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October 2008
A Beauprez reprise in 2010?
Former Front Range congressman and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., has told The Hill he is pondering getting back into politics in time for the 2010 gubernatorial election.
From the article: “Beauprez might be looking for a rematch. But he stresses he hasn’t made a decision. To be a real candidate, Beauprez said he figures someone would need to be ‘seriously considering’ his or her chances by next spring.
“‘I told Tom that I’m not saying I’m in and I’m not saying I’m out,’ Beauprez said, acknowledging that the political environment is difficult for Republicans in Colorado right now.”
If Beauprez does get into the race, it would mark his second bid for the governor’s mansion. Beauprez lost to Gov. Bill Ritter two years ago by a nearly 17 percentage point margin.
Much of the article is not new, per se. Beauprez did mention his possible interest when the story broke about outgoing Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., floating the idea that he might want to take on Ritter in 2010.
What is new in The Hill’s article is the other names it mentions as possible statewide 2010 contenders, including Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction.
*Beauprez photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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GOP helps Wolf buy ad time in southern, western Colorado
Republican congressional candidate Wayne Wolf has, less than two weeks out from Election Day, purchased advertising around the state, he said in an e-mail to Political Notebook.
Wolf said money furnished by the Colorado Republican Committee — following a report that he thought the state party was not backing his efforts to oust Congressman John Salazar, D-Colo. — has allowed him to buy ads in The Fencepost and The Pueblo Chieftain as well as on radio stations throughout the 3rd Congressional District.
Wolf first alerted us to his ad buy in an e-mail sent to Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams: “Since we shared the podium at a few venues, you are aware of some of the scores of candidate forums where I spoke throughout Western and Southern Colorado in the past year. In Southeastern and Northwestern Colorado I received excellent television, radio and newspaper coverage. For the past week I have been concentrating on advertising. The timely contribution from the Colorado Republican Committee and others will help me place more ads, which could make the last bit of difference in this election. Thank you for your support.”
Wolf’s ad buys, which come relatively late in the election cycle, are the first major purchase of his campaign, which he has largely funded with more than $4,000 of his own money.
*Wolf photo shot by Political Notebook.
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Allard, Salazar: NFL should make more games available on TV
Outgoing U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., have called on the National Football League to make more games available to the public for free on its NFL Network.
The letter, sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Godell, decries the NFL Network’s decision to “restrict” access to the games it plans to broadcast starting next month: “Congress facilitated the nationwide broadcast success of the NFL by creating an antitrust exemption for NFL teams to negotiate jointly telecast agreements with over-the-air broadcasters; it provides the NFL with protection for the content in those broadcasts through copyright law. We are concerned that the NFL is now leveraging the success of its over-the-air broadcasts to move games to pay television, to the detriment of NFL fans across the country that have made watching NFL games a ritual every Fall.”
The NFL responded in a statement: “The goal of our NFL Network games is to show them to a national audience. However, that goal has been undercut by several of the largest cable operators that are discriminating against our Network by either refusing to carry it or placing it on a much more costly tier than the sports networks that the cable operators themselves own. These cable operators are denying their consumers fair access to this popular NFL programming.”
You can read the senators’ letter here:
*Allard photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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GOP pols pile on to McInnis after his critique of the party
Since former Congressman Scott McInnis, R-Colo., leveled some degree of criticism at the Colorado Republican Party, his peers on the GOP backbench have emerged with some criticism of their own — for the former six-term congressman.
Former state Senate President John Andrews, R-Centennial, wrote online that McInnis exercised “poor timing, poor judgment, or something more Machiavellian” in his comments to The Denver Post that he was told not to run by the state and national GOP.
Now former Gov. Bill Owens has taken McInnis to task, writing in an e-mail that his comments “are distracting our party during an already difficult year.”
Owens, according to The Denver Post, told McInnis that he alone decided not to take on Democrat Mark Udall in this year’s U.S. Senate race.
“It is easy to pile on and join the chorus during tough times,” Owens wrote. “There is a time and a place for intra-Party discussions, and it is not now.”
