Yesterday's other fundraising event

Marilyn Musgrave wasn't the only Colorado politician raising money yesterday. I just got a release from Colorado Democrats Executive Director Sherry Jackson that read in part, "Yesterday President Bush came to Denver in an attempt to prop up vulnerable 4th Congressional District Representative Marilyn Musgrave, delivering a speech in which he clung stubbornly to his failed Iraq policies. But because of her extremist views and neglect of the real needs of her district, just 36% of 4th district voters are likely to re-elect Musgrave, one poll has found. Musgrave was in good company with the president, who faces a 58% disapproval rating among Coloradans, according to another poll. Last night over 100 people gathered at the Blair-Caldwell African American Library in Denver to celebrate our Democratic Women Leaders, who unlike Marilyn Musgrave have helped make a real difference for Coloradans. Congresswoman Diana Degette, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and House Majority Leader Alice Madden all delivered remarks, as did Congressman Mark Udall."

The part of the email that reall caught my eye? The announcement that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will be in Denver on December 9. Rumor has it that Richardson is thinking about a presidential run in 2008. Check out the Colorado Democrats' homepage to learn more.

Young Republicans sabatoge Brown Palace protest

Thanks to a coloradolib reader, who pointed this story out in a post on this site. I thought it was important enough to be on the front page.

The Denver Post busted some college Republicans posing as Democrats in an attempt to discredit yesterday's protest at the Brown Palace.

"Some eyebrow-raising signs - like 'Free Saddam He Did Nothing to You' - were held by Republicans trying to undermine the protest, they admitted. 'It is all part of the game,' said Conor McGahey, a University of Denver student and executive director of the Colorado Federation of College Republicans."

Yep, the Republicans believe in corrupting them young.

The spirit of the season

I think I have a protest hangover or something. There isn't a lot of news out there grabbing my attention just yet. So given that we are knee deep in the holiday season, I thought I'd give a quick plug to the gifts at Drinking Liberally.

According to an email I got from them, "Every purchase supports the expansion of Drinking Liberally. We've grown to 115 chapters over the past 16 months, but there's so much more we could do: better support our chapters, reach out to press and partner groups, coordinate special events, and more. However, all of this requires a full-time, dedicated staff -- and that takes money."

Owens approval 48%

SurveyUSA has released approval ratings for the governors of all 50 states. Our own Bill Owens comes in 32nd with a 48%. You might think he paid a high price for backing Referendums C and D. But he still runs strong among Republicans, with a 63% approval rating in his own party.

The guv, meanwhile, is busy trying to figure out how he will trim his budget to fit within the state's spending ability. The DDN and AP report that "lawmakers questioned why he wanted to spend most of the down payment on transportation instead of other programs."

Scenes from a protest, part 4

Initial coverage of the protest in the media has been striking. The Denver Post's website is offering coverage of the President's speech and as an afterthought mentions that outside the Brown Palace "more than 300 people blew whistles, pounded on pots and pans and chanted 'Impeach Bush.'"

The Rocky's story leads with the protest. "Beating on everything from plastic tubs to wok covers, and chanting a litany of angry protest slogans, upwards of 500 anti-war activists did their best to disrupt President Bush's visit to downtown Denver this afternoon." Bush's speech is covered later on in Steven K. Paulson's story.

Meanwhile, one coloradolib reader told me that CNN was reporting the personal experiences of reporters who were shaken by the group of only 150 people.

(I'm only telling you what's online at 3:29 p.m. today. Given the nature of the web, coverage is bound to change throughout the day.)

Having been at the protest, I will tell you that the number of protestors was much closer to 500 than 150.

On first glance, it seems like the Post's coverage is likely to be far kinder to the president. But in the end, the Post's photos of Bush kissing Musgrave's forehead may be far more damaging to the Republican party than any protest. Unless Bush turns his presidency around, he will be toxic for Republican candidates in 2006.

Best costume awards go to the folks who dressed as Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush and company in Alice in Wonderland. Here, you can see my photo of Cheshire Cat Cheney.

Scenes from a protest, part 3

When the president's limo came screaming down 18th Street, the crowd surged to the intersection of Tremont and Broadway to greet it. The limo sped by. But the press bus was not so lucky. Protestors surrounded the bus, knocking on the windows and rocking the bus. The police finally cleared a hole and the bus inched through, circling the block and coming back up 17th. I saw NBC's David Gregory, among others, emerge from the bus with disbelieving smiles and raised eyebrows. Protestors screamed, "Have you no decency? Why are you reporting Bush's lies?"

