Tom Tancredo live-blog: He's running

[Ed. - Since this is a live-blog, accuracy of all quotes is subject to how fast my fingers can type.]

8:09 - Listening to WHO, courtesy of a link off of the Rocky. Tancredo is on. The host says there are journalists waiting around.

8:11 - Tancredo thanks talk radio for pushing the issue of illegal immigration. It is "talk radio that has allowed us to get where we are today." He claims 15 million are here illegally.

8:12 - "The melting pot is cracked."

8:15 - "Diversity can be positive, but not when it becomes a sort of state religion... Our national leaders have forgotten this... I am going to run for President of the United States."

8:17 - Host thanks Tancredo. Says listeners love him. Tancredo makes a fundraising pitch.

8:23 - Back from commercial. Host asks what "pushed Tancredo over the edge." He answers "the field of candidates." He says they all are for some form of amnesty, in some form of another. Host asks for Tancredo's plan on immigration; says in Iowa there are between 50,000 to 60,000 illegal immigrants who cost taxpayers millions of dollars, even if they are hard-working. Tancredo answers with a "controversial" part of his platform - "Enforce the law." Includes building a "barrier" on the border.

8:28 - Bush is working with "McKennedy" to stage "high-profile" raids that are largely for show, not because there is any real commitment to enforcing the law. Tancredo states we must go after employers. "It is not necessary to talk about rounding up millions of people." There will be attrition if you prosecute employers and enforce the borders.

8:32 - Host mentions a Cardinal Mahony saying there is a religious duty to help immigrants. (I assume it's this guy.) Tancredo says we should show compassion for American workers whose wages have been depressed and countries of origin, where people have been left behind.

8:41 - Tancredo asked to weigh in on Alberto Gonzales. Tancredo calls for his resignation. Not so much because of the current scandal, but because of Gonzales' prosecution of border agents.

8:47 - Caller asks about Tancredo's support for Fair Tax proposal. Tancredo says he supports it because it gets rid of the "burdensome" IRS. Tancredo claims a consumption tax will stimulate the economy and create millions of jobs.

They will do another segment, but I have to move on. My personal opinions later.

UPDATE: Oval Office 2008 questions Tancredo's timing, the Rocky and CNN's Political Ticker cover the story, Oreo fills us in on Tancredo's connections to hate groups, and Tancredo Watch wonders if "his candidacy will help frame the debate at all within the Republican party."

UPDATE: I had Tancredo at about 250-1 to secure the GOP nomination. After listening to Republican talkshow host Hugh Hewitt rake him over the coals on a wide range of subjects, I think 500-1 might be more like it:

HH: ...GOP question, just two years and three months ago, Tom, you endorsed an American Independent Party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special election out here in Orange County. Is that material to a campaign for the GOP nomination, that you threw the Republican overboard just two years ago?

Meanwhile Wonkette writes that Tancredo is "officially the 51st person and 4th diagnosed psychotic to enter the race." That's not just Wonkette being pithy. According to Raoul Lowery Contreras writing at TownHall, "Historians should note that when [Tancredo's] student deferments ran out at Northern Colorado University during the Vietnam War, Tancredo informed his Selective Service Board (the Draft) that he was mentally ill and suffered anxiety attacks."

The Politico reports that Tancredo is currently not one of the nine GOP hopefuls who will debate on May 3. Yikes. Tancredo has too many devoted followers to finish 10th in the early primaries. But he'll be hard pressed to break into the top 6, which means he may well decide to hang onto his CD6 seat in 2008.

2007 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner: Nancy Pelosi closes out APATTW

On paper, the speaker at this year's Jefferson-Jackson dinner couldn't have been more different than the speaker a year ago. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer had arrived in a jean jacket and delivered a speech that was equal parts hunting lesson and energy symposium. By contrast, this year the Colorado Democrats welcomed California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House in our nation's history.

It wasn't likely that Pelosi would reminisce about her time in 4-H. But it turned out that she had more in common with Schweitzer than one might expect.

