Rocky Makes Republican, Er, House Endorsements

RMN endorsements

Anyone think El Paso County seats are worthy of endorsements?

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by: rjhaas @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:03:22 PM CDT

Rocky endorsed people, not parties

Funny. My read was that the Rocky sure was endorsing a lot of Dems in Arapahoe County, which is supposed to be GOP.

The endorsements were for metro Denver, where there are more secure Dems.

So what did you expect?

The endorsements seemed to me to be very candidate specific, regardless of party.

But, then, I'm unaffiliated and don't take partisan offense.

Is Coloradopols.com worried about winning the General Assembly, or what?

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by: Another skeptic @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:23:44 PM CDT

There was a clear pattern to this

Like we said, it's not about a disagreement with one endorsement over another. There is a clear pattern here where they only endorsed Democrats in safe seats. In a competitive seat - where an endorsement would be useful - they backed a Republican every time but one. It's too obvious to be a coincidence.

By the way, HD3 and HD6 have small pieces of Arapahoe County and are primarily in Denver. The News endorsed two Dems with pieces of Arapahoe County who are dead solid locks for relection (McGihon doesn't even have an opponent), so that logic doesn't fly. 

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:46:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yeah, their endorsements hinted one way

and their NEWS content screamed Ritter Mountain News!  I usually see the Rocky as giving both sides fair treatment, but this morning's coverage was disgusting:

Ritter Not Soft on Crime
Beauprez toes party line

Since when did Evan Dreyer get to write headlines for the Rocky?  Ritter also got about 2/3 of the total space dedicated to both.  Nice pics too, at least for Ritter.

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by: Moonraker @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 18:35:54 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What about SD22?

The Rocky endorsed the dem Noonan. Do you consider that a safe seat?

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by: Miss Ive @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 11:07:03 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

But,

They endorsed Bill Ritter over Bob Beauprez

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by: what?!? @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:53:24 PM CDT

We didn't mention other races

Because that's not the point here. We also didn't argue that the News was wrong about this endorsement or wrong about that one. We're just looking at today's endorsements, and the complete and utter one-sidedness of how they were arranged is baffling. If they had done it the other way around, we would have said the same thing. The point is that these endorsements were clearly made with a pre-arranged agenda, and the News didn't even try to pretend otherwise. That doesn't exactly instill confidence in a newspaper.

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:56:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And...

It didn't seem to be that big a deal when the Denver Post overwhelmingly endorsed Democrats in close races.

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by: Pompeius Gnaues Magnus @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 13:57:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It wasn't as big of a deal

Because the Post at least mixed it up a little. The News was almost straight party line where contested races are concerned.

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:22:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Objectivity - look it up!

This coming from a Democrat blog?  Mix it up a little?  I am so glad to see you are for fair journalism. 

You guys crack me up.  Have you read your own headlines lately?  What makes me angry is when someone like the News or Post holds themselves out to be so objective. 

Or worse the Senile.  The Sentinel is known to be one of the most unethical newspapers in Colorado.

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by: Ruthie @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 21:53:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I have a question

File this with my opinion about union endorsements, but what impact does newspaper endorsements have on an election? What I see when I read about the News' endorsements is that they are a right leaning paper. Does this have an impact or is it, like so many endorsements and political proclamations today, a throwback to when these things might have mattered?

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by: Mr. Toodles @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:04:14 PM CDT

It matters if the candidate puts it to good use

Candidates who print them and put it in direct mail and other ads can get mileage out of them.

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:23:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I guess I can see that

But I guess my real confusion is if people put that much weight into an endorsement by a paper. I can understand someone like Hefley in CD-5 saying he does or does not endorse someone. He has a lot of clout in CD-5, and his opinion matters to some people. But an editorial board is an editorial board. Maybe it is because I follow politics as if it were my job that I only vote for a candidate who I agree with and who supports the things that I support. But I only support them after I have researched them and their positions. Granted others dont care as much or have insomnia like I do.

I probably just answered my own question, at least in my head, but has there been a study done to test these questions?

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by: Mr. Toodles @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:32:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

In HD1, the Rathburn endorsement was no mistake

The Southwest Denver community associations hosted a candidate forum last night in HD1. Because the audience was allowed to ask questions only of the candidates in races where both of the flesh-and-blood candidates showed up (and not of their surrogates), the forum quickly whittled itself down to Democrat Jeanne Labuda and Republican Aimee Rathburn.

Labuda has been struggling to gain support among many HD1 Democrats ever since the primary. Rumor-mongering against Alfredo Hernandez by an  elected official associated with her campaign caused deep rifts within the District, and with only days before the election it looks as though those wounds will not be healing any time soon.

The strain is beginning to show in public. At the meeting last night, a Labuda supporter erupted into expletives concerning the rumors just moments before the forum began, illogically claiming the gossip originated from the Hernandez campaign. But the crazy bus didn't stop there. It had another destination.

