You rise out of nowhere and make a name for yourself running for the state’s highest office, and some (near) certainties will follow:

1. You will make some mistakes that set back your campaign … or maybe prove its demise; and
2. Others will go out of their way to try to bring you down, too.

I’m writing particularly of GOP candidate Dan Maes, whose longshot run for governor of Colorado has all but crashed on the rocks a month before primary election day. Maes would disagree with me vehemently, and I admire his persistence.

But the longer his race with front-runner and fellow conservative Scott McInnis drags on, the more voters expect something beyond the “insider” vs. “outsider” paradigm to make up their minds. And we know Maes is way behind in the polls.

I’m not prepared to go as far as Rossputin in his analysis, but the case he builds around the negative impact of Dan Maes’ serious campaign finance foibles is hard to dismiss. That’s point number one. (more…)

I was taken aback yesterday when I read this Grand Junction Sentinel column that sure made it sound like Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes favored a lack of transparency in public utilities rate disclosure. Both a Rocky Mountain Right diarist and fellow RMA/PPC blogger Don Johnson jumped over the comments to assail Maes’ views.

I called Dan Maes this morning to get some important clarification. Below are my three questions and his brief answers: (more…)

Two days, two stories, two reasons why I believe the Colorado General Assembly needs more legislators like Senator Shawn Mitchell fighting for us. First, Colorado Senate News reports a recent floor debate in which Mitchell assumes his usual role as bold and articulate spokesman for common sense and liberty, leading the vote against a heavy-handed, onerous renewable energy mandate:

“I don’t want a European society where government will decide what life will look like tomorrow,” said Mitchell. “I want a free American traditional society where my choices, your choices–as consumers, as families, as citizens–will determine what society will look like tomorrow.”

Second, a Colorado News Agency story on a committee meeting in which Mitchell pushed the logic behind majority Democrats’ bill to ban health insurance companies from taking gender into account in issuing premiums:

“Should auto insurance companies be allowed to charge more for boys than girls?” asked Mitchell, in reference to the much higher rates that are applied to the policies of teen-age male drivers than to teen-age female drivers.

Mitchell nevertheless was the lone Republican joining the Democrats on the committee in voting for the bill, saying that he will now consider introducing a bill that prohibits gender discrimination for auto insurance and that he anticipates their support. The other two men on the committee, both Republicans, voted against the bill.

Can we get more Shawn Mitchells in the state legislature? There’s a reason why Democrats don’t enjoy debating him. With enough likeminded Colorado legislators, Mitchell and the fiscal conservatives can do more than win debate on technical points. SOmething to think about going into 2010….

While we’re busy waging battle on the defensive fronts against Obama Care and cap-and-trade and card check, pro-liberty forces also would be wise in 2010 to continue looking for opportunities to go on offense. Writing at the Washington Examiner, Michael Barone makes at least one point that deserves the attention of activists, strategists and officials:

[Tech entrepreneur Jim] Manzi, citing models in Sweden and the Netherlands, calls for “the creation of a real marketplace among ever more deregulated publicly financed schools — a market in which funding follows students, and far broader discretion is permitted to those who actually teach and manage in our schools.”

Democrats are prevented by their teacher union paymasters from pursuing such goals seriously; witness their battle to kill a small school voucher program in the District of Columbia. Republicans could do much better, starting at the state level and daring the Obama administration to stop them in Washington.

Since the ruling Democrats in Congress have effectively snuffed out D.C.’s successful voucher program (or as Moe Lane puts it, resegregrates the D.C. school system), it’s time to step up the push for K-12 education tax credits (both for tuition scholarships and family expenses) in different states both as an empowerment tool and as a money saver for state government.

One more agenda item around which to rally the forces of liberty.

Update, 10:15 AM: Good luck getting someone like Mr. Tidwell to confront the fallout from Climategate, including this revelation from one of the lead authors of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who said: “The process is so flawed that the result is tantamount to fraud. As an authority, the IPCC should be consigned to the scrapheap without delay.”

In the wake of the telling Climategate revelations, it’s very interesting to see the mask come off the fanatical climate change crowd. The Denver Post ran a Sunday opinion piece by Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network that ought to make your skin crawl.

See what I mean — Tidwell writes:

Instead of continuing our faddish and counterproductive emphasis on small, voluntary actions, we should follow the example of Americans during past moral crises and work toward large-scale change.