*Owens photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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Bradford OK with Focus on the Family Action letters in HD55
As we reported in today’s edition of The Daily Sentinel, state Rep. Bernie Buescher’s challenger, Republican Laura Bradford, said she has no issue with the information contained in a letter Focus on the Family Action is circulating throughout House District 55.
Asked for her thoughts on the letter, Bradford replied in an e-mail: “I’m curious about which part of the letter is untrue-has he been specific? His s.o.s. records show funds received from Tim Gill and the record shows he voted for SB 200. Is there something else?”
Here is the letter:
What do you think? … The comments section awaits.
*Buescher photo shot by Political Notebook.
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Schaffer: Stevens should resign
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer added his voice to the chorus of politicos calling for convicted U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, to resign.
Pressed today by a reporter on whether Stevens should step down, Schaffer simply said, “Yeah.”
A jury convicted Stevens of seven corruption charges on Monday, seriously calling into question his ability not only to continue to work in Washington, but also his re-election campaign in Alaska.
*Schaffer photo shot by Political Notebook.
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Schaffer tells local rally, ‘The First Amendment is under attack’
Press by a local supporter, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer turned his sights today during a rally in Grand Junction on a favorite target of GOP pols and pundits: the media.
“The First Amendment is under attack quite frequently,” Schaffer said. “Listen … you’ve got the mainstream media that is in the tank for the left. You’ve got most of the media today: These guys don’t have any pretence of objectivity.”
“If you rely on the press, to define the future of America, we will get a different country. … These folks in the press do not get paid to go defend America or to be accurate, that’s not their business,” he added, delighting the crowd.
Schaffer said the press has chosen sides and “Americans need to do the hard work” and “assert freedom and truth on Election Day.”
* * *
Political Notebook, too, has ragged on the “liberal West Slope media,” but we were being sarcastic.
*Schaffer photo shot by Political Notebook.
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McInnis: ‘I would have beat Udall’
In an interview posted online today at The Colorado Independent, former Congressman Scott McInnis, R-Colo., says he thinks he could have beat Mark Udall in the run to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard: “I would have beat Udall.”
We’ll leave it to others to say what McInnis’ comments mean for the Colorado GOP, its chairman, Dick Wadhams, and Republican candidate Bob Schaffer.
McInnis’ statement, however, certainly is noteworthy in a race where polling shows Democrats are favored to carry the day.
* * *
UPDATE: McInnis told us today that The Colorado Independent took his comments out of context and portrayed him as opposing Schaffer’s candidacy: “I was not critical of Schaffer. Schaffer, I think, has run a great race.”
He said the report is “a typical ploy … trying to create friction in the party.”
*McInnis photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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King supporters vest up for politics
Since his election two years ago, state Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, has made public safety one of his top concerns at the state Capitol. And according to his latest campaign finance disclosure, he keeps that focus on safety even on the campaign trail.
Indeed, the report shows Friends of Steve King spent $119.47 on “orange safety vests” at Gene Taylors on Oct. 21, the day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stopped in the Grand Junction.
King told Political Notebook that even though the expense’s date was Oct. 21 it was connected to the Palin rally: “That was for people handing out some of my brochures at the Palin event.”
Here are all of King’s expenses as seen on the Secretary of State’s Web site:
You can read his latest report, in its entirety, here:
*King photo shot by Political Notebook.
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Politico linking Schaffer, Kurdish oil deal working in Michigan
A California political and public relations consultant whose name helped resurface Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer’s Kurdish connection is working in Michigan to make the state more competitive for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.
According to The Los Angeles Times: “Republican consultant Sal Russo is buying airtime in Michigan for an ad that reminds views of Barack Obama’s links to Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and Kwame Kilpatrick, the disgraced former mayor of Detroit.”
[…]
“‘When McCain pulled out of Michigan, it became the obvious place where we could be the most helpful,’ said Russo, the Sacramento consultant who along with former California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian is running the political action committee Our Country Deserves Better.”