It's easy to make sarcastic jokes about a president who has ballooned the deficit, wasted $400 billion overthrowing secular dictators, ignored the threat posed by terrorism, rolled back environmental protections, overseen a huge expansion of government into the private lives of U.S. citizens, refused to deal with the hurricaine crisis, and tried to buy popularity with boondoggles like steroid investigations and missions to Mars. Bush has been such a bad president, it is almost like he couldn't possibly exist in the real world. But being that close to him, it's impossible not to react emotionally. Bush isn't just a bad president. He is a bad person. And anyone who supports him after all he's done must have a hole in their soul so big you could drive a press bus through it.

Scenes from a protest, part 2

I snapped a couple camera-phone photos of the protest at the Brown Palace. But they can not possibly show the size of the crowd. Both sides of Broadway and substantial portions of 17th and Tremont were packed with people carrying signs, blowing whistles, and banging drums.

Scenes from a protest, part 1

Folks downtown are buzzing around, preparing for Marilyn Musgrave's fundraiser with the president. I stopped by the Progress Now Action truck, which was parked outside the Brown Palace. They told me the billboards have been getting a lot of reaction from both sides of the political fence. A billboard that read "Stop gay marriage now, so Osama doesn't get away" was facing 18th headed into town. On the other side was the slogan seen here.

Colorado picks the nominee

The AP and the Las Vegas Sun report that a "DNC commission that seeks to revamp the party's primary schedule is moving toward adding a Western state and a Southern state in January. Nevada and Colorado are the most likely candidates in the West..."

Udall, Allard and Tancredo in '08

The Rocky Mountain News is highlighting the '08 Senate race already. Conventional wisdom is that Allard will renounce his self-imposed term limits and defend his seat. The first Dem in the race is Boulder Repre. Mark Udall, who announced his candidacy sometime before I was born. Udall already has amassed quite a warchest, and he probably won't have to blow much of it defending his seat in liberal-leaning Boulder in '06. So he could be quite a Senate candidate in '08. (Although judging by his recent appearance on The Colbert Report, he doesn't have much of a sense of humor.)

The Rocky also mentions potential challengers like Democrats Repre. Diana DeGette, Mayor John Hickenlooper and Repre. John Salazar and Republicans such as Gov. Bill Owens and former Repre. Scott McInnis. But who is the real star of the article? None other than Tom Tancredo, who has also "been toying with the idea of a longshot presidential campaign in 2008."

Not too long ago, I heard a rumor that the Republicans were busily trying to pick The Next Big issue To Distract Everyone From The Mess Bush Has Created. According to AM760, Bush is set to speak about immigration at a military base in Arizona. According to Republican blogger Clay Calhoun, The Republican Study Committee of Colorado held a hearing on illegal immigration on November 16. And according to the Denver papers, Tom Tancredo's strong stance on immigration is enough to make him a Presidential candidate. So I guess TNBITDEFTMBHC has been decided.

Romanoff tackles water rights

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff "starts with the premise that what we're doing isn't working" quite a bit. He used those words to describe healthcare not too long ago. And now he's talking about water rights in the Post.

Romanoff is in front of the movement to create a Front Range authority to help drive down the cost of water. This effort will introduce Romanoff to quite a few suburban voters. And, like healthcare, water is an important, bipartisan issue. So Romanoff raises his profile and helps Colorado citizens at the same time. That's just good politics. Say Andrew, ever considered running for, oh, I don't know, governor?

The Post moves even further right

It's hard to pick the most irritating aspect of the puff piece the Sunday Denver Post ran about Tom Tancredo. There's the fawning headline, "Firebrand Tancredo puts policy over party line." There's the relative absence of liberal voices to balance the article. There's the story's placement on the front page of the news section, despite having no news in it. And there's the fact that the article took Tancredo's re-election in 2006 as a foregone conclusion. Heck, in the Post's view, the only question is whether Tancredo will run for President in 2008.

The Post has drifted steadily rightward. But I thought the publisher's controversial decision to endorse Dubya was the furthest the paper could possibly go. Apparently not.

Defeating Tancredo in 2006 would get this loudmouth out of our hair forever. Then the Post could get back to running hardcore investigative reports about holiday shopping and Broncos football. Go Bill Winter, go!

Paccione 2006: No time like the present

Lots of Dems (including me) have wondered why Angie Paccione wasn't publicizing her opponent's close ties to the Bush administration. Today, the Paccione 2006 campaign sent out a fundraising email that states, "Musgrave is so out-of-touch that her party leaders say she is one of their 'Top Ten Most Vulnerable' candidates in 2006. They are sending President Bush to Colorado on November 29th--eleven months before the election!--to raise money for Musgrave's campaign. Bush's visit not only represents Musgrave's vulnerability, it represents that my campaign to beat Musgrave starts right now."

