In most places across Colorado, you can tune in and listen this Saturday or Sunday to the Face The State Weekend Edition — locally, here in Denver on AM 710 KNUS on Saturday at 5 AM or Sunday at noon. During part of the show I will be discussing with host Brad Jones the latest results from the survey of Colorado’s political temperature — an independent project co-sponsored by People’s Press Collective managing editor Michael Sandoval and yours truly.
Introducing the detailed release of results from our January edition of the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature (click “Fullscreen” for best view):
Thanks again to everyone who participated. And congratulations to our candidate winners this time around: Dan Maes, Ken Buck, Cory Gardner, Ryan Frazier and J.J. Ament.
Our plan is to work on some limited cross-tab analysis of these results. If you have any interest in any particular cross-tab (e.g., how did people vote in a particular race by age group?), please email me or leave the suggestions in the comment box by Tuesday night.
Thanks to everyone who participated. With 714 participants, this is the most popular edition yet. Come back and make your voice heard again in February … Onward and upward for 2010!
Yesterday evening the Colorado Republican legislative staff hosted a blogger round (or square as the case may be) table discussion on some of the looming issues on the eve of the legislative session. Topics of discussion ranged from public employee pensions to medical marijuana to government transparency.
Rather than provide a recap, I’ll point you to the thoughts of liberal blogger David Thielen — whom I finally met in person and sat next to during the discussion. Though he was outnumbered about 15 to 1, Thielen held his own and was treated well. His Colorado Pols essay reviewing the event was honest, fair-minded and lighthearted — which: (more…)
Because of his integrity, decency and candor, David Thielen is my favorite liberal blogger in Colorado. We can disagree from here to Sunday, but he is honest and reasonably fair, and calls ‘em like he sees ‘em.
Yesterday he posted a memo to the “Colorado Tea-Partiers” (the fact alone that he self-consciously avoids using the obscene derogatory term used by many others on the Left speaks highly of him) about the different Republican candidates in the two major races: U.S. Senate and Governor.
Please check out the memo and offer your honest reactions. I would dispute a few of Thielen’s characterizations, but he does have quite a few honest insights to offer.
My Tea Party friends may want to head over there and sound off in the comments. Or just carefully absorb the assessment from someone of a different political perspective to form some meaningful insights. Or perhaps, just follow Thielen’s own suggestion and take his memo “with a grain of salt.”
This post will stick to the top until January 15. Please scroll down for newer postings.
Okay, you political junkies out there: Come on, admit it. You’ve missed the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature since we announced the last results in November.
Well, the survey is back and better than ever — with fewer, better-organized issue statements, as well as the opportunity to predict head-to-head general election matchups in all the different Colorado races. You only have until next Friday, January 15, at 5:00 PM local Mountain time to get it done. You know you can’t resist. What are you waiting for?
The best news of all is that with the 2010 election year upon us, the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature will re-appear the 1st Thursday of each month. So once you complete this survey, you can start counting down the days until the February edition is unveiled.
Check back here by Monday the 18th for January’s results. Meanwhile, here’s the full press release announcing the new survey (as always, click fullscreen for a closer look): (more…)
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.
Coming later in the month 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:
Josh Penry was on track for his best showings in both support and perceived strength, before he withdrew from the governor’s race–reducing his lead in one column and erasing it in another
Ryan Frazier (7th Congressional), Cory Gardner (4th Congressional) and J.J. Ament (State Treasurer) have built strong leads in their respective races
Demographically speaking, the group of participants in this poll was slightly more Republican, older, male, married, and white than the September sample
Distaste for the “public option”, Bill Ritter’s management of state fiscal policy and Colorado Supreme Court partisanship grew even stronger
Confidence remains high that incumbents Ritter, appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, and Congresswoman Betsy Markey all will be defeated in 2010, while incumbent status within the Republican Party and national party interference are viewed with even less respect
For more details, read the release below (click “fullscreen” for easy viewing): (more…)
Because I’m finally getting around to putting out a press release (below the fold) with the important details — click on “Fullscreen” for easy readability: (more…)
Last year at this time I was in the middle of writing a 20-part blog series on “What I’m Thankful For.” While I have no plans in reprising the series for 2009, I have created a new permanent page on the site with links to each post — from “The Legacy of My Grandparents” to “Vision” and everything in between.
Eleven days until the official Thanksgiving holiday, and it’s never too early to start reflecting on the need for more gratitude in each of our lives.
Having read one of our test issue statements — It is important for Republicans to employ a “big tent” policy when considering candidates for office. — Karen Kataline decided to deconstruct the term “big tent” in a thoughtful new essay for Backbone America:
Our party is and has always been united not by our ethnicity but by our ideas. As members of minority Republican groups, our role is to welcome others into the party rather than to seek special favors or victim status as the parade of minority groups on the Left have consistently done.
Go ahead. Read the whole thing. Then go ahead and take our latest survey. Maybe you’ll be inspired, too.
For the first time in quite awhile, the Rocky Mountain Alliance has started to grow again. We have two new members who represent excellent additions. I invite you to check them out and add them to your regular blog reading (if you haven’t already):
The Business Word by Don Johnson has become a must-read for anyone seeking coverage of the unfolding major Republican primary races in Colorado, with great analysis and interviews
Michelle Morin is a leader in the Teller County Tea Party movementCoalition for a Conservative Majority in Colorado Springs, and her site Mom 4 Freedom has been a leading Colorado-based voice in the fight against Obama Care and other proposed costly government intrusions into our freedom
Mount Virtus readers, this post will remain sticky through the end of the survey (November 13). For newer postings, please scroll down.
It’s that time again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete — especially if you’re from Colorado.
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill quick-hit polls. Once again we’ve gone a little more in-depth. Some of the questions are the same. Some are new. One interesting added follow-up is asking what the most important factor is for you in choosing to support a Republican primary candidate for governor and U.S. Senate.
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 next Friday, November 13, 5 PM local Mountain time … Thanks for participating! We’ll get back to you with the results soon. Stay tuned.
Below the fold is the “official” release announcing the survey: (more…)
The biggest gains fueling Josh Penry‘s surge in the latest poll come among those in the over-50 age group
Of the eight candidates in the governor’s and U.S. Senate races who received at least 10 votes of support, five are favored most often because of agreement on key issues, while three were primarily chosen for their past record — none of the other five options registered as the main factor for support
No surprises: Significantly more Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck backers think primaries are good and that national groups like the NRSC should remain neutral than do Jane Norton supporters
Scott McInnis continues to receive the most confidence of general election strength among his supporters, with Norton not far behind — only gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes registered less than 70 percent
The complete, three-page crosstab analysis is below: (more…)
Those of you in the Denver metro area (or perhaps chained to the Internet) who are bored this weekend can listen to a pre-recorded conversation as I talk to Brad Jones on Face The State weekend radio about the recent surveys of Colorado’s political temperature co-created by El Presidente. Tune in on Sunday either at 5:30 AM or 12:30 PM to AM 710 KNUS for the on-air conversation. If you miss it, I’ll post a link to the podcast later.
