Today is the 47th anniversary of the first manned moon landing (if you believe in that sort of thing). 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). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.
► We can finally dismiss with the formality of calling Donald Trump the “presumptive” Republican nominee for President; on Tuesday delegates at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland made it official. Trump’s formal nomination came despite continued protests from Colorado’s delegation. As John Frank reports for the Denver Post, Colorado Republicans are being shunned as a result of their un-Trumpiness:
Colorado is the troublemaker at the Republican National Convention. And Donald Trump — many delegates believe — put them in the corner as a punishment.
The rebuke is obvious when you look at the red-carpeted convention floor. The seats for the state’s 37-member delegation are as far as possible from the stage in a not-so-subtle signal that it remains a “Never Trump” stronghold.
From its back-corner position Tuesday, Colorado defiantly cast 31 of its 37 votes for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, drawing boos from the crowd inside Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Only four delegates declared support for Trump.
To make matters worse, the state later requested a correction to its tally to add two more delegates for Cruz after the first tally was announced with an error.
Colorado’s defiance didn’t make any difference in the results on Tuesday, as a rumored last-ditch anti-Trump protest failed to materialize.
► Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, takes center stage at the RNC tonight in his first real introduction to a national audience.
► Colorado will not see a fall ballot measure to suspend TABOR refunds after supporters announced that they were not able to generate sufficient resources to qualify for a November campaign. As Ernest Luning writes for the Colorado Statesman:
Supporters of a state ballot measure to set a 10-year time-out on TABOR revenue restrictions called it quits Tuesday, blaming what could be a crowded fall ballot, the high cost of getting across a complicated argument to voters and an “uncertain political climate.”
“In November, Colorado voters are going to be asked to decide on up to 10 statewide ballot initiatives, dozens of candidates as well as local ballot initiatives,” said Colorado Priorities co-chairs Dan Ritchie and Al Yates in a joint statement. “The crowded ballot has made it difficult to secure the resources necessary for us to win in November.”
The ballot measure would have asked voters to approve spending tax revenue — regardless of restrictions on revenue growth under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights — on education, transportation, mental health and services for seniors.
The proposal was one of several that emerged from Ritchie’s Building a Better Colorado effort, which was aimed at determining what state residents want from government and charting a course to get them there.
Colorado Priorities says that the proposed measure was polling very well in early testing.
Get even more smarter after the jump…
► Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) departed Cleveland on Tuesday without offering a full endorsement of Donald Trump. Of course, Gardner has already gone on record saying he would support “the Republican nominee.” It’s worth asking whether or not Trump even wants Gardner’s support given the Colorado Republican’s poor track record in backing Presidential candidates.
► A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows Hillary Clinton with a 12-point lead over Donald Trump in the latter’s home state of New York.
► As Megan Schrader reports for the Colorado Springs Gazette, talk of Gov. John Hickenlooper potentially ending up as Hillary Clinton’s running mate is generating mixed emotions in Colorado.
► Debate remains heated in Douglas County as parents continue to demand the resignation of two school board members. John Aguilar has more for the Denver Post:
More than 100 parents, students and community members turned out Tuesday for a raucous school board meeting in Douglas County, defiantly continuing the calls of the past few months for two board members to step down.
Mass chants for the resignations of Meghann Silverthorn and Judith Reynolds interrupted Tuesday’s board meeting at one point, shutting down proceedings for nearly 30 minutes as people were led out of the room.
Silverthorn abruptly adjourned the meeting a few minutes later as audience members continued to shout “resign” from the gallery.
The calls to step down came less than 24 hours after an investigative report, released late Monday, cleared Reynolds and Silverthorn of violating district policy when they met privately with 15-year-old Ponderosa High student Grace Davis regarding a protest she was spearheading.
► Colorado Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn is not having a particularly good week, as Marianne Goodland reports for the Colorado Independent.
► Republican Scott Turner lost a GOP Primary for an El Paso County Commissioner seat last month by just 27 votes and has agreed to pay for a recount after not meeting the threshold for an automatic county-funded recount.
► Political insiders continued to express bewilderment in assessing how Melania Trump’s Monday RNC speech could have contained language apparently cribbed from an address by Michelle Obama in 2008.
► Is it more amazing that Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for President…or the fact that his campaign still does not have an official manager manning the helm?
► Attendees of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland are getting more than they bargained for as an outbreak of norovirus makes area bathrooms the most popular meeting place this week.
► Establishment Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, aren’t even really trying to pretend that they are excited about Donald Trump as their Presidential nominee.
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I didn't catch this when it came out, but Real Clear Politics reported the results of some polls of Colorado voters by NBC/WSJ/Marist released on Friday, July 15, 2016:
Presidential race (Colorado voters):
Clinton 43, Trump 35 Clinton +8
Clinton 39, Trump 33, Johnson 13, Stein 4 Clinton +6
Colorado's U.S. Senate seat:
Bennet 53, Glenn 38 Bennet +15
In sum, Colorado is looking pretty blue this year.