Updated and revised, 9:35 AM Wow, this year's ballot initiative campaign gets stranger and stranger. The pro-Ref C Dead Governors have declared that their beloved tax increase is winning by 1 to 9 points in the "polls." Their source? I quote directly: No, we aren't going to tell you who did these polls, and no, we didn't just make this up. Trust them... right. Trust but verify. Let's be intellectually honest for a moment and admit we don't know exactly where public sentiment is on Ref C & D. If the pro-tax increase crowd had a credible survey showing momentum on their side, the results would be trumpeted on all the major news pages. Their silence speaks in abundance. My gut tells me the election will be close and the ballot … [Read more...]

Some brief Monday morning thoughts: Colorado Democrats are under a lot of pressure and influence from the aging dinosaur of organized labor, which despite its "pro-worker" rhetoric, champions some legislation bound to have an adverse effect on working families. Working families who shop at - or even work at - say, Wal Mart. Did they take a poll of the giant retailer's employees before deciding to support a measure that would mandate a certain percentage of payroll on health care benefits? This is horrible legislation that would primarily benefit the union bosses and their organizing buddies, and could hurt the many student and second-income employees who already are covered by someone else's health insurance and choose to work at Wal … [Read more...]

State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald has joined a growing list of prominent Colorado Democrats by announcing yesterday that she won't pursue a run for the governor's office. The eyes of all political insiders now turn to Speaker Andrew Romanoff. Both Fitz-Gerald and Romanoff earlier announced their potential candidacies for the state's top executive offices hinged on the passage of Referenda C and D. Now Fitz-Gerald has bailed out a week before the election. And the generally left-of-center audience of the Dead Governors' blog is already rationalizing. Let's see... the outcry for weeks has been that the Colorado Democrats need a primary opponent for Bill Ritter, especially because of his pro-life views. When asked by the Denver … [Read more...]

The Holtzman for Governor campaign once again shows it's working hard, announcing its status as the first campaign to be certified to conduct voter registration drives. “Our campaign is on track for victory in August and November," said GOP gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman. "And one of our key goals is to increase voter participation so more Coloradans will help select not only the Republican nominee in August, but also the state's governor next fall." Back in Holtzman's November meeting with members of the RMA, he stressed his plans to rebuild the party structure. The campaign is about much more than just the candidate's leadership, personality, and qualifications, though those are significant considerations, too. The … [Read more...]

With a substantial chunk of Coloradans' ballots already mailed in, the "forever tax increase" comes down to the day of decision. As the campaigns race to the finish line, a last minute flurry of Internet tidbits: The Dead Governors float the rumor that the Yes on C & D campaign is preparing for failure. The operators of Mile High Delphi made their final prediction yesterday: "Too Close to Call" with a tiny edge to the No on C crew. The Delphi's prognostication might be adjusted with news reported by the Denver Post: different opponents of the tax increase have raised a cumulative total of $1 million in the last two weeks. One of those opponents, the Colorado Club for Growth, has released a response ad to Mayor Hickenlooper's skydive … [Read more...]