When the questions started, Labuda dissembled into long explanations of problems, without answering the questions. She made Rathburn's job one of calmly and sucinctly mopping up the floor as Labuda's disjointed ramblings flooded the auditorium, threatening to virtually drown the audience in a sea of rhetoric. It brought to mind that old dreaded threat from childhood: "If you don't change your ways right now, I'll--I'll--I'll explain it to you!"

As it was, Labuda's explanations had people checking their watches for relief ("How soon do we have to be out of this school, anyway?"), and had one sympathetic observer frantically trying to get Labuda's attention with his desperate (and in vain) attempts to get her to notice his "CUT!" signals.

The next time the committee makes the rules for a candidate forum, no doubt they will put strict time limits on the responses. It's a matter of self-preservation. You never know when Labuda might run again. Or Fran Coleman, for that matter. Mercifully, Coleman was introduced, but did not address the gathering, saving the crazy bus from a hijacking.

The folk movement of the 1960s was when it was not so important how much you made as it was what you had to say.

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by: Helen Wheels @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:09:21 PM CDT

ColoradoPols sucks

Man i never thought i would say this, but i miss Laura Teal. Since Holtzman got busted from the GOP ticket this site has begun to resemble squarestate more and more every day. Not just the look of it, but the content as well. The headline for this news piece would never have neem the headline a year ago. The liberal slant of what used to be the best place for local politics and local political commentary is fast becoming the biggest joke in Colorado politics. Its a shame pols is this bad now, as there is no longer a non-partisan political blog for coloradoans.

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by: Sandman @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:40:26 PM CDT

well than who needs ya commie!

Just kidding Sandman ;)

I disagree - COPols is nonpartisan and if the Dems on the posts argue better than their Repub counterparts, well, if I were an R I guess I too would say it 'sucks'.

Personally, I think the Republicans are doing so much to hurt themselves this election that 1) R bloggers know it and are laying low, and 2) the only good headlines are in response to CO Republicans' problems.

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by: Car 31 @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 14:57:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Commontary aside

The liberalism in the posts is my problem, the posters have always been left leaning, but the posts are more liberal than the non-partisan posts of old.

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by: Sandman @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 15:05:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

but that's what I'm sayin'

there isn't much to post except how the Dems are taking advantage of the Republican's misfortunes. When there is something the Dems mess up on - COPols posts it.

I think you're just grumpy because our GOP party in this state is sandbaggin'.
 

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by: Car 31 @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 15:14:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

YEs there was

These endorsements...the title shows their liberal bias...In the past it would have been "Rocky Mountain News endorsements for state house" or something not as leftist.

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by: Sandman @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 15:39:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I dont know how often you read this site

You've been registered for a bit, so I assume that you have read this blog for a while. Have you ever read any of the threads the pols put up about CD-6? I can not remember them saying anything, but Winter has run a bad campaign. Now I am a registered Dem in CD-6 and I despise Tancredo. Nothing would make me happier than to see him lose, but the fact of the matter is Winter has run a bad campaign. And the pols pointed that out on numerous occasions.

Now it would be silly for me to say that Coloradopols is a right leaning site for pointing out the truth, and that is what they are doing here. If you think this is a partisan site than you have two choices: you can leave or you can stay. If you stay, how about adding some insight or commentary about races in your area, or even politics in general? Either way, ragging on a site because they post something that you dont agree with is getting really old. You still have the presidency, SCOTUS, the governor's office and the US congress (for at least a month anyways).

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by: Mr. Toodles @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 16:05:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Winter doesnt have a chance

I have been reading this site for over a year. I had to stop posting for a while due posting restrictions. I watch this site closely. They do point out when it is obvious a dem is going to lose, Fern and Winter. But they take any chance they get to rip on republicans. The Rocky endorsements arnt as one sided as Pols thinks they are, i mean Rhodes lost the endorsement over Andy Kerr...talk about liberals. When the Post sends out its liberal endorsemets there isnt a title of "Denver Post hands down Democrat...erm house endorsements" They just say the Devenr post has released its endorsements for the following offices. The double standard is redic. THis is a liberal website that used to have credibility.

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by: Sandman @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 17:41:54 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I have to agree with sandman

This site used to feel very non partisan, but in the last two to three months it seems the R's are getting knocked around pretty hard, and not just by bloggers.  Car31 might be right, the D's could just be taking advantage of R mishaps with Colopols reporting it, but it seems like the site's bias is showing by the way items are reported, not just the news itself.  Is the site still run by the same Dead Guvs or are there new writers added during the election season?

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 18:13:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well...

Laura Teal is gone...the conservative voice of this blog.

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by: Sandman @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 18:18:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

She's been gone a long time, hasn't she?

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 22:30:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

not as long as you would expect

And even after she was gone Iron Mike still posted a lot.

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by: Sandman @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 09:17:52 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Why do you care so much?

There are solid republican blogs you can go to if you're so inclined.  You posted that you were banned from this site for a while. So that tells me you were making obscene and lewd comments, which makes me wonder what your motivation is for coming back here and starting to cause conflict again.  What's your *real* beef?

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by: Ganea Ganeum Gesslera @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 11:21:54 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

This site did not ban me

The site did not ban me...the people i was worlking for did not allow posting on webblogs.