Considering that Bush's visit is a mere two days away, now is as good a time as any. Angie's website is at angie2006.com.

Where there's smoke

The DDN reports that Colorado lawmakers will be voting on smoking bans early in the next legislative session. Which means our state is simultaneously moving to criminalize tobacco and legalize marijuana.

We're (still) number 1!

Chris Cillizza's blog at the Washington Post continues to rank CD7 as the most likely district in the nation to switch party control. Repub. Rick O'Donnell will have plenty of money. But Democrats Perlmutter and Lamm are coming on strong. Cillizza notes that John Kerry carried CD7 a year ago and things haven't gotten any better for the Republicans since then.

Roll Call highlights CD3, where Dem. John Salazar will have to defend his seat in a right-leaning district. Supposedly the national GOP has high hopes for one Republican challenger, Scott Tipton.

Personally, I get a rush out of attempting the nearly impossible. Like trying to unseat Tom Tancredo. We can't forget that the close races deserve just as much attention.

Ritter heads to Fort Fun

Apparently somebody was working on Thanksgiving. I woke up to a press release from Bill Ritter's camapign. Ritter will be in Fort Collins on December 8.

"Ritter, a Colorado State University graduate, will be speaking to CSU students and faculty from 5:30 to 7 p.m... He will be discussing his campaign and the importance of getting young voters energized and involved in the democratic process. He will also address the importance of maintaining Colorados public higher-education system... Following his appearance on campus, Ritter will be attending a private fundraiser."

Hm, hardly counts as news. But I have a weakness for the CSU Rams.

Coloradolib hits the mainstream media

This morning I spent a segment on AM760 discussing blogging and politics. A big thank you to Jay Marvin for having me on his show. And a big welcome to the dozens of new visitors who checked out coloradolib today.

Brownie comes to Colorado

Scripps Howard and the Rocky Mountain News are both reporting that "ousted FEMA director Michael Brown, who was vilified over his handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, plans to make a fresh start in Colorado, selling his expertise about how emergency planning can go right or so very wrong."

Personally, I'm hoping Brownie hooks up with the Beauprez campaign.

Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq

HD38 Democratic candidate Lt. Col. Joe Rice sent a Thanksgiving email home from Iraq to his friends and family. They shared a couple sections with me.

"Though there is no shortage of tragedy and bad news, I did find at least some signs of hope and progress... I attended a meeting of one of Baghdad's District Councils, one of the 15 major councils in the Province. I was encouraged by the vibrancy and relevancy of this Council... I still think this can work, and we have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to give the Iraqi people the best possible outcome - no matter what our position on the war, the administration, or whatever."

I spoke with Jen Walmer, a Vice Chair of the Arapahoe Dems and Rice's campaign manager. She was optimistic about the Democrat's chances in 2006. "An open seat, a possible Republican primary, a libertarian candidate, the great results Salazar got in this district, plus Joe's resume make this lightening in a bottle!"

Salazar hitches his wagon to a star

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain is a popular guy. Conservatives love him because he's a good soldier, supporting Bush even after Rove & Co attempted to destroy the Senator's career. Liberals love him because he has been a champion of campaign finance reform and environmental causes. Along with Mitt Romney and George Allen, McCain is a front runner in the 2008 Republican presidential primary.

Now McCain has joined forces with Colorado Democratic Senator Ken Salazar. A press release from Salazar's office states that "a new bipartisan commission proposed by Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO) and John McCain (R-AZ) will undertake a fresh review of health care in the U.S. with one goal: implementing the best ideas to provide real solutions for the millions of Americans trapped in this Nation's health care crisis." (Read the whole release at salazar.senate.gov.)

Check out this shot that Salazar got off in the Post: "The president has not done anything in respect to health care since he was elected." Apparently our Senator has a backbone. Having McCain on his side can't hurt either.

Republicans and basic math

Apparently Governor Bill Owens has been taking math lessons from his Republican buddies in DC. He is proposing $296 million for new roads, which is $91 million more than may actually be available. Owens' proposal will be considered by Treasurer Mark Hillman, who is an Owens appointee. So if you're the betting sort, put your money on Owens getting the green light.

Amendment 23 on trial

Amendment 23 has been in the press a lot recently. Many conservatives believe that the amendment, which was passed by Colorado voters in 2000, helped wreck the state budget by increasing funds for education. Apparently, the fight isn't over. Coloradopols.com is reporting that Amendment 23 author Cary Kennedy is running for treasurer.

