What else can I say about the deal Owens made with Democrat legislators to close the immigration session? It's bad news for the good guys. Of course, the trouble began when former governor Dick Lamm remembered which party he belongs to and pulled his support from the Defend Colorado Now initiative and cut his own backroom deal with fellow Democrat and erstwhile immigration opponent Federico Pena. Still, Owens held the high cards and had the authority and clout to limit the special legislative session to the narrow matter of addressing the Colorado Supreme Court's judicial activism. Instead of keeping the lid on things and making sure that legislators simply voted up-or-down to refer the Defend Colorado Now initiative to the voters … [Read more...]

Slapstick Politics has the lowdown on the ineffectual results of the recent state special legislative session. Republicans have a steep climb to face if they are going to turn immigration and/or judicial activism into winning issues. How about another issue to latch onto: maybe, private property rights vs. eminent domain? Or one of my perpetual favorites ... education reform. … [Read more...]

My observations on the CEA contribution to Kiki Traylor have stirred some attention through the grapevine. As a result, I fielded a phone call this afternoon from Senator Traylor with a very clear message: she does indeed support vouchers for low-income students, like the Opportunity Contract Scholarship Program that Senator Spence sponsored, Governor Owens signed, and the Supreme Court narrowly ruled unconstitutional. Furthermore, Senator Traylor said she made that fact clear in her interview with CEA. Even though she said they don't like her position on the issue, Senator Traylor surmised that CEA may have contributed to her campaign because of her hard work, her integrity, her independent intellect, or because they just figure she … [Read more...]

This year, Colorado Republicans' best chance at success will come at retaking the State House. Despite all the money of liberal 527s and rich guys being poured into the campaign, the off-presidential election year, Republican voter demographics, all 65 seats up for grabs, a strategy motivated by 2004's humiliating defeat, and a reasonably good slate of candidates all add up to a good chance for the GOP to retake the State House. Today the editors of the Rocky Mountain News endorsed their slate of State House candidates from the metro Denver area, including the following Republicans in currently held Democrat seats: Aimee Rathburn (HD 1) Ramey Johnson (HD 23) Affie Ellis (HD 29) Rex Pierce (HD 31) Even counting the mistaken … [Read more...]