DeMint joins Buck in bucking Republican establishment candidates

DENVER–Ken Buck was joined by Sen. Jim DeMint today as he hosted a hotdog hoedown for both grass-roots and establishment supporters. DeMint said he has been lonely in Washington but saw a wave of anti-establishment choices, like Buck, rising to the top in this election. Continuing to lash out against characterizations of extremism Buck said that his brand of extremism would be to stand with DeMint in the Senate and champion free market values. Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak said that was the more or less the extremism they are talking about.

American Independent reports Buck garners Armey endorsement

The Colorado Independent’s sister site, The American Independent, reported Tuesday that Dick Armey and his FreedomWorks PAC are throwing their weight behind Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck in his Republican senatorial primary battle with former lieutenant governor Gale…

Norton stumbles over more questions of past lobbying activity

Jane Norton’s murky past as a possible lobbyist continues to haunt her as the former Colorado lieutenant governor tries to curry Tea Party votes in her primary fight for the GOP senatorial nod with Weld County district attorney Ken Buck.…

Reports: ExxonMobil wary of FRAC Act, conflicted on climate change bill

ExxonMobil’s acquisition of natural gas giant XTO Energy – the hot topic in the gas-field communities of Colorado’s Western Slope this week – has implications far beyond an industry typically dominated by smaller, independent operators.

According to National Public…

Early Bird Special: Coyote hunt on ice, Littleton family ‘Shanghaied’ in China

Here’s our daily roundup of some of our favorite news from around Colorado.

• There will be no coyote hunting inside the Colorado Springs city limits, The Gazette reports. The city council “put a bullet between the eyes” of a proposal to issue permits to shoot the critters, citing more pressing concerns for the town government. Officials received an unusually high number of calls — most in opposition — about the plan, which would have restricted coyote season to certain times of day and required completion of a hunter safety course.

Salazar rips ‘bitter obstructionism’ as GOP senators reject Interior deputy

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar blasted Republican senators Wednesday for voting down his pick for deputy secretary.

The Senate’s 57-39 vote fell three votes shy of the 60 votes required to thwart a threatened Republican filibuster against the nomination of David Hayes, an environmental lawyer who served as Interior’s No. 2 for the last three years of the Clinton administration. It was the first time the Senate has blocked an Obama nomination.

Udall: Point man in the Obama revolution

Colorado freshman Sen. and Deputy Whip Mark Udall is a pivotal figure in the intended Obama revolution, according to a profile fronting today’s Congressional Quarterly. Udall’s tall-order task is to help Obama succeed where Ronald Reagan failed by getting the record-breaking number of majority party newcomers in the senate to support the president’s agenda without alienating the moderate voters who elected them.

Bennet gets advice in the thick of stimulus compromise

The smart folks over at the Bell Policy Center have some suggestions for nascent U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet who’s wrangling a compromise within the $900 billion federal stimulus bill a mere three week after his swearing-in.

Bennet, Udall part of group weighing cuts to Senate stimulus package

Colorado’s two freshman senators, both Democrats, are part of a bipartisan group that spent Thursday forging a proposal to trim up to $100 billion in spending from the economic stimulus bill in hopes of winning support from moderate Republicans and Democrats who have complained the package devotes too much money to programs that won’t create jobs fast enough.

“The American people are expecting this to be a recovery bill, not a Christmas list,” said Sen. Michael Bennet Thursday evening between votes on the bill.

GOP contenders line up, ‘wait and see’ whether to challenge Bennet in 2010

With Monday’s withdrawal from the Senate race by Attorney General John Suthers, state Republicans lack a clear front-runner to take on newly appointed Democrat Michael Bennet in 2010. Other top GOP prospects have hesitated to enter the race, weighing both their own fortunes and the emerging profile of Bennet, the former Denver Public Schools chief, who lacks a voting record and has never before run for office.

It’s a markedly different tone than state Republicans sounded last month when contenders jostled for the chance to take on an appointed senator.