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August 30, 2010 11:44 PM UTC

Questions for the Governor-ator candidates

  • 76 Comments
  • by: DavidThi808

Update: Thank you all – a boatload of really good questions (and an equal number of snarky ones). Wish I had 2 hours to interview.

I’m interviewing Congressman Tancredo tomorrow and I’ve been promised an interview with Mayor Hickenlooper. So suggested questions please.

As to Dan Maes, he’s suddenly too busy for interviews. I guess his new handlers have decided they don’t want him talking to anyone who might quote him. After all, that worked so well for Jane Norton…

Comments

76 thoughts on “Questions for the Governor-ator candidates

  1. 1. Other than immigration, what are the three biggest issues facing Colorado and how, specifically, do you intend to deal with them?

    2. What is your position on 60, 61, and 101?

    3.  What can Colorado, and it’s governor, do to help attract and retain jobs?

    4.  What State Budget items would you increase funding for?  Which ones would you decrease?  Which ones would you eliminate?

    1. Those are excellent questions and I would love to see complete, detailed answers to them.  

      Maybe add to #2 the ballot issue recently approved on abortion.

  2. Are you really crazy or is that just a persona you have adopted?

    Can you cite any example of a poll or other basis to imagine you can win the governorship?

    What specific questions do you propose making people answer before they can exercise their Constitutional right to vote?  Do they have to get 100% correct or is a ‘passing’ grade sufficient?

    Habla Espanol?  

  3. 1. Who is the most dangerous person in the State Legislature? And, why?

    2. What are your positions on ALL the amendments?

    3. What is the biggest threat to Colorado’s future well being?

    4. Boxers or briefs? What color(s)?

    5. Mustard on a hamburger? Ketchup on a hamburger? Why or why not? What about the same vis Г  vis hot dogs?

  4. How could you run college protests in favor of the Vietnam War, then secure a mental deferment to avoid serving in the military yourself? How do you think the Colorado National Guard, which you would direct as governor, should view your own personal hypocrisy on the issue of military service?

    Why is it ok to bash illegal immigration as a policy but to accept cheap labor personally from illegals when it came time to renovate your own house?

    Did you leave the Republican Party or did the Republican Party leave you?

    1. .

      Why would you give up your life of relative comfort to take on the challenges of leading our state out of the hash that the 2 major parties have made of it ?

      Should military service be a prerequisite for Gubernatorial candidates ?  For Presidents ?  

      Did being a draft dodger disqualify Clinton, Ritter or Hick ?  

      How and when did you find out that the contractor finishing your basement was employing illegal aliens ?

      Can the 2-Party, one-block-corporate-owned system solve America’s problems, or do we need something more advanced ?  

      Are American voters mature enough to make informed decisions, or do they need to have the 2 major parties make decisions for them ?

      What’s wrong with “the lesser of two evils ?”

      .  

      1. News reports last year said you lost your nest egg in the Madoff Ponzi scheme (through no fault of your own). Do you accept Barron’s characterization of your current situation as being one of “relative comfort,” or are you hurting for retirement funds?

        1. .

          Everyone I ever knew who joined the Peace Corps did so to affect their induction status.  I made an incorrect assumption.  

          Hick was old enough to be subject to the draft.  Another assumption.  All I have is his age, and his college attendance.  MSU.

          .

          1. Peace Corps service was never alternative service, it was only eligible for deferment, much like college or grad school.  Men who served in the Peace Corps were subject to the draft on their return and many were drafted.

            Women served in the Peace Corps and were not, of course, subject to the draft.

            I agree that HIckenlooper’s draft status is a legitimate question.

    2. I forgot that hypocritical things usually come in threes. So for the Tank:

      How could you serve as the main Colorado spokesman for term limits, and then break your promise — lie! — by ignoring term limits for yourself after winning election to Congress?

  5. When will you shut the f-ck up and sit down?

    Can you stop being an embarrassing a–hole for two seconds, and get the hell out of the race?

    Will you pledge to shoot yourself in the foot with a real gun, so you cannot run for election ever ever ever again?

    1. .

      Can’t you see that the 2-Party system is a sort-of security blanket for folks who cannot understand complexity ?  

      For folks who prefer pointing fingers to solving problems ?

      .

  6. Colorado is home to over 475,000 veterans. We have three major military installations, and the Colorado National Guard is one of the leading organizations training all branches thru the High Altitude Helicopter Training Center.

