Dan Haley's Monday Denver Post column on the emerging Republican candidate in the looming Colorado governor's race was recently brought to my attention. Perhaps you have heard of Marc Holtzman by now. Some five months ago I detailed my early impressions of the then-prospective gubernatorial candidate. And you probably have seen the Dead Governors ranking him as the current favorite to fill their long-emptied shoes. Holtzman will be stepping down from his post as president of the University of Denver tomorrow and putting his campaign into another gear. But look where he is already in the early stages of the race: he's doing everything he needs to do to stay competitive. Good estimates indicate Holtzman has already raised more than … [Read more...]

Could supporters of Referenda C and D be so desperate as to try to exploit the hurricane tragedy to sell their forever tax increase? So then, creating a parody Web site that compared sound arguments against the tax increase with calls to deny aid to Katrina victims seemed like a good attempt at political discourse? The perpetrator of the now-defunct tasteless screed is, according to the Denver Post, a Web developer for and devotee of the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network, Colorado's congregation of left-leaning political activists. At least someone in the group deserves commendation for pulling the plug on the phony Web site. Meanwhile, supporters of the tax increase have undertaken the less controversial but much more symbolic … [Read more...]

When you see an elected politician roll up his sleeves and take up the challenge of a difficult but important campaign promise, it sure can restore some of your faith in the system and in the judgment of your fellow citizens. That's exactly how I feel as the new slate of Jefferson County commissioners has tackled and confronted the waste and corruption that have been plaguing some departments of government. The Denver Post explored the story in depth on Sunday and followed up with a laudable editorial in today's edition. Sunday's story revealed many glaring problems with the way our county government has run in recent years, including this dandy: Among Jefferson County employees, Bob Roark is the king of plastic. Over the last … [Read more...]

As Joshua Sharf has already ably recounted, he and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Rep. Bob Beauprez last Friday. The Republican gubernatorial candidate graciously shared an hour of his time with us and addressed our questions with candor and confidence. Rather than rehash Joshua's assessments (too much), I'll supplement his remarks with some of my own. Beauprez confidently asserted his conservative bona fides to strengthen his case for why he deserves the Republican nomination: his executive experience, his Washington connections, his traditional Colorado values. I believe the candidate's assessment is correct that "the governor's race is ground zero" for reestablishing Republican leadership in other areas of Colorado … [Read more...]