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Home Archives for 2008

Archives for 2008

9/4/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

More Sarah Palin Tidbits

A source in El Paso County tells me that this Saturday's John McCain-Sarah Palin event in Colorado Springs has long since exhausted its 10,000 ticket supply and has put thousands more on waiting lists. I'm told this is bigger than President George W. Bush's appearance in Colorado Springs in 2004 - not surprisingly, as the conservative base has received its biggest jolt of inspiration since Ronald Reagan was running for President. Also, remember in last night's speech when Sarah Palin pointed out that her husband is a member of the United Steelworkers Union? Today, National Right to Work sends an open letter to Todd Palin informing him that he is inadvertently helping to fund attacks against his wife but can get some of that money back. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: Big Labor, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, forced union dues, George W. Bush, John McCain, National Right to Work, political attacks, President, rally, reform, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, tickets, Todd Palin, United Steelworkers Union, waiting lists

9/4/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Peter Blake Chronicles Amendment 49 for the Rocky Mountain News

Peter Blake yesterday wrote a great Rocky Mountain News column about one of the major initiatives on Colorado's statewide November ballot - Amendment 49:As [Jon] Caldara, head of the Independence Institute, likes to put it, government would no longer be able to act as "the bagman for political special interests."... No doubt passage of No. 49 would make it more difficult for unions to collect dues. But Caldara said that in the age of automatic bank transfers, union members can easily arrange to have dues deducted if they want. "Taxpayers don't have to be on the hook for doing the accounting, the bookkeeping and collection work for special interests and their lobbyists." Caldara maintains it's a conflict of interest for, say, school … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Amendment 49, bookkeeping, campaign contributions, clean government, Colorado, conflict of interest, Ethical Standards initiative, Independence Institute, initiative, Jon Caldara, payroll deductions, Peter Blake, Rocky Mountain News, special interests, statewide ballot, union dues

9/4/2008 By Ben 10 Comments

Alaska Can Have Bill Ritter … Colorado Will Take Sarah Palin Any Day

After last night's amazing speech, I'm jealous. Alaska, you can have Bill Ritter. Can we have Sarah Palin? Then I thought, in a few months she has a very good chance of being our vice-president. I'll settle for that. Interestingly, the Denver Post reports today about Gov. Ritter's lackluster speaking performance at last week's Democratic National Convention. A broken teleprompter appears to have been part of his problem. It seems Sarah Palin faced the same teleprompter problems, but went on unfazed to deliver a homerun. Could the same be said of Bill Ritter - or for that matter, Barack Obama - when they're off teleprompter? Broken teleprompter or not, I like this take from Michael at Best Destiny:But let me just leave this first … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Alaska, Best Destiny, Bill Ritter, broken teleprompter, Colorado, Democratic National Convention, Denver Post, Governor, heartburn, Lefties, Michael, Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin

9/3/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Could It Be True: RNC Bloggers Being Subjected to the Spanish Inquisition?

Going to the Republican National Convention as a blogger never was really an option for me this year. But my friend and colleague El Presidente is on location and filing dispatches. Hadn't heard any complaints really until I flipped over to Pajamas Media and saw this report from Rick Moran:Here on what is passing for “Bloggers Row,” there is plenty of grumbling about the accommodations supplied by our hosts. Some descriptives are not printable. Most reflect a huge disappointment with the way the GOP has shunted most of the bloggers off to the side, far from the action, dispersed throughout a gigantic “Press Filing Center” where the working media comes to hook up to the net and file their stories.... ...The dungeon that the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: bloggers, Bloggers Row, conditions, El Presidente, Michael Palin, Pajamas Media, Republican National Convention, Rick Moran, Sarah Palin, Slapstick Politics, Spanish Inquisition

9/1/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Posing as a Pundit

I will be joining a locally-televised makeshift panel of commentators on the Republican National Convention, tomorrow (Tuesday) evening live on KBDI Channel 12 from 7 to 9:30 PM. Details are on Jon Caldara's blog. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Jon Caldara, KBDI Channel 12, local television, punditry, Republican National Convention

