June 06, 2016 01:06 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (June 6)

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

Today is the 72nd Anniversary of D-Day; kids, ask your parents or the History Channel. 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…

► The ballots are coming! The ballots are coming! Registered Democrats and Republicans should start receiving mail ballots this week in advance of the June 28th Primary election. For more information on checking your registration or address status, or if you just like reading about elections, visit JustVoteColorado.org.

► California, here we come! On Tuesday, six states will cast votes (or do the caucus thing) in the Presidential race, but none more important than delegate-rich California. As Politico reports, Bernie Sanders is making his last stand in his fight to overtake Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, even if he isn’t willing to admit as much:

Barring a set of unprecedented upsets on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is expected to be declared the presumptive Democratic nominee. And when the television networks make that call as soon as New Jersey polls close on June 7, it will leave Bernie Sanders with a hard choice: whether to directly acknowledge it or intensify his fight to the July convention in Philadelphia…

…A win in California, his top advisers believe, will enable Sanders to make a much more aggressive pitch to superdelegates and Democrats around the country in the coming weeks. He will be able to point to victories over Clinton in more than 20 states — capped by the biggest, bluest and most diverse in the nation. The symbolic value of winning California, they think, would underscore his point that the future of the party is on his side and rattle superdelegate confidence in her candidacy.

A loss, however, would dismantle that argument. The Sanders camp believes a defeat there would take the wind out of his sails, in no small part because of the negative media narrative that would result after having spent so much time in the state.

In addition to California and New Jersey, voters will pick favorites in Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota (Democrats only) and South Dakota.

► With ballots on their way, things are really starting to heat up in the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. The Denver Post is profiling each of the 5 Republican candidates this week, starting with today’s piece on Robert Blaha. There are two high-profile GOP debates this week: Tuesday evening on 9News, and Wednesday evening in Colorado Springs hosted by the Gazette newspaper.

Also today, Ryan Frazier debuts his zombie-themed TV ad, which Colorado Statesman reporter Ernest Luning reports includes a $100k buy. Jack Graham has added another $250k to his TV buy, raising the total to about $700k. Blaha has been on TV with an ad buy that his campaign will not disclose, and even Darryl Glenn could be getting his mug on the idiot box pretty soon.

The editorial board of the Denver Post isn’t particularly happy about Jon Keyser’s TV ad, which has been widely panned by media outlets for its blatant lies. As the Post explains in its editorial diss:

But it’s one thing to contend the agreement plays into Iran’s hands and quite another to flatly insist the senator wants to arm the repressive Islamic regime with weapons of mass destruction. Bennet no more wants to see that than Keyser. The claim is not only offensive, it’s preposterous. And Keyser doesn’t have license to throw wild accusations around regarding Iran because he did the noble work of fighting its proxies. [Pols emphasis]

If you haven’t seen the ad yourself, it’s not because you haven’t been watching enough TV; you’d have a hard time catching it since the Keyser campaign only submitted a $5,000 ad buy (which gets him about 49 total spots). According to Luning at the Statesman, however, Keyser’s campaign has spent an additional $100k to extend this already horrible TV spot. If politics were poker, Keyser just went all-in with a deuce and a nine.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► The embattled Chair of the Delta County Republican Party is facing a plethora of calls to resign over a series of racist Facebook posts. Linda Sorenson is getting a lot of mail lately.

► Republican Senate candidate Robert Blaha is shifting his policy proposals, not necessarily to the right, but to the Trump. Blaha may have decided that his best chance at winning the GOP nomination on June 28th is to act more like the man who somehow became the Republican nominee for President — including the opinion that waterboarding is totally fine and not torture.

► Jon Keyser hasn’t thrown in the towel on the 2016 election completely — not yet, anyway.

► Reporters continue to ask Gov. John Hickenlooper about the possibility that he could be selected as Hillary Clinton’s running mate on the Democratic ticket for President. Hickenlooper has been relatively cagey about the idea, as he should, but he tells Denver7 that it’s a job offer he’d certainly entertain:

“…obviously if someone feels you would add great value to service to your country, I think you’d be a fool not to consider it very strongly,” said Hickenlooper.

