March 15, 2016 12:05 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Moderately-Super Tuesday (March 15)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Is it really that hard to come up with another name for today’s big Primary votes? The words “Super” and “Tuesday” don’t always have to go together. 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).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Marco Rubio and John Kasich: The bell tolls for thee. From the Washington Post:

It is not out of the question that Donald Trump could sweep all five states that vote on this second Super Tuesday: Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Illinois. But a split decision of some kind seems more likely. John Kasich is closing strong and considered the favorite to prevail in his home state.

It is a win-or-drop-out situation for Kasich and Marco Rubio. But the stakes are also high for Ted Cruz, who needs to prove that he would be a worthy street fighter in a head-to-head match-up with Trump…

…There are 367 Republican delegates at stake. By this time tomorrow, more than half of the total delegates to the convention in Cleveland will have been awarded.

What say you, Polsters? Can Rubio win Florida, where Donald Trump has polled in first place from beginning to end? Will Kasich prevail in Ohio?

Rubio is not expected to do well today — he’s been nothing if not consistent, at least — and the buzzards are circling his Presidential campaign. But…but…but…

“I’m not even going to speculate because I think, again, it’s clear that he’s going to win Florida” — Sen Cory Gardner, speaking to Politico last week.

► On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is expected to perform well in Florida, but Bernie Sanders is pushing for victories in the Midwest that could be just enough to keep his campaign alive for another several weeks. From Politico:

The Vermont senator’s best-case scenario Tuesday has him pulling out three victories — he’s within single digits of Clinton in the latest polls in Illinois, Missouri and Ohio — an outcome that would rattle the race and raise new questions about the durability of the Clinton campaign.

Even if Tuesday doesn’t significantly alter the delegate math that makes Clinton the prohibitive front-runner, a strong Sanders performance in the industrial Midwest would make possible the long campaign that the senator and his aides switched to after their big and unexpected loss in the Nevada caucuses.

Few large caucus states are left on the map, but seven states are up between March 15 and April 5, including the Arizona primary, four caucuses — in Idaho, Utah, Alaska and Washington — where the Vermont senator is hoping to pick up steam again, and a sixth primary — Wisconsin — where he’s expecting a big win to cap off the two-week run. (Hawaii, caucusing on March 26, is rarely included in the calculus.)

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

►Congressman Mike Coffman is absolutely terrified of running for re-election on the same ticket as Donald Trump.

► Denver’s 9News is planning on hosting and televising two separate debates among Republican Senate candidates:

The debates are scheduled for 7p.m. on Tuesday, April 5 and Tuesday, June 7 in partnership with the Lincoln Club of Colorado, which will provide organizational support.

You can suggest questions or topics by emailing politics@9news.com or by sending a tweet to @9NEWSpolitics.

Each debate will be broadcast live to viewers in a commercial-free hour on Channel 20 (KTVD) and 9NEWS.com.

There are still 13 GOP Senate candidates, and not all of them can (or should) be invited to participate in these debates. So how will 9News decide who gets to play Talking Points Bingo?

The first debate on April 5 will be open to all candidates deemed viable by a panel of political experts assembled by 9NEWS.

Candidates who do not qualify for the debate will be given the opportunity to record a video message to be published on 9NEWS.com and to be mentioned during the debate broadcast.

The June 7 debate will be open to every Senate candidate who qualifies for the GOP primary ballot in June.

You may not get to appear on the debate stage, Charlie Ehler, but 9News will make sure to “mention” your candidacy and let you have space on 9News.com to show a video message that nobody will watch.

► The Denver Post tries to figure out what might be motivating Colorado supporters of Donald Trump.

► Colorado Republicans just can’t stop themselves from uttering ridiculous rhetoric when it comes to the GLBT community.

► Republican infighting has been one of the big political stories of the last two years, and “conservative media outlets” are not immune to the not-so-friendly fire.

► It’s probably a good idea to make it more difficult for Colorado law enforcement officials to hire “rogue cops.”

► The Colorado legislature has reached the midpoint of the 2016 session. As The Denver Business Journal reports, not much is getting accomplished.

► Colorado’s oil and gas industry may not be doing particularly well right now, but that hasn’t stopped the state’s economy from continuing to improve. From the Denver Post:

Colorado’s energy industry shed nearly 19 percent of its workforce when comparing January 2016 to the same month last year.

But the loss of 6,700 jobs across oil and gas and mining hasn’t been enough to knock the state off a historic hot employment streak.

The state added 5,200 nonfarm payroll jobs — 4,300 in the private sector, 900 in government — during January, according to preliminary employment estimates released by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Year-over-year, the employment market is up 69,100 jobs.

January marked the 51st consecutive month of payroll jobs growth.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Jon Keyser loves him some Tom Tancredo.

► Scientists appear to be close to finalizing the first legal drug in the United States that uses  cannabidiol (or CBD) as a main ingredient.

ICYMI

► The Adams County Republican Party is not happy with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) and Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) because both men supported the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA!)

► One of the religious “leaders” courted by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is on the record with his belief that the leaders of the Girl Scouts should be put to death. Seriously.

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