The country’s last real moral and social revolution was set in motion by the civil rights movement. And in the 1960s, civil rights activists didn’t ask bigoted Southern governors and sheriffs to consider “10 Ways to Go Integrated” at their convenience. [emphasis added]

A moral crisis compared to the entrenched evils of Jim Crow laws and segregation? I have no qualms in calling climate change fanatics like Tidwell the greatest moral idiots of our time. (more…)

Word has leaked to the Grand Junction Sentinel that state senate minority leader Josh Penry will formally announce his endorsement of former rival Scott McInnis for Colorado governor. The endorsement was contingent on the McInnis formally agreeing to 20 conservative governing principles.

“These are the principles that swept the GOP to victory in New Jersey in Virginia,” Penry said. “And they can re-unite our Party too, and pave the way for a successful campaign and, more important, a successful governing party when the election’s over and done with.”

Without further ado, here’s the list of unified governing principles that was forwarded to Mount Virtus, a list that contains a fair amount of specificity: (more…)

Update, 10/14: Here’s a (substantially) complete worldwide listing of all the premiere showings of “Not Evil Just Wrong” — looks like there is only one other showing in Colorado, and that’s down in the Springs. Don’t miss this one!

Forget Michael Moore’s latest ironic anti-capitalist screed. If you’re in the Denver metro area on Sunday, October 18, then check out a movie premiere from the Independence Institute you won’t want to miss: Not Evil Just Wrong:

Join the resistance against extreme environmentalism that threatens the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in the developed and developing world. This will be a record-setting, international Cinematic Tea Party!

Watch the compelling trailer about the human cost of “climate change” hysteria (of course, there’s the broader economic cost, too):

I had the opportunity earlier this year to watch a sneak preview presentation by the Irish filmmakers. I was truly impressed, and have been looking forward to the premiere ever since. Hope you can make it on October 18!

On the eve of Jane Norton’s official entry into Colorado’s U.S. Senate fray comes from Rasmussen Reports what figures to be the last poll of the race without her for awhile. In this survey, the top two early Republican contenders were paired up separately against Bill Ritter’s incumbent appointee Michael Bennet.

The biggest clear takeaway from Rasmussen? Whether attributable to an unfriendly climate for Democrats, to his own lackluster performance, or to both — the indecisive Bennet is vulnerable.

Other insights? The ascendant but still little-known Ryan Frazier fares better than Ken Buck, standing even with the Democrat:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Bennet ahead of Buck 43% to 37%. With Frazier as the opponent, Bennet is essentially even. The numbers are 40% for Frazier and 39% for the incumbent. [emphases added]

To be fair, there is a limited amount that polling more than a year out from a general election can indicate — even more limited than polling done a month before the election.

But this is encouraging news for a Frazier campaign that has been working hard to get off the ground. At one of his latest stops touring the state, the 32-year-old Aurora councilman drew a crowd of 100 near Durango to listen to citizens’ concerns and share his ideas on energy, education, and fiscal responsibility.

We’re back at it again. After the results and analysis from the July 2009 survey in which we are grateful that more than 600 of you participated, we’re at it 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.

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 next Thursday, September 17, 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…)

Is the Republican Party these days just the “Party of No”? While many of us wish the erstwhile GOP majorities in Congress had lived by the equivalent of a fiscal and regulatory chastity pledge and just said NO in its spending heyday, that’s not quite what I’m getting at.

I’m referring to the knee-jerk retort one gets these days from certain quarters whenever justly denouncing the radical, government-expanding proposals coming from the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress. It goes something like:

Well, yeah? Where’s your solution? You just want things the way they are. The Republicans are just the party of NO.

Next time you encounter that knee-jerk response, I have an article for you to bookmark to throw back in their face…. (more…)

Is Bill Ritter really going to backtrack on all the damage he’s done on the energy arena? Or is it just lip service? From yesterday’s Grand Junction Sentinel:

Natural gas is “where the Western Slope is going to sing” in Ritter’s effort to build a new energy economy, said Don Marostica, director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade. He spoke to an audience at the Business Incubator Center.

Ritter is “very interested” in using natural gas as a clean source of power for electricity generation and no longer views it merely as a “bridge fuel” to an economy fueled only by solar, wind and renewable fuels, Marostica said. [link added]

Showing one reason why he is the strongest candidate to challenge the weak and vacillating Ritter for governor, Josh Penry offers the best reply in the Sentinel piece:

“When Bill Ritter admits that his oil and gas regulations were a catastrophic mistake and fixes them, when he fires the anti-drilling activists that he appointed to the oil and gas commission, when he apologizes to the thousands of men and women who have lost their job and homes as a result of his administration’s extreme policies, then and only then will I believe Bill Ritter has changed his tune on natural gas,” Penry wrote in an e-mail. “Until that time, it’s all just election happy talk, and talk is cheap.”

