August 12, 2016 10:04 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (August 12)

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Republicans, you have a problem. Well, several problems. 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…

► A new poll of Colorado voters shows that Democrats Hillary Clinton and Michael Bennet have opened up substantial leads over their respective Republican opponents. According to NBC/Marist, Clinton leads Donald Trump by 14 points in Colorado, while Bennet holds a 15-point lead over Republican Senate challenger Darryl Glenn.

► Republicans are starting to seriously panic over the 2016 election cycle. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded on Thursday that he “might not be Majority Leader next year” during an address in Louisville, Kentucky. Even Donald Trump is starting to falter in his belief that he will become the next President of the United States:

“At the end, it’s either going to work, or I’m going to, you know, I’m going to have a very, very nice, long vacation,” Trump told CNBC.

Assuming he’s not on vacation at the end of this month, Trump will stop in Aspen on August 25 for a fundraiser hosted by Denver Republican Larry Mizel.

► Trump is now reversing course on earlier statements — comments that he had already gone out of his way to confirm — that “President Obama founded ISIS”:

Donald Trump on Friday backpedaled on his assertion that President Barack Obama founded the Islamic State, blasting the media for seriously reporting what he suggested was a sarcastic comment.

“Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP,” Trump tweeted Friday morning. “THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?”

Perhaps Trump’s entire campaign for President is just one big sarcastic joke. Trump’s reversal on his own statements also made an ass out of his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who appeared on 9News Thursday via satellite to defend the remarks that Trump walked back today.

“The one thing about Donald Trump is he doesn’t go tip-toeing around the rules, the semantic rules, of political correctness,” Pence said when pressed about the factual inaccuracy of Trump’s words. “Everybody in the country knows exactly what Donald Trump means.” [Pols emphasis]

Um. Not so much, no.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Since Congress didn’t bother to do anything about the Zika virus before taking their August recess, President Obama is doing it for them:

The Obama administration plans to reallocate $81 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to fight the Zika virus, according to a letter sent Thursday by HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

Burwell notified congressional leaders that she will transfer $34 million away from other programs at the National Institutes of Health and $47 million within the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority budget. The money will supplement the $347 million HHS transferred away from an existing fund to fight the Ebola virus. The administration is seeking $1.9 billion to fight Zika, but Congress is deadlocked over the funding.

“The failure to pass a Zika emergency supplemental has forced the Administration to choose between delaying critical vaccine development work and raiding other worthy government programs to temporarily avoid these delays,” Burwell wrote.

► Supporters of a ballot measure in Colorado to increase the minimum wage are enthusiastic about their chances this fall.

► Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) wants people to know that he is a champion of women’s health care…and also a staunch opponent of organizations such as Planned Parenthood. No, this doesn’t make any sense.

► Crickets. Still Crickets. Colorado Republicans continue to hide under the bed rather than make any sort of response regarding Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump’s suggestion that perhaps “Second amendment people” could do something about Hillary Clinton.

► Clinton’s Presidential campaign is not cutting back in Colorado, says a spokesperson, despite the fact that Clinton’s camp has redirected much of its TV advertising budget elsewhere. Clinton has surged to significant leads over Trump, according to recent polls of Colorado voters.

► The head of the conservative FreedomWorks group is speaking Friday at the Red State Gathering in Denver. Donald Trump will not make an appearance, but Senate candidate Darryl Glenn is expected to speak this afternoon.

► Two anti-fracking measures may be cutting it close in an effort to make it onto the fall ballot. From CBS4 Denver:

Each petition needs about 98,000 valid signatures to get on. Documents obtained by CBS4 show they have only 105,000 signatures. And with an average rejection rate of about 30 percent, that would mean there are not enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

The outcome won’t be known until early next month, but former Secretary of State Scott Gessler said it would be unprecedented if they were to make it.

In most scenarios, we wouldn’t pay a lick of attention to anything Scott Gessler says, but the math seems to speak for itself here. The Secretary of State’s office has until Sept. 7 to affirm or reject signatures for proposed ballot measures.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► The Durango Herald takes a look at the State House race in HD-59 (Southwest Colorado), which may turn out to be the most expensive House race of the 2016 cycle. The story includes a note about incumbent Republican Rep. J. Paul Brown apparently running some sort of illegal landfill on his property in Ignacio.

► Butt fumble! Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez took a big step forward Thursday toward claiming the signal caller job left open with the retirement of Peyton Manning. The Broncos defeated the Chicago Bears 22-0 in the team’s preseason opener.

ICYMI

► Colorado Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn is out of his damn mind.

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