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Home Archives for challenge

5/26/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: Statewide Races, Higher Education

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 28th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Guests for tonight's show are: Longtime GOP political consultant Patrick Davis to dissect the state of play in Colorado's major statewide races for 2010, as fields of Republicans seek to challenge Governor Bill Ritter and appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet Jessica Corry from the Independence Institute, to talk about the ongoing budget controversies at the University of Colorado and possibly the increasing attention on the drug legalization debate If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 2010, appointed, attention, Bill Ritter, Blog Talk Radio, budget controversies, challenge, Colorado, debate, drug legalization, GOP, Governor, guests, increasing, Independence Institute, Jessica Corry, major, Michael Bennet, Patrick Davis, podcast, political consultant, Republicans, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sidebar, statewide races, tonight show, U.S. Senator, University of Colorado, widget

4/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Numbers Show Door Wide Open for Challenge to Michael Bennet

The results are out: newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet is not doing so great. That's the message from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) -- which commissioned the survey. Politico says Bennet is "off to a slow start". And apparently dissatisfied with the results, the Democrat Dead Governors' blog for the first time features a front-page critique of PPP as "notorious" for its unreliability. From the few previous mentions on their site, PPP polling substantiated Mark Udall's lead in last year's Senate race -- Obama, too. Now, though, we just can't trust them. It's not as if the results are spectacular for the Republican field looking to challenge Michael Bennet. The public is simply not in any way engaged with the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, appointee, Barack Obama, challenge, conservative, credible, Dead Governors blog, dissatisfied, engaged, escape, front-page critique, GOP, governments, indecisive, independent voters, levers, Mark Udall, mentions, message, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, notorious, opponent, performance, Politico, Public Policy Polling, Republican field, responsibility, results, Ritter, slow start, spectacular, substantiated, survey, thrilled, U.S. Senator, unreliability, voters, Washington DC, wide open

4/16/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Months Later, Michael Bennet Still Vacillating Over Union Card-Check Bill

More than two months ago I noted that the union card-check bill had put newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet in a bind. Three weeks ago I observed that Bennet might be finding relief in the fading prospects of the legislation. But Big Labor proponents haven't backed down, and business leaders are in the fight for the duration. So where does that leave Michael Bennet? As indecisive as ever, reports the Denver Post:"The issue is an important issue. We have lots of important issues," he said. "I'm in a much better position to be helpful to a constructive conversation by not having taken a position on the existing language in the legislation than I would be if I had." I wasn't sure what to expect when Governor Bill Ritter … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: ambitious, backed down, Big Labor, bill, Bill Ritter, bind, business leaders, candidate, card-check, challenge, Denver Post, duration, fading prospects, fight, fundraising, Governor, indecisive, issues, legislation, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, proponents, relief, Ryan Frazier, talented, U.S. Senator, union, vacillation, vacuousness

3/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Study: Union Card-Check Could Cost Thousands of American Jobs

A new study released gives you one more reason to write your Congressman and Senators to tell them to vote No on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Economist Anne Layne-Farrar's quantitative analysis finds that "for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs." Let's simplify: EFCA (or union card-check legislation, if you prefer) will keep many, many Americans from a productive job and a paycheck - an especially devastating effect in the midst of our current economic turmoil. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American, Anne Layne-Farrar, arguments, Barack Obama, binding arbitration, card-check, challenge, Congressmen, devastating effect, economic turmoil, economist, Ed Morrissey Show, Employee Free Choice Act, employment, holding my breath, Hot Air, job creation, Labor Pains, Labor Relations Institute, massive threat, Michael Bennet, money, mouth, newly-selected, paycheck, poorly-named, productive job, quantitative analysis, rights, secret ballot, senators, sound research, U.S. Senator, unemployment rate, union, wasteful spending, workers, write

1/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Pollsters Hedge Bets on Ritter Re-Election…Wouldn’t You Right Now?

Democrat pollsters are hedging their bets over the re-election chances of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The well known, respected local election analyst Floyd Ciruli says:Although Bill Ritter works hard and cares about Colorado, he fails to inspire confidence among the most attentive publics. Of course, Colorado governors tend to be re-elected, and the Republicans are still on the defense after a half a decade of election losses, but Ritter faces a difficult re-election.... Ritter and his party know he is vulnerable. Expect a strong effort to survive. [emphasis added] On the other hand, the Democrat survey firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) observes something different from its new survey results: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: articulate, Bill Ritter, Bob Beauprez, candidate, challenge, Colorado, competent, competitive race, confidence, Dean Debnam, Democrat, demographic, difficult, election losses, fiscally conservative, Floyd Ciruli, Governor, hedging their bets, Hispanic voters, incumbent, local election analyst, pollsters, President, professional pollster, Public Policy Polling, reelection, Republicans, results, revert, Senate candidate, sign up, strong effort, strong favorite, survey firm, survive, Tom Tancredo, trend, unbeatable, vulnerable, white voters

1/12/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bon Voyage: Kathleen Parker Set Adrift from All Conservative Moorings?

I have had to defend my critical assessment of a Kathleen Parker post-election column sloppily aimed with disdain at social conservatives. Within that debate, even I have been inclined to see what she wrote as part of an internal squabble within the larger conservative Republican movement. But if Parker's most recent writing is any indication, it would seem she has no real conservative moorings on fiscal issues, either. You simply have to read it all, as no excerpt sufficiently captures the overtones wrapped insider her ambivalent - and sometimes confused - rhetoric. I agree with Michael: Many messengers of the conservative movement are stuck on old themes, when a newly-crafted message is what's needed. However, as Kathleen Parker … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: adrift, ambivalent, Best Destiny, challenge, column, conservative, conservative moorinigs, conservative movement, critical assessment, debate, defend, disdain, economic history, fiscal crisis, fiscal issues, internal squabble, Kathleen Parker, liberals, messengers, Michael, mush, new message, old themes, religious beliefs, Republican, rhetoric, social conservatives, thought-provoking, Washington DC

12/6/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Obama Voters, CNN and Network TV Viewers More Poorly Informed

John Ziegler is to be commended for his post-election polling work. At first we learned how ridiculously ill-informed Obama voters were, leading us to some conclusions about how Obama got elected. Ziegler took upon himself a challenge that the misguided critics on the Left - who (all too predictably) attacked the questioners rather than deal with the substance of the findings - would not do. He commissioned a second poll with even more telling results (H/T Granite Grok): … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bill Ayers, challenge, CNN, commended, commissioned, conclusions, critics, education reform, elected, findings, FoxNews, Granite Grok, ill-informed, John McCain, John Ziegler, Left, media, misguided response, MSNBC, national newspapers, network news, Obama voters, polling, questioners, real factor, Republicans, results, Sarah Palin, talk radio

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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