    Yet, Colorado ranks at the bottom of Veterans Benefits of all states. Colorado (thru DORA) is one of the few states that requires military members to take extensive testing to be “certified” to work in civilian jobs they held in the military. We are one of the last states to put in place an extensive PTSD & TBI screening process for NG and Reserve Troops redeploying from combat.

    And lastly, the state of Colorado has one of the smallest department of Veteran & Military services in the US, with 12 employees.

    What are some of the specific proposals you have to help veterans live, work and thrive in the State of Colorado?

    1. I think those are great questions.  I had no idea about the testing requirement.  How silly and wasteful.

      As a way to pay for those services, how about a penny a gallon (or more if needed) gas tax?  Since that’s what we send vets out for anymore, maybe we could pay for it.

      1. .

        if U mean testing for professional certifications like Engineer, Physician or Accountant, I support additional testing, since these folks don’t have to have board certification to practice in the military.  

        If U mean something like MSCE in A+ or EMT Paramedic, double testing by the same certification agency is a waste of time and money.

        specifics ?

        .  

        1. …so, for a phlebotomist, you can hold that MOS and work in it for years, but the State of Colorado considers you “uncertified.” Same for pharmacy tech, EMT, fireman, x-ray tech, whatever.

          There are certain things I can see requiring to test for, but why not partner with the Transition Assistance Program offices at each post, and make the testing free for anyone 90+ short?

  7. 1)  Do you pledge here and now that if you are elected Governor that you will finish your term and not run for President in 2012…and if you take this vow do you promise to keep it unlike you did your term limits pledge?

    2) Do you consider it hyporcritical that you are running an ad attacking John Hickenlooper for having an illegal immigrant working at his resturant given that you hired two illegal immigrants to remodel your basement in 2001?

  8. Free movement between the states is a given under the federal Constitution, making “immigration” a federal matter. If you disagree, then by what authority can a state assume powers to enforce federal laws when the federal government specifically rejects that enforcement?

    Is your candidacy de facto recognition that state governments have no meaningful role in the modern world? If not, what is the role that state governments play that is distinct either from the federal government, or from local units (cities and counties)?

  9. Ask them both all questions Maes promised to answer but then ducked that weren’t a direct response to Dan’s Amaesing craziness.

    http://coloradopols.com/diary/

    1) Given the O&G industry’s acknowledgement that the CO regs had little impact, would you advocate repeal anyway?

    2) Do you support Faster?  If not, how do you propose to fund necessary maintenance on Colorado’s highway network?

    3) How do you propose to stop the precipitous decline in funding for Colorado higher education?

  10. Please check Dave’s interview with Buck.  All you have to do is be really nice to Dave and he will be really, really nice to you.  It will be absolutely painless and  you don’t have to worry about being challenged at all.  Dave is so nice, it will be pretty much like an assisted press release so come on. Then you can brag that you did an interview with a progressive and you nailed it!

      1. Though Udall managed to overcome not saying yes to Dave, major kingmaker though your royal Daveness may be. So we Bennet supporters will just have to keep our fingers crossed that the damage he’s doing by failing to genuflect is survivable. This is me sweating it.

        1. I don’t think an interview with me makes a giant difference. I do think however that it is indicative of how open a candidate is. Sometimes talking to as few people as possible works, but many times it does not.

          My concern in the case of Senator Bennet is he is taking the Udall approach in the general and I don’t think that will work well this year.

          1. That he didn’t have a free hour for you on a few day’s notice? Bennet is very available for questions, from the press and from the public.  

            1. I said I would be happy to do it anytime & anywhere in the metro area. My only restriction was I couldn’t do it the 3 days I was out of town taking my daughter to College.

              I’m still happy to do it and called the campaign again today and left a message.

  11. he brags that out of pique with Pat Schroeder, while working for GOP in Education, he slashed the Regional Education office budget by 75%. How can CO not be ranked so low?

  12.  You had an emotional disability sufficiently serious enough to earn you a draft deferment during the Vietnam war.   How was that emotional affliction resolved?

    1) Were you medicated?

    2) Did you seek therapy?

    3) Did you have electric-shock therapy?

    4) Were you hospitalized?

    5) Would you produce a medical statement as to  your current emotional fitness for office?

    You stated that insurance companies should not be required to treat breast cancer, for example, how would a market health insurance model for cancer and other pre-existing conditions work?

  13. Would you immediately declare a state of emergency to address the “illegal immigration” problem, if not, why not?

    How would you support small businesses in Colorado?

