While Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has been enduring a summer of media broiling over everything from the BP oil spill to federal wild-horse roundups, his brother John has been coolly and quietly toodling toward re-election and a fourth term in Congress. But now, the Other Salazar is facing…
Update below: Days before tomorrow’s Republican senate primary, Jane Norton appeared on the campaign trail with Arizona Senator John McCain — a controversial figure for Tea Party and 9.12 project members. And since those are the very sort of folks who may elevate Ken Buck to a surprise victory, his…
Update below: The Democratic senate race between Andrew Romanoff and Michael Bennet in advance of tomorrow’s primary has been a truckload of ugly — and the Republican matchup’s offered more of the same. Jane Norton has spent week after week slamming Ken Buck — and spokeswoman Cinamon Watson keeps doing…
Update below: If Republican guv candidate Scott McInnis isn’t a dead fish, as his spokesman announced in this space today, some credit is owed his main opponent, Dan Maes, who’s lately made several remarks that have taken on lives of their own. In the view of campaign spokesman Nate Strauch,…
Update below: At 11 a.m. today, Andrew Romanoff will be roaming the 16th Street Mall, shaking hands and explaining to pedestrians why it’s important they vote for him in Tuesday’s primary. And Romanoff spokesman Roy Teicher expresses confidence about victory even as he dismisses complaints from the Michael Bennet campaign…
Update below: Last week in this space, Andrew Romanoff insisted that his quick rise in the polls didn’t come as a result of negative attacks against his primary opponent, Michael Bennet. But during a primary-eve conversation, Bennet spokesman Trevor Kincaid predicts that Romanoff’s gains will prove temporary — and the…
Update below: The Scott McInnis campaign’s August 6 release about his primary night “victory party” (see it below) listed its date as August 12 — two nights after tomorrow’s primary. When asked about that, McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy jokes, “I hope it said Tuesday. Either that, or we’re the world’s…
It’s been a good week to make fun of Dan Maes. But this whole bikes equal communism, let’s take away jobs circus might not have mattered had it not been for his opponent’s colossal stumble in the polls. Scott McInnis, as you will recall, plagiarized a report on water issues…
This is shaping up to be one lively governor’s race, what with GOP hopeful Dan Maes suspecting a UN agenda behind Denver’s bicycle program, promising layoffs of state workers and an unshackling of the energy industry — and claiming to have driven 5,000 miles a month in his campaign. Is…
The bittersweet ache of partial financial disclosure, the hidden truth of lackluster personal success and the yearning to be a leader – these are the touchstones of Republican primary candidate Dan Maes, who came out of nowhere and showed that he could translate the dysfunctional anger of Tea Party political…
By now it’s clear what a huge misstep gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes took in declaring Denver’s Bike Sharing part of a global conspiracy to deprive us of our personal freedoms. For its part, the program is just grateful for the publicity. “It’s shedding Dan Maes in an unfortunate light, which…
You have to keep your eyes open when walking through Denver’s 16th Street Mall — not just because of the buses buzzing through the pedestrian-heavy area, but because you might end up seeing this guy: Sarah Palin’s biggest fan. His only quotation when spotted on Thursday around 1 p.m.: “Vote…
Fresh from chastising leading Colorado Republicans over sins ranging from plagiarism (e.g., Scott McInnis) to knee-jerk reactionary pandering, GOP bad boy Muhammad Ali Hasan is now tweaking conservative noses on a national scale. A recent Huffington Post column by Hasan wades into the heated controversy over building a mosque near…
A short time ago, Joseph Garcia was officially announced as John Hickenlooper’s running mate for governor. But while the presumptive Democratic standard-bearer could have limited himself to praising Garcia’s stint as president of Colorado State University-Pueblo, he branched out with the following quote retrieved by Westword’s Johnny Molfetta, who was…
Colorado state Senator Pat Steadman on Wednesday, commenting on the decision by a federal judge to overturn California’s Proposition 8, said it’s a lot like fourteen years ago. Fourteen years ago being May 20, 1996, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling came down against Colorado’s Amendment 2 — an addition…
There’s nothing lamer than a lame duck — which explains why Governor Bill Ritter tends to get so little attention these days. Today, though, he reminded folks he still exists by hanging with bicycling icon Lance Armstrong during the announcement of the Quiznos Pro Challenge, a new bike race that’ll…
Yep, it’s another cable news moment that’s all but indistinguishable from a bit on The Daily Show. This one comes courtesy of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who this week played host to John Weins and Mel Hilgenberg, a fife and drum duo called the Liberty Leaders who were a popular fixture…
Today, National Public Radio reported that Arizona’s new immigration law — parts of which are on hold — is having the effect of causing some illegal immigrants to leave, which no doubt cheers local politicians backing it. But reporter Jeff Brady says at least a dozen ‘Zona families have recently…
A person who attempts to provoke others with outrageous come-ons is referred to as a “tease.” From his suggestion to bomb Mecca to his threat to run for Colorado governor, Tom Tancredo’s lifetime of taunts makes him the king of tees. Tee-shirts, that is. And what better time to reveal…
There’s been lotsa entertainment value in Colorado’s primary races, from Tom Tancredo’s guv run to Scott McInnis’s plagiarism problems — and now, Dan Maes’s declaration that Denver’s B-Cycle program might turn the city into “the United Nations” via wrongheaded environmental do-goodism. What other seemingly harmless things might cause us to…
Yesterday, Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff touted his upcoming debate in Pueblo, where he was set to face an empty chair subbing for Senator Michael Bennet, who’d passed due to a scheduling conflict. “When you debate an empty chair, you’re very likely to win, unless you’re a really bad debater,”…
Yesterday, a U.S. District judge allowed a Virginia lawsuit attacking the new federal health-care law to move forward. The ruling surprised those certain that suits like one joined by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers would be laughed out of court — and cheered the Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara, who’s pushing…
