Mount Virtus

It’s very hard for the online political activist, much less the average citizen, to keep track of all the Obama deceptions and misdirections. And what about the broken promises? You know, like the pledge to post all bills online for five days for the public to read before the President signed anything.

Well, the Cato Institute’s Jim Harper lays it out in detail: A little over 240 days in, the Obama White House is 1-for-61 in keeping this basic promise. As Harper notes, “That’s a .016 average, baseball fans.” In most cases, he notes that it would have been very easy to do.

That kind of slump should put somebody on the bench … and we’re not talking the federal court system here.

And besides, lately there have been more important things for Obama to do: like distancing himself from the corrupt political train wreck known as ACORN.

Westword blogger Michael Roberts reports on the results of our survey of Colorado’s political temperature released yesterday.

The flattering comparison that titles the post, which comes from Scott McInnis for Governor spokesman Sean Duffy, now adorns my “Who Writes This Blog?” page. After all, fame is fleeting….

For the latest and greatest comprehensive polling data out there, check out Rasmussen Reports.

When Wolf Blitzer from liberal CNN grasps the simple concept of health care competition and deregulation and White House adviser trips all over himself trying to explain how up is down, isn’t it clear that Obama Care is incoherent? And isn’t it obvious why the President’s program to add more political controls to medicine is encountering such loud and widespread opposition? (H/T Michelle Malkin) (more…)

Introducing the top-line results from the 2nd edition of the survey of Colorado’s political temperature. Exactly 500 people participated in the project. Thanks to those of you who took the time to help out!

Coming later in the week will be an analysis of some key crosstabs and correlations. But for now here’s a quick rundown of the survey’s top-line results:

• The biggest winner, making significant gains in both support and perceived strength since our July survey, is gubernatorial candidate Josh Penry
• The larger shifting field of the U.S. Senate race gives a less clear picture, with Ryan Frazier edging out Ken Buck for most support, and Jane Norton beating Frazier by a similarly narrow margin for perceived strength
• The heavily Right-leaning crowd definitely shows more respect for Andrew Romanoff as a Democratic rival in the race than for appointed incumbent Michael Bennet
• Among the other races, treasurer candidate J.J. Ament made the biggest gains, while Scott Gessler (Secretary of State) and Cory Gardner (4th Congressional) widened their respective leads
• Demographically speaking, the group of participants in this poll was slightly more Republican, older, female, married, educated and non-white than the July sample
• Overall, those surveyed are more confident that Democrat policies in Washington will harm elected Democrats’ chances in the 2010 election, and believe that Bennet, Bill Ritter, and Betsy Markey are more vulnerable than two months ago

For more details, read the release below: (more…)

What a difference a week makes! Last Sunday Denver Post editorial page editor Dan Haley laid out the red carpet for Republican Jane Norton‘s U.S. Senate campaign. Today, in the printed space directly beneath Haley, columnist Vince Carroll took a look at Norton’s “clunky” bio page and “languid and subdued” introductory video, and had to say Ummm… Not so fast: (more…)

Last night I kindly berated national talk show host Hugh Hewitt for his ignorance pertaining to Colorado Republican politics. Apparently, he’s in our state today and has an opportunity to listen, learn, and change his ways.

One guest who is scheduled to appear on his show this afternoon (sometime between 4 and 6 PM on 710 KNUS) is Matt Arnold to promote his important project Clear the Bench Colorado. Go here to find out more about Matt’s radio appearance and the cause you should consider supporting.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our September survey of Colorado’s political temperature. We had 500 people take the survey — down somewhat from last time, but still a very strong showing. We appreciate it very much.

Some already have started to ask about the release of the results, so let me share the (tentative) plan. Here goes:

1. Over the weekend we will compile and organize the top-line results for public display, and I will post them here first thing Monday morning. This should include how the candidates fared (and compared to the July survey), as well as which issue statements received the strongest expressions of agreement or disagreement
2. We have outsourced some cross-tab analysis to see how support with some candidates correlates with some other key questions. At this point, we anticipate rolling out this more in-depth analysis toward the latter part of next week. If you have any burning desires to see any certain questions broken down by demographic or some other issue, please leave a comment or send an email today, and we’ll take it into consideration

Thanks again for all your participation. And don’t hesitate to share any feedback about this survey that we might be able to use as we look ahead to crafting the next one.

