December 01, 2016 12:49 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (December 1)

• 4 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

December? Holy crap! 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…

► Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) famously pledged during the 2016 campaign that he would “stand up” to Donald Trump if the Republican nominee were elected President. Well, Congressman, here’s a good opportunity for you — unless you happen to think that Sarah Palin is somehow uniquely qualified to serve as the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Coffman is, after all, the Chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee within the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

► President-elect Donald Trump begins his post-election victory lap today with stops in the Midwest. From the Washington Post:

The billionaire businessman quipped throughout the campaign that America is going to win so much when he’s president that people are going to get tired of winning. This morning he flies to Indiana to tout the first such win, a deal he cut with Carrier to keep 1,000 jobs in the U.S. that were otherwise going to Mexico. (He’ll tour a plant that will no longer be closing.) From there, he flies to Cincinnati for a blowout rally at U.S. Bank Arena, the first stop of a “Thank You Tour” that will also take him to Iowa and Michigan in the coming days.

► Questions continue to swirl about Donald Trump’s “deal” with Carrier that purportedly will prevent moving 1,000 jobs to Mexico. For Republicans, this is a particularly thorny issue; interfering with the free market is not exactly a core GOP issue.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Some day you’ll be telling your grandchildren about a time when the Denver Post published political newspaper editorials that actually made logical arguments. Today is not that day.

On the other hand, it would be exceedingly difficult to make a serious case in support of Bob Beauprez as the next Interior Secretary.

► “DLG Esquire” is not the name of a trendy new nightclub. It is, however, the name of a political consulting firm with a massive conflict of interest.

► California Rep. Xavier Becerra will resign from Congress in order to accept an appointment as California’s Attorney General. Becerra’s move probably makes great sense from his perspective, but it also highlights a problem of a thinning group of younger Democratic leaders in Congress.

► The 2016 election isn’t over just yet — particularly if you live in Louisiana. As The Economist reports, there is one more U.S. Senate seat still up for grabs that could serve as an early preview of a Democratic election strategy in 2018:

The state’s unusual system features a “jungle primary”—in which candidates from all parties square off in a sort of mad steeplechase—on November 8th. Assuming no one gets 50% or more of the vote, the two top finishers then meet a month later, when few voters are usually paying attention.

The December 10th run-off might have had high stakes had Democrats captured two more Senate seats in November. But with Republicans already assured of at least a 51-49 majority in the upper chamber, the drama will be muted. Given Louisiana’s deep-red leanings—Hillary Clinton captured just 38% of the vote in the state—it is difficult to picture a happy outcome for Foster Campbell, a Democrat, over John Kennedy. In the jungle primary, Mr Kennedy took 25% of the vote to Mr Campbell’s 17%. It wasn’t a runaway, but Republicans taken together outpolled Democrats by a nearly 2-1 ratio.

What is interesting about the race this year is the way in which Mr Campbell is setting out to appeal to the white working class voters that abandoned the Democrats in droves on November 8th. [Pols emphasis] An unapologetic populist with a deep liberal streak who talks bluntly about helping the poor and taking on powerful interests like oil and gas, he delivers his message in a thick Southern drawl and has been careful not to associate himself too closely with Democrats like Mrs Clinton and Barack Obama that would be polarising in Louisiana. In one advert, he brandishes one of his many shotguns, trying to persuade sceptical Republicans that he’ll oppose any form of gun control.

► We’re #8! We’re #8! Colorado drivers are the eighth-worst in the country according to a new study.

► As Chris Cillizza notes for “The Fix,” there are still a lot of Donald Trump supporters who remain convinced that there was widespread voter fraud in 2016:

CNN anchor Alisyn Camerata sat down with a group of Donald Trump backers on Thursday morning to talk about the 2016 election and the false allegations — made by the president-elect — that “millions” of illegal immigrants had voted on November 8.

The result is both stunning and super depressing.  Watch the whole 100 seconds.

► The 2016 election was not a referendum on the value of hate speech…it just seems like it sometimes.

► It really, really does seem like it sometimes.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something totally super fantastically amazing. But as some top Republicans are being careful to warn, to “repeal” is much easier than to “replace.” From the Washington Post:

Republicans actually can repeal Obamacare somewhat easily using the procedure known as reconciliation. It’s the same maneuver that Democrats used to jam through the law in 2010 after Scott Brown unexpectedly won a special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy. Only 51 votes are required. But, under the rules of reconciliation, a replacement of the law cannot be moved through this same process. Sixty votes will be required in the Senate for that, and Republicans only have 52 seats.

As Politico notes today, a growing number of Republicans are thinking it might be wise to delay an Obamacare repeal until, you know, they actually have a plan for its replacement.

► Chris Christie really needs a job.

ICYMI

► Recently-defeated Durango Rep. J. Paul Brown says he may seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2018. We can only hope.

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