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Since McCain pulled out of Michigan, the state has been firmly in the blue column.
Michigan Republicans, nonetheless, have to hope that Russo’s impact there will not have the side effects his work in Colorado did.
*Obama, McCain photo from the Associated Press.
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White and Brenner go on media, mailing spending spree in SD8
In case you were wondering what Senate District 8 hopefuls Al White, R-Hayden, and Ken Brenner, D-Steamboat Springs, were going to do with their campaign cash caches, their latest round of campaign finance reports have filled in that blanks.
White, who had $22,354 in the bank as of Oct. 9, raised more tan $12,000 between then and Oct. 22 and dropped more than $24,000 into direct mail and advertising.
Brenner, who had $25,475 in the bank as of Oct. 9, raised nearly $8,000 between then and Oct. 22 and spent more than $21,000 on advertising, mailing costs and printing.
Expect both candidates to continue this trend as Election Day approaches.
*White photo shot by Political Notebook. Brenner photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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Local reporter goes ‘Hardball’ on GOP presidential candidate
If you’re like me, you’re getting awfully tired of the liberal West Slope media playing its gotcha journalism game this election cycle.
We thought we had seen the worst of it until a local TV reporter got a chance to sit down with Republican presidential candidate John McCain. According to the news station’s video of the entire interview, at around 4:15 the reporter asks McCain: “When it comes to protecting our freedom, how would you lead us, you know, in restoring our freedom?”
Luckily McCain sidesteps this hardball question and talks about his history of being a maverick and departing with his party on issues ranging from global warming to campaign finance reform.
That was a close one.
*McCain photo from the Associated Press.
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Tancredo v. Ritter in 2010?
“Gov. Tom Tancredo.”
If you think that has a ring to it, you might be in luck, according to a report on Face the State. Indeed, the article notes that the outgoing firebrand congressman might be a candidate to take on Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010.
“While nearly 200 supporters, friends, and political allies gathered Thursday night to honor Congressman Tom Tancredo’s retirement from Congress, the feisty anti-illegal immigration activist assured attendees that his departure from public life would be brief as he alluded to plans for a 2010 gubernatorial bid,” the report said.
A Tancredo candidacy certainly would be a fascinating one to watch.
The only public polling that has assessed Tancredo future was a survey out in August showing him trailing U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., in a 2010 Senate race. The survey results, from Public Policy Polling, showed Tancredo netting 37 percent to Salazar’s 49 percent.
What do you think?
*Tancredo photo from the Associated Press.
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Salazar in a Cabinet slot?
The Rocky Mountain New is reporting that U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, one of Barack Obama’s chief western surrogates, is not commenting on whether he would want top be one of the possible president’s agency heads, possibly at the Interior Department.
“I believe Sen. Obama is going to have multiple, wonderful candidates for all his positions,” Salazar told the newspaper. “I’m working on behalf of his campaign not because I want any position, but because I’m comfortable; I just want him elected president.”
It is worth noting that we have been through a similar speculative storyline before, when Salazar told Political Notebook in August 2007 that he is not gunning for a U.S. Supreme Court appointment: “I love being a senator. I want to keep doing what I’m doing.”
In the event Salazar is appointed to an Obama administration, who would you like to see Gov. Bill Ritter appoint to replace him in the U.S. Senate?
*Salazar photo from the Associated Press.
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Whose running mate?
When The Anchorage Daily News endorsed Barack Obama for president, one sentence caught our attention, specifically when the editorial addressed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s political relationship with the GOP presidential nominee John McCain:
“Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency — but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.” (emphasis added)
Yes, we know what the newspaper was trying to say, but it is a curious slip of the tongue on the part of Alaska’s most prominent newspaper.
*Palin, McCain photo from the Associated Press.
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Obama draws massive crowd in Denver, underlines polling trend
If there was any doubt that Barack Obama is playing offense in Colorado, it could be seen at in the space between Denver’s civic center and the state Capitol, according to press reports.
