But even Maes supporters must be having doubts now, given his campaign finance violations and his repeat fudging about his resume. That’s why this tape of Arizona’s GOP Governor Jan Brewer, an experienced politician by any measure when set against Maes, must also work to give them pause.

Today at his Facebook page, Maes rallied supporters with an inspirational status update:

I stand by everything I have said. When you get the media and the machine out of the way and the peoples voices are heard, we win. Do not be deceived by the word games and manipulation by the media. We are in the 4th quarter of the game and we must dig deeper than ever into our souls to find the strength to fight to the end. Do not waiver. This is all part of the journey.

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In a do-it-yourself-style email full of capital letters, random quotes and exclamation points, he calls on voters to let him fill the leadership gap:

Everyone who is a conservative/Independent thinker/proud American and/or Coloradan who is literally yearning for another “electable option” should forward this to everyone they know! Make a donation for truth, justice, character, and integrity. These values matter!!
DONATE NOW!!!!

He includes a YouTube that in style and effect matches perfectly with the email.

The email:

TO ALL COLORADANS!

Character, Integrity, and Professional Ethics matter!!!! They are the first and most integral aspects of “Leadership”.

Watch YouTube NOW!!!!

Everyone who is a conservative/Independent thinker/proud American and/or Coloradan who is literally yearning for another “electable option” should forward this to everyone they know! Make a donation for truth, justice, character, and integrity. These values matter!!
DONATE NOW!!!! www.jasonclarkforgovernor.com

network with Me @ facebook, Linkedin, twitter, blog, Newsletter, YouTube, ustream

Jason R. Clark for Governor of Colorado

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The 12 articles, plus five speeches and several TV interviews, appear to be some, but not all, of the work McInnis produced during his two-year fellowship at the Hasan Family Foundation, for which he was paid $300,000– $150,000 per year, according to the foundation’s attorney Glenn Merrick. It’s unclear why the Hasan Family Foundation sought to fund a series of articles on water and why McInnis was the top choice to produce them.

In a Dec. 2, 2005, memo accompanying the articles, McInnis writes that his work for 2005 “resulted in 12 researched articles (in a series format that requires continued research) supported by speaking engagements.”

But three of the 12 articles listed as his work product for 2005 are missing. The missing titles are: “Who gets the water? Nothing much has really changed,” “West of the 100^th Meriden (sic),” and “Dividing the Waters.”

McInnis expected to write over a dozen more articles in 2006, during the second year of his fellowship, according to his end-of-the-year memo in 2005.

“At this point I think we are well on track to have a very active 2006, including 15 to 20 more articles and several speeches,” McInnis wrote in 2005.

But only three articles stamped with 2006 dates were released by the Hasan Family Foundation. So either McInnis came way short of producing the expected 15 to 20 articles in 2006, or most of his 2006 work has yet to be released.

Each of the articles posted on the foundation website has “MUSINGS ON WATER” at the top, usually followed by a headline beneath it, like “A River Stretched too Far” or “A Start for the Upper Basin.”

Each article concludes with “Thank you until next time.”

The first article in the series begins: “WATER! It is an absolute human and economic necessity. WATER! You and I cannot live without it. Colorado’s economy and people absolutely depend on water.”

The articles are mostly descriptive, with some opinions and interpretations interspersed.

Oddly, the titles of the missing articles indicate that they might contain more of McInnis’ opinions on water issues, but who knows, given the content of the articles that were released. McInnis wrote in his cover memo to the foundation that, per the agreement between him and the foundation, his articles were “written at a level that non-water experts could easily understand.”

This seems to be true, but I’m familiar enough about Colorado water issues to know that as a “non-water expert,” I’m in no position to evaluate these articles.

I asked Foundation attorney Merrick if the Foundation had other McInnis’ water articles that were not posted and if McInnis was consulted.

“In response to your questions, Mr. McInnis served as a Hasan Family Foundation Fellow for two years and received $150,000 per year in that capacity,” he responded via email. “The decision to publish his work product for the Foundation was made exclusively by the Foundation. Neither Mr. McInnis nor any of his staff or advisors was consulted about the decision. All of Mr. McInnis’ work product in the possession of the Foundation is being published.”

Merrick leaves open the possibility that more articles exist, possibly in McInnis’ possession, but the Hasan Foundation does not have them. Previously, you recall, Merrick told me that McInnis would have to release the articles himself.

In addition to the articles, memo, and news release, the Foundation posted a revised description of McInnis’ fellowship, as well as an updated photo.

[Flickr Photo via McInnis for Colorado]

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Dan Maes

“Wow,” Maes said after hearing the vote announced.

