Randy Ketner, aka The Night Twister, has outdone himself once again. He started off the year back in January with an encyclopedic blog post for political activists titled Getting Connected in Colorado. Now, to close down 2009, on the eve of a most crucial election year, he has created the thorough and aptly titled “Colorado Political Analysis: 2010″.

Red State’s Erick Erickson describes the analysis as “masterful.” Once again, we agree wholeheartedly.

Anyway, read the post from cover to cover. Skim it for specific information. Follow the links you find useful. Jump into the conversation in the comments. Whatever you do, recognize that Randy has performed a valuable service.

As 2009 winds down, some half-good, half-headscratching Colorado political news reported by the Grand Junction Sentinel:

State Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said he isn’t interested in joining the ticket of his onetime rival, Scott McInnis, as the candidate for lieutenant governor.

“If I were hell-bent on being on the ticket, I’d still be in the race,” Penry said last week when asked about reports that he might be interested in the lieutenant governor slot.

Penry, however, didn’t tip his hand on a question that has five Republicans watching closely — his decision whether to run for a second term in the state Senate.

(more…)

With time off work over the holiday, I decided to survey some newly-posted lists on the Web to get a sense of which Christmas movies are widely believed to be the best ever — with lists including (but not limited to) Moviefone, the Chicago Tribune, Saturday Evening Post, and the objectively-measured most loved Christmas movies list.

Using a not-so-highly scientific formula (and not necessarily my own personal preferences), the result is the 25 most highly rated Christmas movies: (more…)

In his latest offering, former state legislative leader Mark Hillman praises the “freedom nationally, virtue locally” National Freedom Initiative of Colorado’s own Kevin Miller — not the first time it has crossed my path. It was last year about this time I wrestled a lot with the role social conservatism should play, and something that never strays too far from my mind.

Therefore, I’m very intrigued by this initiative — which, of course, is not altogether new, but rather a very sensible clarification and reformulation for our current political context. The opportunity definitely is there:

• To educate many social conservatives on the vital and wholly compatible value of liberty and limited government
• To build a strong bridge between the Right-leaning faith-based community and the Tea Party & 9/12 movements (where I’m sure a lot of overlap already exists)
• (At the least) To have ongoing, important debates that can help hone views and broader strategies heading into the 2010 election and beyond

Just maybe, Miller is vying to be the Frank Meyer for a new generation of the conservative movement. For more, watch Miller and state senator Ted Harvey hash out the issues on a recent episode of Independent Thinking with host Jon Caldara (parts 1 through 3): (more…)

Writing for the Washington Examiner, Michael Barone makes an astute historical observation:

It’s time to blow the whistle on two erroneous statements that opponents and proponents of the health care legislation being jammed through Congress have been making. Republicans have been saying that never before has Congress passed such an unpopular bill with such important ramifications by such a narrow majority. Barack Obama has been saying that passage of the bill will mean that the health care issue will be settled once and for all.

The Republicans and Obama are both wrong. But perhaps they can be forgiven because the precedent for Congress passing an unpopular bill is an old one, and the issue it addressed has long been settled, though not by the legislation in question.

That legislation was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854….

(more…)

Two days ’till Christmas — which apparently means it’s time to practice our jolly laughter. Huffington Post’s Sam Stein looks like he is auditioning to fill the local void left by the departure of Colorado Media Matters. What a doozy (H/T Complete Colorado):

Appearing at a recent coffee-shop event with Colorado voters, Norton sat silently while a female attendee declared twice that President Barack Obama is a Muslim and while a male attendee insisted that the president — who he deemed “an idiot” — wanted to let babies die on the side of the road “with the garbage.”

“Well as you can tell there is a lot of passion around what is happening in our own country,” Norton responded to the crowd, rather than correcting either individual. “And how we can channel that into positive constructive ways that will get our vote out it is going to be absolutely critical.”

Also at the event, Norton praised the “tea-party movement and the 9/12 groups” for pushing a right-wing populist, anti-Washington agenda….

Whoa. Scandalous… Not. Doesn’t the whole HuffPo piece remind you of CMM’s infamous “Talk show host allowed guest to say…” headlines filled with vastly more breathless prose than substance or logic? (more…)

Three days ’till Christmas, this will give you some holiday cheer. PJTV’s Steven Crowder takes an up close & personal look at Detroit, the once proud Motor City a mere hollow shell of what it once was (H/T Red State).