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by: Sandman @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 13:18:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

If I may interject here GGG

Some R's and D's like neutral blog sites, and there aren't too many of those.  If I wanted to hear only like minded R's, I wouldn't be in here.

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 15:19:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

No slanting

I think COPols may take liberties with some headlines, however, they present a 'fair and balanced' look at CO politics (sorry for that tagline Pols).

I also think, and no dig intended, that if the shoe were on the other foot and the Dems were providing the kind of fodder the R's are this year, than you would be crowing a different tune and the D's on this site would be complaining.

The pendulum will come back, it is always swingin' - back and forth, back and forth.

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by: Car 31 @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 09:29:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agreed Car31,

but I would still notice the slant.  I notice the slant when watching Fox news, but it doesn't annoy me as much as it does my Dem friends.

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 09:56:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Fox News for me...

is like going to the dentist without novacaine and having earphones that amplify the drill noise.

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by: Car 31 @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 10:00:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Exactly.

You make my point.  If you share the bias, not so hard on the ears.  If you don't, root canal time. 

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 10:10:50 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

yup

By the way.  Are you and Humphrey still together?
If not, how about a bottle of red together while watching Fox News -

on mute.

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by: Car 31 @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 10:30:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Car31, what a romantic

"abottle of wine, a loofah and thou?"

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by: El Paso Rockefeller Republican @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 13:08:56 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Alas, Humphrey's dead

you sweet talkin' Dem you. Can we unmute during O'Reilly?  He's an Independent:)

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 15:15:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

O'Lielly is most definitely not an independent.

He was exposed several years ago as always having been registered as a Republican. I doubt Ailes would have hired him if he were anything else. But not only is he a registered Republican, he is also an Authorized RNC Shill. No matter how much he has to lie and mangle the truth to do it.

The folk movement of the 1960s was when it was not so important how much you made as it was what you had to say.

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by: Helen Wheels @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 17:15:06 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Helen

Have you been listening to Air America?  Regardless, I was having some fun with Car31.  You don't need Air America, Al Franken, or a team of investigators to figure out which end of the political spectrum O'Reilly falls on. 

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 21:05:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

we still have Moonraker.....

Sybil, Gecko, and Captain America here defending God, country, and Denny Hastert....

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by: One Queer Dude @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 15:53:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

HEY!

I'm here, too.

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by: what?!? @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 16:04:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Boy am I glad...

I wasn't added to your list, I am a strong believer in the following:

"it is not only that which we do, but also, that which we do not do for which we are accountable." - Moliere

If Hasteret knew, even if he heard rumors, he sould have gone to Foley and sought the truth.  Pillsbury didn't do anything.  He just took the tickle in the belly and drove on.

A s Big "C" conservative, I believe we should wait until the air clears and see what the inquiries turn up.  However, I am not overly impresed with the way REpublicans are behaving in Washington, D.C.  Haven't been for years.  This fraternity house needs a thorough cleaning on the part of both parties.

Color Me Disenfranchised and Disenchanted.

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by: Mr Handy2001 @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 16:43:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I have to agree

on the disenchanted and disenfanchised and can't really argue with the rest.  I have scrimped and saved the last 11 years to get my own house and to move out of the basement I was living in.  I now have a yard with which to express my political views!  And I can't really get excited about a single candidate on the Republican slate in my area.  Sometimes you just have to accept the best of bad choices and then move on towards the next election.  I'll have to get involved with my new precinct commitee the next time around.  You can't just bitch about the choices the Party gives you, you have to get involved.  You still may not get the candidate you want, but it's a better chance than just sitting on your butt.

You will find that all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden."  Abraham Lincoln

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by: cologeek @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 21:33:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well said cologeek

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by: Lauren Bacall @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 22:32:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Except

when your views don't match the party or at least the marjority in your precinct. If you're outnumbered in your precinct, then you don't get to play. And if you don't get to play, you don't make a difference 'cause you're sittin' on the sidelines. It happens.

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by: ModerateGal @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 23:04:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What about persuasion?

I know most of the world has given up on political persuasion, but I think it's premature.  I find people are willing to listen for intelligent, reasoned voices who have something to say, even if it disagrees with their pre-existing opinions.  In an ideal world, this would be a great benefit of the political process.

Of course, you'd probably have to start some time besides October 13th.  Most people (we political junkies excepted) are about at their limit of anything that smells anything like politics right now.

"... politics has been divided between two types of people: those who want more people to vote, and those who want fewer people to vote."
- Sen. Kerry

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by: cdsmith @ Fri Oct 13, 2006 at 01:11:17 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Say wha?

Before you take your ball and go home, take a look above at "In HD1, the Rathburn endorsement was no mistake"

The folk movement of the 1960s was when it was not so important how much you made as it was what you had to say.

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by: Helen Wheels @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 15:17:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

hey there

cut em some slack. they're doin the best they can and besides, you are always free to post as you like on the open thread. besides, you also have the diary section and open threads.

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by: roll the idiots @ Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 16:40:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Back-Handed Compliment?

Gee, thanks. I think. 

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