Gunny Bob and freedom of speech

Last night on KOA, Gunny Bob compared Dem. Congressman John Murtha to Timothy McVeigh and Lee Harvey Oswald. All ex-military men who went on to do terrible things. Unbelievable. Especially on the anniversary of JFK's assasination.

Bash Musgrave and Bush simultaneously

Dubya is coming to town on November 29 to fundraise for Marilyn Musgrave. Progress Now Action has an innovative way for you to let them both now how you feel. But you need to act before noon tomorrow. Check it out here:

http://www.progressnowaction.org/modules/postcard/billboard_splash.php

Newsflash: Tancredo knows Hickenlooper's address

The recent open letter that Republican Repre. Tom Tancredo sent Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper smells like an attempt to throw some slime on the mayor, who enjoys statewide popularity. I was planning to ignore it entirely.

But it turns out that this isn't the first time Tancredo has accused the mayor of poor immigration policy. In May he put out a news release which stated, "Denver's sanctuary policy prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal officials on immigration matters." And in June Tancredo sent a letter to Hickenlooper questioning the Denver Public Library's Spanish language policies.

I'm sure the mayor saves Tancredo's letters in a shoebox under his bed carefully tied with a soft red ribbon.

Romanoff on tippytoes

Speaker Andrew Romanoff edged a bit closer to declaring himself a bona fide candidate for governor this morning on 760AM. Romanoff admitted that he had been thinking about the race, which in politics is basically the same as jumping on a park bench and screaming, "I wanna be the guv!"

Host Jay Marvin is a big fan of Romanoff. And I am too. But there a couple of things Dems need to consider.

1. If the race boils down to Romanoff and former D.A. Bill Ritter, expect the Republicans to start whispering the phrase "Denver liberal." The charge sticks like glue to Romanoff. But Ritter's working-class roots and anti-choice views make him seem downright rural in comparison.

2. Romanoff has amazing name recognition among political wonks who live in LoDo condos. But in 2004 I learned that many wealthy, educated suburbanites aren't even aware that there is a Colorado State House and a Colorado State Senate. And even those that were couldn't tell me the names of their district representatives. Everybody, however, knows that Denver has a district attorney whose job is to lock bad guys up.

There's still time for me to hop on the Romanoff train. But that time is fast running out.

Wayne Allard, freethinker

Roll Call reports that Republican Wayne Allard voted along party lines eight times this week. (Contrast that with Democrat Ken Salazar, who voted with the liberals only half the time.) The vote that really angered me was pointed out in a letter to the Post's editor. Allard voted against balancing liberal and conservative views on military radio. So our soldiers are off dying for free speech while elitist Republicans prevent them from actually hearing any of it.

Ick.

If you didn't check out coloradolib over the weekend, make sure to jump down the page and vote in our straw poll.

District 6: Bill Winter vs. Tom Tancredo

Remember conventional wisdom? It gave us all sort of useful information. Like how Both Ways Bob's district was the only contestable U.S. House seat in Colorado.

The problem with conventional wisdom was that it was conventional. The progressive wisdom is that the 6th District is currently held by a single issue loudmouth named Tom Tancredo. Said loudmouth isn't all that popular. And his party is as well-liked as a Raider at Mile High Stadium.

Sounds like a perfect storm for recently declared Democratic candidate Bill Winter. He's a Colorado native, so he knows about the problems the state faces. He's a vet, so his courage isn't in question. And he's a longtime activist, so he has plenty of friends in the Democratic party. Winter posted a manifesto of sorts over at democracyinprogress.org. Check it out.

Ken Mehlman, marriage counselor

On Friday night, the Republicans brought in RNC Chair Ken Mehlman to try to reconcile the anti-C and pro-C sides of the Republican party. Many of you will remember Ken as the guy who goes on Meet The Press to tell fairy tales about Scooter Libby and Karl Rove.

The fact is, party disunity is a fact of life. Democrats have long been a coalition of pro-union, pro-environment and pro-choice groups. And the Republicans have always been divided evenly between secular anti-government forces and religious radicals. (Although given Bush's fiscal recklessness, a whole lot of the anti-government folks are switching parties or voting libertarian.) The magic ingredient that keeps everybody happy? Winning.

The Denver front in the Iraqi argument

An alert reader sent me an email at info@coloradolib.com. Sixty-seven cities, including Sacramento, Chicago, Chapel Hill and Gary have passed resolutions that call for a withdrawal from Iraq. The effort was started by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC.

