: Colorado voters also rejected out-of-state special interests and right-wing extremists. The world’s greatest democracy just took a giant leap forward tonight in restoring its credibility and global peace.
Governor Bill Ritter
Even though Amendment 58 didn’t pass, Ritter earned respect as the “David” in fighting for the people of Colorado against the “Goliath” of Big Oil. Ritter stood up for taxpayers and higher education against out-of-state oil companies and endless personal attacks. We applaud Ritter for his continued mission to make Colorado a national leader on renewable energy.
Colorado Youth Voters
Initial reports from Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, and Greeley report that youth voters, 18-29 year olds, turned out in enormous numbers today. Credit goes to New Era Colorado for its unprecedented campus operations.
Ted “The Negotiator” Trimpa
Trimpa, more than anyone, preserved the balance between labor and business in Colorado. He led the team that removed four destructive items from the ballot. Well on his way to being a national player, he’s featured in this week’s Time magazine. Truly Colorado’s answer to Karl Rove and then some. Rock Star Energy Drink should hire him as their poster-child after he consumed them during his successful negotiations.
Senator-elect Mark Udall
Udall will continue to be a national leader in the fight for renewable energy, the environment and everything that is great about Colorado. He works well with members of both side of the aisle, which is the sort of statesmanship that Colorado needs. A shout out as well to Mike Melanson, who stayed calm and collected from the start, and who oversaw their top-notch campaign communications and online team.
Al “The Architect” Yates
Since starting in 2003, he earned the name the architect and a stellar national reputation by spearheading the independent operations leading to Colorado’s continued progressive success since 2004. With a Markey victory over Musgrave, a race in which Yates deserves massive credit, he finally gives Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where he served as university president a congressional voice in DC.
The Losers
Big Oil
Last week, ExxonMobil posted the biggest US quarterly profits ever– nearly $15 billion for the energy giant. (AP, 10/31/2008) At the same time Exxon and other out-of-state oil companies have spent millions of dollars trying to keep Colorado taxpayers on the hook for Big Oil’s $321 million-a-year tax subsidy. (Denver Post, 10/21/2008) Their agenda to pillage Colorado’s land, water, and people is beyond any threat our state has faced. Ritter deserves enormous credit for taking on Big Oil as they try to punish him for his dedication to promoting renewable energy. (National Journal, 10/11/2008)
Mike “Conflicts of Interest” Coffman
Even though he is going to DC, Coffman proves that you can win and still come out a loser. Coffman is the most corrupt Secretary of State in Colorado’s history…and we’ve had some bad ones. Having said that, we were amused to see that Coffman was more concerned with personal ambition than with his own party or the people of Colorado.
James “His Irrelevancy” Dobson
Completely fumbles the presidential race, promising his Focus on the Family members that he’d “never vote for McCain.” Once he realized he’d no longer get to have meetings with Karl Rove, he broke his promise and supported McCain: but by then it didn’t even matter.
Jake “Screwing the Workers” Jabs
This guy is a complete hypocrite! American Furniture Warehouse imports half of its items from China. Now we understand why Denver Post Publisher William Dean Singleton stated, “I am not afraid to call Jake a bully, a liar and a deceptive businessman.” (Denver Post, 3/27/2001) Too bad for Jake, his Amendment 47 got thrown to the lions.
Scott “McLobbyist” McInnis
If Scott “McLobbyist” McInnis decides to run for Governor in 2010 we’ll remember how he unethically gave tens of thousands of campaign donations to his wife. And we’ll never forget how he and Josh Penry worked with Big Oil to sell out water districts on the Western Slope under the guise of Amendment 52. (Grand Junction Sentinel, 10/24/2008)
Bill “Still Ineffective” Owens
Bill lost everything in past the past two cycles: Beauprez, O’Donnell in 2006, and Romney, McCain, and 47 in 2008. His recent public attacks on McInnis are hypocritical and self-serving. Kudos to State Senator-Elect Rollie Heath who finally will have more say at the Capitol than Owens.
Josh “Oil Pimp” Penry
Penry sold out Western Slope water districts to Big Oil under the guise of Amendment 52. Amendment 52 was the worst idea since Ref A-the water stealing amendment. Even Republicans are furious. His support of 52 is a likely career ender for Penry.
Marilyn “Pink Lady Sings” Musgrave
A national embarrassment for three consecutive terms. Musgrave made gay bashing her only issue despite the massive foreclosure and pressing needs in her district. She completely fabricated her attacks on opponent Betsy Markey and should be sued for defamation.
“Big Oil” Bob Schaffer
Schaffer gave billions in tax breaks to oil companies and then war profiteered in Iraq for his private oil company. (RMN, 1/30/2008, Colorado Independent, 10/13/2008) The photo of him parasailing in the Marianas Island during a trip arranged by Jack Abramoff was proof for voters that this right-winger is too corrupt–not to mention rude–to deserve public office.
