The appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet appears to be wavering again. Maybe he needs to hear from constituents. Colorado’s junior senator is on the fence about an egregious attempt by Congress to impose what the Wall Street Journal aptly describes as “the most punitive tax rates on investment income in recent American history.” Steve Forbes clearly explains how destructive the proposal would be to the U.S. economy.
But don’t let that stop the Democratic steamroller in Congress. Better known as the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, the scheme is to combine the economic poison with an unrelated provision to extend jobless benefits to workers already strung out by the Obama administration’s campaign against the private sector economy. (more…)
A candidate who hasn’t voted in the last 10 years wants you to vote for him for Congress? Today’s Denver Post article by Lynn Bartels casts more light on Colorado Republican 7th CD candidate Lang Sias:
A former Democrat who lives in the 2nd Congressional District and hasn’t voted since 2000 is running for Congress in the nearby 7th District — as a Republican.
Supporters say Lang Sias’ unorthodox political resume, coupled with a stellar military record, makes him the perfect person to run in a season when voters are fed up with establishment insiders.
I guess if not participating in the democratic process to suddenly seeking higher office is seen as “unorthodox” — it’s hard to disagree. And the explanation from Sias’ campaign manager is hardly encouraging: (more…)
Saturday at the Colorado Republican State Assembly I was privileged to conduct two dozen brief interviews of candidates, officials, dignitaries, advocacy groups and even a few activist delegates. Michael Sandoval filmed and edited the interviews, breaking them up into six chunks and posting them last night on the People’s Press Collective. Warning in advance: The sound issues were challenging with the loud background noise of the Assembly, so some interviews are easier to hear than others. But I invite you to check them out.
If you have limited time, likely the most interesting interview is with newcomer gubernatorial candidate Joe Gschwendtner in video number 5. Others interviewed include: (more…)
Today was the Colorado Republican State Assembly, and a lot of first-time delegates filled the floor and the seats. Energy and enthusiasm clearly were higher than I’ve seen in the past few election cycles. I spent much of my time today conducting more than two dozen videotaped interviews of officials, candidates and delegates for the People’s Press Collective (check back later for the video).
The balloting results already have been posted by El Presidente, Lynn Bartels and Don Johnson. So in the meantime, before the videos go up (as well as a few photos I snapped), I’ll share my list of winners and losers from this weekend’s festivities, based on my personal assessment: (more…)
This evening is Colorado’s 7th Congressional Republican Assembly, and conservatives’ best and strongest chance to unseat liberal Democrat Ed Perlmutter is Ryan Frazier. A great new video that makes the case in two minutes:
For those who are interested, the results of the May survey of Colorado’s political temperature are posted on Facebook. For a variety of reasons, including the transition to a new setting, participation in the survey is down significantly — leaving perhaps the most dedicated and passionate 117 conservative Colorado political Facebookers (half of whom say they plan to attend Saturday’s state GOP Assembly as either delegates or alternates) to chime in.
A few highlights for your consumption:
Ken Buck is a runaway winner in the U.S. Senate primary
Dan Maes pulls in 50 percent, Scott McInnis about 30 percent and newcomer Joe Gschwendtner picks up a few votes
Ryan Frazier, Cory Gardner and Scott Tipton remain clear frontrunners in their respective Congressional primary contests
J.J. Ament has sown up a lot of support among the political die-hards in his bid for state treasurer
For all who persevered through the transition and technical difficulties to complete the survey (no, you didn’t sacrifice any more privacy than you do by using Facebook generally), thanks for your participation. Your feedback is welcome to improve the next version.
A lot of hullabaloo has been made of late about U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton’s D.C. fundraisers. Less well known are the plans of 7th Congressional candidate Lang Sias. Four days after the 7th CD Assembly — in which Sias will struggle against the strong grassroots base of support for conservative Ryan Frazier to secure 30 percent and get a place on the ballot — Sias is planning a D.C. fundraiser at the Capitol Hill Club with John McCain.
