October 05, 2016 09:32 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Wednesday (October 5)

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

There is a reason why we only have once Vice Presidential debate. 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 first (and, thankfully, only) Vice Presidential debate took place Tuesday night at Longwood University in Virginia. By most accounts, the debate was about as exciting as Colorado Rockies baseball in October. Overall, the VP debate was a bit of a mixed bag for both Presidential campaigns. Many media outlets thought Republican Mike Pence outperformed Democrat Tim Kaine by a slim margin, but as the Washington Post explains, that’s better news for Pence than for Donald Trump:

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence sought to stabilize the Republican ticket by accusing his Democratic opponents of the same kind of insults and raw partisanship that have been a hallmark of Donald Trump’s candidacy as he faced off against Sen. Tim Kaine here Tuesday night in a combative and at times grating vice-presidential debate.

With Trump reeling from self-inflicted controversies at a critical juncture in the campaign, Pence projected a steadier temperament than Trump and largely ducked Kaine’s demands to answer for the GOP nominee’s incendiary actions and statements.

But Pence made numerous statements that conflicted with positions taken by Trump. He suggested that Trump would not immediately deport all undocumented immigrants, that he believes military action is warranted to help the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo and that Russia is a dangerous country that the United States must deal with aggressively.

Pence on several instances denied statements that Trump had made in the past, including his assertion that NATO is “obsolete” and his suggestion that Putin is a “stronger” leader than President Obama. Pence repeatedly accused Kaine and Clinton of running “an insult-driven campaign.”

Kaine’s retort: “I’m just saying facts about your running mate.”

Pence repeatedly tried to pretend that Trump didn’t say some of the more bombastic things that everyone knows he has said, which led to some problematic fact-check stories for the Trump campaign. From CNN:

In short, Pence may have eked out a slight victory over Kaine on Tuesday, but it wasn’t a good night for the GOP ticket overall. Since Americans cast their vote for the candidate for President, and not the VP, we’d be inclined to say that Hillary Clinton actually came out ahead at the end of the evening.

Oh…and Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, is being forced to refute claims that Trump is upset that he was upstaged by Pence on Tuesday.

► Donald Trump’s tax-return story (or, really, his tax-hoarding story) continues to create significant problems for the GOP nominee. News outlets are scrambling to try to figure out the source of the anonymous media tip on Trump’s tax returns, and as The Daily Beast reports…oh, we really hope this is true for sheer entertainment value:

At 1:34 p.m. Sunday, Donald Trump’s second ex-wife, Marla Maples, tweeted a photograph of a pumpkin patch. Does what happened next contain clues that confirm she anonymously mailed Trump’s 1995 tax return to The New York Times?…

…Her spokeswoman, Elissa Buchter, did not respond when asked if she was behind the leak, not that she would have any incentive to. The attorney who represented Maples in her divorce from Trump (and also represented Ivana Trump in her divorce from Trump, but that’s another story), Robert Stephan Cohen, did not respond to two phone calls Saturday night to his office and home.

Come on, be honest: You’re kinda hoping it’s Marla Maples, too.

► Ruh-roh, Republicans! For the first time in 32 years, there are more “active” registered Democrats in Colorado than there are Republicans. As the Denver Post reports, this could be particularly problematic for Republican Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora):

Democrats had already surpassed Republicans in the total number of registered voters — which includes both active and inactive voters. But gaining the edge in active voters is more significant because inactive voters don’t receive a mail-in ballot and historically vote much less often.

That could be tough for Republicans running statewide, and the trendline could cause trouble for Coffman too, who faces Democrat Morgan Carroll in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.

According to the latest registration figures, the percentage of active Republican voters in that district is at its lowest level in the October of an election year since the seat was redrawn in 2012.

State statistics show that as of Oct. 3 about 32.2 percent of active voters in the 6th were from the GOP. That compares to 33.2 percent in October 2014 and 36 percent in October 2012 — a drop of about 1 and 3.8 percentage points respectively.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado Republicans probably won’t be sending a Christmas card to New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte this year — particularly those who end up being asked “The Ayotte Question.”

► After rallies in Pueblo and Loveland on Monday, Donald Trump stayed in Colorado through Tuesday morning in order to reassure oil and gas executives that he does not support local control in fracking regulations — despite what he said during a recent visit to Colorado.

► Colorado media outlets continue to discuss so-called “free speech zones” after protestors were forced to move further away from Donald Trump’s event in Loveland on Monday. As Jason Pohl writes for the Ft. Collins Coloradoan:

Linda Ligon and Karen Brock went to the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Monday armed with a message for Donald Trump’s legion of supportersthat his rhetoric on immigration, business and women’s rights did not jibe with their values.

There was just one problem.

Thousands of Trump supporters could hardly hear — let alone read — many of the messages that emanated from the designated “free speech area” outside the rally venue. Some protesters called the white-fenced protest pen 100 feet away from a wrought-iron gate where rally-goers entered a violation of the First Amendment, which ensures the right for people to assemble and speak on public property.

► State Sen. Laura Waters Woods (R-Arvada) wants to cut all state funding for Planned Parenthood clinics. Jason Salzman examines what that would mean for thousands of women in and around her Senate District (hint: it has nothing to do with abortion).

► “Satellite.”

► Big Tobacco is spending more than $10 million in Colorado to try to defeat a ballot measure (Amendment 72) seeking to raise taxes on tobacco.

► The Fox 31 “Problem Solvers” have figured out the various ballot measures you’ll be considering later this month. 

► Is that deer…glowing? Possibly.

► Officials and administrators in the town of Lyons are being investigated over how they spent $36 million in federal funds following severe flooding in 2013. The Lyons town administrator and clerk have been placed on paid leave.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Columbus Day is now Indigenous People’s Day in Denver. Either way, you still don’t get the day off of work.

ICYMI

► Donald Trump is still considering the idea of refusing to concede the Presidential election should he lose to Hillary Clinton.

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