Mount Virtus

The Rocky Mountain News sheds light on yesterday’s radio ads. According to the report, the ads were produced by “Coloradans for Freedom and Opportunity,” or the political henchmen of the pro-tax increase power brokers in the state Republican party.

Last year Marc Holtzman challenged their stand on Referendum C, and they throw buckets of mud back - mostly innuendo. I wonder where the preponderance of the GOP’s grassroots - who are scheduled to convene in Colorado Springs on May 20 - stood on Ref C. Well, let me tell you: with Holtzman, not with Katy Atkinson and Bruce Benson. I have a hard time explaining the timing of the release of these ads, except that the anti-Holtzman crowd are attempting to curb a defeat at the State Assembly, or at least to take their negative appeal to a broader audience.

Holtzman and his team had to have anticipated the escalation of these sort of vitriolic assaults. How they respond in the coming weeks will say a lot about the quality and character of the campaign. If done well, they may be able to rally more of the party faithful to their banner.

We have 16 days to see which candidate earns top line at the Assembly. Depending on which side you listen to, you get drastically different stories of where the levels of support are. A lot of jockeying is going on for the narrowest cadres of support. What I hope for, more than anything, is a fair and untainted vote at the Assembly (unlike the clouds of controversy that swirled in 2004).

While I tend to disagree with John Straayer in most cases, his analysis quoted in the Rocky that a “civil war” has been taking place in Colorado’s Republican Party is not far off.

Make no mistake, however, that this “civil war” has roots far deeper than Holtzman and Beauprez and 2006. I can only hope that the candidate with fewer primary votes can urge his cohorts to lay down their arms come August.

Cross posted at Holtzman v Beauprez

Update, 4:53 PM: I just received a recorded phone call from Lola Spradley calling on Republicans to denounce a nasty attack ad the Beauprez campaign apparently has aired against Marc Holtzman on KOA today. I haven’t been tuned into KOA today … anyone who has heard said ad, please comment or send me an email. What timing that I should publish this post this morning! My statement regarding “how few of us there are actually paying attention” may be moot at this point.

Leaving aside the nature of the attacks (though judging from recent output, it could be as bad as the recorded message made it sound), does anyone want to offer their insights why Beauprez is pulling out heavy artillery against Holtzman so early … more than two weeks before the State Assembly? Not good, my GOP friends, not good….

Primary campaigns do tend to get ugly. A sure sign that the assumed frontrunner senses his rival gaining ground is the significant amount of mud being slung back. Such is the case in Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial showdown, as Bob Beauprez’s campaign manager John Marshall recently has sent around an email with a list of claims to demonstrate a trend of dishonesty by Holtzman. Some of them don’t even merit responses, but of the few that do, the Holtzman team has fired back on one. Says Marshall:

Marc Holtzman claimed President Ronald Reagan appointed him executive director of Citizens for America, but the truth is President Reagan did not.

Holtzman’s camp has staked its honesty on hard evidence by producing an actual copy of a letter from well-respected former Attorney General Ed Meese that they claim refutes Marshall’s assertion.

I hope that Holtzman responds to some more of the charges with such evidence, but for now, he and running mate Lola Spradley should stick to a more positive message than their opponent.

We’ve also seen a Beauprez supporter file an election complaint against Holtzman attempting to quell his free speech. Is that what Republicans stand for? For some, when it’s convenient, yes … unfortunately. Don’t think the other side isn’t paying close attention to the hypocrisy:

Bob Beauprez’s gubernatorial campaign is going after Marc Holtzman’s campaign manager for making false statements to the press, and the statute they are citing is the same one that Democrats have complained has been violated by The Trailhead Group in robocalls designed to hurt targeted Democrats. If Beauprez gets his way, does that put new scrutiny back on The Trailhead Group? Two of Trailhead’s founders, Gov. Bill Owens and oilman Bruce Benson, are two of Beauprez’s biggest backers.

The bright side at this point is how few of us there are actually paying attention. Maybe a campaign of ideas is too much for this amateur pundit to hope for, but could we save just a little bit of mud for the other side… please?

Cross posted at Holtzman v Beauprez

I’m amazed how much this Web site has become a curiosity. Jason Bane, the face of the Dead Governors’ site, has included Mount Virtus in his inquiry into why the right side of Colorado’s blogosphere seems less active for 5280 Magazine:

Of all of the conservative, politically-active blogs out there in Colorado, Blog It Right and Mt. Virtus spend the most time talking politics on a local level. Mt. Virtus, run by a guy who works at the conservative Independence Institute, probably does the best job of keeping focused on local politics, but he sometimes goes weeks without posting something new….

It’s also interesting to compare the traffic to some of these blogs. On the conservative side, Blog it Right only averages about 28 visitors a day, while Mt. Virtus gets about 42 visitors a day (the statistics are publicly available on their Web sites). SoapBlox Colorado, meanwhile, averages around 450 visitors a day.

Read the rest of this entry »

If April is any indication, 2006 figures to be a happier baseball season at Mount Virtus than in the dismal climes of the Northern Alliance or the deluded braggadocio of Hugh Hewitt. Here are the American League Central standings as the regular season’s first month has come to a close:

Chi White Sox 17-7 (-)
Detroit 16-9 (1.5 GB)
Cleveland 13-12 (4.5 GB)
Minnesota 9-15 (8.0 GB)
Kansas City 5-17 (11.0 GB)

Prognosticators and pundits may start to get a little uneasy, though a lot of baseball remains to be played. My Detroit Tigers, however, have given every evidence of finally turning it around this season with new manager Jim Leyland at the helm. After their best April since the historic 1984 championship season, the team continues to excel on the field and act as if it’s business as usual. Great starting pitching, a reliable bullpen, power at the key spots in the lineup, clutch hitting throughout the order, solid defense, and contributions from the bench. Remarkably, Detroit is 11-4 on the road and 5-5 at home.

It’s way too early to gloat, but it sure is nice to see Cleveland three games back in the standings. Yet it’s much harder to contain the emotion after the Tigers turned the tables this past weekend on their Minnesota rivals - typically a big roadblock for Detroit baseball - in impressive fashion. The three-game sweep saw the Tigs outscore the Twins by a total of 33-1, including a Comerica Park-record-setting 18-1 Saturday performance.

I can’t blame Major League Baseball’s devotees for holding back in skepticism. It’s been a long time since the Old English D has made a real dent. But this Tigers fan is feeling his biggest dose of optimism in a LONG time, and doesn’t mind one bit doing it at the expense of the Twins and the Indians.