8/30/2008 By Ben 14 Comments

Sarah Palin Really Captures the Attention of the Colorado Blogosphere

I must say I'm glad I initially had the wrong information about who John McCain's running mate would be. Sarah Palin was the best pick. What's everyone else saying? Well, it's rare to see such unanimous sentiment asserted. Here goes: Steven, the New Conservative, who long has been championing Palin to be McCain's running mate, now says her selection was a "bad idea" ... for the Left Michael at Best Destiny says it's brilliant political Jiu-Jitsu Bob Agard calls the selection of the Alaska Governor "sheer brilliance" Jim at Thinking Right says "Outstanding!" Kenneth Davenport, writing at Backbone America, asserts that the choice is "a political masterstroke" Rocky Mountain Right calls Sarah Palin "an excellent choice" The Denver … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, General, National Politics Tagged With: "inexperience", a watcher, Alaska, Andrew Boucher, awesome, Backbone America, backfire, bad idea, Barack Obama, Best Destiny, Bob Agard, brilliant, campaign contribution, center-right bloggers, Colorado delegates, corruption, David Harsanyi, David Thielen, Dead Governors, Democrats, Denver Post, excellent choice, Face the State, GOP National Convention, Governor, heartburn, ideological storyline, Joe Biden, John McCain, Kenneth Davenport, Lefty attacks, liberal friend, libertarian, New Conservative, out-of-touch, partisan, political Jiu-Jitsu, political masterstroke, predictable hypocrisy, reformer, Rocky Mountain Right, running mate, Sarah Palin, sheer brilliance, speech, story, strong defenses, The Daily Blogster, Thinking Right, unanimous sentiment, vice president, Western voters

8/28/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Tim Pawlenty: Quick Thoughts

Update: Looks like I got headfaked, like many others. Pawlenty appears to be out. Speculation is on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Kudos to Steve if this is correct. In part he writes about her:Not only is she a woman (which, like it or not, is an issue for some voters), but she also puts a fresh, future-oriented face on the McCain campaign. By upending Alaska's corrupt political class, Palin has actually produced the type of change that Barack Obama can only talk about; and her collar is far bluer than Joe Biden's ever was. Furthermore, she is arguably the only candidate who has the necessary expertise to address the single most pressing issue in this election: gas prices. As Governor of Alaska, Chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Alaska, Campaign Spot, Costco, Erick Erickson, fiscal conservative, FRED PAC, Governor, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Mark Sanford, Minnesota, national ticket, political climate, Red State, Republican, running mate, Sam's Club Republican, Sarah Palin, Soren Dayton, The New Conservative, The Next Right, Tim Pawlenty, vice president

8/28/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Yippee… Barack Obama May Get “Modest” Bounce in Polls from DNC

It's normal for a major national political convention to give its nominee a "bounce" in the polls, so it's too early to reach any conclusions. After all, the Obamessiah has yet to give his rock star speech at Invesco Field, which may cause the knees of middle America to swoon. But so far, Rasmussen's daily tracking poll has yet to pick up on the signs of major Joe(Biden)-mentum. No, wait, that's not fair ... Today's results show "hints of a modest convention bounce building for Barack Obama". Obama broke the tie with John McCain to forge a one-point national lead - still, not that compelling after last week saw the Democrat candidate with a consistent three-to-four point lead. And after three days of fawning media coverage of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Colorado, daily tracking poll, David Copperfield, Democrat candidate, Democratic National Convention, electoral votes, highway closure, Hillary Clinton, I-25, Invesco Field, Joe Biden, John McCain, modest convention bounce, national political conventions, Obamessiah, Rasmussen Reports, toss-up state, traffic jam

8/26/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

A Different Kind of DNC “Protest” West of the Downtown Denver Action

So much for all the DNC-related action happening in downtown Denver. On my drive to work this morning I spotted this unmistakable display on Table Mountain between Arvada and Golden, displayed here in a photograph taken by a friend: 9News apparently was on the scene, as well:The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and Open Space Rangers struck a deal with the protestors allowing them to take a break before hiking back up the mountain and removing the sign. The group behind the sign was not immediately known but roughly 50 anti-abortion protestors are in the area. My friend who took the picture said she was told the sign was constructed from 2,500 bed sheets, and that students from Maranatha Christian Center did the hard work … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: "destroys unborn children", Arvada, bed sheets, Democratic National Convention, display, Golden, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, Maranatha Christian Center, Open Space Rangers, pro-life, protest, Table Mountain

8/25/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Opining on Apathy in Recent State Employee Union Elections

Over at the Denver Daily News, my op-ed on the recent union elections in state government is up. The piece begins:Some pundits and hopeful partisans speculate that our upcoming national election may see less apathy among younger voters. Coloradans might also wonder about the apathy among their state employees.> Forty-nine percent of Americans between 18 and 29 voted in the 2004 national election, a slight rise from previous showings. While at least one candidate has made more appeals to the youth on the bases of "hope" and "change," it's unclear whether the trend will continue. Overshadowed recent news in our own backyard shows even greater voter apathy outside the sphere of electoral politics. When faced this year with deciding on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: Democratic National Convention, Denver Daily News, elections, labor union, op-ed, state government, union elections

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

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