The recent Clint Eastwood flick Gran Torino gave you a glimpse of what Detroit has become. But Crowder goes even deeper into the hollowed-out blight, pervasive poverty and unemployment, and the worst schools in America in his didactic tale concerning the fruit of decades of welfare state policy, Big Labor cronyism, and corrupt city government: (more…)

For having an outside perspective, Red State editor Erick Erickson makes one of the most insightful observations about Colorado’s Republican Senate primary:

Why exactly must we support Jane Norton in Colorado instead of Ken Buck? I’m not saying I am or am not, but why must I? Lots of people think we must because the same guys in Washington who said Charlie Crist was our best hope in Florida say she is in Colorado….

…Ken Buck has a very real shot and Norton is about to suffer some very serious high dollar blows about her support for suspending TABOR a while back. We need not go with the inside the beltway wisdom just because the beltway wisdom wants us to go with Norton. We should watch, study, observe, and see where things are heading before going with either Buck or Norton.

Could hardly have stated it better myself.

With posts like the recent one I wrote highlighting Ken Buck’s momentum in head-to-head matchups with Michael Bennet, I have been pegged as a Buck sympathizer. Not so. I am nowhere close to choosing a candidate to back in the primary. Norton’s campaign has received most of the pomp and national establishment backing. From time to time I may take the opportunity to add a little balance to the coverage.

Like Erick, I firmly believe the pro-liberty grassroots and bloggers “should watch, study, observe, and see where things are heading before going with either Buck or Norton.” At least that’s where I am these days.

In the spirit of the season, as Christmas Day blesses us later this week, let me boldly say: Fear not. As Rossputin ably reminds us (and to his credit, he’s been on a blogging roll lately), we do not need to be despondent or demoralized about what Harry Reid is doing to cram through the U.S. Senate on the eve of celebrating our Savior’s birth. In fact, that is what Reid is trying to accomplish with his approach.

Instead, Rossputin outlines the difficulties that can emerge as the Senate bill returns to the House next year and a conference committee likely takes place. He suggests a bipartisan plan of action to shoot down an Obama Care proposal that now appeases only politicians and insurance companies.

At the same time, Hugh Hewitt in his new Examiner column highlights a “Reverse the Vote” strategy to peel off a few Democrats who voted to pass the “public option” Obama Care bill:

Some of the Tea Party participants will want to grouse about what the Republicans did — or didn’t do — when they were in the majority before 2007. Some will worry about being co-opted or about losing their influence or position within the media spotlight as 2010 begins to shift to the elections, which inevitably highlight the two parties. Still others will be dreaming “third party” dreams and won’t want anything to do with the Party of Lincoln.

A test of the movement is directly ahead. To defeat Obamacare, it is going to have to team up with the GOP. The next few weeks will tell us a lot about the motives, and staying power, of the new activists of 2009.

Let me be clear: I’ve had plenty of disagreements with Hewitt of late, such that I very rarely even listen to his program any more. But on this point he is absolutely correct, and pro-liberty forces here in Colorado would be wise to make common cause on his immediate plan of action.

Who’s on the list of 24 targeted “Reverse the Vote” Democrats? John Salazar, in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. He should be the number one target for the Tea Party groups and their allies in this state as we move into 2010.

Harry Reid says he has 60 votes to pass the Obama Care monstrosity — Is he telling the truth? We’ll see. But if it wasn’t a given before, then passing this bill means Colorado will spend most of 2010 preparing to say “good-bye” to the short-lived disastrous Senate term of Michael Bennet.

As Red State reports, three key procedural votes remain:

• Early Monday morning to end debate on a “manager’s package” of amendments (383 pages being read and live-blogged by RMA’s Don Johnson, if you want to see some of what’s being shoved down our throats)
• Tuesday to end debate on Reid’s health care proposal as amended by the “manager’s package”
• Wednesday for final passage of Obama Care in the U.S. Senate

So speak up. Go here to take action and send an email to all your elected Representatives in Congress. Here’s what I sent — part automated Freedom Works message, and part Mount Virtus on a righteous rant: (more…)

Update, 3:45 PM: Over at Human Events, Connie Hair goes through the procedural details of the health care debate to explain why Harry Reid’s goal to pass the bill by Christmas Eve is largely a pipe dream (H/T Rossputin). Meanwhile, Rasmussen notes that only 34 percent of Americans say passing a health care bill is better than passing nothing (and I wonder how many of those people are even paying attention).