The Rocky Mountain News has reported that Denver police estimate that he drew around 100,000 out for his rally. That’s roughly 20,000 more than the number of people who packed Invesco Field to hear his presidential nomination acceptance speech.
Here’s what the lastest polling shows, including The Rocky Mountain News’ latest survey, showing Obama up in Colorado by 12 percentage points:
*Obama photo from the Associated Press.
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Bradford, allies latch onto attack ad to leverage support, media
Nothing rallies a candidate like a negative ad, especially in places like House District 55. As we’ve reported before, Republican Laura Bradford has been accused of opposing the inclusion of routine cancer screenings in her health plan.
For the second time in a week, she called the press together to rebut her attackers.
“It’s a blatant lie,” Bradford said.
What the ad’s backers probably do not realize is that even if they turn off a handful of Republicans from voting for Bradford, they have — via earned media and their paid media — raised her name recognition. In a race where pols believe the results will be close, these negative ads actually could hurt the Democrats’ hopes to retain state Rep. Bernie Buescher’s seat.
*Bradford photo shot by Political Notebook.
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NRSC actually pulling out, according to Front Range report
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is actually pulling out of Colorado, 9News in Denver has confirmed: “The dynamics surrounding Colorado’s race for the U.S. Senate took another turn on Friday when the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) pulled its advertising for the final week of the election, Oct. 28 - Nov. 4.”
The committee’s actions were up for dispute over the past week, but this time it seems they are, in fact, true.
The Fix, of at The Washington Post, also has effectively said Colorado will not be a priority for the GOP, especially if Republican Senate seats possibly in jeopardy in Georgia, etc. look like pickups for the Democrats.
That said, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall seemed the most hesitant to declare victory over Republican Bob Schaffer earlier this week during a stop in Grand Junction when he encouraged people to keep at it, donating their time and money to the causes they believe in.
And, as numerous pols have pointed out, no election is over until Election Day. The nearly two weeks remaining before Nov. 4 is a lifetime in politics.
*Udall photo from The Rocky Mountain News.
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Report: Doug Bruce might have crossed the line … again
Even without a state House seat to defend, outgoing Republican Colorado Springs lawmaker and conservative firebrand Douglas Bruce is the gift that keeps on giving (to the media).
According to a report in The Denver Post, a flier Bruce’s nonprofit, Active Citizens Together, might have crossed the line: “Supporters of two ballot issues being attacked in a mailer sent to more than 900,000 Colorado homes this month say the ad might violate federal rules on political activity by nonprofit groups.”
Check out the entire story. It’s worth reading.
Here’s the mailer in question:
*Bruce photo from the Associated Press.
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Mark Udall dresses for success, charges his campaign account
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall might be into “recycling” his suits, but he apparently does not buy second-hand when it comes to advertising clothing.
According to Udall’s latest campaign finance report, the sitting congressman dropped $524.04 on “ad clothing” at Eddie Bauer. This revelation comes around the same time the Republican National Committee has come under fire for dropping a substantially larger sum — more than $150,000 — on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s wardrobe.
Tara Trujillo, spokeswoman for the Udall campaign, said the congressman bought “several shirts and vests for campaign ads.” She said Udall’s new clothes were used in several campaign commercials.
In case you are so inclined, we’ve attached Udall’s campaign finance report below. See page 1,546 for the Eddie Bauer purchase:
For the record: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer did not report spending any campaign funds on clothing, according to his recently file campaign finance report. He did, however, report spending $119.45 in mid-July at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
*Udall photo from the Associated Press.
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Report: DSCC pulls out of state, anticipating a Udall victory
Less than a week after rumors began to fly about the National Republican Senatorial Committee pulling out of Colorado, The Denver Post is reporting that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is pulling out Colorado for very different reasons.
The newspaper reports: “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will cease television advertising in Colorado by Tuesday, state Democratic sources say, a signal that the national candidate committee believes Rep. Mark Udall is comfortably ahead of former congressman Bob Schaffer in the race for Colorado’s open U.S. Senate seat.”