From the beginning, her speech featured the pragmatic populism that swept the Democrats to victory in 2006. She told the crowd of nearly 2,000 about the success of the Six for '06 agenda, which included raising the minimum wage and passing a new stem cell bill. She blasted the Iraq War, pointing out that the real war on terror has been neglected.

Pelosi may lack Schweitzer's easy-going nature. But she isn't the San Francisco liberal you read about in the mainstream media, either. She's just a Democrat trying to find pragmatic solutions.

This is the final night of Coloradolib's 2nd All Positive, All The Time Week. Speaker Pelosi provided a marvelous capstone for it.

(More: Rocky, 7, SquareState)

The many, many people who are not Diana DeGette

At some point during Democratic CD1 representative Diana DeGette's media luncheon, I realized that many people are not Diana DeGette. Like me. And you. And all the people discussed below.

The 106th Congress was not Diana DeGette.

DeGette started by running down the early accomplishments of the 110th Congress. In just the first 100 hours, Congress passed bills to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, increase the minimum wage, improve America's energy situation, and more.

Then DeGette talked about global climate change and Iraq War escalation. And she listed the leadership posts she'll hold in the House.

One goal she won't pursue: The impeachment of George Bush. She said it would be a distraction from issues like healthcare and global warming.

The contrast between the Democrats of the year 2007 and their Republican counterparts from eight years ago couldn't have been clearer. Imagine how much better off America would have been if the Republican-controlled 106th Congress had put aside its petty and nasty partisan games and focused on moving America forward.

George Bush is not Diana DeGette.

DeGette is an advocate of increased protection for children on the Internet. She is drafting legislation that would require ISPs to keep records for one year, making it possible for police to trace crimes back to the perpetrators. Privacy advocates worry that the bill could infringe on the rights of Internet users. But DeGette, herself an ACLU member, envisions safeguards to protect the innocent. Law enforcement officials would have demonstrate probable cause and obtain a subpoena before accessing records. And Internet providers would be asked to retain identifying data only, not communications.

The President has his war on terror. DeGette has her war on online predators. But DeGette has the skill and vision to wage her war without trampling the Constitution. Bush does not.

Tom Tancredo is not Diana DeGette.

I often tell the story of the elderly African-America woman who stopped me on a Denver sidewalk to tell me how much she loved Diana DeGette. I was doing a lit drop for Bill Ritter. And I asked the lady if she would be voting for him in November.

"I will if he's in the same party as Diana DeGette," she answered.

I asked DeGette how she'd managed to engender this sort of loyalty while leading a national campaign to legalize federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. She talked about her roots in Denver and her passion for seeing the West prosper.

Like DeGette, Congressman Tom Tancredo is a national player with a signature issue. But Tancredo's issue has consumed him to the point where he has lost touch with his district. DeGette's has not.

Joe Lieberman is not Diana DeGette.

DeGette represents a district that's sure to re-elect her as many times as she cares to run. Yet she still listens to her constituents. And makes time to reach out to party leaders, liberal activists and the media.

Joe Liberman lost the 2006 Democratic primary not just because of his opinion on Iraq or his fondness for Bush. He was shown the door because he looked the party faithful in the eye and told them he did not care about their opinions. He thought he was above the democratic process.

Despite the relative safety of her CD1 seat, DeGette is still taking risks and earning and re-earning her election. I don't know how much longer she'll serve. But it's hard to imagine a better representative for Denver.

More at SquareState, Daily Kos and Colorado Confidential.

"It's about Colorado leading the way, leading the nation."

Me and about 3,000 of my closest friends watched Bill Ritter take the oath of office shortly before noon. His speech opened with praise for everyone from Bill Owens and Robert F. Kennedy to Ritter's extensive family. And he repeated the themes that carried him to victory in November - renewable energy, education and healthcare reform.

I stood in a receiving line for nearly an hour to congratulate Ritter, along with Barbara O'Brien, John Suthers and Cary Kennedy. It's a little strange getting a 20 second audience with the Governor. I said, "Congratulations, good luck and nice weather we're having," or something similarly inane. Ritter smiled back like I was making sense.

