August 25, 2016 09:53 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (August 25)

• 4 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

It was darn near…chilly this morning. 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…

► Republican Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence is apparently a big supporter of “Official English.” When he was a Member of Congress, Pence was a frequent co-sponsor of legislation designed to make English the “official” language of the federal government. Republican Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) has also regularly co-sponsored “Official English” legislation.

► Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump will stop in Aspen today for a fundraiser hosted by prominent Colorado Republican Larry Mizel. Meanwhile, new polling from Pew Research suggests that the majority of Americans are not big fans of Trump’s immigration policies. From the Washington Post:

Large majorities of those surveyed said they believe that undocumented immigrants fill jobs U.S. citizens don’t want, are as honest and hardworking as U.S. citizens and are no more likely than U.S. citizens to commit serious crimes — sound rebukes of Trump’s rhetoric on immigration.

Even some of Trump’s own supporters reported positive views of undocumented immigrants on some issues. They expressed negative views of undocumented immigrants on other issues, including whether undocumented immigrants commit more violent crimes than U.S. citizens.

A majority of those surveyed also rejected one of Trump’s signature policies: building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump has vowed to get Mexico to pay for the wall, and the proposal has become such a big part of Trump’s presidential campaign that supporters chant “build the wall” at his rallies.

It’s no wonder that Trump is sorta kinda walking back some of his rhetoric on immigration reform.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado’s statewide ballot will include at least seven new proposed initiatives. The Secretary of State’s office is still in the process of determining whether two fracking proposals will also qualify for the fall ballot.

► Speaking of fracking, an advisor to Donald Trump says the Republican Presidential nominee absolutely loves him some fracking…even though said advisor hasn’t actually talked to Trump about the issue. Trump raised eyebrows in Colorado in late July when he told 9News that he was supportive of local control initiatives.

► Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed the ColoradoCare ballot measure, also known as Amendment 69.

► House Speaker Paul Ryan was in Colorado on Wednesday to (quietly) help Rep. Mike Coffman raise money for his re-election battle in CD-6. Former Democratic House Speaker Nanci Pelosi also made a quick visit to Colorado to raise money for Democratic challenger Morgan Carroll.

► Pueblo Republicans are fired up going through the motions in support of Donald Trump.

► Opponents of a ballot measure seeking to raise the minimum wage in Colorado are eating a nice plate of crow after inaccurately accusing the YES campaign of failing to pay petition gatherers the same $12 per hour minimum wage that the ballot measure proposes. 

► Colorado voters will have a lot of decisions to make at the ballot box (er, kitchen table) this fall. As the Colorado Independent reports, there is at least on ballot measure that shouldn’t require much consideration:

Amendment T, which would strike from the state constitution an exception to Colorado’s ban on slavery, sailed through the General Assembly. The exception, in Article II, Section 26, reads: “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” It was written in 1876.

One hundred and forty years later, state lawmakers voted to excise from the constitution the notion that slavery or involuntary servitude would be acceptable under any circumstances in Colorado. The amended language would end that particular passage at the word “servitude.”

Next step? Getting the go-ahead to amend the constitution from voters in November. The campaign to do just that kicked off Tuesday morning on the western steps of the state capitol. The multi-faith organizing group Together Colorado, and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers gathered to celebrate the amendment’s success in the legislature and gear up for “Yes on T” drive.

► Oil and gas extraction operations likely led to a small earthquake near Trinidad on Wednesday.

► Texas Senator and former Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz and his supporters are now saying that Donald Trump is a liberal in disguise. Whatever.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► If you needed another reason to avoid Kansas, now you have one. 

► This isn’t that complicated: Before you approve that new design for campaign literature, you should probably ask someone else to give it a quick once-over to catch any obvious mistakes. Yes, we’re talking about your campaign, Nancy Doty.

ICYMI

► Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn is refusing to speak to the Denver Post, which makes absolutely no strategic sense whatsoever. This has not been a particularly good week for Glenn in general.

Don’t forget to check out the Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!