Dick “Washed-Up” Wadhams
The biggest has-been of all, Wadhams completely ignored the state legislature and forced the party to focus solely on Schaffer. Wadhams showed he is more concerned about getting his own name in the paper than fundraising, strategy, or even keeping the doors of the Republican Party open. A Republican insider predicts: “on Wednesday Republicans cry, on Thursday they get angry, and on Friday Wadhams gets the pink slip.”
But Tuesday was no victory for the Governor.
He should clean house–get rid of the people who have been weighing down his Administration.
He has a lot of work to do in the next 20 months if he wants to get re-elected.
58 was a referendum on Ritter, and it failed miserably.
He’ll need to reform his image over the course of a year, unless, of course, the GOP runs Tancredo or Beauprez.
tanned, rested and ready for Ritter;-)
Now that Musgrave is unemployed you’ll have much more time to make out with her….in person.
You’re just mad that you have to settle for that skin and bones Markey…
(you know, boy, sometimes I think you’re libertine’s alter ego. You rival him in sheer nastiness)
Saying Ritter landed on the winning side of this election is pander and helps him get off too lightly.
On the federal races we have won great victories with impressive margins.
I think many progressive causes lost yesterday–or rather they lost in the months leading up to november.
54, 58, 59 did these go the way Progressives wanted?
I was poll watching in Denver and repeatedly saw people blanche when they saw the length of the ballot. They had no idea on all the issues. I saw more than a few say “I just want to vote for president.”
In Denver, there was a 20K (7%)undercount on ammendment 46, maybe that would not have been the case if some of those African Americans and latinos who said “I just want to vote for president” knew what 46 was they would have also gone ahead and voted on 46. Doesn’t even include confusion on language.
I use this as an example of our failure to get the message out and push our message in to responsive communities.
Gloating is foolish, it leads to hubris. The best time to analyze your weakness is after success, it makes it even harder for your opponents to attack you next time, they are always playing against your last position.
While yesterday was a great day, the progressive cause showed a TON of room to improve and some glaring weaknesses.
We have a lot of work to do…
I agree with your comment on under-voting. Paradoxically I think the huge interest in Obama took away a lot of oxygen from other races and issues. My experience canvassing neighborhoods was that people were barely aware of Udall-Schaffer for Senate, leave alone all the ballot initiatives. It would have been helpful if there had been better communication between the Obama/Udall coord campaign and Dem party endorsements on the referenda (if that is legal)–we could easily have dropped combined literature.
From that standpoint I don’t think that the loss on 58 will hurt Ritter that much–considering the lack of education, few people even knew that was Ritter’s project. Same for A59 loss re Romanoff’s political capital. From a tactical perspective the failure for these top state Dems to not work more effectively doesn’t speak well for them. However they may be able to come back and have another go in 2-4 yrs and build on this effort.
My long term question is how do you build political awareness and engagement in such an ill-informed and dis-engaged voter population? Many people really seemed to have no in depth understanding whatever about these down-ticket issues. But they can quote detailed statistics on Broncos defense or American Idol contestants.
…yes, those silly blacks/browns! If only they were as well-informed as the whites who knew what they were doing on every issue. Especially the liberal ones!
because it is not a lesser of two evils case. Plenty of people of color reject preferences for good reason. Plenty support them for good reason.
Not voting on an issue is the same as not voting at all–disenfranchisement. Its not the vote (for or against) that bothers me as much as the under vote.
This list is slanted to the point of ridiculousness. Ritter a winner? Umm, Yeah. About as much as McCain was a winner. Penry’s career over? You wish.
It lost by an almost 2 to 1. Penry should know better than to try and steal our water
It doesn’t get much worse than that in Colorado for a politician.
I truly admire the depth of knowledge you have on water issues. One day soon I’d like to pick your mind on the future of the Colorado Water Compact, our watershed protection projects, the ever growing housing industry, etc.
I just know who to ask. But now that we’ve made it through the election, I’d be glad to have a coffee with you. Shoot me a line at bewegen@aol.com
I should have said e-mail me at bewegen@denverpost.com. My aol address is bobewegen@denverpost.com but I don’t check that one very often any more.
But it’s not necessarily fatal. Lucky for him, 52 was crushed or the water buffaloes would really have been gunning for him. It will be interesting to see how he tries to rebuild bridges with the water and natural resources community. But he’s a sharp guy, don’t count him out.
He crafted it.
It will come up in the future. Count on it.
nor will they ever again. I believe he burned one too many bridges this time. He has a huge target on his back after last yesterday.
Oil & Gas won 350M/year last night. We can be upset that they won – but they won. There is a lot more in this I question – this seems more an attempt to hang some messages ProgressNow wants to get out around a winner/losers theme.
