May 03, 2016 12:08 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (May 3)

• 1 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Enjoy your day in the sun, Indiana. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols! If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Attorneys for Republican Senate candidates Robert Blaha and Ryan Frazier are in a Denver courtroom today arguing that their clients should be placed on the June 28th Primary ballot even though they failed to meet the criteria for submitting valid petition signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. Both Blaha and Frazier want more time to figure out how to bend the rules like Jon Keyser did last week (Keyser, you’ll recall, also failed to make the ballot until he got his attorneys involved).

Meanwhile, Keyser was a guest on KOA radio Monday afternoon, where he proceeded to bash the “bureaucrats” at the Secretary of State’s office.

► Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is in full-out panic mode as voters head to the polls in Indiana today. From the Washington Post:

Cruz came to Indiana to try to resuscitate his flagging campaign at a pivotal moment in the Republican presidential race. But with just one day of campaigning left until Tuesday’s vote — and after a series of desperation measures — the freshman senator from Texas is on the verge of a defeat that would ravage his campaign and raise new questions about whether his mission to stop the mogul has become futile.

An NBC News-Wall Street Journal-Marist poll released Sunday showed Trump leading Cruz by 15 points in Indiana. Other recent public polls have shown Trump leading by narrower margins.

Supporters hoped that Indiana, which has similarities to other Midwestern states Cruz has won, would be able to heal the deep wounds left by Cruz’s blowout losses in six straight states. But it has been very difficult for Cruz to gain traction in the face of relentless attacks from Trump and hiccups in his own effort.

It may not be fair to say that Cruz is cracking…he’s cracked. This morning he went on a diatribe about GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, calling him a “narcissist” and a “philanderer,” among other names.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Republican candidates in Colorado are still struggling with what to do about supporting the GOP Presidential nominee. Senate candidate Jack Graham, for one, is fairly perplexed.

► Governor John Hickenlooper may be easing back on his personal opposition to legalizing marijuana in Colorado. From Fortune magazine:

During a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, the Democratic Governor said he is that he opposed the 2012 referendum that led to a constitutional amendment in the state legalizing recreational cannabis. But he’s starting to think his opposition was wrong. “If I had a magic wand after the election and reversed that decision, I would have done it,” the Governor said. “Now I’m not sure I’d wave it.”

What’s changed his mind? For one, legal weed has become a billion dollar industry in his state, and the Colorado government has done what he calls an “excellent job” at creating a very involved regulatory framework to make sure the product is safe and out of the hands of minors. It also has meant “hundreds of millions of dollars” in new tax revenue that can be used for public safety, mental health, and addiction-prevention programs.

► The state legislature is sending a couple of high-profile bills to the desk of Gov. Hickenlooper. On Monday, the legislature passed a bill that closes a loophole regarding “debtors’ prisons” in Colorado. Hickenlooper will also need to make a decision on another effort passed by legislators to crack down on red-light traffic cameras.

► Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) delivered a foreign policy speech that places the super-duper-conservative to the left of Donald Trump.

► The Colorado legislature is considering two bills dealing with re-sentencing for juvenile criminals — particularly those convicted of murder.

► Democrats in the Colorado legislature are working on a bill that would increase the college tax investment credit for the middle class.

► Meet the Republican legislators who killed the “rolling coal” bill last month.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Donald Trump is accusing the father of Ted Cruz of being involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Sure, why not?

► The editorial board of the New York Times praises Bernie Sanders for his “gift” to the Democratic Party.

ICYMI

► The “next big thing” in domestic policy…how about a basic income?

Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!