September 19, 2018 10:41 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Wednesday (September 19)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Have an easy fast, friends. It’s time to Get More Smarter. 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…

► Senate Republicans are playing hardball in their efforts to quickly confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. As the Washington Post reports:

Senate Republicans say they plan to forge ahead with a hearing next Monday whether Christine Blasey Ford is there or not, a take-it-or-leave-it gambit to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court before the end of the month that risks backfiring politically.

Lawyers for Ford, the California professor who accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, said Tuesday night that their client wants an FBI investigation before she testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee’s GOP chairman, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), scheduled Ford’s testimony before confirming that this day worked for her. He did, however, make sure it worked for President Trump’s nominee, who categorically denies any wrongdoing and has been holed up at the White House preparing for his second round in front of the Senate.

“The invitation for Monday still stands,” Grassley said in a statement. “Dr. Ford’s testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay.”

This is a politically-dangerous approach for Senate Republicans to take with just weeks to go until the midterm elections. Republicans had been pushing for a Kavanaugh vote on Thursday before deciding to push the decision until next week. Grassley’s “Monday or never” approach with Kavanaugh’s accuser is a curious roll of the dice, as Chris Cillizza writes for CNN:

Lost amid the “will she or won’t she” questions is the fact that what Grassley — almost certainly in coordination with the White House — is doing represents an absolutely massive political gamble: Amid the cultural upheaval of the #MeToo moment and with an election looming in less than seven weeks’ time, Republicans are daring a woman alleging sexual assault against a nominee for the country’s highest court to either put up or shut up.

President Trump, meanwhile, says that “it is hard for me to imagine” that sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh are true. We would assume that Trump does not mean that literally. It’s also worth noting that even Trump isn’t responding to these allegations as poorly as Colorado Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert.

► Republican Attorney General candidate George Brauchler wants voters to believe that he should be elected in November because he is the more experienced prosecutor compared to Democrat Phil Weiser. Brauchler doesn’t normally mention the fact that he has an absolutely BRUTAL record as the District Attorney in the 18th Judicial District. Brauchler suffered two more high-profile losses this week alone.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) is trying to present himself as a moderate voice on healthcare reform as he fights for his political life this fall. Nevermind that Coffman has said publicly that he favors a “straight repeal” of Obamacare.

► As the Aurora Sentinel reports, Colorado’s candidates for Governor have remarkably different approaches when it comes to the handling of “blind trusts” for their financial assets:

How Stapleton set up the trust on Dec. 20, 2010, and how it’s managed defies the typical description and function of a blind trust.

Blind trusts are typically established so that the beneficiary has no knowledge of how the assets in the trust are being managed. A blind trust set up for Polis has multiple devices to prevent Polis from having knowledge of — or control over — the trust assets and holdings.

State and SEC records show that Stapleton had, as a consultant, access and control of the trust and its assets. In addition, his father, Craig Stapleton, is now CEO of SonomaWest Holdings Inc., which controls substantial holdings in the trust.

► “Largely absent” sums up just about everything you need to know regarding Republican gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton — even when it comes to his signature issue of PERA reform.

► Colorado Republicans were apparently recruiting volunteers at a rally for white supremacists over the weekend.

Very sad.