U.S. Senate See Full Big Line

(D) J. Hickenlooper*

(R) Somebody

80%

20%

Governor See Full Big Line
(D) Michael Bennet

(D) Phil Weiser

60%↑

50%↓

Att. General See Full Big Line

(D) M. Dougherty

(D) Jena Griswold

(D) David Seligman

40%

40%

30%

Sec. of State See Full Big Line
(D) A. Gonzalez

(D) J. Danielson

(R) Sheri Davis
50%

40%

30%
State Treasurer See Full Big Line

(D) Brianna Titone

(D) Jeff Bridges

(R) Kevin Grantham

40%

40%

30%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) Somebody

90%

2%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Somebody

90%

2%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd*

(R) H. Scheppelman

(D) Alex Kelloff

70%

30%

10%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert*

(D) Trisha Calvarese

(D) Eileen Laubacher

90%

20%

20%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank*

(D) Somebody

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(R) Gabe Evans*

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(D) Manny Rutinel

(D) Shannon Bird

45%↓

30%

30%

30%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
July 27, 2010 03:48 PM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 117 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning–in other words, of absurdity–the more energetically meaning is sought.”

–Vaclav Havel

Tweet
Share

Comments

117 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

  2. Team Nickname: “The Spin PAC”

    Team Colors: Green & Gold

    Team Cheer: “Aristocrats are People Too!”

    Team Motto: “All the advantages of the incumbency racket without the tedium of having to get elected first.”

    The starting lineup…

    Forwards..

    1st line: Denver Post, Bill Ritter, The White House

    2nd line: Organizing for America, Mark Udall, ColoPols

    3rd line: ThillyWabbit, Steve Harvey, MOTR

    4th line: EmeraldKnight76, Automaticftp, denverco

    Defense: peacemonger, Theresa Pena, Voyageur

    Goalie: MADCO

    water boy: Trevor Kincaid

    Team Sponsors

      1. It really does make it hard to want to vote Romanoff.  But, as you say, it’s only two more weeks.  Unless Romanoff wins, in which case one can only hope that the kindergarten level of discussion was strictly intra-party.

        1. Both sides have been pretty equal in the snark, snide comments, negative comparisons, etc. It’s just that each side views their comments as even-handed while the other side’s as inappropriate.

          2. On this site, AR’s shills take the sheer asshole cake. In fact, I’m not even sure who PR is talking about when he says that one Bennet shill is doing the same. (For the most part, I see regular polsters – people who’ve been around for a while, and who have opinions outside of AR vs MB – supporting MB, but almost no one but shrill shills pulling for AR.)

            I’m interested in how this will turn out. It may be because I live in Denver, but I only see AR signs, and my more involved Democratic friends are all voting for him. But I’ve seen it stated that he is supposed to do well in Denver, but perhaps nowhere else in the state.

              1. I recently spoke to a list including many seniors in Denver, late 60s to late 80s, who not only supported Bennet but had already sent their ballots in.  Old voters are very reliable voters.  As I said it was GOTV so we were calling past primary voters who had at least shown a lean toward Bennet. None I contacted had switched to AR though a couple younger voters were now in doubt.  All the seniors on the list were still rock solid and, as I said, their votes were in the bag already.  So it will be interesting to see how Denver shakes out. Spoke to many supporters with Hispanic names, too. Even got a couple of folks to sign on as volunteers. So does this make me a shill?  If so I’m shilling for the wrong team as nobody has offered to pay me a dime.

    6. “Unless you agree with the intolerant single-minded belief of the group to which I belong, you are guilty of groupthink!” Wow. Now that’s impressive!

      Here’s a newsflash for you: While I do occasionally agree with some others on some issues (eg, 2 + 2 = 4), I often hold and express very unusual and unpopular views, as most here are well aware. In this case, my view happens to coincide with the views of many others here, not because I flock to them, and certainly not because they flock to me, but rather because, in this instance, we are all flocking to reason.

      Disagreeing with you is not the definition of “groupthink.” Rather, it’s the definition of good taste.

  3. A tax client of mine is a Romanoff supporter and is even hosting a fundraising house party for him.  Yesterday, he told me that he had the chance to meet Michael Bennet and was thoroughly impressed.  My client understands that Romanoff will likely lose, but he will have absolutely no problem enthusiastically supporting Michael Bennet in the general.

    My advice for Romanoff supporters is to go meet Michael Bennet after the primary (he is extremely accessible, and will be more so during Congressional recessess).  Ask him anything you want, he’ll respond.  My guess is that you’ll be as impressed as my client.

    (Of course, I don’t expect this result from paid shills like Stryker, or out of control nuts like OldBen.  But, we don;t need 100% of the vote to win an election.)