Talk is cheap. If Ritter is willing to do more than just change his tune, we’ll give him some credit. Until then, the case for fresh new leadership in the governor’s office grows stronger day by day.

From Red State, the uncut video showing what Obama wants to do to your private health insurance:

Does this qualify as “disinformation” from the President’s own lips? Someone should report him, or me, to the White House.

Makes you wonder if the White House is also going to start collecting reports of “disinformation” on the cap-and-trade energy tax issue, too. After all, the Washington Times reports that a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy refutes The One’s claims that cap-and-tax “holds the promise of millions of new jobs — jobs, by the way, that can’t be outsourced.”

… Is that something fishy I smell? Someone may have to report the U.S. Department of Energy, too.

Marc Morano at Climate Depot brings our attention to a brand new peer-reviewed scientific study, another major piece of evidence blowing apart the man-made global warming scare:

The research, by Chris de Freitas, a climate scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, John McLean (Melbourne) and Bob Carter (James Cook University), finds that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a key indicator of global atmospheric temperatures seven months later. As an additional influence, intermittent volcanic activity injects cooling aerosols into the atmosphere and produces significant cooling.

“The surge in global temperatures since 1977 can be attributed to a 1976 climate shift in the Pacific Ocean that made warming El Niño conditions more likely than they were over the previous 30 years and cooling La Niña conditions less likely” says corresponding author de Freitas…. (more…)

Our “new energy economy” Governor Bill Ritter went before a Senate committee and tapdanced his way around the question of whether he supports the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax bill. (Yes, I’m late to the story. Yes, I’m hopping on the bandwagon. Yesterday was an important personal day away from blogging, but with a story like this one, better late than never.)

El Presidente was quick to put up the video of Ritter’s exchange with Senator James Inhofe, as well as the video of Senator Kit Bond explaining how the governor’s highly-touted new “green” jobs are heavily subsidized by taxpayers: $71,000 per job.

Michelle Malkin brought national attention to Ritter’s refusal to endorse cap-and-tax. At American Spectator, Paul Chesser posted the transcript and observed that Bill Ritter offered a “whole lot of talk without saying anything”.

On the Denver Post’s Gang of Four blog, John Andrews highlighted “the squirmy nervousness in Ritter’s face, voice, and body language as he tries to wiggle past a direct yes or no.”

Finally, Face The State offered a wrap-up of different responses to Ritter’s testimony.

Here’s my question: Why didn’t Ritter send the message about the cap-and-tax bill to fellow Democrat freshman Congresswoman Betsy Markey, whose subsidized vote for the massive energy tax may have been the decisive moment in her brief political career on Capitol Hill?

Hats off to the Washington Times for the scoop on what my representative in Congress has been up to:

Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado inserted a provision into the recently passed House climate change bill that would drum up business for “green” banks, such as the one he has invested in and his family and a political donor helped found in San Francisco.

The bill calls on bank regulators to promote green banking and says federal dollars should be used to support energy-efficient home improvements at government-funded housing projects.

Mr. Perlmutter, a two-term Democrat, has two investments in the 3-year-old New Resource Bank, which calls itself the nation’s first green bank. Among other environmentally conscious banking products, the bank offers home equity loans for consumers to make their homes more energy efficient, in addition to construction loans for green builders….

According to financial disclosure forms, Mr. Perlmutter holds shares in New Resource Bank valued between $15,001 and $50,000 through a trust for his children. His stake in a separate investment partnership totals between $1,001 and $15,000.

(more…)

Earlier this evening I got the opportunity briefly to attend a Josh Penry for Governor meet-and-greet session in Broomfield. The campaign is just out of the gate, and the Grand Junction native is busily plowing his way around Colorado. No doubt he’s been on a hectic schedule, but Penry demonstrated a good stump speech delivery, staying on message.

I am pleased to see him make no bones about the national Republican Party’s failure to govern according to fiscally conservative principles, and his clear decision to run against that failing as well as against incumbent Bill Ritter’s weak leadership, misguided philosophy, and misplaced priorities. (more…)

The big local political news for the weekend, of course, was the worst-kept secret: Republican Josh Penry officially threw his hat into the ring to run for governor in 2010. By all honest admissions, Penry’s entry into the race has been well-executed and well-timed.

