In his Saturday media review column for the Rocky Mountain News, David Kopel highlights two Denver Post stories that gave skewed presentations of the illegal immigration issue. The first half of the editorial piece was dedicated to giving a more thorough undressing to a Karen Crummy article first exposed here on this site. (Full disclosure: I work with Dave at the Independence Institute. He was prompted to examine the Crummy story after reading my post. However, he discovered the post on his own as part of his regular blog searches.) … [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...]

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...]

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...]

Your state legislators listen from time to time - even some of the Democrats. Four Democrat state senators followed Ron Tupa (D - Boulder)'s lead and voted in favor of referring a Defend Colorado Now-type measure to the ballot for November: But after his vote, four Democrats then switched their "no" votes to "yes." They were Betty Boyd, of Lakewood; Ken Gordon, of Denver; Moe Keller, of Wheat Ridge; and Lois Tochtrop, of Thornton. "It seemed like the right thing to do," said Boyd. But Capitol observers noted that Boyd faces probably the toughest Senate contest in November, squaring off against Rep. Matt Knoedler, R-Lakewood. Several polls show Republicans and Democrats alike are fed up with illegal immigration and want … [Read more...]

Here's a fun story totally ignored by Colorado's favorite purveyors of the political grapevine (aka, The Dead Guvs), from the Rocky Mountain News: "Ritter Aide Backed Beauprez in 2004." [Bill Ritter's campaign manager Greg] Kolomitz and his wife, Carla Lucero, both joined a group named Democrats for Beauprez. The congressman was facing Democrat Dave Thomas as Beauprez sought a second term in Congress. "He's a good guy and so we decided to support him," said Kolomitz. At the time, Kolomitz was president of CRL Associates, a Denver lobbying firm known for its clout at city hall. He says Maria Garcia Berry, the CEO of the firm and a prominent Republican, asked him to join the group supporting Beauprez. "Politics is all about … [Read more...]

To Colorado Democrat legislative leaders Joan Fitz-Gerald and Andrew Romanoff, "Nice try." The "Wish away the immigration issue, Supreme Court decision, and Special Session" card just wasn't available, so they made the next best possible political move: threatening to call their own special legislative session. Unfortunately for them, the analysts quoted in the Rocky Mountain News are right on: "It's completely an idle bluff," said Eric Sondermann, a political consultant. "In this particular poker game, the governor holds all the high cards. "The Democrats are trying to exert any leverage they have in how the call for the special session is crafted so that the governor doesn't craft it too narrowly," Sondermann said. "At the end of … [Read more...]