This year’s Senate appointments have caused quite a stir. The Blago – Burris scandal has highlighted the problems with appointments. Even Russ Feingold proposed a Constitutional Amendment to change our appointments to elections, which George Will attacked quite pathetically.
Here in Colorado, another Senate appointment by Governor Ritter has left many dems wondering why their Governor ignored them in his Senate Appointment.
And after hearing multiple complaints among party members, I started one of several facebook groups supporting former House Speaker, Andrew Romanoff for a Senate Primary run. Now, despite the flame wars that have been flying in the Colorado blogosphere, the calvary has shown up with their own website urging supporters to Draft Andrew Romanoff for a Senate Primary for 2010.
read on…
From the website:
Until recently, our political leaders have found support amongst the few and powerful while grass roots involvement has diminished. In many ways, this is the reason we need to draft Andrew Romanoff to run for the United States Senate. Grass roots support and organization will strengthen the Romanoff campaign and continue to help change the politics of the nation. We must continue to build a broad-based and inclusive campaign of small donations and the actions of many. We must find an alternative to the campaigns of the last thirty years which have been largely paid for by big donations coming from special and powerful interests.
When the appointment of Michael Bennet was made, many people were very upset, not just because they wanted Romanoff to be the picked, but because the Governor skipped all of the other top elected officials in the state to pick someone who had never run for office in Colorado. It seemed like inside baseball to many, the kind where the Governor picked someone for his ability to raise money, rather than for his years of service and ties to democratic party members.
We dems of Colorado, were quite shocked and angered, but now, people are starting to show their support for Andrew Romanoff. We even have a table for Andrew at the State Party Jefferson Jackson Dinner.
I want Andrew to know (though we don’t communicate) that several prominent party members and elected officials have privately told me they will publicly support Andrew for a primary, if he would only declare his candidacy.
So there you have it, it appears that there will be at least one interesting race for the US Senate, starting here in Colorado.
Visit the website here.
(Thanks to Charles, Arthur, and the rest of the runandrew team for helping me put this post together)
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Without stating an opinion on you or what you’re trying to do, let me just say that your little “draft Andrew” website is atrociously designed. Not to be rude with the criticism, but my grade school kid could make a better website. It’s total amateur hour, people take one look at it and realize it is not a serious effort. On the other hand, if you slap a “Mike Miles for Senate” logo on top nobody is likely to know the difference.
Oh gosh, I just expressed an opinion on you/what you’re doing.
I wish I hadn’t clicked on that. Maybe instead of dropping cash in the JJ Dinner they could hire…um…ANYONE to design a remotely proper site…
it is a basic website, run by volunteers, who have come forward to support Andrew. They put that together in the past week.
i noticed there is a comment page, maybe you could offer your services to make the website better, i am sure they would appreciate the help.
..maybe they wish to embarrass poor Andrew with their amateur-hour efforts? That’s not very nice of them!
I welcome your posts. thanks for doing your part to open the debate on the primary.
Again, why do you hate Andrew?
you are doing my work for me.
WordPress is pretty easy to employ for what you are trying to do here. Heck, even a Blogspot effort would get you past the circa 1999 feel.
but as I said before, I am just reporting this website, I don’t actually have any connection to it or its administration.
but feel free to pass it along on their comment page, if you want.
when AR calls Bob Menendez and tells him he’s challenging a sitting member of the Senate? And the DNC? And…oh, I don’t know…the White House? Rahm Emanuel meltdown in 3…2…1…
I’m just wondering where he gets the money to challenge Bennet. Out-of-state cash is going to be hard to come by for something like this. Maybe that’s OK…
if AR runs, i am sure he will have to make some tough choices, especially facing those who told him to get out of the way.
hopefully the supporters will give him a different perspective and will encourage him to fight.
Do you really expect us to believe that you’re actually “quite shocked and angered” about the Governor playing “inside baseball” by not appointing someone with ties to “party insiders” like Romanoff?
What a bogus argument to claim because the Governor didn’t pick YOUR choice insider, that therefor he somehow doesn’t represent Colorado Democrats.
Looks the formation of a circling firing squad. Good luck with that.
