October 17, 2016 12:47 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (October 17)

• 4 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

The ballots are coming! The ballots are coming! 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…

► The end (of this election cycle) is near. Mail ballots will start going out today, which means some lucky Coloradans could be voting as soon as Wednesday. As John Frank explains for the Denver Post:

This week, the 2016 election gets real.

Colorado election officials will begin mailing ballots Monday to more than 3,125,300 active voters, and the initial wave of votes is expected by the end of the week.

The first mail-ballot presidential election marks a fundamental shift in how elections are managed in Colorado and introduces significant variables to the political calculus that will determine the winners.

“Election Day is really a misnomer,” said Eric Sondermann, a Colorado political analyst. “All Election Day is now is the day the ballots are counted. It’s no longer the day ballots are cast.”

The new math is forcing the candidates to revamp their strategy and make their final push weeks earlier than other states as the campaign moves to the “ballot chase” phase.

For voting information or to check your registration, go to JustVoteColorado.org. If you would prefer to vote at a polling place rather than via mail balloting, check here for your nearest polling location.

► Former Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders finishes up a quick visit to Colorado today with rallies in Boulder and Ft. Collins. Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren were in Denver on Sunday for a GOTV rally in support of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

► On the Republican side, Donald Trump, Jr. is campaigning for his father in Boulder today, though a potential campaign event at iconic restaurant The Sink was nixed by the establishment’s owners (Junior was also scheduled to speak in Centennial Monday morning). The Big Orange Candidate himself will be in Colorado on Tuesday, with planned visits in Colorado Springs and Grand Junction.

Donald Trump continues to lay out a nice bed of failure in advance of Election Day, amping up his claims that the 2016 election is going to be rigged against him. As Ernest Luning notes via Twitter, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office is not amused:

.@ColoSecofState spox re Trump voter fraud charges: “I can say on Twitter I’m a super model but that doesn’t make it so.” #copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/N82ybok67O

— Ernest Lee Luning (@eluning) October 17, 2016

Trump is very angry that his fellow Republicans aren’t buying his “rigged election” theory.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Caption this picture, you morans!

► Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn claims to have outraised Sen. Michael Bennet in Q3 with a total fundraising haul of $2.8 million. Either Glenn’s campaign is lying about this total, or they’ve been sitting on a substantial warchest for literally no good reason.

► If you are one of those people who still wish to argue that Darryl Glenn is not the worst statewide candidate in modern Colorado history…well, you’re running out of talking points.

► Colorado Republican leaders, past and present, offer their opinions on the Presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

► State Rep. J. Paul Brown (R-Durango) took time out from punching bears to completely botch a question on long-acting contraception programs (or LARC, for short).

► Control of public lands remains a top issue as candidates go down to the wire in CD-3. From Gary Harmon of the Grand Junction Sentinel:

Mesa County has its eye on 28 acres of adobe lands south of Interstate 70 that officials hope can be turned into a business park, providing an economic boost to the Clifton area…

…The land appears to fit the description of the kind of property that some in Congress want the federal government to dispose of, by giving it to local governments or by sale under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. Another measure supported by U.S. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., would encourage federal agencies to dispose of those lands and establish funds from sales for educational and recreational purposes.

Tipton’s challenger, former state Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Democrat, has pointed to the measure, H.R. 5836, the Hunting Education and Recreational Development Act, as evidence that Tipton is aligned with interests wanting the federal government to sell off its land.

► Colorado is one of five states that will consider ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage.

► The Denver Business Journal keeps an eye on the swingiest of swingy state senate races in SD-19 (Arvada/Westminster).

► State Senator Ellen Roberts (R-Durango) is resigning her seat halfway through her final term in office.

► ProgressNow Colorado has released its 2016 ballot guide.

► The odds of Donald Trump getting elected President are growing longer by the day. Trump has reached his political ceiling.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► If you’re having trouble keeping track of all of Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories, here’s a guide to keep you straight.

► The New York Times looks at the impact of First Lady Michelle Obama.

ICYMI

► You only have two weeks left to find the perfect political-themed Halloween costume. 

Don’t forget to check out The Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!