It’s Friday morning, one week before Christmas. Here I am — doubtless like many others — sitting back in awe, watching Obama and the D.C. Democrats in a mad rush to impale themselves politically over an Obama Care debate that they themselves have sent spiraling out of control with their secretive, anti-liberty, wildly unpopular attempted power-grab of one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

The majority party’s approach has now alienated people and groups across the political spectrum, and even has the pro-public option Denver Post calling the bill “an albatross for Democrats”. A remarkable turn of events that has led us to today, when libertarian blogger Rossputin credibly wonders aloud whether the Democrats will be saved by their far left.

The Beltway drama has devolved into a farce, made sillier with each day in which lame duck Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seriously expects us to believe his chamber will pass some sort of bill on Christmas Eve. (Reid knows reaching January makes his hopes even more bleak.) As the Washington Examiner aptly explains, Obamacare is teetering on the precipice.

Never to be presumptuous, today you should take one final moment to contact key Democrat U.S. Senators and make your voice heard as a resounding NO to Obama Care and socialized medicine.

Why? Because the American public has only grown more sick of the deception, the brutal tactics, and of course, the hideous monstrosity itself. Surely, as columnist David Harsanyi observes, all the president’s mendacity deserves much of the blame.

Thank God for the genius of the Founders, and the U.S. Senate. The 60-vote requirement to close debate has formed a hill that’s increasingly difficult for Reid and the “bull in a china shop” Democrats to surmount without self-destructing. Thus, it sure looks more likely now that we will be spared this “health care reform” monstrosity. When it sputters to a halt and the calendar turns to 2010, the issue will be dead. We will look to the future, and to taking our government back from the “progressive” rogues and fools in charge.

Check out Newsbusters’ coverage of the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (PDF). The Tea Party is “viewed quite a bit more favorably” than either the Democrats or the Republicans.

But of course, the Tea Party movement hasn’t had the opportunity and/or the reins of power to spend like drunken sailors and trample on the few precious liberties we still have in this nation. A reminder to Republicans in this ever-shifting political landscape: You have to court (not co-opt) the Tea Party crowd. Then success will follow.

Al Maurer also points out what the Tea Parties can do with their growing popularity.

While I was busy yesterday highlighting the Rasmussen momentum for Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck’s campaign, a truly earth-shattering survey came out from Florida’s Republican Senate primary: As Erick Erickson put it, a bomb went off:

Last night in Washington, close to one hundred leaders of the conservative movement gathered in a townhouse just down from the United States Capitol to hear Senator Jim DeMint and Florida Speaker Marco Rubio at a Senate Conservatives Fund fundraiser for Marco Rubio.

The people in the room for Rubio were the same people who blew up NY-23, helping Doug Hoffman and crushing the chances of a far left Republican, Dede Scozzafava.

Just prior to the start of the fundraiser, a bomb went off in Florida. According to Rasmussen, the Florida Senate primary is now tied between Rubio and Crist. (more…)

Yes, me and Schroeder both…

In honor of the great Ludwig von Beethoven‘s 239th birthday, why not pop in a CD or MP3 and take in one of his symphonies: maybe the overlooked 1st, the mighty 3rd, the classic 5th, the serene 6th, the passionate 7th … or if you have a lot of time on your hands, the transcendent 9th?

Blasts from the past:
- Happy Birthday, Ludwig (2004) … in case you want to know why Beethoven is such a big deal
- 2nd Annual Beethoven’s Birthday Blog (2005) … including the famous Lucy / Schroeder exchange
- Happy Chanukah / Beethoven’s Birthday (2006) … with a few interesting ideas for musical blends

Last week, Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Lt. Governor Jane Norton received a lot of attention for her 46-37 lead in a new Rasmussen poll over incumbent appointee Michael Bennet. Rossputin did a good job of summarizing the results.

One Norton primary challenger, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, showed a smaller lead of 42-38. Afterward, Buck told RMA blogger Don Johnson that the poll results show he can win in the general election.

Even so, what makes the strongest case on Buck’s behalf is the trend line. What do I mean? Look at the only clear apples-to-apples comparison: a pair of Rasmussen surveys conducted a few months ago. (more…)