U.S. Republican Party

Fate of the Union

DNC Orientation Video: Because you can't get drunk from hope alone

DNC Craigslist rentals: File under are you f$*king crazy?!?

Benny's: The life of the Republican Party...

The Colorado officials who bucked the bailout -- and those who went along

The Green Candidate

Armed with deep pockets, Terry Walker mounts a bid for governor.

Ten words to replace "liberal" as a GOP slur

Armed with deep pockets, Terry Walker mounts a bid for governor.

Off Limits

No-hassle tassels

Denver Blogs: Democrats, meet your new nemesis

Behold, our daily tour of the local blogosphere. Send tips. Colorado Republicans react to new GOP boss. They seem to like him. Weird, eh? (Mount Vitrus, via Slapstick Politics) Stimulus money will not keep that highway from crumbling beneath your tires. (Colorado Independent) Builders are total ... More >>

Ryan Frazier puts his job on the line with Amendment 47

Behold, our daily tour of the local blogosphere. Send tips. Colorado Republicans react to new GOP boss. They seem to like him. Weird, eh? (Mount Vitrus, via Slapstick Politics) Stimulus money will not keep that highway from crumbling beneath your tires. (Colorado Independent) Builders are total ... More >>

Preconceived Notions

War on Error shows how wrong stereotypes can be.

Pop Quiz

Bug Juice
June 5, 2003

Making Book on Bill Owens

Questions about the religious right are this GOP candidate's cross to bear--or is that bare?

The GOP? In Boulder?

A mainstream Republican starts what could be a strong run to replace David Skaggs in Congress.

God's Own Party

Everything's divine in Arvada, where the GOP has veered sharply to the religious right.

OFF THE RECORD

WHOSE DIVORCE RECORDS ARE SEALED? READ ALL ABOUT IT.

Sheriff Salazar stalled by posse politics

Republicans rallied the troops in the Senate this morning and managed to block the much-delayed confirmation of David Hayes, Ken "New Sheriff in Town" Salazar's choice to serve as his top deputy at the Department of the Interior. In a crucial test of whether the new administration's bold break wit ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, September 9 edition

Open wide.​Meat, and so much more. Today in Cafe Society: • The winner of the burger battle at Tony's Market. • Open house today at 3014. • Tonight: Denver Five dinner at TAG with local winemaker Ben Parsons. • Chef and Tell: Mark Dym of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza. • Our Weekly Bread: ... More >>

Legalizing marijuana -- medical or otherwise -- has become the toke of the town

Open wide.​Meat, and so much more. Today in Cafe Society: • The winner of the burger battle at Tony's Market. • Open house today at 3014. • Tonight: Denver Five dinner at TAG with local winemaker Ben Parsons. • Chef and Tell: Mark Dym of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza. • Our Weekly Bread: ... More >>

Josh Penry campaign scoffs at Scott McInnis' reasons for not debating

"Put down your weapons. I come in peace."​This morning, gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis' responded to critics of his decision not to debate his fellow Republican rivals with a Denver Post op-ed in which he argued that while "GOP candidate forums" are fine, direct faceoffs will do more ha ... More >>

Josh Penry radio appearance turns into subtle Scott McInnis bashing session

See! Josh Penry really does want to spend more time with his family.​Josh Penry made his decision to pull out of the 2010 gubernatorial race official yesterday, issuing a statement that stops considerably short of formally endorsing his main conservative rival for the office, Scott McInnis. He ... More >>

Dick Wadhams on Tom Tancredo's impending run for governor

Dick Wadhams isn't leading the "Run Tom" parade. But he swears he's not putting up roadblocks, either.​Yesterday, Tom Tancredo confirmed his plans to run for governor now that state senator Josh Penry has dropped out of the race. That throws a kink into frontrunner Scott McInnis' dream of a un ... More >>

Scott McInnis: Is he more politically skillful than we thought?