Of course, individual cities have absolutely no say in when our troops will come home. But that doesn't mean that the resolutions have no impact. Think Denver should follow suit? Contact the mayor and your local councilperson:

http://www.denvergov.org/jump_elected_officials.asp

Caldera mistakes John Andrews for liberal media

Here's my head-slapper of the week. Independence Institute President Jon Caldera was on TV discussing Referendum C and D. Twice, he blamed his defeat on the liberal media. Caldera's co-panelists? Republican ex-bigwig John Andrews, conservative Post columnist David Harsanyi, and State Senator Ken Gordon who represented both moderates and liberals all by himself.

In this context, Caldera's whining about the liberal media sounded a lot like a paranoid fantasy. Which, of course, is exactly what it is.

The coloradolib straw poll

Blogs intrigue me partially because they give Internet users a context in which to discuss their opinions. Since many posts on coloradolib go without comments, I'd always assumed my readership consisted mostly of me.

Yesterday, I grudgingly decided to check my traffic reports for the first time since launching the site. And I was stunned to see that I have nearly 100 unique visitors each weekday - not counting Internet worms or robots. So a bashful thank you is in order.

There seem to be enough of you for me to run my very own straw poll. Let's pick on something simple, like the 2006 election. Who's your dream governor? (No, you can't vote for Bill Clinton.)

Holtzman (R) - anounced
Beauprez (R) - announced
Coffman (R) - rumored
Ritter (D) - announced
Romanoff (D) - rumored
Gordon (D) - rumored
Hickenlooper (D) - rumored
Thibault (D) - rumored

Post a reply using the comments link below. I know you're out there. Fire away.

Majority of Americans hate nature

The environment is on my mind, since I just saw a Roper study which reported that 33% of Americans don't care about the environment and 19% are consciously antagonistic to it. (These are the folks who say things like, "I fill my Hummer's tank with 30 gallons of shut your mouth.") Add that up. A majority of Americans either hate the earth or don't care about it at all. Were these people attacked by falling leaves when they were babies?

Anyway, I want to write about the environment and Friday seems to be playing along with me.

Item #1: Today, Dubya nominated Coloradan David Bernhardt to be the top lawyer at the Dept. of the Interior. Bernhardt has been one of the lackies the administration uses to push oil drilling all across the West. In 2001, he helped prepare congressional testimony on Arctic drilling for Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Barnhardt dismissed warnings from the government's own scientists and instead based his work on reports funded by BP. So our government and big oil now share a lawyer.

Item #2: The U.S. House passed a bill opening Colorado's public lands to oil shale development. Our public lands - the lands we pay taxes to support - will be sold to mining companies. The bill includes provisions to limit environmental reviews and to drop consultations with Colorado officials entirely. Every single Colorado Republican voted for the bill. Every single Colorado Democrat voted against it. So now Dubya doesn't even have to ask Owens before he sells Colorado to his big oil buddies. To his credit, Sen. Ken Salazar has vowed to strip the shale provisions from the bill when it reaches the U.S. Senate.

Federici on the Hill

I'll just crib the heavy reporting from Mike Soraghan of the Denver Post: "A former Colorado political aide to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, appearing before an often hostile Senate committee Thursday, denied there was any connection between the nearly $500,000 that Indian tribes gave her organization and access she arranged for the tribes to officials who regulate their casinos. Italia Federici, who now runs a Washington-based Republican environmental organization, told the panel that she set up meetings between top Interior Department officials and lobbyist Jack Abramoff out of friendship, not because of the money he directed to her group from his Indian lobbying clients... Chairman John McCain threatened at one point to have Federici held in contempt of Congress because he felt she wasn't answering his questions. He called her attempts to explain her interactions with Abramoff 'bizarre.'"

I am not sure why Ms. Federici didn't just explain that she was auditioning for White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's job.

Call Congressman John Murtha

I'm not so sure that a quick exit from Iraq is our best move. But Congressman John Murtha is. And he knows what he's talking about - the man earned a bronze star and two purple hearts in Vietnam. According to CNN, "Murtha is considered hawkish on defense issues and is influential with both parties."

Now the White House is out to smear him, saying "it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party. The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists."

Everyone in Colorado should call Murtha's office to voice support. If the White House succeeds in cowing a moderate war hero, nobody else is likely to come forward. Put down your morning coffee (or your lunchtime burrito, for some of you) and call 202-225-2065 right now.

UPDATE: Rollcall Magazine reports that House Republicans plan to launch an ethics probe of John Murtha. The man speaks out, and the next day the GOP attempts to ruin his career. Obviously, they want to make an example of him. I haven't the slightest clue how Republicans sleep at night.