    1. When I withdrew my support of Bennet the Bennet campaign refused to even answer queries from me. (This is why I haven’t had a response from Bennet on the questions I bring up.)

      Hopefully I’m a special case and they will be welcoming to Romanoff supporters after the primary. But it’s an open question at present.

    2. Where is he, then?  No signs, few appearances, few debates, doesn’t show up on radio shows…

      If Romanoff’s campaign has been aggravating for its last of message and small income, then Bennet’s has been similarly annoying because of the lack of engagement.  It’s all TV, all the time.

      (The same can be said for the GOP side, BTW – I don’t see too much of McInnis, but if I see another ‘Jobs Governor’ sign I think I’m going to puke.  Why are these campaigns all so one-dimensional this year?)

      1. Michael Bennet has a job, it’s US Senator.  He has been in Washington passing things like financial reform and unemployment benefit extensions.  But, as far as I can tell, he’s come back to Colorado to meet voters at every opportunity.  That’s how my client met him, possibly last weekend.

        Here’s the Bennet campaign office #: 303-433-0022. I’ll bet they can provide you with information on when he’ll be in your area (as if you really care).

        1. Makes an ass out of you and mption.  I am, if anything, a very weak Romanoff supporter.  I haven’t decided how I’ll vote yet, and I’m hoping that somewhere between now and primary election day I’ll actually see something – anything – from one or both campaigns that really allows me to decide.

          I understand Bennet has a job.  I also understand he hasn’t been terribly accessible to the average voter.  And that I have yet to see a single yard sign, billboard, or other non-TV/junk-mail ad or piece of campaign material supporting him.  He doesn’t take the time to appear on radio shows (unlike, say, Representatives Polis, Perlmutter, or DeGette, each of whom I’ve heard more than I’ve heard Bennet and who also have similar day jobs).  He doesn’t meet with activists trying to work with him on issues.  He hasn’t taken the simple step of renewing his Public Option letter in light of Rep. Woolsey’s new public option bill in the House.

          I’ll say the same thing about Bennet as I’ve been saying about Romanoff: give me a reason why I should vote for him.

              1. I haven’t traveled to all these places, but I’ve been all over Denver/Boulder and it’s only Romanoff signs to be seen. Heck, I even spotted a Romanoff rally in Washington Park once.

                1. And have seen maybe two signs for each candidate in my neighborhood, which is the same as the number of signs I’ve seen for Buck and Maes. Nothing for Norton and nothing for McInnis, though yesterday I saw a big ‘ol McInnis sign in the back of a truck parked outside the closed Black Angus on Union.

                  My neighborhood is unusually quiet during this primary season. It’s curious.

                  1. .

                    I used to work at the DFC.  Well, not really “work.”  I was in civil service, so I was just a freeloading parasite, but you get the idea.

                    I haven’t been through there in years.  Is 301 still there ?

                    .  

              2. and the only ads I’ve seen are the 1) AR DC casino ads and 2) the Bennet truth ad that says AR is just as corrupt at taking corporate cash as Bennet himself.

            1. and before I vote I plan on listening to both his and Romanoff’s interviews there.

              Having said that, I would like to hear Bennet in a more “live” radio environment; CPR’s format is pretty formal, and often a bit less than hard-hitting.  I hear Romanoff all the time on commercial radio, and I hear from most of our Democratic House members on a somewhat regular basis, too.  Bennet is very noticeably absent in that context.

  4. Romanoff is a very smart guy and knows Colorado voters as well as anyone. I don’t see him contributing all he’s saved up in a futile gesture.

    So, where do we truly sit in the race? I think Romanoff has a real chance and the polls aren’t that accurate because a lot of the voters are in the same position as my family members – they aren’t even sure who’s running. So they definitely have not decided yet.

    Any idea who’s going to win?

    1. I’m not even sure most of the more active voters have a firm choice in mind.  Romanoff has completely dominated the grassroots IMHO, but Bennet retains the advantage in number of donors and in poll results.  Neither has been outstanding on campaign messaging.

      This is the first time in a long time where I feel less than fully committed going in to the polls.

      1. I don’t think Romanoff can pull off the comeback, but I’m supporting him because he just slightly edges out Bennet in areas that are important to me. I think the end result will be somewhere along the lines of 53-47 Bennet. Romanoff will then give a great unity speech, and the party will fall back into place. Or, at least I hope that will be the case.

    2. But voters who are too low information to know who is running yet but just manage the effort to fill out and mail or drop off a ballot will look at nice clean cut sounding “Bennet” and exotic, Russian sounding “Romanoff” and vote “Bennet”. Especially grumpy old but highly reliable voters. Let the boos and hisses begin.