Oil/gas and Coffman losers? That’s what I call positive spin!
at least public employees, when Amendment 54 passes.
The priorities of Ritter (Amendment 58) and Romanoff (Amendment 59 and Referrendum O) did not pass, and Ritter has a thinner majority to work with in the Colorado House.
Gambling interests were certainly winners, as were community colleges, in a strange bedfellows alliance under Amendment 50.
The developmentmentally disabled did not come out ahead, and neither did transportation (not all because of the election).
Big Oil fended off a $300 million plus severance tax increase on their industry, which isn’t a bad consolation prize. (Opponents of Amendment 58 were right that the tax would not have been passed on significantly to the consumer, so Big Oil profits would have suffered instead).
Coffman’s consolation prize of a safe Congressional district isn’t too shabby either.
Penry has definitely made a name for himself by trying hard in a bad year. His career is on the rise in the GOP because he managed to stay reasonably civil and policy oriented at a time when much of the rest of his party was focused on violent rhetoric. Also, Penry comes out ahead with Front Range suburbanites who will remember his efforts to boost transportation when the transportation budget gets tight, but not his effort to reduce water funding, which is more remote to them.
said the tax couldn’t be passed on. The opponents claimed, relentlessly, that it would be passed on “dollar for dollar.”
And don’t worry about 54. It will be tossed out of court by the first federal judge who has read the 1st and 14th amendments. I have a masters degree in labor relations and it’s actually a throwback to 19th century anti-union laws that tried to use the sherman anti-trust act to bust unions as a restraint of trade…now disguised as “sole source contractor.” There is so much federal law and legal precedent throwing this crap out that 54 will be dead on arrival. These people, Lucero and company, just aren’t very bright.
his pet-project went down in flames across Colorado, including Front Range suburbans. Can you name one, just one, area that supported the measure?
Penry will be remember for selling out to Big Oil at the expense of our water. This will not end well for him. I guarantee you that much.
She lost by about 73-74% but according to their latest press release, they plan on expanding Colorado Personhood to PersonhoodUSA by targeting the 17 states that allow citizen initiated amendments onto their ballots.
They were so emboldened by their inability to rally their own 35% base, that they are going to try it in other states.
and definition of insanity.
She’s found a job that pays well and does not require success. She’ll ride this puppy as long as the checks keep coming in.
Artificially fertilized embryos as people, so no stem cell research.
Next she’ll be trying to pass a law against dating without putting out.
of her science book then tossed it on the burning pile.
a haiku:
Kristi touts a false science
glaring truth: denied
online law school = ne’er evolve
Wow, FoxNews just dumped all over her.
…Africa is a country, not a continent, get anywhere near being the GOP VP candidate?
If it wasn’t so downright frightening, it might be funny.
Peas in a dumbo pod.
And who wouldn’t want a veep who didn’t want to study a bit for an important encounter?
is that there is a broad range of Americans just like Sarah Palin – they don’t know about anything that takes place outside our borders, and in some cases (Hello, Gecko!) they don’t even know what happens outside of their chosen communities and social groups. Hence, a conservative Christian, well aware of all the hundreds of various factions and sects that exist under the “evangelical protestant” umbrella alone, can view Islam as this monolithic entity who believe only in two things – Muhammad and the destruction of the USA (and, if they’re a little more sophisticated, Israel.)
My brother-in-law’s ex-wife comes from an evangelical family now living in Kentucky, and they (and everyone they know) believed that Obama is a Muslim; that he won’t swear on the Bible (who gives a shit if it were true – evangelicals do), and that he’s going to take away guns and suppress Constitutional rights. They tell you this with complete earnestness. Oh, yeah, they’re homeschooled K-12, not college educated, and most haven’t even really mixed outside their homogeneous little social group, even when they lived in Denver. These kinds of people are everywhere, in almost every community. I doubt half of them could find Afghanistan on a map, or spell it correctly.
These are Palin’s people. Not all, of course – I know that Haners, LB, and some of her other supporters on this site are much smarter and more socially and worldly experienced than that. But it’s evident from all the reporting on her that she’s another dull knife in the drawer, cut from the same Peter Principle cloth that gave us Dan Quayle and George W. Bush. All she has going for her is her ambition, her personality, and her good timing. Hard scrutiny reveals no more than that.
I am shocked by fox.
They sat on news that Palin was grossly unprepared to be VP over pure partisanship–Fox has always had a clear bias, but actual suppression of information critical to national security is deeply disturbing.
News that juicy is not worth preserving your journalistic reputation over.
However, I have doubts about whether Palin was really as dumb as they say.
just telling it like it is:
Think back to all the crap they let flow over the last year, and how much that didn’t matter in this election except to a few tinfoil hat wearing winnuts (Where is AS?).
Yep, “they don’t matter any more!”