"Can't we all just get along?"​Political observers have spent a lot of time har-dee-har-ing at Scott McInnis over the years -- and indeed, he's made plenty of errors and gaffes during his time in the public eye. Note his prediction that fellow Republican Bob Schaffer would lose the 2008 Senat ... More >>

Scott McInnis unity platform fix is in

Where Scott McInnis leads, all of his former rivals plan to follow.​Last Thursday, Tom Tancredo confirmed in this space that he was part of a group coming up with a unity platform Republican Scott McInnis could use against Bill Ritter in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign -- and that if all went ... More >>

Scott McInnis isn't the real tea party candidate, says rival Dan Maes

Dan Maes would like to have his tea and drink it, too.​Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is upset about the effort by GOP heavyweights to make Scott McInnis the de facto party standard bearer months before the primary -- and he says lots of tea party members will express the same sen ... More >>

Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario: Mysterious Colorado cattle mutilations explained

Ufologists want to claim that aliens are cherry-picking livestock's udders, tongues and organs. However, more plausible theories do exist... ...Desperate and unemployed persons who can no longer afford to buy packaged hot dogs are harvesting the ingredients to make their own. ​ Look below f ... More >>

NFL strike worries in Denver Blogs: Will Broncos be walking the picket line in 2011?

"C'mon, coach. I'm at least as good as Kyle Orton."​Look what we found: three blogs about Denver stuff. KaptainKirk at Mile High Report walks us through NFL.com's new website for updates about the league's labor situation. Players and teams have until March 5 to reach a new collective bargain ... More >>

Michael Bennet and health care: Live by the public option, or die by it

"Hey, Barack. Remember that public-option thing you used to be so hot on?"​Colorado's Michael Bennet is widely seen as being among the most vulnerable Democratic senators in advance of the November 2010 election -- hence President Barack Obama's fundraising visit to Denver last week before a p ... More >>

Dick Wadhams on health care: "America will be in great political turmoil after the passage of this bill -- and I think that's good"

"No, I'm not being facetious."​The U.S. House's passage of a massive health-care bill President Barack Obama is planning to sign into law today is already having plenty of political impact locally, with the Gun Owners of America targeting Dem Betsy Markey, who voted for the measure (after voti ... More >>

Josh "Penal" Penry: Felons vote the Democratic ticket

"How can I woo the sex offender vote?"​Yes, it's the season for blustery rhetoric and high-pressure posturing down at the statehouse. But few stunts can match, for sheer unintended hilarity, this recent blast from Colorado Senate Republicans, denouncing a bill to restore voting rights to stat ... More >>

Personhood Amendment gains support of once-skeptical Republicans

Fetuses are people, too, according to Personhood USA.​Back in 2008, when 21-year-old Kristi Burton was pushing her "Personhood Amendment" -- an aggressively anti-abortion measure that claimed "person" applies to humans from their biological starting point -- even normally anti-choice Republica ... More >>

Ali Hasan is going back to Cali, but not before a few last words

Fetuses are people, too, according to Personhood USA.​Back in 2008, when 21-year-old Kristi Burton was pushing her "Personhood Amendment" -- an aggressively anti-abortion measure that claimed "person" applies to humans from their biological starting point -- even normally anti-choice Republica ... More >>

9.12 Project Colorado chair on Tom Tancredo's ultimatum, Ken Buck's "dumbasses" comment

Ken Buck.​The major GOP races in Colorado don't want for drama this year -- or comedy, depending on your perspective. Tom Tancredo's high noon ultimatum to Scott McInnis and Dan Maes was followed by Ken Buck's "Weld County bullshit" statement and another comment in which he called Tea Party bi ... More >>

Tom Tancredo issues a challenge as Wayne Allard and Hank Brown get behind Dan Maes

Tom Tancredo.​Update below: As big-name Republicans begin to rally 'round gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes -- former senators Hank Brown and Wayne Allard signed on yesterday -- any GOP hopes of Maes stepping aside evaporates. So while today is the deadline for Maes's lieutenant governor pick, ... More >>

Jaimes Brown and Colorado's Libertarians are bringing the party to the people for the first time

Jaimes Brown.​At the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, some party members derisively passed around shots of Scope to wash the bad taste from their mouths following the presidential nomination of former Republican, Bob Barr. It wasn't just that Barr was seen as an impure strain o ... More >>

Dan Maes: Will he sink other Republicans or become an "embarrassing afterthought?"