“This is about you. This is about the people standing up and making their voices heard, telling us what is important, telling us what you want from government and not the other way around. We are just getting warmed up,” he told the few hundred people who stayed to the end of the assembly at the Budweiser Event Center here.

“I’m speechless. I‘m asking you to give me a chance. Don’t fight me. Get on the train because we are leaving the station. There are those who have been waiting and watching, asking Is this guy for real? Can we really do it? Did we do it?” he asked the screaming crowd before launching into a fundraising spiel.

Earlier in the day, appealing for votes from the capacity crowd of 3,531 voters plus alternates, the two main candidates for governor, Maes and former Congressman Scott McInnis, left no doubt where they stand on immigration, taxes, abortion and gay marriage. To hear them tell it, they are each the true conservative in the race. They are each to the right of the other. Make no mistake about that.

Dan Maes was introduced as the “most conservative candidate for governor.”

He spoke of the “conservative revolution” he would usher in as governor.

“I’ve put more than 70,000 miles on my car while running for governor. As I was doing this, something new was happening; it’s called the tea party.” He said he has been to more tea party events than any other candidate.

“I have heard you speak loudly. You are tired of illegal immigrants running over your state. I’m here to help and I’m not from the government,” he said to loud applause.

“I am of Judeo-Christian faith. I will not give another inch on the sanctity of life.”

He said Americans need no excuse to own firearms: the Second Amendment guarantees that right.

He said he will cut taxes and bring back energy jobs he claims have left, trading on a GOP theme not supported by facts on the ground, where gas drilling is booming.

Maes has been plagued in the last week by a legal complaint concerning his campaign finances. As the Colorado Independent reported, documents filed with the Secretary of State reveal that, since October, Maes has been paid $33,135 by his campaign for mileage. Since January, the campaign paid him $7,599 for other expenses and since February, Maes has received a flat $5,000 a month for mileage.

“He says he’s just paying himself back but these are scary, ridiculous numbers,” said Erik Groves, who filed the complaint on behalf of Christopher Klitzke. “It looks like he is paying himself a salary. We looked at where he has traveled and it doesn’t match up in terms of justifying such high mileage reimbursement.” Groves agreed to suspend action on the complaint until after the delegate assembly today.

The complaint certainly didn’t seem to cost Maes support.

Scott McInnis was introduced by Margo Knudsen, who said she had been a Maes supporter for a year, but switched sides because she thinks McInnis has a better chance of beating Democratic nominee John Hickenlooper. She exhorted Republicans not to drag the race for the nomination out until August, but to pick McInnis today.

“On Day One I will reverse the executive order that unionized all state agencies,” McInnis promised. “I will stand by the governor of Arizona. I will stand by Tom Tancredo to protect our borders.”

He said any attempt to dilute the Tabor Amendment would be met by his veto pen.

“When it comes to tax increases that kill jobs, those tax increases will not go by the governor’s office. There is a new day coming.”

As he was going after Hickenlooper for being soft on immigration, he was cut off by party chair Dick Wadhams for reaching the 12-minute limit on speeches. “When you think of open doors and sanctuary cities, you think of Hickenlooper,” he said.

McInnis had left for his daughter’s wedding before the results were announced and was not available for comment immediately.

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Maes said the reason his campaign has paid him $33,135 in mileage reimbursement since October is because when he began campaigning in March, 2009, he paid for most of his mileage out of pocket because the campaign had very little money.

Once the campaign began generating sufficient cash flow last fall, he said, the campaign began reimbursing him retroactively for past expenses. He said Colorado Republican Party attorney Ryan Call told him that he could do that. Call had not returned messages by Tuesday morning.

Dan Maes

As the Colorado Independent reported Friday, documents filed with the Secretary of State reveal that, since October, Maes has been paid $33,135 by his campaign for mileage. Since January, the campaign paid him $7,599 for other expenses, and since February, the campaign has paid his daughter Jordan $5,200 to be his assistant. Also since February, Maes has received a flat $5,000 a month for mileage.

Erik Groves, the attorney who filed the complaint with the secretary of state’s office, said the law forbids using money raised today to reimburse a candidate for expenses incurred many months ago.

“He says he’s just paying himself back but these are scary, ridiculous numbers,” said Groves, who filed the complaint on behalf of Christopher Klitzke. “It looks like he is paying himself a salary. We looked at where he has traveled and it doesn’t match up in terms of justifying such high mileage reimbursement.”

The complaint is now before an administrative law judge. It had been scheduled for a hearing May 20, but has been postponed. Groves said he asked to have it postponed because they didn’t think it was fair to Maes to have it right before the Colorado Republican Convention. “We really have nothing against Maes, but we have legitimate concerns about his expenses.”