        1. Even with targeted GOTV you get many responding that they hadn’t thought about it or looked into yet.  When someone on your primary list says “Is he the Democrat because I’m definitely voting for the Democrat” you just want to pull your hair out. Especially since they wouldn’t be on your list if they weren’t past primary voters! Instead you just sweetly explain  what a primary election is, why your guy is the best and ask them to please fill out that ballot and get it in ASAP.

          1. I’m aware that some party members are pretty knee-jerk about who they vote for, but not even being aware of how a primary works is kinda stunning.

            1. Trust me.  It ain’t stunning.  Depressing? Yes. And now that mail-in makes it so easy for party registered voters to participate, the primaries will include many very low info voters. Of course tons will never bother.  

              We forget that we are political geeks and hang out with fellow political geeks so we have a very distorted view of just how many people care at all about politics except to be sure they hate them commie Dems, them crazy Rs or that all pols are alike anyway.  

        2. These aren’t your core activists who put Romanoff on the top of the Assembly vote.  They’re people who are active enough to care about elections, but not necessarily enough to have done a lot of research.

          Signs, ads, endorsements, and even misremembered impressions count for a good fraction of voters.

  5. County candidates were required to file their first financial report on July 20, one day after ballots were mailed.

    One of the Democratic candidates for Larimer County Sheriff, Al Ohms, still has not filed his first campaign finance report, one week after it was due.

    As much as I love irony, I can’t believe that a candidate for the highest law enforcement position in the county hasn’t complied with the campaign finance laws.

        1. This is a particularly egregious example, but how much of the military budget do you think goes toward questionable expenses like this?

          If you now, or have in the past, worked for corporations, you’re probably aware of how much wasteful spending there is there, too.

          1. Compared to unsustainable entitlements.  Something like 20% – 60%.

            I like spending lots of money on defense.  It doesn’t bother me at all.  We should spend more.

            1. that we spend more on defense than the rest of the nations of the world combined?

              Or that because of that extravagant spending spree, we essentially provide defense services for the entire world and don’t charge for the service?

              Or that some significant fraction of the defense budget is spent defending our interests in oil-rich countries that could be better spent elsewhere if we had an effective domestic energy policy?

              1. 1. No.  Good.

                2. Better us than someone else.

                3. Nope.  We’ll figure it out eventually, and us protecting them is better else than someone else having a boot on their necks.

                1. The Romans had a HUGE defense budget the last century or so they were around. Defense is DEFINITELY part of the problem, and there’s no way that we’d be any weaker if we slashed it in half. We’d still have all those missles, superaircraft groups, and all kinds of stuff that more than make up for, say, the numerical superiority of the Chinese Army.

                    1. Eliminate the defense budget, return taxes to the era of Ronald Reagan, and institute single payer and we’re golden.

                      So we have two solutions. But in mine more people live while in yours more people die.

                    2. Because once the rest of the world stops seeing us as such a big, nasty threat, the rivers will run once again with chocolate and wine, and the unicorns will return to play.

                    3. The point is, we have many times the resources needed to stand up to any threats. We can cut back and still deal with it.

                    6. …Republicans are currently campaigning to control the Congress because they KNOW where the giant piles of unused cash are hidden in the floorboards of Social Security, Dept Of Labor, Commerce etc, but they’re fucking clueless to find the fraud waste in abuse of the DoD?

                      If the Secretary of Agriculture were to tell a newly-coronated Republican House leader there’s nothing to cut, but since he’s a member of the GOP he’ll AUTOMATICALLY know where the secret Uncle Scrooge vault of cash is in basement. But if he takes a trip across the river over to the Pentagon and Secy Gates tells him “everything’s fine” he’ll shrug his shoulders, get back into this limo and go back to Congress.

                      You’re normally smarter than that….  

                    7. LB’s just yankin’ your chain.

                      Every so often, he gets tired of the “dogpile on the Conservatives” around here, so he starts yankin’ the chain, blowing the dog whistle, whatever you wan tot call it.

                      To be sure, he thinks there’s a germ of truth in it all, but still…how else do you explain this:

                      Privatize social security, repeal this shitty-ass health care law and we’re golden.

        1. Thats the story here …. one of Team Obama caught holding a $7,000,000 sailboat and a $500,000 tax bill.

          Hell that boat is worth over 20X AR’s house.

    3. … before the recent McInnis immolation and Tancredo entry (which are in the Gov race but will affect R turnout), and before Buck’s recent gaffes.

      1. Hick was going to win anyway.  This isn’t going to affect R turnout.

        You’re being silly, Raymond.

        PS Have you seen “Princess and the Frog”?  I can’t see your name without thinking of my little ones saying “ray-MOHND!”

        1. … if the Gov race now enthuses about zero Republicans?