Aggregate polling from across the country seems to confirm the committee’s decision to focus on unseating incumbents. We’ll keep you update both with the DSCC and NRSC as new reports emerge.
In the meantime, here is the polling trend from Colorado’s U.S. Senate race:
*Schaffer, Udall photo from the Associated Press.
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Udall endorses ‘change’ for locals sick of political ad barrages
Sick and tired of political ads crowding the local airwaves?
Well, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall said he, too, is ready for a change: “You’re going to get your TVs back in a couple of weeks.”
Udall and his Republican opponent, Bob Schaffer, have both been the targets of millions of dollars in negative ads from outside groups.
“They’re bringing everything at me,” Udall said.
He mentioned his recent ad poking fun of the negative advertising:
Do you have a favorite political ad? Shoot us an e-mail. We’d love to hear about it. Our favorite, actually is a faux ad. Check it out.
*Udall photo shot by Political Notebook.
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Teck opposes Amendment 52
State Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and the supporters of Amendment 52 encountered something of a speed bump today on the opinion pages of The Daily Sentinel: Penry’s predecessor, former Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, opposing the ballot measure.
Teck, whose comments aligned with those of Club 20, said putting fiscal measures in the state Constitution does not jibe with his philosophy: “During my eight years in the state Senate, I became convinced that we should not put spending mandates into the state Constitution. We are faced with this bad idea again this year with Amendment 52, an initiative that will lock a very problematic spending formula into the Constitution, harming our state’s ability to meet its water-supply demands in the process.”
Amendment 52 would take the lion share of severance tax revenues and devote them to highway improvements along the Interstate 70 corridor.
What do you think?
*Teck photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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Of vases and football tickets
What do a vase declaring you “Child Advocate of the Year” and tickets to a Colorado State University-University of Colorado football game have in common? The two pols elected in 2006’s top-of-the-ticket race, Gov. Bill Ritter and Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, accepted them as gifts in the third quarter of 2008.
Political Notebook might be wrong, but it looks like the governor came out ahead, even though the two gifts were both worth about $80. Depending on where you stand, it is debatable if Ritter’s football ticket is a better gift than his inmate-made fly rod gift from the second quarter of 2008.
Here are Ritter and O’Brien’s gift and honoraria disclosures:
*Ritter, O’Brien photo from the Associated Press.
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The cost of looking good
It might be a plus to wear “recycled” suits if you’re running for U.S. Senate, but it seems the same sort of fashion sense will not cut it if you’re running for vice president, according to a report on Politico.com.
According to the online newspaper’s report: “The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
“According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
“The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
“The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.”
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Image might be everything on the campaign trail, but it will be interesting to see if Democrats try and use the Republican National Committee’s expense disclosures to try and poke at the Alaska governor’s image.
*Palin photo from the Associated Press.
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Cooking with the candidates
This year’s Daily Sentinel Senior Fair will feature an odd mix of chefs probably more comfortable making sausage than doing cooking displays.
Indeed, according to event organizers, Mesa County Commission candidates Craig Meis, Janet Rowland, Dickie Lewis and Dan Robinson will be there cooking for attendees. State Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, and Collbran Republican Laura Bradford also will participate.
(Insert pork joke here.)
*Pork roast photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
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Looking ahead to 2012
Neither November nor Election Day has not even arrived, but the national political inside-baseball community already has started asking: Is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a contender to run for president in 2012?
We wanted to get your thoughts less than a day after the vice presidential candidate has left Grand Junction.
Before we go any further: Assuming that Palin will run for president assumes either that John McCain will lose this year or that he will win but will not run in 2012. Those certainly are big assumptions. Nonetheless, for the chattering classes (merely by being here, you’re one of us) this is a situation worth exploring.
In the event that the East Coast media is right in its assumptions, who would you like to see the GOP nominate in 2012? Our choices provided below are informed by other members of the chattering classes and this year’s GOP primary:
*Palin photo from the Associated Press.
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