Lynn Bartels

Reports surfacing in the last hour suggest State Sen. Josh Penry is set to announce he will be ending his campaign to unseat Gov. Bill Ritter. Penry campaign spokesman Andrew Cole did not confirm reports.

Although Penry jumped into the campaign strongly this summer, winning “rising star” status from popular Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza, he has recently struggled.

Former Colorado U.S. Representative, illegal-immigration crusader and cable news hyperbole generator Tom Tancredo had some thoughts he wanted to share on Republican Jane Norton’s announcement this morning that she is running against Democrat Michael Bennet for his Senate seat. Tancredo thinks Norton may be a nice enough woman, et cetera, but that she shouldn’t run. [...]

Dug up fresh, daily.
AWAY WENT THE WATER: The good news is that citizens made a stand. The bad news is that today they lost. Chaffee County commissioners, who ran on pledges they would guard the county’s precious water, voted to allow giant Nestle corporation to drain 200 acre feet of fresh spring water annually from [...]

Two things jump to mind when thinking about the outcome of the Colorado vote:

1. Rep. Doug Lamborn — two years ago a freshman trying to find the Capitol bathroom — is now the Dean of Colorado’s Republican delegation in Washington.

2. Dick Wadhams’ threat to shove a bunch of 30-second ads up Democrat Mark Udall’s ass over a missed vote might just have marked the Macaca moment of his failed effort to get his old pal Bob Schaffer elected to the United States Senate. Such trashy talk underscores what went so utterly wrong for Republicans in Colorado on Tuesday.

No criminal charges. No witnesses. A classic “he said, she said.” Leadership would not corroborate. What is the difference between The Rocky Mountain News’ approach to stories involving anonymous sexual harassment charges against Rep. Michael Garcia and Rep. Douglas Bruce? The answer: less than three months.

Someone call 911! The Rocky Mountain News appears to be experiencing a 3-, maybe 4-alarm fire after obtaining a memo in which a Democratic operative roughly outlines wanting to raise $1.9 million for a secret “foot on throat” ad campaign against Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer.