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Bob Beauprez Backs Lang Sias, Raises Questions about Relevance, Judgment

In one of Colorado's most head-scratching political moves of the year, former GOP Congressman and wildly unsuccessful 2006 gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez announced his endorsement of 7th Congressional candidate and Republican newcomer Lang Sias. The first reaction I and many of my politically aware friends had pretty much boiled down to: Huh??? When Tom Tancredo and Jimmy Lakey threw their support behind Sias, they carefully avoided trying to draw distinctions among the Republican field. Not so Beauprez: … [Read more...]

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Elections Have Consequences

Below is an actual letter sent out last week to the employees of a company doing business in Colorado. It is presented without comment. The names of the company and the individuals have been redacted. Staff: When people say elections don’t matter, that their vote doesn’t count, and that they cannot make a difference – they are wrong! … [Read more...]

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Launching the New-Look May Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature

Update II, 1:50 PM: A technical error in survey production resulted in accidentally omitting new gubernatorial candidate Joe Gschwendtner's name as a possible selection for Q13 & Q14. I am pleased to report the issue has been fixed. If you want to vote for this candidate, you can go back in and re-take the quiz if necessary. The survey will capture only your latest answers: you still get only one vote. Apologies for the screw-up. Everything is back on track. We are working to remedy the results display issue, but for now everything about the survey itself is in proper working order. Update, High Noon: After a series of technical glitches this morning with the way the results were being displayed, the results page is down for the time … [Read more...]

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Democrats’ HB 1181 Union Buy-Off: Pushing the State Capitol Panic Button

Update, 5/8: Colorado LOSES has a great idea about what to do with HB 1181. If Republicans can't kill it, the least they should do is offer an amendment to ensure transparency of state employee union finances. In the waning days of the legislative session, is anyone up to the challenge? (H/T Complete Colorado) The Denver Post's Tim Hoover reports today:Days before the legislature adjourns, some Democrats are pushing a proposal that would guarantee unions could still collect dues from state employees — even if the next governor is not union-friendly. The effort comes in the form of an amendment to House Bill 1181, a mostly technical bill dealing with policies of the Department of Personnel and Administration. The bill's sponsor, Sen. … [Read more...]

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Politically Correct University’s Robert Maranto Tonight at LOTR Red Rocks

Just how politically correct are today's colleges? Are the faculties at American universities really as ideologically imbalanced as you have heard? What are the effects of that imbalance on students and their futures? Are there any promising and politically achievable reforms for academia? If these questions pique your interest, then you should look at obtaining a copy of the new book The Politically Correct University, a collection of insightful essays on a range of topics under the theme. Even better, if you live in the Denver metro area, you can meet one of the volume's editors -- Robert Maranto from the University of Arkansas' Department of Education Reform -- this evening at Liberty on the Rocks Red Rocks: … [Read more...]

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Hickenlooper Loses Edge on Charitable Giving, Exposes Political “Glass Jaw”?

Driving home from the office yesterday evening, listening to the tail end of the Caplis & Silverman Show on 630 KHOW, I could hardly believe my ears as Denver mayor and Democrat gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper assumed an uncharacteristically defensive tone when the hosts pressed him on his refusal to disclose any names of the charitable organizations his personal wealth has supported through the years. As the show's closing music played, Hickenlooper lashed out at the show as biased and indicated he wasn't too interested in coming back on the show again. Complete Colorado has posted the audio. Rossputin provides a great recap and thorough breakdown of the Mayor's "strained" argument that raises more questions about the … [Read more...]

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The Colorado Senate Race

Editor's note: Please welcome RMA and PPC blogger Night Twister from his original blogging home to his new digs as a guest blogger at Mount Virtus. Look for occasional contributions from him to help make up for my low blogging output, due to extra busy-ness of late. After reading this , this, and especially this by Erick Erickson at RedState, I felt it necessary to write a response. A little background would be helpful first, however. Over the past decade, Colorado conservatives have taken a beating. In 2000, we held the Governor's Mansion, the state House and Senate chambers, both U.S. Senate seats, and 5 of 7 House seats. Even so, Colorado's history includes dramatic swings from Democrat to Republican leadership. Much has been … [Read more...]

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Dean Boehler’s Emerging Campaign Shows 2010 Election Uncertainty

Update: For comparison, a video of Ellen Roberts' SD 6 assembly speech also has been posted. It's been a few months since I provided an update of Colorado state senate races. I rated Senate District 6 -- in southwest Colorado, on the other side of the state -- as the number one Republican target, noting with current Rep. Ellen Roberts remaining on pace fundraising with Democrat incumbent Bruce Whitehead that, "This seat remains the closest to an automatic party switch in the fall." But the people of Senate District 6 will have something to say about the matter first. Last Saturday the late-entry campaign of San Miguel County's conservative Dean Boehler took some state political observers by storm by capturing 66 percent of the … [Read more...]