Update, 4/6: A Rocky Mountain Right diarist from Ouray isn't too happy with the Governor's cancellation. What a bummer when you show up to protest someone, and they aren't able to make it in person. Such apparently was the case this weekend in Grand Junction, when inclement weather prevented Governor Bill Ritter from being welcomed by more than 50 Coloradans "totally disgusted" about the negative impacts of his various tax policies and newly-approved oil and gas rules. The interesting tidbit came from local news station KJCT, which reported that Secretary of State (and Western Slope native) Bernie Buescher showed up to take the slings and arrows in Ritter's place:He says the Governor recognizes this is a difficult time and it's time … [Read more...]
Governor Bill Ritter Wants to Welcome Gitmo Terrorists to Colorado Prison
Update: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers. Perhaps you'll agree that Colorado can do much better than our current Democrat governor. Any article (this one happens to be from 9News) that starts with the following line spells bad news:Gov. Bill Ritter supports the idea of bringing terror suspects to Colorado to be housed at the federal Supermax prison in Florence. Go ahead, read the rest of the article. Governor Bill Ritter clearly has a long way to go making a compelling case to the people of Colorado. So why do it? Theories abound: … [Read more...]
And a Few More Bright Spots for Colorado and U.S. Conservatives
It's the morning after... El Presidente has some amusing video reactions to last night's election results. Meanwhile, both Joshua Sharf (who ran a valiant race in an overwhelmingly Democratic district) and Rocky Mountain Right highlight the bright spots for Colorado conservatives. I concur with their lists, but let me add one more small bright spot in Colorado. The State Board of Education lost GOP chairman Pam Suckla - a Bill Ritter apologist - and gained common-sense conservative Marcia Neal, giving an effective Board majority that the Colorado Education Association can't be terribly happy with. Especially if Bob Schaffer is selected as the next chairman. At the national level, the good news is that Republicans may have … [Read more...]
Which Gaffe Will Joe Biden Most Likely Make When He’s in Colorado?
Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden is reportedly on his way to Colorado for campaign stops on Tuesday and Wednesday (H/T Slapstick Politics). In honor of his arrival, which gaffe do you think Slow Joe Biden is most likely to make? Please vote in the poll below: Vote early, but since we're not a Democratic site, you can't vote often. Sorry. … [Read more...]
CNN Documents ACORN Voter Fraud: 2,100 Registrations All Phony
Though they couldn't bring themselves to identify ACORN's connection with Barack Obama and the Democratic Party (via Powerline): 2,100 voter registrations in one county, and they are ALL fraudulent? Has Barack Obama answered any questions about ACORN? … [Read more...]
Barack Obama and the Challenging Politics of Merit Pay: Denver Edition
Just wanted to bring your attention to a great new piece by Hannah Sternberg at The Weekly Standard on the politics of merit pay, a topic all too near to my heart. Most of the article explores a proposal by the reform-minded chancellor of Washington, D.C. Public Schools - Michelle Rhee - and how it's being received in this dysfunctional, bureaucratic education system. But the article also takes a peek at events surrounding Denver's groundbreaking ProComp teacher pay program, including a mention of the recent tensions that have resulted in strike threats. … [Read more...]
Colorado Primary Election Predictions
Today is Colorado's primary election. There aren't too many contested races going on, but the ones that are have rightly been described as "extraordinary" for their competitiveness. Anyway, here are my predictions for the few farthings they're worth (note that they're not all necessarily whom I'm cheering for to win): Congressional District 5, GOP: Incumbent Doug Lamborn wins narrowly, as Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn split the protest vote Congressional District 6, GOP: Businessman and political newcomer Wil Armstrong pulls off a surprising late comeback victory over favorite Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who goes on to mend fences with the state party leadership and prepares to run for U.S. Senate in 2010 Congressional District … [Read more...]
Big Labor Ritter Low on Credibility
As a leading political consultant notes in the Denver Post today, Gov. Bill Ritter planted the pro-union seeds, and now he is reaping the right-to-work whirlwind:Political observers don't have high hopes that the situation will improve. "If (Ritter's) goal is trying to get business to back off right-to-work, I don't think he has the credibility to do it," said Katy Atkinson, a Republican political strategist, pointing out that he is seen as pro-labor. Atkinson said right-to-work bills in the legislature never got off the ground in the past — even under Republicans — because businesses never really saw organized labor as a threat in Colorado. But that view changed, she said, after the passage of an amendment in 2006 to increase … [Read more...]
Dem Leaders Weakly Downplay Voters’ Superdelegate Anxieties
An interesting piece in today's Denver Post: "Democrats vouch for superdelegate system." On a day where Hillary looks to make a comeback in the presidential primary with some critical wins, further muddling the contest between her and Obama, the possibility looms that the un-democratic superdelegate system will decide the party's leadership. So it's interesting to see Democrat leaders in Colorado try to downplay a potential crisis to their confused constituents:U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Golden, a superdelegate who supports Barack Obama, acknowledged that the large number of automatic delegates worried the Obama campaign because Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have had long-term relationships with so many party … [Read more...]
Anti-Public Records Bill Begs Question: What are Colorado Dems Hiding?
Today's Denver Post updates readers on a Democrat-sponsored bill in the Colorado statehouse that would erect more barriers between citizens and public records:A draft of [House Majority Leader Alice] Madden's [D - Boulder] bill proposes several changes in addition to requiring proof of citizenship, among them: • Citizens would have to deliver requests by hand or by certified mail instead of through a wider variety of methods allowed under current law. • More of lawmakers' e- mails — such as information from and about constituents — could be exempt. • Agencies would more easily be able to take an extra seven days to respond to requests. • Agencies could refuse to release records that contain confidential information … [Read more...]