First, it was Michigan-Ohio State football. Then it was the whole litany of Cleveland sports. The near-weekly disembarkation into the world of popular and classic movies. Of late, national radio host Hugh Hewitt has shown another entire topic about which he would be better served staying silent as opposed to demonstrating his ignorance: I speak of Colorado politics.

Memo to Hugh — Get away from the coasts, get out of the Beltway and the smog, and visit Rocky Mountain flyover country again. In the meantime, read up on Josh Penry, and watch this national video clip from Fox News: (more…)

Update: Tying the knot complete on this post, Jared Polis (along with fellow Colorado Democrat Diana Degette) was one of the 75 members of the U.S. House who voted today against ending taxpayer funding of ACORN.

Based on original research, Complete Colorado’s Todd Shepherd brings forward some interesting insights on Boulder Democrat Congressman Jared Polis’ personal financial stake in the “medical tourism” industry and his strong political support for increased government intervention in the health insurance market:

But here’s the rub: Jared Polis has made a long-term bet on the worldwide success of health care markets that have less regulation rather than more. Draw any conclusion you like, but there is no escaping the fact that BridgeHealth does not send patients to the United Kingdom or Canada to receive their health services. In fact, assuming those two countries have a mechanism to verify the citizenship of people applying for health services, non-citizens couldn’t possibly go to either country for medical tourism. Yet at the same time, it would be incorrect to conclude that Polis’ company is sending patients to places like India and Mexico by default.

(more…)

I’ll admit it. I’m a fool for baseball. And one of the greatest reasons I love the game so much walked out onto the field at Comerica Park this evening — Ernie Harwell, 91 years young, diagnosed with terminal cancer, but as optimistic and gracious and gentlemanly as ever — to say thank you:

“It’s a wonderful night for me,” Harwell said. “I really feel lucky to be here, and I want to thank you for that warm welcome. I want to express my deep appreciation to Mike Ilitch, Dave Dombrowski and the Tigers for that video salute and also for the many great things they’ve done for me and my family throughout my career here with the Tigers.

“In my almost 92 years on this Earth, the good Lord has blessed me with a great journey, and the blessed part of that journey is that it’s going to end here in the great state of Michigan. I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have. And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all, no question about that.

“And I certainly want to thank you from the depth of my heart for your devotion, your support, your loyalty and your love. Thank you very much, and God bless you.”

It’s just like Ernie Harwell to say thank you to all of us, when all of us should be saying thank you to Ernie Harwell. As Ernie’s last season as the voice of the Detroit Tigers began in April 2002, I penned a column as Hillsdale Daily News sports editor — a column titled “Ernie Harwell reminds us what baseball is about”.

Simply one of the best, and a personal hero of mine. All the best to Ernie Harwell, his wife Lulu, and their family.

Wednesday Quick Hit: On some issues there’s plenty of room for debate and disagreement, but it seems to me that terminating federal taxpayer funding of ACORN is a cause we all should be able to rally around.

Don’t delay — if you haven’t done so already, you have less than 2 days to take the survey of Colorado’s political temperature. Join the more than 400 others who have already expressed their views on political issues and candidates of the day:

Click here to take the September 2009 Colorado online political survey

Your opinion counts. Take a few moments to make it happen. Not only show your support for candidates, but also let us know where you stand on key issues and give us some honest prognostication about the 2010 elections. The survey won’t be there forever, only until tomorrow, September 17, 5 PM local Mountain time … Thanks for participating!

Go here for more information.

Jane Norton launched her U.S. Senate campaign today, and with it this video:

The video speaks for itself, but I’m hoping my readers will compare it with another video. (more…)

Trying to build on Lefty hitman David Sirota’s smear that the anti-Obama Care movement is characterized by “racist undertones” leading to rampant death threats, the 5280 blog recounts:

He isn’t the only public figure in Colorado to be threatened for digging into the intricacies of the health care debate. Last month, Congressman John Salazar received a death threat during a protest in Grand Junction, leading his office to contact Capitol police and the FBI, according to The Pueblo Chieftain.

Umm, does 5280 not read the Denver Post? (more…)

News came down this evening that Patrick Swayze succumbed to his battle with pancreatic cancer and died at the age of 57. We Coloradans especially can be grateful for his heroic vigilante service in the early years of World War Three. The 30-something high schooler and his brave band just may have provided the morale needed to ultimately turn the tide in our favor. Then again, the Red Army’s decision to dedicate so much resources to taking over a rural town and school may have factored in somewhere as well: (more…)