Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 29th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Guests for tonight's show are a pair of political newcomers making longshot bids for statewide office. Evergreen businessman Dan Maes will join us to talk about his grassroots campaign for Colorado's Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2010. Causing a stir in the local blogosphere this week, U.S. Senate hopeful Cleve Tidwell will make an appearance in the latter half of the program to discuss his candidacy. 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...]
“The Time Is Now” to Get Connected with the American Liberty Alliance
If we are to be successful, pro-liberty groups and individuals are going to have to be more collaborative. There is strength in numbers. To a good extent, this movement has begun in Colorado -- with the People's Press Collective, Liberty on the Rocks, and other projects. But plenty of work remains to be done on many levels. Kudos to all those in the trenches. On the most recent episode of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio we talked with blogger and online activist Ken Marrero about -- among other things -- his work with the national Tea Party movement and the development of a group called American Liberty Alliance. It turns out that as of today Ken is now the executive director of this national grassroots movement. It's an … [Read more...]
A Chance for Denver Tax Day Tea Party Protestors to Clarify the Record
Update, 9:40 AM: Rossputin has a more thorough and comprehensive debunking of the ProgressNow nonsense. It's simply a must-read. Also, Joshua explains the "astroturfing" myth and why the Left is pushing it. Here's a shock: the local Soros-funded Lefty media hack is completely misrepresenting the Tax Day Tea Party here in Denver and as a nationwide movement. What else would you expect? Mike Huttner has to earn his keep from the sugar daddy somehow. The vapid silliness coming from ProgressNow includes: Selectively finding the few offensive signs of the common sense-challenged out of thousands to paint the crowd with a broad brush of ignorance and hatred (here's a video that helps give lie to this tactic) Parroting discredited CNN … [Read more...]
Hundreds of Iowa Taxpayers Kicked Out of Capitol: Is Colorado Watching?
Update: Here is a better link to Tax Day Tea Party information for all of Colorado. (H/T to Amy Oliver for this story) "Hundreds of Iowans" showed up at the State Capitol in Des Moines to protest a tax on a tax, and ended up getting forcibly ejected by the House Speaker. I've heard of "Iowa stubborn", but not "Iowa rowdy". Not exactly Howard Beale - but a pretty amazing display of organized populist outrage nonetheless. Maybe Colorado pro-liberty grassroots organizers could find something to learn from Iowans for Tax Relief. If you're a Colorado taxpayer not used to these sorts of things but are interested in getting involved, the Denver Tax Day Tea Party on April 15 is a good place to start. … [Read more...]
Leondray Gholston Brings Fresh Blood Beside Experienced Dick Wadhams in Colorado GOP Leadership
Update: El Presidente has more of the details surrounding what went down at today's state party officer elections. I was not able to attend today's Colorado Republican state central committee meeting in Castle Rock, but I've had a chance to follow developments remotely. As reported at Rocky Mountain Right, Dick Wadhams was comfortably re-elected to the chairman's position. The more competitive race was for vice-chair, in which DougCo GOP reports on Twitter that Leondray Gholston beat out Nathan Chambers on the 3rd round of voting. For many conservative grassroots supporters, Gholston's election represents a new and exciting direction for the state party. Let's hope their optimism is justified. Certainly, Gholston's passion, … [Read more...]
He Wasn’t Their First Choice, But Wadhams and Hillman Both Pleased with Michael Steele as RNC Chair
Not exactly breaking news: former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. Polipundit has a blow-by-blow account of the six rounds (and five hours) of yesterday's balloting to achieve a majority of support from the 168 delegates. Five candidates started the day. At the end it came down to Steele and South Carolina's Katon Dawson. Steele prevailed by a count of 91-77. I followed up with two of Colorado's three voting RNC members afterward to get their thoughts, and received very similar reactions to the results. "Michael Steele will be a great spokesperson for our party," said state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. "Michael Steele is one of the Republican Party's most articulate … [Read more...]
Etch Yesterday in Stone as Rare Proud Moment for Congressional GOP
It's not often that I can say Congressional Republicans make me proud by their actions. So let's etch January 28, 2009, in stone as one of those momentous occasions. Hats off to the House GOP yesterday for standing 100 percent united against the Obama-Democrat trillion dollar pork bill that promises to mount piles of debt on my generation and future generations. Of course, this is small consolation as there aren't enough Republicans - with or without backbone - to stop the socialist steamroller "stimulus" from gliding through. But at least if the GOP hangs tough and united, rather than set us up for disappointment, the Democrats will own this economic disaster. (Will Senate Republicans follow their House brethren?) … [Read more...]
Coloradans, You Can Make a Difference for School Financial Transparency
Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]
Denver Post Backs Grassroots GOP HD27 Challenger John Bodnar
The Denver Post gave its complete endorsement round-up for Colorado state house races today. It's impossible for us mere mortals to divine the rhyme or reason behind the Post's endorsements. As expected, the center-left editorial board has backed more Democrats than Republicans, and nearly every incumbent. But interestingly, the Post threw its lot behind two Republican challengers over Democrat officeholders. One of them is here in Arvada, where a hard-working, truly grassroots, common-sense candidate has emerged:HD 27 (Jefferson) — First-term incumbent Democrat Sara Gagliardi, a nurse, has focused primarily on health care. But we're more impressed with Republican challenger John Bodnar because of his balanced views on energy and … [Read more...]
Cory Gardner Spearheads Grassroots Defense of Colorado Charter Schools
To his credit, State Rep. Cory Gardner is spearheading a grassroots effort to support public charter schools and the families they serve. Recently the Adams 12 school board unanimously decided to support legislation unfriendly to charter schools (see Resolution 1.3). Adams 12 effectively wants to beef up its own authority to deny charters, to limit parents' authority to appeal rejected charter school applications, and to undercut charter schools' already sub-par funding. But Cory Gardner (R-Yuma), a rising star in the GOP, took the initiative to craft a letter alerting charter school parents and supporters to the attack and urging them to get involved in the fight. In all, 17 Republican state representatives and 9 Republican state … [Read more...]