What does it say about a primary candidate that his two primary messages seem to be: The incumbent is wrong; and I'm ahead in the polls. Well, those are the messages I'm getting from the Scott McInnis for governor campaign. The first message is obvious: no complaints there. The point to ponder is why #2 is one of the primary messages . It isn't surprising to any serious political observer that the former 3rd District Congressman has greater name recognition than his rivals. So why keep touting two polls -- at least one of them commissioned by the McInnis campaign -- that say exactly that? … [Read more...]
Jumping to Conclusions on Colorado Democratic Party HQ Vandalism
Colorado Democratic State Party headquarters on 8th and Santa Fe in Denver was vandalized last night. Windows broken out, etc. Not good. Obviously the work of someone without respect for private property, and without respect for an honest, healthy debate. A criminal act that should be dealt with appropriately. However, initial reports quoted the Democratic state party chair trying to frame the incident as the responsibility of opponents of the Obama Care government health care takeover:"We ought to be having a serious, conscientious debate about what's best for the country," [state Democratic party chairwoman Pat] Waak said. "Clearly there's been an effort on the other side to stir up hate. I think this is the consequence of it." The … [Read more...]
Obama Speaks to School Children: Sharing My Thoughts with the Post
The Denver Post this morning has up a story by Jeremy Meyer filled with local reaction to the news of Obama speaking to school children next Tuesday. Meyeer quotes several people in the story, but my remarks to him yesterday didn't make the cut. Here's more or less what I said:This has all the signs of the Obama cult of personality. Parents who don't want to subject their children to the organized hero-worship of a controversial political figure certainly can't be blamed for wanting to pull them out. The decision should be made at the local school level, but in any case the parents at least should have the opportunity to opt out. That's perfectly appropriate. … [Read more...]
Bizarre Absences: What is Going on with the Scott McInnis Campaign?
Update, 9/8: Sources tell me that there have been other recent noteworthy Scott McInnis absences from events attended by his rivals Josh Penry and Dan Maes. The McInnis absences include the Fountain Labor Day Parade, and an event hosted by a grassroots group called ROAR America. I understand there may be more, but these are the ones I have been able to confirm so far. What in the world is going on with the Scott McInnis for governor campaign? First, there was the series of strange interviews. (For a nice contrast, check out Josh Penry's recent one-on-one with the Colorado Statesman.) Then the insecure trumpeting of obvious poll results. Next came the evasion of the state party straw poll. But like the strange interviews, it turns out … [Read more...]
Interview with Tom Wiens, Colorado Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate
Last week former state senator Tom Wiens announced the opening of an exploratory committee to join Colorado's large and growing Republican primary field for the 2010 U.S. Senate race. On Friday I had the opportunity to interview Wiens by phone. Below are some highlights of our conversation (please note that the quotes are transcribed and may be slightly paraphrased in places): … [Read more...]
Remembering General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914)
In recent years, one of the more famous heroic figures of the American Civil War -- popularized by the Pulitzer-winning novel Killer Angels and the movie rendition Gettysburg -- citizen-professor-soldier Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born on September 8, 1828. Today is the 181st anniversary of his birth. Chamberlain, of course, was the hero of Gettysburg's Little Round Top (1863) as commander of the 20th Maine, was wounded six times in battle, the general who presided over the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox, Governor of Maine from 1867 to 1871, and President of Bowdoin College. If you want to learn more, I recommend In the Hands of Providence, a very good Chamberlain biography. … [Read more...]
The Right Answers to the “Party of No” Accusation Against Republicans
Is the Republican Party these days just the "Party of No"? While many of us wish the erstwhile GOP majorities in Congress had lived by the equivalent of a fiscal and regulatory chastity pledge and just said NO in its spending heyday, that's not quite what I'm getting at. I'm referring to the knee-jerk retort one gets these days from certain quarters whenever justly denouncing the radical, government-expanding proposals coming from the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress. It goes something like:Well, yeah? Where's your solution? You just want things the way they are. The Republicans are just the party of NO. Next time you encounter that knee-jerk response, I have an article for you to bookmark to throw back in their … [Read more...]
Help Reveal Colorado’s Political Temperature: It’s Survey Time Again!
We're back at it again. After the results and analysis from the July 2009 survey in which we are grateful that more than 600 of you participated, we're at it again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete -- especially if you're from Colorado. These aren't your run-of-the-mill quick-hit polls. Once again we've gone a little more in-depth. Some of the questions are the same. Some are new. One interesting added follow-up is asking what the most important factor is for you in choosing to support a Republican primary candidate for governor and U.S. Senate. Click here to take the September 2009 Colorado online political survey Your opinion … [Read more...]
How to Enjoy Watching Obama’s Health Care Speech to Congress Tonight
Tonight is President Obama's latest in a long line of big speech about why he's finally clear on just what exactly he intends to do about how government health care will magically improve lives through competition (and other assorted sweet-talking nonsense).... The address to Congress is scheduled to start at 8 PM Eastern, or 6 PM local time. If you're in a serious mood and want to follow along with the speech online, I suggest you head over to Cato at Liberty for live-blogging analysis by two of the nation's foremost experts on health care policy. If you're in a lighter mood, you can play Obama health care bingo -- compliments of Americans for Tax Reform. … [Read more...]
Jane Norton Is In U.S. Senate Race: It’s Kind of Like Deja Vu All Over Again
Eighteen days ago I told you Jane Norton was in the U.S. Senate race. Today it flies back at me like a bad case of deja vu. So goes the world. Politico's Josh Kraushaar notes:She announced her candidacy on her newly-launched campaign website, and said that she will formally kick off the campaign next week after talking to supporters across the state. I look forward to hearing about the events in which she talks to supporters across the state, who and where her supporters are, and how she addresses Republicans' questions and concerns. Because as Westword blogger Michael Roberts points out, her Web bio is long on former lieutenant governor resume (much longer than her Wikipedia entry) but largely short on details that concern … [Read more...]
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