A Republican friend passed along an account of yesterday's Republican Assembly through the eyes of a very insightful and well-spoken young attendee. Read below to see the report of 11-year-old Elizabeth Armstrong, daughter of delegate Wil Armstrong and granddaughter of former Senator Bill Armstrong. It's a refreshing view, less cynical than most political writing these days, and very encouraging to see younger people with intelligent observations about the great democratic process of one of the major political parties. And you surely will find some details in her account of Saturday's goings-on not included in any newspaper or other blog. Quite thorough. Perhaps some day she will have a political blog of her own. Here are her … [Read more...]

My good friend Mr. Bob has a different take on Amendment 40 than I do on my ballot picks, which I invite you to read. I could respond to his four points, though, as follows: 1. Many current judges would be pushed out all at once, but the turnover would be less in future years. Some current judges have been there a long time. 2. Using the current retention and recall provisions as justification for a judge to continue on the bench is not persuasive. Who do you know who has a clear understanding of where to go to get insights into whether sitting judges should be retained or removed? The only source of information out there - Commissions on Judicial Performance - recommends that all 108 judges on the ballot this year ben retained and … [Read more...]

Following the lead of state party chairman Bob Martinez, 31 sitting Republican state legislators and 9 Republican candidates for state legislative office sent a letter today to Marc Holtzman asking him for the sake of party unity (about which he spoke eloquently at the Assembly) to withdraw from the race. While these kind of things don't happen every day, at least Republican leaders from Routt County agree. And so does a first-time delegate from Boulder County, who has brought up an excellent point about the Holtzman campaign's earlier spin, which frankly disappoints me to see in retrospect: Holtzman estimated that more than 2,500 Holtzman delegates were elected to state and county assemblies in the statewide caucus proceedings … [Read more...]

In the Denver Post story this morning highlighting Marc Holtzman's submission of 21,000 petitions (he needs 1,500 from each of Colorado's 7 Congressional districts to be verified by the Secretary of State's office) to get on the gubernatorial primary ballot: The former University of Denver president was assisted by Denver lawyer Mark Grueskin, a Democrat who has a history of representing Democratic candidates and causes. "I don't like it when party bosses tell people not to run," Grueskin said. "It rubs me the wrong way." Grueskin, eh? Strangely not the first time this character has been mentioned on my site. Perhaps you remember the case of the teachers union caught in cahoots with a state Senate Democrat's 2004 campaign? In the … [Read more...]

It can never hurt to rehash and reprise the theme of hypocrisy in the MSM, especially some of our friends at the Denver Post. It almost looks like the Ritter campaign has contracted out its public relations services. Joshua has it spot on: In the Denver Post's case, they don't llike whistleblowers who leak to Republican campaigns. Of course, they're more than happy to report on the reaction of the Perlmutter campaign to a story planted by that campaign in the Post itself. The Post ridicules Beauprez's claim that his source is courageous, even as it campaigns for federal shield laws for journalists. It states that Beauprez's source leaked for partisan political purposes, even as it defends the New York Times for publishing information … [Read more...]

The Colorado Secretary of State's office has validated Senate District 22 Republican candidate Justin Everett's petition signatures, with an astonishingly high certification rate - 1,297 of 1,354 submitted signatures were accepted, or 95.8% (compared to about 80 percent for rival Kiki Traylor)! One big reason for that is Justin personally acquired more than half the signatures himself by going door-to-door to meet voters: truly grassroots! Here is an excerpt from his official announcement: After speaking with voters in our district, it was clear that our message of immigration reform, improving the educational opportunities for our children and practicing true fiscal responsibility represents the opinions of our community. Now we’re … [Read more...]

Coming under fire recently, conservative Republican state senate candidate Mike Kopp has found himself engaged in a fierce political battle that wasn't anticipated a few months ago. Senate District 22 in southern Jefferson County has a significant edge in Republican voter registration. But ever since the distinguished Army veteran and father of three edged out appointed incumbent Kiki Traylor in a tough primary vote, a race that should have been safely in the Republican column is now in play. Smelling blood and hoping for an upset victory, Democrats set their big gun targets on Mike and have not let up, hoping to put their candidate Paula Noonan on top. Besides the usual bag of cheap dirty tactics (e.g., stealing campaign signs), … [Read more...]

Two breaking news stories this afternoon for a quick read: Associated Press, "Colorado Candidate Fined for Illegal Ads" Rocky Mountain News, "Holtzman Not on Ballot" For Marc Holtzman, this would have to qualify for the classic definition of "bad day." The latter article suggests a serious disagreement about the judgment that the gubernatorial candidate didn't have enough signatuers on his petitions to qualify him for the November election. While he turned in 21,000 signatures (expecting a certain margin of invalid markings, of course), keep in mind that candidates for statewide office have to gather 1,500 Republican registered voter signatures from each Congressional district, and the Denver Democrat stronghold of the 1st CD … [Read more...]