Romanoff was/is not my choice.
As I have said, the issue is the choice Ritter made not to pick any of the top candidates in the field, Perlmutter, Romanoff, DeGette etc.
However, the name I heard the most talking to dems in the field was Romanoff.
However, feel free to pile on.
It only can help.
Really? Not your choice? Immediately after Ritter appointed Bennet you wrote Ritter’s appointment betrays Romanoff.
Either Ritter “owed” Andrew the seat, which IS pay to play party insider baseball, or you weren’t willing to give the Governor or the newly appointed Senator because it wasn’t your insider choice and instead “piled on” with the rest of the circler firing squad.
Sorry wade just calling it like I see it and this looks like a lot of wasted time if you ask me.
Romanoff won’t run.
I’ve been happy with Bennet and Romanoff would make a good Senator, but to be honest… neither are compelling; not like Obama as the author of the runandrew website wants us to believe.
To be constructive, make a better a argument. The over the top stuff isn’t going to cut it.
i emphasize this point because the heart of this argument is the non-democratic process of the appointment system.
And, since Mr. Bennett has not had to answer any questions or go through a public vetting process, a primary seems to be the best way to ensure that the voters’ questions about our Representatives are answered.
I’m all for primaries. I think it helps ensure a better candidate. I like Romanoff and think he’s really smart. That said, why would I vote for him over Bennett? Because “Andrew Romanoff has a track record of steadfast and hard working service for the citizens of Colorado.” Really? So fucking what.
If you (or Romanoff or Perlmutter) are interested in a serious primary maybe it would help to come up with some reasons that the Democratic electorate cares about.
Karinthy,
right now, Bennet has not passed any tests among the party, and to win his first campaign, he only has to make pledges that are slightly better than Tancredo or Beauprez.
Romanoff is not as strong on a lot of issues as being a centrist candidate, but to quote a on old saying, I would rather ‘deal with the devil I know, than the one I don’t’
With a primary, we will at least get to have an open discussion on issues that we care about. I firmly believe, much like the national GOP, that the State GOP has gone from mainstream to a third party status with less than 30% support.
(note our headlines from the GOP as of late)
and with the GOP moving into a situation of not being able to win a statewide election, only local, then we must start thinking of our Primaries as our general election, much like the way we fought over the positions of Hillary and Obama in the Dem Primary of the General Election.
So how would Romanoff vote or govern differently then Bennett? That is the question that needs answering. There is plenty of time between now and primary day but someone might want to work on that.
by asking the question
we are already putting power back into the voter’s hands. These questions will make Romanoff and Bennet take positions on issues, which is much better than what we will have without a primary.
So what would you specifically like to see Romanoff come out in support of, say like Employee Free Choice Act, or against, say like ‘clean coal’ – and the ball will start rolling.
Your fighting Republican bloggers that hate the idea of Andrew being the nominee. They attack silly things like web design rather than ideas, qualifications,loyalty and true decent values.
Rovian tactics will fail in the new America.
Well, Sen. Bennet would probably support very conservative Phil Anshutz positions as the man worked for him for years.
Questions about the Nacchio situation and pressure placed upon him by superiors were never brought out in the insider trading scandal.
Of course a lot of money went to the Med School. When you profit 2 billion dollars off of a stock that traded for years at 30 and now trades at 3.50, one can afford to donate a couple hundred million to build a new medical facility.
It’s sad that the Judge Nottingham was destroyed for presiding over the trial.
The sad truth is that the party establishment cares more for its own political power than the people.
Being ostracized at the JJ is nothing new if you don’t tow the same old dogmatic rhetoric. Last year Obama supporters were almost completely ignored because the party backed Clinton.
Amazing how quickly they changed when a grass roots organization defeated their candidate over and over again.
They began using racialy divisive references to Rev.Wright, and questioned Pres.Obama’s toughness even though he faced assasination threats daily.
Most of the party probably have not read the Federalist Papers, or Tom Payne’s Common Sense.
They may have read The Prince and the Art of War, though.
If we get ostracized then Tohmas Henry’s “I smell a rat” will ring true in the JJ dinner.
oh well………