It was even odder shaking hands with Suthers. The attorney general has a disturbing affinity for the Trailhead Group, but has recently attempted to create bipartisan legislation.

There's more coverage of the day here, here, here and here. This diary was cross-posted at SquareState.

According to media, election coverage swell

I got the press release from Bill Ritter spokesperson Evan Dreyer at 11:40 this morning:

Gov.-elect Bill Ritter today announced a full line-up of inaugural festivities that will kick off with a Jan. 9 swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol and conclude with a statewide plane tour. A dinner, concert and whistle-stop train tour also will round out the celebration.

The release landed in my inbox as I was putting on my jacket to head to a Colorado Media Matters panel discussion that featured Dreyer and his opposite number from the Bob Beauprez campaign, John Marshall. For a moment, I imagined the release I would've gotten had Both Ways Bob won the election:

Gov.-elect Bob Beauprez today announced a full line-up of inaugural festivities that will kick off with a Jan. 9 swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol. Or maybe it'll be at the Olive Garden. Or the governor's mansion. No wait, the Capitol. On the 9th. Or maybe the 10th.

I shuddered, switched off my computer, and headed out the door.

So, like, you people are real journalists, huh?

In addition to Dreyer and Marshall, the panel included newsmen Adam Schrager, Greg Moore, John Temple and Jeff Thomas, and Colorado University's Elizabeth Skewes.

I felt a bit out of place. Most of the people in the audience were journalists (like Colorado Confidential blogger Wendy Norris) or politicians (like State Senator Ken Gordon). Coloradolib provides coverage of debates, rallies and protests, along with unlimited amounts of snark. But it's not really the place you go for investigative reporting.

Nonetheless, I had a question I was dying to ask the media figures in attendance. "Why did you keep breathing life into Bob Beauprez's ethically bankrupt and politically floundering campaign?" Or, as I phrased the question in my notebook:

In your coverage of the Medina ad scandal, you consistently balanced stories about Beauprez's alleged crime with stories about Ritter's questionable judgement when it came to offering plea bargains. How could you possibly equate those two things?

I never got a chance to ask my question.

But the whole thing was darn interesting anyway.

It was clear from the outset that Marshall was bitter about Beauprez's defeat, but he went out of his way to say the media wasn't to blame. Dreyer felt the media was too hard on Ritter at times, but as the winner he could afford to be magnanimous.

The most interesting exchange came when Skewes took traditional media to task for using the web as a dumping ground for information it didn't have the space to run. Temple denied the charges and said traditional media is using the web because readers are demanding it.

And despite what my too-clever headline would lead you to believe, the journalists were open about some of their own failings. For instance, Schrager revealed that his Truth Tests were so popular, 9 News occasionally made room for them by shelving other political reporting, in essence dubbing the advertising the biggest story of the election.

And while much of the conversation revolved around the role of the Internet, the panel didn't feature a single Internet-based reporter.

So is the media biased or not?

Towards the end, someone asked the panel whether the media had traded objectivity for bipartisanship. All of the journalists denied it. But as Schrager said, "Everybody looks through their own prism and sees what they want to see."

The mainstream media's bias is for balance, whether that balance paints a truthful picture or not. And that's why, when Marshall admitted the left did a better job of blogging the election, I had to shrug my shoulders. It was easier for us, because the mainstream media wasn't telling the whole truth about Beauprez. That gave us something to write about.

That's one of the many reasons why on January 9, we'll welcome Governor Bill Ritter, instead of Governor Both Ways Bob.

Photo of Dreyer and Marshall courtesy of my handy-dandy camera phone. Video of the panel will be available here at some point. Thank you to Colorado Media Matters for putting together the panel. And a special thanks to Marshall for participating in a Media Matters-sponsored event.

Me and John Edwards and possibly the longest post in the history of Coloradolib

I know what everybody out there is wondering.

What did I do today before I had lunch?

I sat in a conference room at the new Hyatt with former vice presidential nominee and 2008 frontrunner Senator John Edwards.

Who was there besides me and the Senator?

