Politics

In the wake of his caucus loss to longtime state lawmaker Andrew Romanoff, appointed first-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet released a TV ad. The Bennet campaign is saying that to “many fellow Coloradans” unfamiliar with the Senator, the ad will be “a first introduction.”

Colorado campaign watchdog groups are keeping a close eye on a Virginia nonprofit group with a Littleton address, which they suspect may be the smoking gun gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis alluded to on a cryptic voicemail nearly a year ago.

WASHINGTON– “Might as well not even be here,” grumbled Georgia Holliday. “I can’t believe that Dick Armey screwed up like this!”

Holliday was not alone. Having traveled into the city from the suburbs for the 10 a.m. “Code Red” rally on the Capitol grounds, she got more and more annoyed that she couldn’t hear any of the speakers. (She was also annoyed at the wrong Tea Party activist — the Code Red rally was sponsored by a coalition of Tea Party groups, while a different, 9 a.m. rally had been organized by Armey’s FreedomWorks.) As Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) waved a copy the massive Senate version health care bill — “I brought an abortion to show you!” — Holliday winced and chanted her disapproval.

The Associated Press described last night’s caucus results as a measure of anti-establishment sentiment but that’s a stretch. The results suggest voters’ feelings were mixed, that there are no clear frontrunners, and that Coloradans should be prepared for heated campaigns for months to come.

Tonight is Caucus night in Colorado. Thousands of political junkies and activists will turn out to elect delegates to represent candidates at the party state assemblies in May.

Pioneering lefty Colorado political blog SquareState announced a change in management Tuesday. Previously owned by Paul Preston’s Soapbox Network, the site was purchased by Open Communications Colorado, LLC, which is Sarah Fong, former Andrew Romanoff regional campaign director, Crystal Clinkenbeard, media strategist for Planned Parenthood of the Rockies, and Catharine Wallace.

The National Journal reports today that Jane Norton has already spent $243,000 on TV ads and that a lot of that has been spent in the weeks leading up to tonight’s caucus. Norton is battling back primary challenges from Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and former state Sen. Tom Wiens.

Happy coincidence or strategic tipping of his campaign hand? That’s what Garfield County Democrats must be wondering after the “surprise” appearance of Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Scott McInnis at the local GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night in Glenwood Springs.
McInnis, a former six-term U.S. congressman born and raised in Glenwood, showed up among a bevy of [...]

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is aiming to “queer the census” by handing out stickers Americans can paste onto the outside of their census envelopes to indicate their sex preference and gender identity. “We’re here. We’re queer and we want to be counted” goes the campaign slogan.
For Christian conservative Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele [...]

A group of Republicans this afternoon will meet with reporters to protest the Democrats’ plans to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in government subsidies to private companies that lend to students. The Democrats’ bill would have students borrow directly from the U.S. Treasury, which makes sense to supporters because it’s the Treasury that currently assumes all the risk for those loans anyway — a boon to private companies that assume no risk. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that eliminating the private middleman will save $67 billion over the next decade, most of which will go toward expanding college scholarships to low-income students.