UPDATE #2: Send a note to Congressman Murtha at democrats.org/page/petition/shameonthem.

Salazar on Alito

The Denver Post reports that Sen. Ken Salazar has "grave concern" about SCOTUS nominee Sam Alito. After meeting with Alito for an hour, Salazar said, "I do not yet know whether I will be able to support his confirmation."

Salazar was one of the Gang of 14 that agreed to use fillibusters only in extreme circumstances. He can't very well start one now without opening himself up to charges of flip-flopping. Still, I'm glad Salazar is paying lip service to the liberal wing of the party. A couple nights ago, one activist told me Ken Salazar ought to be renamed Ben Nighthorse Campbell Jr. I didn't share his sentiment, but I did get a good laugh out of it.

UPDATE: Instead of starting a new thread, I thought I'd just update this one to point readers to the Post's reports on Salazar's growing popularity with the DNC: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_3228343.

Republicans for Ritter?

For the last 36 hours, I've been wrestling with how to describe the 2006 kickoff meeting that I attended on November 15. Listening to DNC Chair Howard Dean outline the party's plan for winning all 50 states was inspiring. And meeting up with Denver Dems was encouraging. Every one was smart, involved and passionate.

For the first half of the meeting, there was amazingly little backbiting and whining. Then we were joined by someone who apparently just happened to be in the coffeeshop fundraising for Democrat Bill Ritter. He was a Republican, but a devout Catholic first and an ardent pro-lifer second. So he had decided to break ranks with his party to volunteer for Ritter. And he very much wanted to tell us what was wrong with Democrats in general.

Political people in general (and Democrats in specific) love to argue. So what had been a smart strategizing session quickly became a free for all. Al Gore-like heavy sighs and Chuck Schumer-like incredulous laughter were used liberally, no pun intended. Pretty soon it was late and we left Common Grounds without any sort of action plan.

Dean had used Colorado as an example of Democratic efficiency. In fact he specifically said, "I don't think I have anything to teach Colorado." But our state still a lesson to learn. There need to be forums for debate and forums for action. And we can't afford to let them spill together.

I also took away a mixed view of the Ritter campaign, which I'd been inclined to view positively. On one hand, I am glad it is attracting voters across party lines. On the other, I've met exactly one person from the campaign and that person was a strident Republican who was intent on telling every Democrat he met that he found them foolish. That's no way to build a campaign team.

Maybe I'll get on the Romanoff bandwagon after all.

UPDATE: I talked to someone from the Ritter campaign. He said he planned to talk to his volunteers and then he asked me to put a link to ritterforgovernor.com on coloradolib. Now that is how you run a campaign!

Dean calls his shot in Colorado

Happy Wednesday, everybody. There is much to discuss today, from Owens' new budget to my experiences at a Democratic kickoff event last night. Unfortunately, I am going to be in meetings most of the morning. So until lunchtime, I will leave you with this tidbit: Last night, DNC Chair Howard Dean went out of his way to predict that Colorado would vote for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008.

Right now, there is a Colorado Republican precinct leader tacking that quote up on the war room wall.

Joe Stengel knows the future

After the election, HD38 Repub. Repre. Joe Stengel famously said that Colorado has become a blue state. It seems that Stengel has foretold the end of his own career.

Consider that many pro-C Republicans have focused their backbiting not on Jon Caldera, but on "Rep. Joe Stengel. Stengel, many of them said, was the most dishonest of the NO camp and has apparently burned several of his bridges as a result." (Coloradopols.com, 11/3)

And now consider that Mr. Stengel's likely replacement, Lt. Col. Joe Rice, is currently serving in Iraq. Rice recently wrote an email home that speaks to his desire to work hard here and abroad: "Stay the commitment, change the course."

So Rice is in Iraq staying positive and working for change under grueling conditions. While Stengel is back home getting attacked from within his own party and grousing about how Colorado has become a blue state. I think the future is looking pretty good for the Democrats in 2006.

A truly random rumor

The Emily's Listers and the anti-war crowd will unite to force HD36 representative Morgan Carroll to run for governor. Republican Mike Coffman will get back from Iraq in the nick of time to declare his candidacy. And by then, the Republicans will be so sick of Both Ways Bob and Holtzman beating on each other that they'll dub Coffman the party's savior. So everybody on your radar screen might be gone by February and we'll have a wholly different governor's race with some wholly different names.

Incidentally, I met Ms. Carroll briefly at a Cindy Sheehan-inspired rally. She was the only elected politician to show up.

