Great piece by Vince Carroll in today's Denver Post on Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointment:If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Putting that statement "in context" or explaining what she "really meant" will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. … [Read more...]
Senator Jim DeMint Sets Up a Great Framework for Rebuilding the GOP
If there is anyone currently in the U.S. Senate of whom I would consider myself a fan, Jim DeMint of South Carolina would be on that short list. I understood where he was coming from but found it a little disconcerting when he said: "I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don't have a set of beliefs." What a great relief then to see Senator DeMint's excellent column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal -- what I consider an opportunity to revise and extend his remark. His rhetoric is blunt, and his analysis is clear: … [Read more...]
The Principled Politician Brings True Tale of Colorado Statesmanship to Life
It's been awhile since I've done any sort of book review. But having just completed Adam Schrager's The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story, it seemed an apt time to change that. Those who won't want to miss this book include students of Colorado history, fans of the World War II era (especially the home front), and anyone interested in a sadly forgotten inspirational story that seems foreign in today's all-too-jaded and polarized world of politics. As introduced to readers in The Principled Politician, Ralph Carr (1887-1950) -- Republican governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943 -- was a rare model of statesmanship. Fittingly, he held deep admiration and adulation for our nation's 16th president Abraham Lincoln. He recognized the … [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...]
Don Marostica Apologizes – Still Not the Vanguard of a Brave, New GOP Future
State representative Don Marostica reportedly has apologized for yesterday's bizarre comment that Mark Hillman, Jon Caldara, and other fiscally conservative Colorado leaders are "losers" and "has-beens". The apology was a public sign of good behavior and good taste, and perhaps a political necessity. In light of new developments, I conducted a follow-up ad hoc poll: "Are you clamoring to support Republican leaders who want to remove sensible limits on government growth, no matter how apologetic they may be for rudely calling names of those who disagree with them?" Once again, completely silent. One respondent scratched his forehead, but insisted on clarifying he was not raising his hand as a Yes. Don Marostica can go his own way if … [Read more...]
Obama “Stimulus” Overreaches, But Republicans Still Have Much to Prove
A candid word from liberal Mickey Kaus about a major effect of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Generational Theft Act:But the reference to liberalism isn't irrelevant, because the now-undermined welfare reform was the key to rebuilding confidence in (liberal) affirmative government. As Bill Clinton recognized, voters may well have been willing to let government spend, but they didn't trust old style liberals not to spend in actively destructive ways, like subsidizing an isolated underclass of non-working single mothers with a no-strings cash dole. It's a 75-25 values issue. Work yes. Welfare no. Even if welfare spending was only a tiny portion of the liberals' spending agenda, it poisoned the rest of it. Only when Clinton's New Democrats put an … [Read more...]
Jon Henke’s Advice: Keep Our Eyes on The Real Problem Before Us
If you really want to engage in a serious debate about how to implement free market conservative policy solutions with a practical eye on messaging and political coalition building, then you ought to be reading what Jon Henke has to say. Be prepared: you won't get a rosy-eyed view or a mealy-mouthed answer. I appreciated what Jon wrote yesterday about a Republican response to the growing push toward government-sponsored universal health care (Tom Daschle's distracting tax problems aside). I'm not interested in the particularities of the health care debate right now, but if you are, might I recommend you check out the following: Patient Power WE Stand Firm State Policy Network blog However, it's Henke's conclusion that … [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...]
Fiscally Conservative Kevin Lundberg Merits Nod for State Senate Seat
I see the upcoming showdown over the appointment to replace state senator Steve Johnson as a real testing ground: Do Republicans want well-qualified and proven fiscal conservatives of class and character - regardless of their views on social issues - or do they just want to toss officials overboard for their socially conservative views? Estes Park's Jon Nicholas gets it right: state representative Kevin Lundberg is the right person to fill Johnson's seat. Especially if Nicholas' observations (one technical error aside) about Lundberg's less well-known rivals indeed are correct: … [Read more...]