Depending on what website you first saw the weekend news about Dick Wadhams’ new job, the former Colorado Republican Party chief is either a genius political puppet master/kingmaker or a bumbling GOP operative who badly botched the last few races in his home state.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney today announced the support of several Colorado Republican heavyweights including former senators Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, former Governor Bill Owens, former Congressman Bob Beuprez, current Attorney General John Suthers and current Treasurer Walker Stapleton.
On Primary Day two weeks ago, Weld County D.A. Ken Buck had just defeated former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton to win the GOP nomination to face Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in the general election. Buck campaign consultant Walt Klein gave a short speech to the crowd at the victory party in Loveland and then climbed down from the stage onto the floor, smiling and shaking hands. Klein has been working Colorado Republican electoral politics for thirty years and was basking in the hard-fought success of this latest campaign. “How many Nortons is that now?” asked the Colorado Independent. Klein’s smile turned into a grin and he shot three fingers into the air.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck got creamed on the numbers this week. He drew $40,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to GOP frontrunner Jane Norton’s $550,000 haul. Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet pulled in a cool $1.1 million.
“That’s today’s story,” said Buck campaign manager Walt Klein.
Poor Wayne Allard. The recently retired Republican senator from Colorado seems to have gone down the memory hole at The Washington Times, like an out-of-favor Politburo member erased from history by Pravda.
One of the two Coloradans who will actually have a vote whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor sits on the Supreme Court applauded the nomination Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, heaped praise on Sotomayor in a statement, calling her pick “historic” because she could be the first Hispanic on the court.
The Colorado State University chancellor search committee is meeting this afternoon to review a second round of roughly 12 candidate applications for the university’s new top spot. The committee reviewed a first set of about the same number of applications last month, according to CSU spokesperson Michele McKinney. So far, none of the names of the candidates for the position have been revealed.
Taxpayers for Common Sense has put out its “Version Three” spreadsheet of earmarks contained in the omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2009. It’s an Excel document that can be searched by bill, earmark, representative, senator, state and more!
The Colorado delegation pulled down its share of cash, but none of the state’s officials ranked among the top earmark getters.
Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter denied any wrongdoing Thursday in discussing earmarks the congressman secured for defense consultancy IHS, Inc., a client of disintegrating lobby firm PMA, which is under investigation by the FBI.
Gentlemen, go to the back of the class, says the Sargent Shriver National Center for Poverty Law.
Rep. Doug Lamborn and recently retired Rep. Tom Tancredo earned failing grades on the center’s new poverty scorecard ranking the 110th Congress on its votes on bills legislating fair pay, housing, college financial aid, unemployment and other measures designed to lift working class folk out of poverty.
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