Sunday is for politics

I have three observations after watching George Snuffleupagus and Meet the Press this morning.

The first is that Colorado Repub. Tom Tancredo has managed to make himself a celebrity just by yelling "immigration" over and over at the top of his lungs.

The second is that His Majesty Abdullah II of Jordan has an amazingly attractive wife named Rania. It makes perfect sense for Jordan to put her on American TV. She's sophisticated, speaks perfect English, and did I mention that she's attractive? (To prove my point, here is a photo of Queen Rania that could easily be mistaken for a J. Crew ad.) In short, she is someone to whom Americans can relate. Contrast that with the White House's ambassador to the Arab world, Karen Hughes. Ms. Hughes does not speak any language that's spoken in the Middle East. And she is definitely not someone to whom most citizens of, say, Syria can relate. I can barely relate to Karen Hughes, and I live here. Hughes' only qualification for her post is that she once wrote a fawning biography of our President. With all the help King Abdullah has given the White House, perhaps he ought to include public relation lessons.

My final observation is that RNC Chair Ken Mehlman is a huge liar. Just about every national blog already has a huge story on this, so I'll just let it go.

(The photo that goes with this story was taken from a website with a public domain notice. Therefore, I assume the photo is public domain. If you own this photo, please post on this thread and I will remove it.)

Romanoff's idea express keeps rolling

Is Romanoff out to prove that the Democrats are the party of new ideas? And is he planning to do it by himself? Conservative groups want the Democrats to rewrite 23, the law that says Colorado has to increase education spending every year. Teachers groups, obviously, sort of like the spending increases. And they point to Colorado's dilapidated schools as evidence that increased funding is needed.

Romanoff proposed something in the middle: savings accounts dedicated to education. That way, when Colorado hits another recession, the legislature won't have to make huge cuts to other programs. Teachers groups and fiscal conservatives are both wary. But something as logical as "saving" may have traction with voters. Apparently, Ken Gordon is working on something similar in the Senate. Stay tuned.

Romanoff vs. Mitchell: A tale of two parties

On the Aaron Harbor Show last night, four Colorado politicians were asked, "If you could get one piece of legislation passed next year, what would it be?"

Democrat House Speaker Andrew Romanoff chose healthcare. What we have now isn't working, we need a new system, and so on. Inspirational, but a bit vague. (Perhaps Andrew is planning a run for some higher office?)

Democrat State Repr. Bernie Buescher said something so sensible, everybody instantly agreed with him. And so wonky, it flew completely over my head.

Republican State Repr. Nancy Spence dredged up her failed school voucher program from a couple years back.

And Republican State Sen. Shawn Mitchell, even when given extra time, couldn't come up with a single bill he wanted to pass. He claimed he was too focused on defeating the Democratic agenda to have one of his own.

Now, let's think back to 2004. I had many Republicans tell me, "The Dems have no new ideas. They're not for anything. They're just anti-Bush." It was a lie then. And it's a lie now. The Dems are putting forth inspirational, bipartisan, common-sense new proposals. While the Republicans spew hatred and keep hammering on failed ideas from the past. The proof was on Channel 12 last night.

Hick restrains himself

According to the November 5 Denver Post, Mayor Hickenlooper "opted against vetoing the City Council's decision to tap city reserves to hire more police officers."

The Mayor opposed using the emergency reserve this way. He had already budgeted money to train and hire 137 officers next year. So why the restraint? Think of it this way. "Hick vetoes more money for cops" would be a terrible headline should he decide to run for governor. Perhaps this is a sign that he is thinking about his political future.

National Organizing Kickoff for 2006

I have gotten multiple emails from the Democrats and the Colorado Democrats regarding National Organizing Kickoff Day. Personally, I'm attending the meeting at Common Grounds Coffeehouse on November 15. But so far, I am the only one signed up for that location.

Quit complaining. Start working. Put The DNC's fifty-state plan into action. Search for a meeting near you at http://www.democrats.org/page/event/search_simple.

Salazar and veterans vs. the right

It's Veterans Day. So I thought it'd be a good time to note that congressional Republicans have voted against improvements to veteran's care five times this year alone.

Meanwhile Senate press releases show that, "two provisions by Senator Ken Salazar, one to expand sight rehabilitation programs and the other to improve long-term care, were added to the Veterans Health Care Act" in September.

Salazar spoke the other night. From a press release from his office, here are some of his comments.

