November 04, 2016 10:57 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (November 4)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Four more days! Four more days! Four more days! 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…

► PUT. DOWN. THE. STAMP. If you still have a mail ballot buried under that pile of crap on your kitchen table, DON’T PUT IT IN THE MAIL! Officials are encouraging voters to drop completed ballots at any number of collection sites as Election Day nears. Remember, friends: Ballots must be received by your county clerk and recorder by 7:00 pm on Tuesday (postmarked ballots that arrive later will not be counted).

Check here for your nearest polling and ballot crop-off locations. For more information on when and where to vote or drop of your ballot, go to JustVoteColorado.org.If you’ve already voted, you can still go to one of several links on our website to cast a vote for who you think will win one of the many races on the ballot this year.

► Colorado Republicans are finally starting to vote in higher numbers, but they still trail Democrats in early ballot returns:

GOP lag by just 6.5K votes in CO statewide ballot returns thru 11/03: D-554,340 (35.7%); R-547,775 (35.3%); U-429,267 (27.6%) #copolitics https://t.co/cmujG1MZL5

— Ernest Lee Luning (@eluning) November 4, 2016

This is fairly good news for Republicans, but it is not a trend with any sort of broader meaning. Remember, Democrats in Colorado have never held the lead in early voting over Republicans; in 2016, Democrats have been ahead in early ballot returns from the first day ballots started to return.

If you’re wondering where to look for voters this weekend, the answer is: Everywhere!

► The march of the campaign surrogates continues in Colorado. Former President Bill Clinton is in Pueblo, Denver, and Ft. Collins today. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be in our state on Saturday to help voter turnout for Hillary Clinton and CD-6 Democrat Morgan Carroll.

Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will stump in Colorado for Clinton along with his brother, Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, and women’s health advocate Cecile Richards.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump, Jr. campaigned in Colorado on Thursday one day after a visit from Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence. How come Donald Trump never sends Chachi to Colorado? We want Chachi!

► The last economic report before Election Day shows more good news for job growth and general economic gains in months to come.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► A Denver campaign office for Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump was vandalized late Thursday or early Friday. It was hard to pinpoint a more specific time for when the vandals struck, because nobody actually works there (that was a joke).

► State Rep. Clarice Navarro has not been shy about her love of Donald Trump, which she apparently didn’t think would be a problem in her own re-election bid. Democrats are connecting the Navarro-Trump dots for voters, however, and it may decide the outcome in Pueblo.

► Congressman Mike Coffman once promised to make it clear who he would be voting for in the race for President. Election Day is just four days away, and we haven’t heard squat from Coffman on this matter.

► Democrat Morgan Carroll should benefit from the public support of President Obama as Election Day nears.

► It’s true that election polls can be unpredictable. It’s probably also true that some Poles can be unpredictable, but there’s no need to disparage our Eastern European friends. 

► The weather is starting to get colder. It’s not just that climate of misogyny, either.

► The Durango Herald has a story about “momentum” for Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn. We’re not sure that “momentum” is the correct word here, but when you’ve been as terrible a candidate as Glenn, any step forward is better than nothing.

► Whoever becomes the next President of the United States will take office amid a new standard for low expectations. As the Washington Post reports:

Just 35 percent of registered voters said Clinton would make a good or great president in a survey published last week by the Pew Research Center. Another 20 percent predicted she would be average, while 45 percent said she would be poor or terrible.

For Trump, the numbers are even worse: Fully 56 percent said he would be poor or terrible.

“It’s not about having high expectations,” said Claudia McConnehead, as she sat in the bleachers waiting for the start of a Clinton rally in Daytona Beach, Fla. “We’d backslide under Trump. I can’t imagine there’s anything he’d do for me. It would be worse. It would be about hate.”

It Could Be Worse, America!

► Raising the minimum wage is not going to cost people jobs. On the contrary, paying workers a better salary generally ends up working out well for the employers.

► Two top aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been found guilty of all charges related to the “Bridgegate” scandal. Christie is sad.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Hey, look: Another voter guide!

► Before you start spouting off about the possibility of a recount on Tuesday, make sure you understand how the process works in Colorado.

ICYMI

► Wait, what? Cancel the election immediately!

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