DISQUS

The Quinnipiac survey had Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall leading Republican Bob Schaffer 48 to 38 percent.

No it doesn't. The Quinnipiac survey released July 24, which also shows McCain edging Obama, has Udall and Schaffer neck-and-neck. The Udall lead you cite is from a month-old June 26 Qunnipiac poll.

In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, the Democrat, and Republican Robert Schaffer are tied 44 - 44 percent, compared to a 48 - 38 percent Udall lead June 26.

Ciruli makes the point in a June 25 Denver Post story that "Big Oil Bob," the Schaffer nickname Democrats and environmental interests have repeated for months, might, ironically, be backfiring.

The past two weeks also seem to have left the Democrats' carefully crafted campaign strategy in tatters. For months, opponents have been painting Schaffer as "Big Oil Bob," convinced that his close association with the energy industry would hurt his viability with voters.

"Being related to the industry and being able to argue that 'I know production and we need to get it going' is now a much more positive position to be in for Republicans," Ciruli said.

It could be a temporary blip as $4 gas leaves panicked consumers receptive to the Republican "drill now" message, Nearly twice as many Colorado respondents said they thought government-sponsored alternative energy development was a better answer to expensive oil than expanded domestic drilling. But nearly one in 10 Colorado respondents say they've changed their mind and now support drilling in currently protected areas offshore and in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. That shift alone could account for Udall's loss of a 10-point Udall in a month.

Colorado voters are more inclined toward Udall's energy policies, but Republicans (including AFF in its radio ad) are hammering home a message that's short, simple and to the point, even if it's not supported by the facts. Democrats need to take the argument to voters rather than relying on policy institutes to debunk Republican claims.

The Obama-McCain Rasmussen poll released Thursday also included a question on Colorado's egg-as-a-person proposal, and finds the measure decidedly in the hole:

Over half the state

Speaking of notorious evangelicals, Pastor Ted has returned home, the Gazette reported this morning. But he's not talking:

"I can't talk to you. I am forbidden from talking to the media," Haggard said Saturday evening after answering the doorbell at his home on Old Ranch Road in north Colorado Springs.

He declined to elaborate.

This Beautiful City has a car-wreck fascination with Haggard and his meth-fueled fall from grace, as evidenced by the story's strange level of detailed minutia:

Haggard and his wife, Gayle, are still listed as the owners of the five-bedroom, three-bath home, whose market value was assessed at $715,000 earlier this year, according to the El Paso County Assessor's Office.

It sits behind a gated entrance on 5.1 acres two miles from the 14,000-member megachurch Haggard founded in his basement....

Water was burbling from an electric fountain in the front yard, and five vehicles sat near a multi-car garage, including two motorcycles and a cream Cadillac Escalade.

Imagine that! Burbling fountain and an Escalade!

Still, though the story sits atop the Gazette's list of Most Viewed Stories, readers are overwhelmingly adamant that they just don't care. Here's the latest tally from an accompanying online poll:

Ted Haggard is back in town. Do you care?
Yes, his actions are still of interest to me 7%
No, I couldn't care less 93%

I had to look up one of Thomas's five-dollar words. Apparently Gazette readers already know that angelus means a "Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation." Who says theocrats don't have a sense of humor? I mean, the "incarnation" of a CostCo? That is droll, Jeff.

Just as the Rocky missed the chance to live-blog about transportation and infrastructure spending (which, you have to admit, rather strains the spontaneous and impressionistic quality of live-blogging), the Gazette failed to point out that CostCo's arrival signals a serious crack in Springs culture. After all, CostCo is decidedly Blue to Sam's Club's deep Red. And yet the live-blogger couches the contrast in retail terms:

They look pretty much identical, from what I remember of my long-ago last trip to Sam's. Costco devotees say the main difference is quality. The stuff at Costco, they say, is just better. And that's coming from a lot of people who shop at both. There are, no doubt, Sam's Club fans who might disagree.

Why so coy about who you matched?

Wasn't this story on the front page a few weeks ago? Is there something new?

Former Rocky reporter Jim Tankersley reports on the Chicago Tribune's politics blog:

The Swamp can also report that the two top Democrats in Colorado - a swing state and the home of this year's Democratic National Convention - are set to endorse Obama. Sen. Ken Salazar and Gov. Bill Ritter will announce their decisions today or tomorrow.

I'm sure Tom Tancredo has plenty to say about this. If the aliens don't speak English, and they arrive here without proper documentation, then it only makes sense what NASA is doing.

Here's Part 2 of the Schaffer speech:

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Sorry, that's Tancredo's speech. (You guys really need a "preview" function for comments.)

Here's Part 1 of Schaffer's speech:

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Here's the Schaffer acceptance speech, Part 1, originally posted at Slapstick Politics http://slapstickpolitics.blogspot.com/

Wayne Allard's valedictory and Tom Tancredo's fire-breathing ("Barack Hussein Obama") are also on the Slapstick site.

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Ingrid and Don Lindemann, Aurora power couple. Ingrid served nearly 20 years representing west-central Aurora on city council and earned a reputation as an incisive and tough advocate for neighborhoods as the city underwent explosive growth. Don, after a career in the Air Force, made a mark in the State Legislature and went on to steer a model redevelopment at Lowry.