    How would you implement a fiscal conservative plan at balancing the state’s budget and deficit if you only had to focus on these five things; fraud, abuse, waste, mismanagement and full accountability (transparency)?

    How would you fully implement “affordable housing” for the homeless in Colorado?

    Would you waive environmental rules, regulations, procedures and processes and state agency roadblocks in-order to work with Federal agencies, and private industry to secure a High Speed Rail system from the DTC in Centennial to Colorado Springs?

  14. David, instead of summarizing the interview and paraphrasing the subject’s comments, can you please record the interview, transcribe it and post your questions and the candidate’s answers verbatim?

    I think that would give a much clearer view of the subject’s views and opinions.

    1. .

      “uh, and then I, if you follow what I’m saying, I went to college, and so forth, and the point of that story, if I can illustrate what I’m getting at, …”

      If so, then I think you ask too much.  Some people really talk like that when there isn’t a camera pointed at them.

      .

      1. I didn’t mean transcribe, as in every word copied. I meant transcribe as in the kind of reproduction of the subject’s words you see in feature stories in the media every day. You can listen to the digital recording (I assume you use one of those devices), then incorporate only the relevant comments into your article. As Barron X says, there will be answers (and questions) that don’t need to be included.

        1. But it’s reduced a lot – if it was the gist of everything said it would be 4 – 5 times longer and no one would read it.

          I’ve also found that most (not all) prefer the conversational form I use to a tightly edited transcript. I will admit I try to make it as interesting as possible when I write it this way and that helps.

  15. Are there any specific planks in the American Constitution Party that you will NOT follow if elected?

    The ACP calls for elimination of Congressional pensions. How much do you earn each year from your pension, and will you voluntarily return it if you are elected?

    Will you release your entire tax returns for the past 10 years, and if not, why not?

    You have stated that Dan Maes is not qualified to be governor, yet you have chosen a Lt. Governor candidate who appears to be about as unqualified. Please explain the discrepancy.

    Do you believe John Hickenlooper has personal integrity? If not, why not?

    Do you believe Joe Garcia has personal integrity? If not, why not?

    Can you be a Muslim and a patriotic American citizen at the same time, in your opinion?

    Did the fact that Michelle Malkin is an “anchor baby” in any way influence your not including her as your Lt. Governor candidate?

    Do you share the viewpoint of some Republican candidates that Islamic radicals are having “terror babies” in the U.S.?

    You once famously called Miami a “third world” city. Are there any towns in Colorado that you consider “third world” using the same yardsticks, and if not why not?

    Your friend Peter Boyles supports the “birthers”: people who claim Obama was not born in the U.S. What is your position on Obama’s citizenship, and does it differ with Boyles’ opinion in any respect?

    Do you believe President Obama is a Christian?

    You used to have yard signs that said “Viva Tancredo!” In other words, they were in Spanish. Why did you have them, and why do you no longer have them?

    If you could summarize in one sentence why voters should choose you over Hickenlooper, what would it be?

    Do you believe John Hickenlooper is a socialist?

    Would you agree that John Hickenlooper has a far more extensive record as a successful businessman than you do?

    Would you agree that John Hickenlooper has far more executive experience than you do? If not, why not?

    Isn’t it a cheap shot to blame Hickenlooper personally for a restaurant he owned employing Donnie Young? First, Hickenlooper obviously wasn’t directly involved in the decision, was he? Second, Young hadn’t killed anybody when he was employed by that restaurant. Third, one of the illegal aliens you had on your property to build your basement rec room could just as easily have murdered someone. Would it then be fair to say that you were to blame?

    1. but David has said he only has time to ask something like 10 questions (because presumably it takes six minutes to ask and answer a question in his hour-long interview). And he doesn’t like to get into “specifics,” or ask follow-up questions, or anything controversial. But thanks for suggesting them!

      1. R/G, I respect your opinion a lot. But I wish you would interview a candidate and see if you can find a way to get more out of them in the time allowed. Candidates answer in detail – which is a good thing. But it means getting specifics on a question takes time.

    2. .

      we want them to come from the state, as another way to tie allegiance to the state, rather than to the Congress, who pays those pensions now.

      .  

    3. .

      what does Dan have that’s even remotely comparable ?  Winning the Primary ?  Running a collection agency ?

      I’m not following you on that one  (“no qualifications = some pretty good qualifications.”)

      .

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