Writers from Square State, ColoradoPols, Dave Cullen, Colorado Confidential and Talk Left. And activists from Progressive Majority and Progress Now Action, who arranged the whole thing and I will love 'em forever for it.

The question I didn't ask the Senator.

Is Amanda Congdon super-hot in person?

The question I did ask the Senator.

"When I saw you speak in March, you advocated integrating neighborhoods by economic class. Um, can you, uh, explain that?"

What the Senator answered.

Edwards was sitting directly to my left and it was a real experience to have him turn, look me square in the eye, and describe one of his most controversial ideas. It involves a restructuring of HUD and the nation's housing voucher system to give people more choice and local governments more control. In America today, education and capital are mobile. If we give people the ability to migrate to the neighborhoods they choose, we can give technicians and laborers the same advantages that knowledge workers and the creative class currently enjoy.

Want to read more about that?

Go for it.

What else did we talk about?

Edwards rebuffed questions about political campaigns and talking points. He wanted to talk policy.

The conversation initially focused on social issues. The President has bought a tenuous recovery by running up a gigantic deficit while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans. The result has been a system where the GDP and Dow increase while wages drop or remain stagnant. Is there a solution or are we screwed?

Edwards offered three goals our country needs to pursue to right the economy. A war on poverty. A change in the energy dynamic. And a universal healthcare system. In fact, he said he is hard at work on a proposal that will guarantee efficient, economical healthcare for all Americans. Since Edwards had just proposed increasing the use of housing vouchers to help fight poverty in America, I wonder if his healthcare system might use them the same way, like a plan I saw in The Washington Monthly.

Edwards also talked terrorism. He managed to dig himself a bit of a hole as he tried to split the difference between legalizing torture and giving future presidents the tools to protect America. He pointed out that the Military Commission Act, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib have lessened America's moral authority. But he refused to rule out the use of aggressive interrogation tactics in extreme circumstances. It wasn't the answer the crowd wanted, and we discussed it for a long time after Edwards left without reaching any consensus.

But to me, the exchange was a clear indication that Edwards is planning a White House run in 2008. It seems like he has thought through the shades of gray a President might face.

Who else is writing about the roundtable?

Probably all the bloggers I mentioned up top. Knock yourself out.

Where can you buy Elizabeth Edwards' book?

It's on Amazon.

Where did I eat lunch afterwards?

At the Appaloosa Grill with five other bloggers. We discussed what we'd heard; the idea that if we all linked to each other, none of us would actually need to spend time writing about the event; and whether Bill Winter will destroy Tom Tancredo or merely whup him. Were we being overly optimistic about the CD6 race? Maybe. Hanging out with John Edwards will do that to you. His charisma is legendary. But his optimism is what I find most appealing. Edwards believes in America. He's apparently devoid of cynicism or guile.

So, like, Edwards in '08, then?

Yeah, probably. Let's get through '06 first.

Photo courtesy of Progress Now Action.

Martinis with Mason

Hit 1: Avenue Grill makes the best martinis in Denver. I should know. I managed to drink two as I listened to Mason Tvert, director of SAFER , explain why marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol.

Hit 2: Have you ever seen Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical? Not only is it hilarious, it gives you the chance to watch Kristen Bell get jiggy with it.

Hit 3: Our waiter asked Mason if he was that guy behind the whole marijuana thing. The waiter had the same giddy look on his face that I would get if Katherine Heigl endorsed Bill Winter.

Hit 4: I have to read The Tipping Point.

Hit 5: How the hell is marijuana legalization ever going to get a serious hearing in America? The right-wing libertarians who might champion it are too indebted to the religious right to ever consider it. The left-wing privacy-rights people are too afraid of enraging soccer moms to mention it. And people like me don't want to touch it because we don't our candidates to get sucked into a culture war with the armies of the night. But Mason is a convincing guy. He is sure that the issue will bring out voters for whichever side picks it up first.

Hit 6: As I drank my second martini, I thought about how many people I know who have almost died drinking. At least five or six guys. And then I thought about how many people I know who have almost died getting high. Not a single person.

Hm.