The complaint, as filed, deals only with expenses from the last quarter of 2009, but Groves said they will probably amend it to include the first quarter of 2010.

Groves, who said he’s a Republican, described his client as a young activist who wants to make the Republican Party stronger by ensuring that its candidates are free of taint. “I have clients who support Maes, so I’ve gotten some grief over this, but we are just trying to ensure that the truth comes out.”

He says he is not concerned that Maes has paid his daughter $5200 so far as a campaign staff member.

Maes said he understood how putting his daughter on the payroll “might raise some eyebrows, but I tell you she works 16 or 17 hours a day.”

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“Does [McInnis] realize that 20 percent of his own electorate is Latino and they are in line to be profiled by the Arizona law if they travel just one state over,” Chandra Russo, communications coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, told the Colorado Independent. “We find it abhorrent to see Mr. McInnis support a law to profile immigrant Americans.”

Others believed it was partly a misguided campaign tactic, that McInnis like other Republican candidates here, is tacking right, being steered in effect by influential Tea Party groups in the state.

“This is just the latest example of Scott McInnis being to the extreme right of his party.” said Bobby Clark, deputy director of the progressive group Progress Now. “Many national conservatives are stepping away from this law and yet McInnis is embracing it.” Clark said it only highlights the need for the kind of comprehensive immigration reform policy his organization supports.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak wondered where McInnis has been on the debate until now.

“As a party we have recognized that this is a federal issue and that we need federal reform. I think that the Arizona law is seriously unconstitutional and I am just wondering where Scott McInnis was when we were passing immigration laws… I think [McInnis] ought to start explaining what he knows about immigration law, because it sounds like he doesn’t know very much about it.”

The Arizona bill requires officers to demand citizenship papers from and arrest anyone they suspect may be in the state / country illegally. The law also establishes a procedure by which citizens can report businesses they believe to employing illegal aliens. The bill states that race, ethnicity and place of origin can not be used as evidence in police arrests or citizen reports.

Waak said the law is counter productive. “It puts an unnecessary wedge between communities and the police who are supposed to keep them safe. It undermines America’s basic notions of fairness.”

Waak noted that GOP U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton, who has been caught out repeatedly catering to Tea Party voters, recently made statements similar to those McInnis made today about the Arizona law.

“The Arizona law is a natural reaction of states trying to solve a problem that the federal government has basically ignored for 30 years. Year in and year out, states have been forced to shoulder the increased costs associated with illegal immigration. If I’m elected as U.S. Senator, I will stand up for the rights of states like Arizona to protect their citizens from illegal immigration.”

Waak said she thought pandering to the “far right of the party” was not a wise campaign move.

ProgressNow’s Clark, on the other hand, saw the move as perhaps sincere and so a disturbing signal.

“If we are not careful, there are going to be more states like [Arizona], where irrationality and xenophobia take over and we end up with a patchwork of really awful laws,” Clark said.

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Indeed, Duffy said that McInnis’s now-famous remark about “taking a beating” should he release his tax forms was a reference to the “beating” he would take from his partners for releasing the K1s. But K1 forms do not list the names or incomes of all partners in a firm.

“Each partner gets a unique K1 with only their personal information. Depending on the structure of the partnership, the K1 may indicate what percentage of the partnership is owned by the individual named on an individual K1. In that case, someone seeing even one K1 would be able to calculate the total profit made by the firm in that year,” said Certified Public Accountant James Vander Laan, of Lakewood.

Campaign communications director Sean Duffy, responding to an email with this information, wrote back that that’s the reason the forms won’t be released.

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Hickenlooper at the South Park Saloon in Alma (Kersgaard)

Coloradans he is meeting with complain about taxes and appeal for reductions in state fees, but they also ask whether slashed funding can be restored to this or that government program.

Denver Mayor Hickenlooper listens, nods and sometimes grimaces. He expresses empathy. He even occasionally expresses outrage. What he doesn’t do is promise tax cuts. He doesn’t promise to reduce fees. He doesn’t pledge to restore funding to important programs. He doesn’t promise to eliminate unfunded mandates that hog-tie local governments.

He only pledges to take what he has learned building and running a very successful restaurant chain and apply it to government. He promises a more collaborative way of running government. He talks about his successes as mayor in improving services during a time of reduced budgets.

He wants to create a master economic development plan, a template, that any city or county could use as a model. He aims to discover why one town or county is thriving and apply the lessons to places that need help. He talks about finding mentors to work with struggling businesses.

As much as possible this past week, he has said government should leave business alone, keeping in mind the necessity of such things as safety and environmental rules. “Half of my appointees as mayor came from the private sector,” he said.

