July 29, 2016 11:04 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (July 29)

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• by: Colorado Pols

We hate to bring it up, but when you return to work on Monday…it will be August. 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). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Democrat Hillary Clinton formally accepted her party’s nomination for President to conclude the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday evening. As the Washington Post reports, Clinton’s acceptance speech was tailored to a much broader audience than Republican nominee Donald Trump’s speech week earlier:

If you already support the former Secretary of State, you loved her speech to the Democratic convention last night. If you’re skeptical of her but trying to convince yourself to get to yes—whether because you backed Bernie Sanders or you’re uncomfortable with Donald Trump—there was plenty for you.

Trump’s acceptance speech in Cleveland was all about shoring up his base. He could have given it last summer. Clinton’s speech here was about winning the general election. That will require shoring up recalcitrant Bernie Sanders boosters, making gains with independents and running up the score with women.

In an attempt to accomplish all three aims, Clinton carefully threaded the needle on issues big and small.

Trump responded to Clinton’s speech by Tweeting a bunch of angry stuff. He is still mashing away at the Twitter this morning.

Oh, and Trump publicly criticized retired four-star General John Allen because he supports Clinton.

► Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper was his familiar former-businessman self in his prime time address at the DNC on Thursday. As the Denver Post reports:

Using his own life as a foil, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday blasted the business record of Republican Donald Trump — mocking the former star of The Apprentice for his famous catchphrase.

“Now I’ve never hosted a reality TV show, but I know the true mark of a successful businessman is not the number of times you say ‘you’re fired,’ ” Hickenlooper said, riffing off an attack that’s been used all week at the Democratic National Convention. “It’s the number times you say ‘you’re hired.’ ”

Hickenlooper wrapped up his remarks a few hours before Clinton took the stage to accept the Presidential nomination.

► Donald Trump is in Colorado today for a fundraiser and public event in Colorado Springs as well as a gathering in Denver. For more information on how you can try to get a glimpse of The Great Orange Hope, check out this guide from Denver7. As the Colorado Springs Independent reports, not everybody in the Republican stronghold of Colorado Springs is pleased that Trump is coming to town.

Oh, and sorry, kids: No field trip for you!

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh is stepping down to return to private practice. From the Denver Business Journal:

Walsh — a U.S. Department of Justice official — is the top federal prosecutor in Colorado. He has served longer as Colorado U.S. attorney than anyone since the 1980s, according to his staff.

He plans to leave office Aug. 10. Bob Troyer, first assistant U.S. attorney on Walsh’s staff, will become the acting U.S. attorney on Walsh’s departure.

Walsh has served as U.S. Attorney for Colorado since August 2010. The next President will appoint a new U.S. Attorney in Colorado — or recommend that Bob Troyer keep the job — and the U.S. Senate will theoretically approve the appointment before the end of this decade.

► Donald Trump’s Campaign Director in Colorado is dismissing anti-Trump RNC delegates from our state, calling them “Insignificant going forward.”

► State Sen. Laura Waters Woods (R-Arvada) is not on the Trump “naughty list” and will apparently get some sort of special recognition from His Hairness for being an early supporter.

► Supporters of Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn are lashing out at the Denver Post for, you know, reporting the news and stuff. Glenn and his backers are mad that Post reporter Joey Bunch had the audacity to question Glenn’s claims that he was not involved in a 1983 assault charge — Glenn actually said at one point that it might have been “some other Darryl Glenn” who allegedly assaulted his father (now deceased) as detailed in an archived police report.

As we’ve said repeatedly here on Colorado Pols, this is only a story because Glenn made it into one with his absurd initial responses to a fairly obvious question.

► Kudos to the Aurora Sentinel for not letting Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) re-write his own history as a staunch opponent of Donald Trump:

Coffman originally endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for the GOP presidential nomination and has not publicly endorsed Trump, though a Coffman campaign spokeswoman in February told the Colorado Statesman — when asked if the congressman would support the GOP nominee over Clinton or Bernie Sanders — that “the answer is obviously yes.”

► “Trumpkin” may or may not be an offensive term.

► Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York), likely the next Senate Majority Leader if Democrats win back the U.S. Senate in 2016, believes that a new era of lasting Democratic majorities is on the horizon.

► TABOR daddy Doug Bruce will be back roaming the slums of Colorado in September. As the Denver Post reports, a parole board granted Bruce early release from prison, where the former lawmaker was serving time (again) for violating terms of his probation. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Bruce conned convinced the parole board that he took full responsibility for his actions and was genuinely remorseful.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► If you didn’t get your super-secret invitation to the super-secret Koch Brothers “donor retreat” at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, maybe you can sneak in alongside Sen. Cory Gardner.

► The City of Boulder appears to have reached a contract agreement with the 400-member Boulder Municipal Employees Association.

ICYMI

► Executives from the soon-to-be-defunct Sports Authority may not have such great seats for Denver Broncos’ games anymore, but there are still (sadly) plenty of perks remaining for driving a company into the ground:

Once an operator of 460 athletic-gear outlets, Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy protection and began going-out-of-business sales in an effort to pay its debts. As the liquidation entered its final weeks, Sports Authority unveiled plans for bonuses to four top executives, people the company doesn’t want to name…

…The bonus money is needed to encourage the executives to do their best in the company’s final days, according to Sports Authority’s lawyers. Confidentiality is appropriate to protect morale, and prevent competitors from using the pay data to lure Sports Authority’s leaders away, the company contends.

Do a good job and finishing closing this company and we’ll award you with millions of dollars!

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