Dave Schultheis tries to grow ACORN scandal in Colorado

Senator Dave Schultheis doesn’t do anything by half measures — which is why he’s a multiple-time Shmuck of the Week, as opposed to being a single termer. (Watch out, Brandon Marshall.) Still, he’s a sharp enough operator to understand that national stories can still be used to damage local politicians…

Obama’s Michael Bennet endorsement: What a shock!

The local media is making a big deal out of President Barack Obama endorsing Bill Ritter appointee Michael Bennet in the 2010 U.S. Senate race, even though the timing of his supportive statement — one day after Andrew Romanoff formally announced a challenge to MFB — was as predictable as…

Ken Salazar pulls the plug on a boneheaded royalty scheme

One of Ken Salazar’s first moves as Secretary of the Interior was to visit the Lakewood office of the Minerals Management Service, an obscure agency responsible for collecting billions in oil and gas royalties from companies drilling on federal lands, and vow to clean up the place. As detailed in…

Jared Polis criticized for “medical tourism” investment

Representative Jared Polis has staged as many if not more healthcare town halls in recent weeks than any of his Colorado congressional colleagues. But the conservative CompleteColorado.com site questions his private investment in another healthcare-related enterprise: BridgeHealth International. The company’s approach is typically shorthanded as “medical tourism,” a term defined…

Andrew Romanoff more than a “nice Russian boy”

During U.S. senatorial hopeful Andrew Romanoff’s first official campaign event in Denver yesterday afternoon, he told a story related by Ken Gordon, the man he succeeded in the Colorado House. One of Gordon’s constituents thought he was retiring from politics instead of moving to the Senate — and when he…

Jared Polis says there’s no defense for the Defense of Marriage Act

Yesterday, Representative Jared Polis joined colleagues Jerrold Nadler and Tammy Baldwin, Dems from New York and Wisconsin, respectively, at a press conference boosting the Respect for Marriage Act. During his microphone time, viewable above, Plis referred derisively to the “thirteen-year-old, so-called Defense of Marriage Act,” which would be wiped off…

Andrew Romanoff’s web campaign officially underway

“Andrew Romanoff in the Starting Blocks,” published yesterday, pointed out that his long dormant personal website sported a one-line addition: “New Website Coming Soon.” Make that now. Even before the start of his scheduled 10 a.m. senatorial campaign announcement in Pueblo, the updated AndrewRomanoff.com was live. The picture on its…

John Hickenlooper’s budget-cut pitch

The first specific cut listed by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper in a letter to the citizens of the city about his budget-cut proposal involves reducing the programming on Denver’s Channel 8 to “public-meeting coverage and select programming.” The latter apparently includes a newly posted video of Hickenlooper himself trying to…

Michael Bennet’s e-mail snafu amid terror-plot revelations

The “send” key: It’s so easy to push — and so dangerous when it’s pressed prematurely. Witness the chain of events that followed an unwise forward inadvertently shared with assorted reporters by a member of Senator Michael Bennet’s staff as information about a Colorado connection to terrorism-related raids in Queens,…

ProgressNow Colorado takes aim at Jane Norton

How do you know that Jane Norton, who announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate yesterday, is the first Republican in the race feared by Democrats? Because she’s already under attack by ProgressNow Colorado, the most effective and aggressive liberal-oriented media strike force in these parts. This week, multiple mailings…

Jane Norton’s introduction not too mavericky

Earlier this week, ex-Congressman Tom Tancredo said former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton, then on the cusp of formally announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate, wasn’t “ready for prime time” and was only running because she’d been urged to do so by Arizona Senator John McCain. Since the last…

Denver Blogs: Behold, HuffPolis

Our daily slog through the local blogosphere. Polis: If the healthcare debate is a DeLorean, and universal health care is 1985, then Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst was just the plutonium we needed. (Colorado Independent) Also in the Polisphere, the congressman takes on detention reform for the new Huffington Post Denver…

Michael Bennet joins group edging away from public option

Even as Andrew Romanoff readies for a 2010 run for the U.S. Senate, Michael Bennet, the Bill Ritter appointee he’ll be challenging, is upping his public profile. Hence, an appearance yesterday on KHOW for an extended conversation with host Craig Silverman and fill-in yakker Dan Haley, the editorial page editor…

Andrew Romanoff in the starting blocks

As we pointed out in a blog last Thursday, former Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff is on the cusp of announcing a challenge to Senate appointee Michael Bennet. To that end, he’s made one minor alteration at AndrewRomanoff.com, an address that hadn’t been updated for months. Now, there’s…

Tom Tancredo, Jane Norton — and Sarah Palin?

In an article by ace Denver Post reporter Lynn Bartels, former Congressman Tom Tancredo unloads on fellow Republican (and former Colorado Lieutenant Governor) Jane Norton, saying the only reason she’ll be announcing a Senate run later today is because she was talked into it by Arizona Senator and recent presidential…

Roxane White is Hickenlooper’s new chief of staff

Roxane White knows a little something about the power of prayer, having graduated with a degree in religious studies from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon back in 1985 — and she’ll need all the faith she can get in her new job, as Mayor John Hickenlooper’s new chief…

Barack Obama’s Michael Bennet shout-out

With ex-speaker of the Colorado House Andrew Romanoff’s entry into the U.S. Senate race merely a formality at this point, Michael Bennet, appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to fill the slot opened up by the departure (to the Department of the Interior) of Ken Salazar, needs to start playing offense…

Denver Blogs: Game changer?

Our daily cruise through the Colorogosphere. Did Obama’s healthcare speech really change some Colorado minds? (Colorado Independent) Climate-legislation: The next empty promise for thousands of new jobs! (5280) What Josh McDaniels is saying about Sunday. (It’s not much, but at least he’s talking!) (Mile High Report)…

Andrew Romanoff ready to pull the trigger — candidacy-wise, that is

Over the weekend, Andrew Romanoff turned up at a union-sponsored Labor Day picnic where current U.S. Senator Michael Bennet was also glad-handing — one reason why a Tuesday blog about his appearance was headlined “Andrew Romanoff Sure Looking Like a Senatorial Candidate.” As a result, his decision today to file…