November 02, 2016 11:21 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Wednesday (November 2)

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• by: Colorado Pols

No, it’s not over yet. 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…

► Officials are encouraging voters to drop completed ballots at any number of collection sites rather than putting them in the mail as Election Day nears. Check here for your nearest polling and ballot crop-off locations. For more information on when and where to vote or drop of your ballot, go to JustVoteColorado.org.

► Forgive us if you’ve heard this before, but Democrats are still leading Republicans in ballot returns in Colorado:

Dems keep narrow lead in CO statewide ballot returns thru 11/01: D-443,517 (36.9%); R-420,330 (35.0%); U-320,210 (26.6%) #copolitics https://t.co/atGTDRgCmE

— Ernest Lee Luning (@eluning) November 2, 2016

For the first time in state history, both Democrats and Republicans have surpassed one million active registered voters.

► Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate Bill Weld all but endorsed Hillary Clinton for President on Tuesday. From “The Fix”:

In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Weld, a former Republican, said he was “vouching” for Clinton and praised her effusively while arguing that the choice between the two major candidates is clear — all while not really vouching for the top of his own ticket, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.

Weld has been hinting in this direction for weeks, saying nice things about Clinton, warning about Trump and suggesting people choosing between the two should pick Clinton. But at this juncture in the race, the Libertarian Party is struggling to get the 5 percent of the vote that would qualify it for federal matching funds and easier ballot access.

► Colorado continues to be surrogate-central as both Presidential campaigns send big names to our state on behalf of their candidates. Republican Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence is in Loveland today, while former President Bill Clinton will make stops in Pueblo, Denver, and Ft. Collins on Friday.

Hillary Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, finishes up a two-day stop in Colorado with a visit to Boulder today. Meanwhile, Trump surrogate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at an event for the Independence Institute in Golden

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will also make another stop in Colorado sometime before Election Day.

► Last month, President Obama endorsed Democrat Morgan Carroll in her bid for Congress against incumbent Republican Mike Coffman. Obama is now appearing in a new commercial touting Carroll — by name — as the campaign for CD-6 comes down to the wire.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► No Republican Presidential candidate has carried the state of Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan, but GOP nominee Donald Trump thinks he can do just that in 2016. As the Washington Post reports, Trump is smoking some funky cheese if he thinks he can convince voters in the populous Milwaukee suburbs to come to his aid.

► The Colorado Springs Independent checks in with former Colorado Springs-area Congressman Joel Hefley, who is having trouble convincing himself to support Donald Trump.

► Denver7 takes a look at the 24 — yes, 24 — other candidates for President on the ballot in Colorado. In other words, there are 24 specific ways to waste your vote for President.

► Governor John Hickenlooper outlines the 2018 Colorado budget.

► And then there were…six! Another fact-check on an attack ad against Democrat Morgan Carroll has been thoroughly debunked, the sixth time a Republican-sponsored ad in CD-6 has been ruled false in the last month. From Denver7’s FactCheck:

The National Republican Congressional Committee hammered U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Morgan Carroll, with two ads echoing the same theme: She was weak on enforcement of sexual predators in the state Legislature. The suburban Denver district is one the of most hotly contested battlegrounds in the nation.

We examined an ad called “The Only One,” which features a chorus of women condemning Carroll’s actions on two bills…

…The NRCC ad ultimately distorts Carroll’s position by saying she opposed making sex offenders register their online profiles when she actually fought for tougher enforcement. We rate this statement Mostly False.

► Here’s Donald Trump touting the support of Log Cabin Republicans by holding a rainbow-colored LGBT flag upside-down.

► If you’ve received what looks like a hand-written note about Amendment 71…we’re sorry to tell you that it’s actually just a cleverly-designed mass printing job.

► The President of the Philippines is finding that intentionally alienating international allies isn’t actually a very sound political strategy.

► Campaign spending on ballot measures in Colorado has surpassed $48 million.

► The Denver Post has more on the bizarrely-expensive battle for an at-large spot on the CU Board of Regents. 

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Election officials in conservative Mesa County are making it clear that there is no reason to worry about voter fraud.

► Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn says he can stop Hillary Clinton. This seems unlikely, since Glenn certainly cannot stop Democratic Senator Michael Bennet.

ICYMI

► As you may have heard, the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series title in 108 years. The Cleveland Indians have not won a championship in 68 years. One of these teams gets to break a long losing streak tonight in Game 7 of the World Series.

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