First glimpses on the campaign trail indicate the strong delivery of a clear, consistent message: 1) incumbent Democrat Bill Ritter’s misguided philosophy and lack of fiscal leadership have contributed greatly to an unfriendly economic climate and pain in the wallet for many average Coloradans, and 2) Penry’s own record of effective leadership in the areas of fiscal responsibility, expanded energy options, and education reform qualifies him to take Ritter’s place.

If he keeps it up, the 33-year-old state senate Republican leader will effectively downplay the only knock against his candidacy: his youth and apparent inexperience.

The recent press surrounding Ritter and his actions have only enhanced Penry’s timing. Hiring his lawyer friends with taxpayer dollars at six times the cost offered by the Attorney General’s office just to tell Ritter how he can spend taxpayer dollars. Yes, seriously. (more…)

Earlier today Representative Ed Perlmutter responded to my letter urging him to vote against the Waxman-Markey massive energy “cap and tax” (no doubt with boilerplate language):

As you may know, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is important legislation to help build a new clean energy economy. This bill will create millions of clean energy jobs, put America on a path to energy independence, and help limit carbon emissions which contribute to global warming. As a supporter of green energy initiatives, I am fortunate for the opportunity to represent Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, which is home to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) located in Golden. I am a proponent of wind and solar energy as well as other forms of renewable energy and will continue to do all I can to work toward the advancement of a sustainable energy policy to meet our nation’s growing energy demands. It is essential to collectively move in the direction of energy sustainability.

Pleasant words unencumbered by economic realities. A Heritage Foundation analysis released today finds that Colorado’s 7th Congressional District — represented by Perlmutter, where I live — would be in for a major economic shock if Waxman-Markey is enacted. (more…)

Lovers of liberty, it’s not time to be resigned or downtrodden. It’s time to stand up and be heard. This week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the massive energy tax sometimes known as the Waxman-Markey bill or “Cap and Trade”.

FreedomWorks not only tells you why this bill is bad but provides easy links for you to take action and contact your representative. I already contacted Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s office.

(Of course, we also have the problem of an already very long piece of legislation that has suddenly added several hundred pages. Unlike the stimulus bill, will our Congressman be able to read it all in time? Consider me skeptical.)

As it turns out, the timing of the House vote is proving to be quite ironic. At American Thinker, Larrey Anderson explains how the tide has turned against global warming mythology. There also appears to be more anti-climate hysteria evidence being conveniently covered up by the Environmental Protection Agency.

More specifically, Robert Tracinski and Tom Minchin write over at Real Clear Politics that Australia is getting ready to sink its own proposed “Emission Trading Scheme” — thanks in large part to the scientific work of Ian Plimer.

But even if you accept the “climate change” mantra, the Waxman-Markey bill would do very little (if anything) to stop it at a devastatingly high cost to our economy. Now is the time to stand up.

Update, 4/6: A Rocky Mountain Right diarist from Ouray isn’t too happy with the Governor’s cancellation.

What a bummer when you show up to protest someone, and they aren’t able to make it in person. Such apparently was the case this weekend in Grand Junction, when inclement weather prevented Governor Bill Ritter from being welcomed by more than 50 Coloradans “totally disgusted” about the negative impacts of his various tax policies and newly-approved oil and gas rules.

The interesting tidbit came from local news station KJCT, which reported that Secretary of State (and Western Slope native) Bernie Buescher showed up to take the slings and arrows in Ritter’s place:

He says the Governor recognizes this is a difficult time and it’s time to put aside partisan bickering. He had some strong words for the protestors [sic].

“You dont [sic] make good policy by protesting. You make good policy by sitting down and rolling up your sleeves and trying to find common ground on tough issues,” Beuscher [sic] said.

Talk about a penchant for the obvious that comes across as somewhat arrogant. Of course you don’t make good policy by protesting. But what else are these citizens supposed to do when the people they have elected to make good policy simply aren’t? Is Bernie Buescher saying the good taxpayers from Colorado’s Western Slope should just go home and be quiet?

It also probably goes without saying that it’s much easier for the Secretary of State and the Governor to poo-poo “partisan bickering” when their Democratic Party holds virtually all the levers of power.

The smug blind spot demonstrated by Buescher’s quote is all the more startling when you recall that his presumed path to the Speaker of the House position was unceremoniously blindsided by a rare Republican upset victory last Election Day. Then again, he also owes his current position to a Bill Ritter appointment.

Let’s chalk up Buescher’s recent “good policy” comment as another example of Colorado Democrats governing themselves out of a majority.