See also: Rachel Maddow Broadcasting From Denver About Guv Race That's "Off the Hook"
Maddow made a very wise choice by choosing as the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels as her Colorado sensei. Bartels is the best political reporter in the state by a very wide margin, and she offered perspective on local politics that only someone intimately involved with it could provide. She noted, for instance, that Republicans believe they've upped their political ground game but aren't revealing specifics, and suggested that Representative Cory Gardner is polling so well against incumbent Senator Mark Udall for the simple reason that he smiles and is pleasant while Udall frequently comes across as a rigid, severe soothsayer of doom. Such observations helped balance other segments implying that the Dems' glass is more than half full, including an interview with Senator Michael Bennet that suggested current polls showing Gardner beating Udall could well prove just as inaccurate as the ones that had Ken Buck defeating Bennet in 2010. Also a bit dubious was a chat with Dem candidate Irv Halter that portrayed him as having a decent chance to upset incumbent Doug Lamborn in the district that includes Colorado Springs, when his odds are mighty slim. Halter may have raised more money than Lamborn, but that's likely because Lamborn is considered such a shoo-in that there's little need to waste cash. Stronger stuff came in the form of a followup to a false claim by Fox News' Megyn Kelly that all voters in Colorado could print ballots on their home computers and then give them to "collectors" to do with what they would. Maddow noted that Kelly has now admitted on-air that this story isn't true but then highlighted a claim by Colorado Secretary of State candidate Wayne Williams that mail-in ballots could be seized in stealthy fashion by "union bosses" who could then fill them out however they'd like. Really.As for the pot segment, shot at Euflora on the 16th Street Mall, well, who can begrudge a news show a little comic relief?
Look below to see three segments from the show -- those concerning the Fox News claims, Udall's dourness and the Euflora stop.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