“We will drive business out of Colorado with taxes, if we aren’t careful,” he acknowledged to 20 or so people gathered for lunch Monday at Millonzi’s Restaurant in Fairplay. He said decisions to increase state spending or reduce tax rates should depend partly on the overall economic situation.

“Sometimes it feels like it is open season on government,” he said, “but look anywhere in the world to find a better system, look at any time in history to find a better way. You can’t do it.

“We need people to be more engaged in the process. We need people to talk to each other. We don’t need bi-partisanship. We need non-partisanship,” he said.

Addressing problems with a sanitation district in Fairplay, where residents said the state has placed difficult requirements on the district but has not been willing to help or even advise the district on how best to meet the requirements, Hickenlooper said, “The state should be your partner and should guide you toward the best solution.

“The state should never be a bully,” he added.

As mayor of Denver, he said he has worked hard to act in ways that benefit not only Denver, but also the suburbs and the rest of the state.

In the past, he said marketing funds had been spent to convince conventioneers to spend more time in Denver. “That’s short-sighted. We have to look at self-interest from a larger perspective. So, now we encourage conventioneers to visit the rest of the state as well.”

In Fairplay, Hickenlooper said Denver has cut per capita water usage by 20 percent since he became mayor. “I think that’s the largest reduction by any big American city ever,” he said. “Here’s the thing, it is not Denver’s water; it’s Colorado’s water.”

In Alma, a few minutes later, emerging from the nine-year-old Ford he uses for the campaign, Hickenlooper announced, “Alma feels like my second home.”

Tiny Alma welcomed him as if it were true, half the people who gathered at the South Park Saloon there taking home pictures of themselves arm in arm with the candidate.

He didn’t give a formal speech in Alma. He sat at a large table surrounded by locals.

He told them how his mother refused to invest in his fledgling brewpub, but that his mother’s sister ponied up $10,000. “I was so determined not to lose her money that I worked at least 80 hours a week. It was grueling, but I loved it. I was absolutely terrified of losing her money,” he said.

Park County Commissioner Mark Dowaliby, a Republican, attended both the Fairplay and Alma meetings. He said that despite holding office as a Republican, he votes for the person, not the party. He said he has been very unhappy with Republican leadership in Colorado. He stopped short of saying he would vote for Hickenlooper.

“If McInnis comes to Park County, I’ll listen to him, but he would have to impress me a lot to get my vote,” he said.

Bob Narozanick, who owns an excavation business in Park County, was more blunt. “I’m voting for him. I’m sick of Republicans.”

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Great ideas come in obscure places.

Dirk Anderson was on a mountain in frigid temperatures when his glove blew away. If it weren’t for the quick thinking of his brother Seth, Dirk would have lost his fingers to frostbite. It was a eureka moment for them: Why not make a jacket with the gloves built in? Loki USA Apparel in Grand Junction is the result, and we think people will soon think of built-in gloves the way they think of wheels on luggage: Why didn’t we do this before?

There are thousands of great ideas like this out there. We got more than 1,200 submissions after we asked you for your thoughts.

Listening is the first step — but we need a bit of your time between now and November to make sure that we spread the word about the campaign and hear from as many people as possible before election day…

We’re working every day to make sure that every Coloradan has a chance to weigh in on the future of our state during this campaign. If you give us a few hours of your time and help us reach out to our fellow citizens, we’ll be rewarded with more great ideas like these:

“Start by giving small businesses tax breaks and incentives to hire people on a full time basis with a livable wage.” – Karl from Denver

“Use our community colleges and vocational schools as training grounds for the next generation of energy workers…Fund these schools to train a new generation and retrain the current generation who have been disenfranchised by the economic bust.” – J. Kay from Erie, CO

“Work with agencies, local governments, special districts…to reduce duplication of efforts. This way there would be additional resources and money to fund other programs and jobs that help with needed community projects that go unfunded currently.” – Judy via Facebook

Politics at its best is about ideas. But we need to burn through some shoe leather and mouse pads to make those ideas a reality…

Thanks again for all of your support! Keep those ideas coming!

John Hickenlooper

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The press release:

Ritter Campaign Raises $571,847 in the Fourth Quarter

Q4 Fundraising Quick Facts:

Total 4th Quarter donations: $571,847

Number of 4th Quarter donors: 2,261

Average contribution: $253

Donors who gave $1-$99: 1,124 or 50% of 4th quarter donors

Colorado donors: 2,037

Raised in Colorado: $454,591

Percent of donors in Colorado: 90%

Out of state donors: 224

Raised out of state: $117,256

Total # of donors 2010 Cycle: 6,101

Total donations 2010 Cycle: $2,508,876

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