Dan Maes.​Yesterday, Dan Maes spokesman Nate Strauch confirmed that the Maes campaign fell over $400,000 short of its $500,000 fundraising goal on Friday -- and this after he raised just $14,000 during the previous reporting period. It's the latest setback for Maes -- and political consultant ... More >>

Dan Maes's troubles not hurting other GOP candidates, says Republican boss Dick Wadhams

Dan Maes.​Yesterday, GOP guv candidate Dan Maes released documents connected to his firing as a Liberal, Kansas cop in 1985 -- a bizarre assemblage of material unlikely to supercharge his faltering campaign. But Colorado Republican Party chieftain Dick Wadhams isn't worried about other GOP can ... More >>

Tom Tancredo on Dan Maes meeting and dodging attacks as a "racist, Nazi bastard"

Tom Tancredo.​Whether you love Tom Tancredo or loathe him, there's no denying that he's a highly unusual politician. Whereas many of his peers always seem to be speaking from a heavily lawyered script, he talks off the cuff with a lack of self-consciousness that's startling and refreshing. He ... More >>

Michael Bennet campaign knows turnout is key, but grateful to Ken Buck for the great material

Michael Bennet.​Various polls show the U.S. Senate race between Michael Bennet and Ken Buck to be among the nation's deader heats. That means turnout will likely determine the winner -- a situation seemingly to Buck's advantage, since Republicans are perceived to be more enthusiastic this year ... More >>

Scott McInnis, 2010 Shmuck of the Year nominee

​Westword is asking readers to help us select a Shmuck of the Year by rolling out a new candidate each week throughout the month of December. The winner -- loser -- will be announced on January 3. Our first candidate was the newly fired Josh McDaniels. This week, say hello to Scott McInnis ... More >>

Mike Kopp, Colorado Republican Senate leader, hopes Obamacare ruling is a death sentence

Mike Kopp.​Yesterday's ruling by Virginia judge Henry Hudson voiding the health-care-bill requirement that citizens buy insurance may not mean much long-term according to this Washington Post piece, but it's certainly given opponents of what many conservatives call Obamacare an early Christmas ... More >>

Return to Sender

What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

Hall of Shame: Westword's worst of the worst from 2010

What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

Letters: Upcoming state GOP meeting will be for martyrs only

What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the Feds got off their duffs?

Matt Arnold on losing Colorado Bar Association suit, his bid to chair state Republican party

Matt Arnold.​Matt Arnold, the man behind Clear the Bench, which aimed to throw the bums off the Colorado Supreme Court, has been on a losing streak. Colorado Ethics Watch came out on top in a dispute over whether Clear the Bench should have filed as an issues committee (although CEW was assess ... More >>

Carmelo Anthony is high-maintenance superstar & other things we've learned since Knicks trade

​These Denver blog posts materialized before our very eyes. Denver Stiffs' Andrew Feinstein shares what we've learned since the Nuggets dealt Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks -- including that Melo is a high-maintenance superstar. To say nothing of LaLa. WhoSaidYouSaid spotlights a mom who real ... More >>

Osama bin Laden death celebration at Mesa State College in Grand Junction (VIDEO)

Video below.​In our post about how Osama bin Laden's death was experienced by the Facebook generation, we noted that localizing this story was unnecessary, because it impacted all of us, wherever we were. Which is why spontaneous celebrations broke out in New York City, Washington, D.C. -- an ... More >>

Tapeworms, fleas and lice: an illustrated book about parasites -- for children

Some things, once seen, cannot be unseen.​There are just some topics that the shorties don't need to have rattling around in their malleable little cranial cavities. Subjects like incarceration, nail fungus, sales tax, methamphetamines, the GOP and proper care of houseplants are ones best rese ... More >>

Is the growing number of conservative Hispanics changing ideas about illegal immigration?

Some things, once seen, cannot be unseen.​There are just some topics that the shorties don't need to have rattling around in their malleable little cranial cavities. Subjects like incarceration, nail fungus, sales tax, methamphetamines, the GOP and proper care of houseplants are ones best rese ... More >>