Nathan and Carol Chambers, Arapahoe County power couple. Nathan is Chairman of the Arapahoe County Republican Party while the once-reliably Red county has been trending more and more Blue. Carol won an upset primary four years ago and sailed to election as district attorney for Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties. After facing a rare censure for intervening in a friend's legal troubles with a collection agency, she's established her law-and-order credentials by seeking the death penalty in high-profile cases. She faces a primary challenge from a Jefferson County prosecutor who lives in the district.

How about Bill and Frances Owens? Wasn't she rumored to be a candidate for Congress at one point? ... Wait, they're no longer a couple, nevermind.

Or former House Speaker Doug Dean and his girlfriend, insurance industry lobbyist Gloria Sanak, who took out a restraining order on Dean after he broke into her home, kicked in the window and confronted her with a screwdriver. Dean went on to win appointment (from Owens) as Colorado Insurance commissioner and Sanak went on to become Mrs. Dean.

Dick and Dottie Lamm are the original Colorado Power Couple and have the distinction of sharing the record for longest residence at the Governor's Mansion and both having been candidates for U.S. Senate.

President Bush is nearby too, arriving tonight at Peterson AFB and giving the commencement address at the Air Force Academy tomorrow. All we need is a Cheney or a Clinton, then we'll have the trifecta.

I wondered the same thing as Carol, as I don't usually read CI stories starting on the front page -- usually it's via an RSS reader or through the Most Popular or Recent Articles By links.

Can you just run the lede twice, then it'll pick up the second occurrence on the actual story page?

Apparently the front page paragraphs aren't showing up on the actual story.

Here's what JC wrote to start her story:

Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced today that his campaign has collected three and a half times the required number of signatures to secure a spot on the Republican party

At that price, it had better play CDs, mp3s, cassette tapes, vinyl albums AND 8-tracks.

At that price, it had better play CDs, mp3s, cassette tapes, vinyl albums AND 8-tracks.

But do you have a $385,000 sound amplification system?

But do you have a $385,000 sound amplification system?

And here's the "corrected" ad: <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bJKIfYKYS7c&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bJKIfYKYS7c&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Here's the ad

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It's hard to say Waak and Ritter at least have host-state protocol to keep them on the fence.

(Though I wonder what Ritter meant when he told Colorado Confidential he must stay neutral lest the convention be brokered, "Then I will make my choice known on the convention floor." Is that in his capacity as commander of the Colorado National Guard? Does he anticipate he'll be the lone undeclared superdelegate? If the convention really enters Denver at an impasse, I doubt Colorado Democrats will want Ritter to wait for the actual roll call to declare.)

(Waak basically said she'd been instructed by the national party to stay neutral, Tuesday night on KCNC-TV. Apparently that fiat didn't extend far, as her 1st Vice Chair, Dan Slater, threw his superdelegate support behind Obama months ago.)

Udall's release a week ago slamming the Clinton gas-tax holiday called her a panderer, so it's hard to believe he'd throw in with her. As the only statewide Democrat on the ballot this year, he probably wants to wait as long as possible before alienating any Clinton supporters (and fundraisers). But what he gains by walking the fence, he loses bigger among Obama supporters for prolonging things. And since Obama carried the state 2-1, he's got cover. I think he'll come out before or at the state convention next weekend.

Romer's the closest we've got to an elder statesman and he's made his position known. It's an Obama vote, so if he wants to stay officially mum, that's fine.

That leaves the Salazar brothers. Either could endorse Obama, as he carried both the state and John's 3rd Congressional District, 2-1. Conversely, either could endorse Clinton, because her politics and style are probably closer to theirs than Obama's. Plenty of senators have endorsed, so there's no reason for Ken to hold back. John may not want to endorse first, because everyone will assume it's a portent of Ken's vote.

The timing might not entirely be up to the undeclared delegates (other than Waak and her DNC masters). Rumors abound the Obama camp has dozens of superdelegates in its pocket and plans to dribble them out over the next few days, to blunt his certain loss in West Virginia.

Still, as the New York Times editorialized this morning:

The undeclared superdelegates should stop their coy posing. With few exceptions, there is no reason left (other than the hope of making back-room deals) for those whose states have voted to keep their positions private.

What did Boston do with all its gizmos?

Somehow, I can imagine New York (site of the '04 Republican convention) can find a use for everything, but Boston just doesn't have the giant events. Is there a giant public storage unit in Brookline filled with shields, masks, tear gas launchers and barricades?

I'm also curious whether Denver will be incurring endless maintenance costs after it acquires all this equipment. I doubt technicians for a $385,000 amplification system come cheap.

What is a $385,000 "amplification system"? A giant megaphone?

Have you heard what Denver intends to do with some of this rather arcane equipment after the convention? Mothball it until the next G-8 meeting lands here? Or turn the next Columbus Day parade into a demonstration of DPD technology?

I'm curious whether other post-9/11 convention cities wound up keeping (and finding a use for) all their federal-funded doo-dads. Did Boston use "sonic weapons" to break up Patriots rallies that got too festive?