The following is the email from Lang Sias:
As many of you know, I’m running for Congress in Colorado’s 7th Congressional district. We’re making some very good progress on the ground; we picked up a bunch of endorsements over the last week, and are charging into the Congressional district convention next Thursday. I was honored to receive Senator McCain’s endorsement at the start of my campaign, and it has been great to have his support as well as the support and assistance of many of you over the last five months.
I wanted to give all of you a heads-up about an event we’ll be holding in DC on May 24. Senator McCain will be the special guest of the evening. I hope you can make it – it would be great to see you there!
Best,
Lang [link added]
If the fundraiser proves relevant after this coming Thursday’s assembly, one thing is for sure: it won’t help to change the fact that more of Sias’ campaign money has come from the Beltway than from Colorado.
A quick video with an important message — one that’s hard-hitting for this father of young children — brought to you by the growing grassroots group Mothers Against Debt. Check it out:
In one of Colorado’s most head-scratching political moves of the year, former GOP Congressman and wildly unsuccessful 2006 gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez announced his endorsement of 7th Congressional candidate and Republican newcomer Lang Sias. The first reaction I and many of my politically aware friends had pretty much boiled down to: Huh???
When Tom Tancredo and Jimmy Lakey threw their support behind Sias, they carefully avoided trying to draw distinctions among the Republican field. Not so Beauprez: (more…)
Below is an actual letter sent out last week to the employees of a company doing business in Colorado. It is presented without comment. The names of the company and the individuals have been redacted.
Staff:
When people say elections don’t matter, that their vote doesn’t count, and that they cannot make a difference – they are wrong! (more…)
Update II, 1:50 PM:A technical error in survey production resulted in accidentally omitting new gubernatorial candidate Joe Gschwendtner’s name as a possible selection for Q13 & Q14. I am pleased to report the issue has been fixed. If you want to vote for this candidate, you can go back in and re-take the quiz if necessary. The survey will capture only your latest answers: you still get only one vote. Apologies for the screw-up. Everything is back on track. We are working to remedy the results display issue, but for now everything about the survey itself is in proper working order.
Update, High Noon:After a series of technical glitches this morning with the way the results were being displayed, the results page is down for the time being. Have no fear!
After a month off to accommodate the busy schedules of the survey operators and to allow for a format change and technical upgrade, the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature is back for May — a streamlined version of the familiar survey with a new platform and a new interface. Participating in the survey should take less time than ever.
We have moved the survey directly to Facebook, using some new application technology. Go here to take the survey.
Only one survey per Facebook user. The May survey will only be open through Saturday evening. It will be interesting to see before the upcoming Congressional and state assemblies what changes there are, if any, in the results from March right before caucus gatherings. Thanks for helping us test the new look of the survey and making your voice heard on important Colorado issues and candidates of the day.
While a certain Democratic ex-President has been trying to exploit the memory of today’s terrible 15th anniversary to take a political cheap shot at millions of Americans, I prefer to commemorate a different anniversary.
Two hundred thirty-five years ago today, American patriots at Lexington and Concord ignited the cause of liberty on American shores. What was nearly unthinkable on April 19, 1775 — a ragtag band of Patriot colonists winning the hearts and minds of many countrymen, the support of the French crown and securing independence from Britain — eventually came to pass.
But the heroism of the farmers and craftsmen in small Massachusetts towns who stood tall against General Thomas Gage’s Redcoats, including of the dozens who gave their lives, deserves its own spotlight today: (more…)
A week ago I mentioned a new poll from Colorado’s 7th Congressional District showing Republican challenger Ryan Frazier in a statistical dead heat with liberal Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Compliments of the Frazier campaign, below are the details of the April 8 survey from Magellan Data Mapping and Strategies:
“There are certainly other good Republicans in this race,” said Senator DeMint, “but I believe Ken Buck is a conservative standout who will fight the establishment in both parties when he gets to Washington.”
At lunch I joined the conference call, and was able to ask Senator DeMint if there was concern about the Buck campaign’s ability to raise money to wage a successful general election campaign. I paraphrase, but his response essentially was: (more…)