► Can you endorse Donald Trump for President and not by extension support his policy ideas? As the Atlantic writes…not really:

Does Paul Ryan support racism? The House speaker endorsed Donald Trump, who claims an Indiana judge overseeing a lawsuit over Trump University is biased because of his Mexican heritage.

Does Mitch McConnell support religious bigotry? The Senate majority leader endorsed Trump, who would ban 1.4 billion Muslims from entering the United States because of the God they worship.

Does Reince Priebus support sexism? The Republican Party chairman wants to put into the Oval Office a man who publicly calls women fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.

Although these and other GOP leaders will try to distance themselves from Trump’s most offensive comments, they can’t. First, from the moment he accepts the Republican nomination in Cleveland, Trump will be the titular head of their party. Second, they knowingly backed an intolerant narcissist. This was no accident, no bait and switch.

Long before his political meltdown last week, Trump revealed his views on Hispanics, Muslims, and women—not to mention indifference to public policy and the truth. This is no aberration. It is confirmation…

…For Ryan, McConnell, and Priebus, and for every Republican candidate on a ballot in November, there is no pivot from Trump.

They are him.[Pols emphasis]

Now that House Speaker Paul Ryan has endorsed Trump, it’s going to get considerably more difficult for other Republican Members of Congress to avoid the question. This means you, Reps. Mike Coffman and Scott Tipton.

► Speaking of Mike Coffman, the Aurora Republican has reserved $1.2 million in TV ad time for the fall as he tries to fend off Democrat Morgan Carroll in CD-6. As of the last publicly-available campaign finance reports (ending on March 31), Coffman is cutting it close budget-wise; he had $1.3 million in the bank at the end of the Q1 reporting period.

► Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has said a lot of crazy shit in the recent past, but he may finally have stuck a foot in his mouth that he won’t be able to remove. From “The Fix”:

Witness the reaction to Trump’s comments over the last few days regarding Gonzalo Curiel and the allegation that the judge’s Mexican heritage effectively disqualifies him from offering an unbiased view of a pending case regarding Trump University.

Unlike even a few months ago when Trump was making offensive comments, the condemnation from the across the spectrum of the Republican party has been both swift and biting. Newt Gingrich, widely rumored to be a member of Trump’s vice presidential shortlist, called the comment “inexcusable” and described it as the “worst mistake” Trump has made in the campaign to date. Speaker Paul Ryan, a day after he endorsed Trump, said that he “completely disagree[d] with the thinking” behind Trump’s comment on Curiel. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he “couldn’t disagree more with a statement like that.”  Maine Sen. Susan Collins tweeted out her disapproval Monday morning…

…Trump is no longer one of a crowd of candidates running for the Republican nomination. He is the presumptive Republican nominee. He is the de facto head of the Republican party, responsible not only for himself but also for the broader brand up and down the ballot in November.  There are greater stakes now than at any other time in the past when Trump has said something controversial. He now speaks for the entire party — and doesn’t seem to realize it or, more frighteningly for the GOP, doesn’t care.

Doesn’t realize it, or doesn’t care? We’re going to go with option “C”: Both.

► Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) is facing a tough general election opponent in Democrat Gail Schwartz, but first he needs to get through a June 28th Primary matchup with Alex Beinstein. According to Beinstein, Tipton’s campaign has ignored his requests to schedule pre-Primary debates. Beinsten says Tipton is avoiding him; he’s probably correct.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Republicans are hoping that a reality TV “star” can help them win a traditionally-Democratic seat in Denver’s HD-4. We have our suspicions. 

► Your television is about to be taken over by campaign advertisements. Some of them are better than others.

ICYMI

► Muhammad Ali, widely considered the greatest heavyweight boxer in history and a lightning rod for important social issues, died on Friday at the age of 72. Terry Frei of the Denver Post recounts an exhibition fight between Ali and former Denver Broncos defensive end Lyle Alzado that took place at Mile High Stadium in Denver in 1979.

Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!