          … if the Senate nominee called the tea partiers “dumbasses”?

          And no, I don’t think it was clear before the last few weeks of Republican hilarity that Hick was going to win anyway.  I mean, some polls showed Hick up, others McInnis up.  And (insert sarcasm) I’m sure you were all over the blogs weeks ago saying “Hick is going to win anyway”?

          1. As a Dem, the fact that Silver’s got Colorado as the fourth most likely state in the country to switch parties in the Senate has me worried.

            A 73% likelihood that Bennett will lose to Buck? Realistically, that’s what we’re talking about at this point.

            Seems way too high. But Silver’s pretty sharp.

              1. “matters” with “all that matters”. If I bake a cake, all of the ingredients matter. No one of them is all that matters, but remove any of the key ingredients and the cake is likely to suffer.

                I definitely don’t think that money is all that matters. But the larger the electorate and geographic area and “profile” of the race, the more it matters and the more indispensible it becomes. I don’t know that it’s impossible to overcome the deficit caused by not being able to compete for comparable air time due to a vastly smaller campaign war chest, but I do know that it is a significant deficit to overcome, and, in the general, not taking PAC money a significant handicap to impose on oneself.

            2. … but again, his 73% estimate preceded the recent Republican implosion in the state. I bet that when he updates his line, that figure will go down — assuming his percentages consider idiosyncratic state-specific factors like the CO Republican clusterf—, not just structural factors (I haven’t looked at his explanation of his methods in a while).

          2. Look it up.  I’ve been a Hick supporter from day 1, so bite me.

            As to enthusiasm as it relates to the Senate race, I could care less who it is as long as it’s not a Dem in that seat, and I think you’ll find a lot of R’s that feel the same way.

            So have you seen the flick?

  8. is State Representative Kerr’s wife’s nephew.

    Jim Kerr, a Colorado legislator from the Denver suburb of Littleton, said the sailor killed was his wife’s nephew, Justin McNeley, 30. He said the family learned of his death Monday. He said McNeley’s mother is in Kingman, Arizona, but declined to give her name.

    Kerr told The Denver Post that McNeley, a noncommissioned officer and father of two sons, was due to return to the U.S. in August.

    1. That’s the best the GOP can come up with against Obama? That he golfs?

      1. Everyone knows that if the GOP had been in power, there’d be even less regulation and oversight of the oil companies.

      2. Everyone remembers how the GOP mocked any money spent on foolish things like “volcano monitoring” and other kinds of government programs. Yet now you’re faulting Obama for not having some sort of government program to stop the oil flow…

      3. Everyone remembers how the GOP wanted to limit BP’s liability to a ridiculously low amount, and how the GOP castigated Obama for “forcing” BP to come up with a $20 billion claim fund.

      4. Finally: That phone call tone will drive people crazy as they’re looking around for their own REAL phones…

  11. The House last week voted to improve law enforcement co-operation on tribal lands and increase the independence/effectiveness of the tribal justice system.  Explicitly mentioned in the context of the bill was the current deplorable state of prosecution of rapes on tribal lands.

    Voting against the bill?  92 Republican Representatives, including both Rep. Lamborn and Rep. Coffman.

        1. I’d hazard that it cost $1-10 million. Without some sort of offset elsewhere in the budget, R’s vote no.

          Of course, they’d vote no anyway, just to show that Congress is dysfunctional and it’s time to throw the Dems out, but this way they have some cover.  

          1. There was no explicit reason mentioned that Republicans voted against it, but the House GOP website analysis of the amendment noted that ‘some members might complain’ because, while the Senate had gotten a CBO analysis on the bill, the House hadn’t asked for their own separate analysis.

            The expenditure was to the DOJ for more law enforcement, so the Republicans didn’t bother trying to challenge it based on the spending specifically – just the flimsy excuse that House Democrats hadn’t had an extra (money-wasting) CBO report done for their own pleasure.

  12. A blog that shall not be named (rhymes with “snot”) in a paper that shall not be named (rhymes with “toast”) says that Andrea Merida has resigned from the Romanoff campaign.

    I hope she cashed her check.

    1. Reid voted NO (to preserve the right to bring up the vote again in the future), and Lieberman (who will vote YES) was absent.

      That makes it 59-40 – don’t know who else missed the vote, but it was a Republican.

      Reid obviously thinks there is some carrot (or stick) that he can use to bring one of the moderate Republicans over on the vote.

      I’m not 100% behind it myself – I think there are parts of it that are questionable.

      1. It regulates and stops corporations from donating to campaigns and running ads, but allows unions to do whatever they please.

        And the Sierra Club, and the NRA.

        Garbage legislation.

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Gabe Evans
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

176 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!

Colorado Pols