"Just recently, we have successfully fought to improve benefits for military widows and widowers, to plug the $1.3 billion hole in the VA budget and to stop a planned review of PTSD cases that would be one-sided and unfair to our nations most vulnerable veterans... A 2004 study found that rural veterans scored worse than urban veterans both in overall health and mental health. Because of the distance and difficulties in obtaining care, many rural veterans put off preventive as well as necessary treatment, which results in poorer health and ultimately increased health costs. In many rural parts of Colorado, veterans are being forced to drive hundreds of miles to get basic health care at over-utilized facilities... I am proud to have introduced the VetsRide Act to help programs like these survive. The bill provides small grants to groups that provide transportation or otherwise assist veterans in rural areas. This bill has earned the support of 17 Senate cosponsors including eight Republicans. I hope to get this legislation approved so that we can continue these transportation programs that are a lifeline to our rural veterans. In August, I hosted a field hearing on rural veterans issues in Grand Junction, Colorado. Based on that hearing, I introduced legislation to require the VA to reevaluate outdated policies that disadvantage rural areas in the placement of new VA clinics. In September, the Senate passed that legislation... Colorado has 433,000 veterans who have fought for our freedom and our state has more than 13,000 soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to show these heroes that we will support them when they come home."

So if you're a vet who has been blinded in an explosion, turn to the Democrats. If you're a soldier who wants to torture POWs, turn to Dubya, Lindsay Graham and the folks on the right who voted two days ago to strip prisoners at Guantanamo of the right of habeus corpus.

Anybody who actually thinks that the Republicans care more about veterans than Salazar and company do is invited to suck eggs and then post their comments on this thread.

(By the way, the image on this post is from the newsroom on Salazar's website, so I assume it is OK to use. If not, don't sue me.)

All quiet on the Colorado front

The military, in Field Artillery Magazine and Infantry Magazine, has admitted to dumping white phosphorus on Fallujah. White phosphorus is an incendiary, a chemical weapon, and an illuminant. It is banned by a 1980 treaty. However, the United States did not sign the provisions of the treaty that ban the illuminant uses of white phosphorus. It did sign the part about not dumping it on civilian populations or using it as a weapon.

Photos of burned children are all over European TV, Arab TV, and the Internet. The BBC reports that, "Eyewitnesses and ex-US soldiers say the weapon was used in built-up areas in the insurgent-held city. The US military denies this, but admits using white phosphorus bombs in Iraq to illuminate battlefields."

Obviously, the denials are false. The army's own publication, Field Artillery Magazine, reports, "WP [i.e., white phosphorus rounds] proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired 'shake and bake' missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."

While this is huge news, no one in Colorado seems to be talking about it. I have tried to contact Senator Ken Salazar to get a statement and he has not returned my emails as of yet.

Even more troubling, the Denver Post has not reported the story at all. A search of denverpost.com for "white phosphorus" turned up zilch. This is inexcusable. Who is writing the Post these days, Dick Cheney? I emailed their newsroom to ask who was covering the story. That email has also thus far gone unreturned.

O'Donnell vs. the taxpayers

I have been a critic of Republican Rick O'Donnell, the presumed Republican nominee for Both Way Bob's empty seat. And (no surprise here) I am joined by Democratic challenger Ed Perlmutter. Perlmutter is calling for O'Donnell to release financial information related to the Dick Cheney fundraiser two weeks ago:

"Perlmutter is asking O'Donnell to answer the following questions:

1. How much did the Cheney fundraiser cost the taxpayers?
2. Are you planning to reimburse taxpayers for those costs?
3. What is your timetable for reimbursement?

'I believe the taxpayers of Colorado have a right to know if their hard-earned money was used to subsidize Dick Cheney's fundraising trip, for which Rick O'Donnell temporarily interrupted his three week tour of Europe,' said Perlmutter."

If Dick Cheney had a runny nose, I wouldn't lend him two bucks to buy Kleenex. So I sure don't want my tax dollars financing his junkets to my state.

Stupid Kansas ruins Tuesday

Big wins for the Dems in Ohio, in Virginia, on Long Island, in Maine, in Minnesota, in New Jersey, in California and in Pennsylvania. Only our neighbor to the east has let the country down. Jodi Wilgoren of The New York Times reports that "The fiercely split Kansas Board of Education voted 6 to 4 on Tuesday to adopt new science standards that are the most far-reaching in the nation in challenging Darwin's theory of evolution in the classroom... Among the most controversial changes was a redefinition of science itself, so that it would not be explicitly limited to natural explanations."

Yeah, you wouldn't want any science being taught in science class. Based on what happened yesterday in Dover, Penn., I have to assume that there are six people on the Kansas Board of Education who ought to be afraid for their jobs right about now.