Colorado Politics

[Eeyore]

Originally Posted by seventwenty

That's all fine, but how credible is(are) your source(s)? How close is(are) he/she/they to Salazar?

Just to give you a idea some of my sources are the people who host the parties for the political candidates who come to Pueblo to raise money.

I am not saying they are 100% accurate as in politics anything can happen that is just the feeling some people had about him wanting to stay in DC. They even pointed out that 4 or 8 years is a lifetime in politics, I just thought I would throw that out.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Pizzuti

But being Sec'y of the Interior is generally considered a much better job than governor of a state the size of CO, which is most likely to be the ultimate reason Ken Salazar would stay in his current job if that's what he wants to do. Remember that when Obama filled his cabinet with sitting dems, governors and Senators alike vacated their jobs to take the positions.

That may be true, but, as you said, a Cabinet position is not what you use as a stepping stone to the Presidency. Only two Presidents have actually done so.

A Cabinet position does allow you the ability to exercise tremendous power over certain areas of domestic policy without having to resort to political negotiations. Just look at the abrupt reversal in land use and BLM permits under Salazar as compared to Kempthorne or Norton. This has probably had a greater impact on the Rocky Mountain region than anything that any governor could ever do.

[wong21fr]

Well, Perlmutter is out. If Hickenlooper doesn't end up running I'll be very, very surprised.

Who thinks he'll make an announcement mid-week?

[Eeyore]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Well, Perlmutter is out. If Hickenlooper doesn't end up running I'll be very, very surprised.

Who thinks he'll make an announcement mid-week?

He almost has to make a announcment soon to give him time to campaign.

[wong21fr]

^But, he's also got to take the time for the behind the scenes campaigning.

Hickenlooper has the ability to flood a campaign with cash with his numerous connections. Something that Mcinnis has got to be concerned about. Not to mention that his entire campaign strategy is up in the air w/o the ability to use the incumbent as a political target.

[Eeyore]

True but I am sure he will run against the democrats and President Obama. If the economy stays bad he will have some success if it gets better that will be a harder strategy to pull off.

[Pizzuti]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

When I say sources I mean people I talk to because when I talk about publications I usually post a link and the article to prove my point.

About my sources, I have many. I am the president of gay pride and sit on the SCEA board so I know or know of the many of the gay leaders from Denver to Pueblo in fact I work closely with the Colorado Springs pride center ever year for their pride, Pueblo has a booth there, and Pueblo's, they have a booth at ours. Outside of that given that I am a 4th generation Puebloan and my family is in business here I tend to know many people in Pueblo and am invited to many political functions. Also, keep in mind that I love politics and hope to run for local office some day, I just do not have the kind of time right now to give that it would take to be on the city council. Plus I feel that I have more I need to learn before I can be a good candidate for city council.

I don't doubt that you have sources, I just want to know who you heard this from. Rumors that somebody is "considering a presidential run" are a dime a dozen and everybody likes to think that someone prominent from their state is running, so there's a big difference if someone with special knowledge said something than if it's just "the word on the street" in activist circles.

You have to realize that there are probably a hundred semi-prominent Democrats who you might hear are "thinking of running for president" and only a handful of those are even somewhat serious rumors.

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

True but I am sure he will run against the democrats and President Obama. If the economy stays bad he will have some success if it gets better that will be a harder strategy to pull off.

The problem will be that Hickenlooper will tout what he's done for Denver, a history going back to the late 80s & LoDo. To be honest, below is the Hickenlooper that the Democrats will portray, and it will be a damn hard image to beat.

-Denver Photo Archives

[Eeyore]

I guess this solves the question as to when he will enter the race.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has told top Democrats he intends to run for governor, sources tell The Denver Post.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14172465#ixzz0cQfbNfTO

As far as my sources, I guess it's a little bit of both. You know how politics is.

[Mulligan]

Exciting!!

[Giovoni]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

True but I am sure he will run against the democrats and President Obama. If the economy stays bad he will have some success if it gets better that will be a harder strategy to pull off.

I think if they do that Hickenlooper can rightly say that they are avoiding running against him directly because they can't find anything to criticize him over - which isn't really correct anyway. He pushed very hard for Fastracks and basically assembled the entire metro area around it. Now that that program has problems I can imagine McInnis will attack him over that. Though having Hick talk about this program and it's problems will probably end up showing just how no nonsense and anti BS he usually seems to be. I am nearly certain I'll be seeing adds when I visit home that say: "he campained for a 100% increase in the RTD tax.. imagine what he'd do with your taxes as governor - if he were to increase your yearly tax bill by 100% per year it would cost the average taxpayer this many tens of thousands of dollars... can Colorado or our children afford that?"

It might actually be a good thing for the fastracks program to have him talking about it and why exactly it's in so much trouble in a very public campaign. McInnis could also turn his consensus building in the metro area as a sign that he's only going to pay attention to the metro area and ignore the rest of the state though I don't see what this would gain.

I just don't see Hickenlooper losing this election. He is wildly popular in the metro area and vitually all other democrats in the state are going to vote for him by default. He has never given any sign at all that he wouldn't govern the state as a whole the way he seemed to be able to govern the metro area as a whole by default. I just don't think rural resentment of the Denver mayor angle will be that big of a deal this time.

Anecdotally, when this became a possibilty that was discussed here last week I started asking around and most of my relatives who do live in rural Colorado (Pueblo, Walsenburg, Trinidad, La Veta etc) think he's a great person, admire his style, and will be voting for him without reservation. Even from way down there they seem to be aware that he practices the kind of inclusive government that they all thought they would be getting at the national level (even though several of them voted R for whatever reason) after the last election. It's a shame I won't be there to vote for him myself.

[Eeyore]

I agree about Pueblo democrats voting for him as I have asked around myself and some of the people I know are in Denver for the announcement already...

Also, I read where the republicans do not want to go after him directly so they want to refer to him as "Hicken Ritter". I guess that shows how they plan on running their campaign.

This will be a interesting race, it could come down to what base is more energized. Personally I hate to see a republican win as Pueblo made a lot of strides with Governor Ritter and I would hate to see us lose them in the next 4 years.

[Giovoni]

Whether or not Pueblo makes any strides I'm sure you'll find a way to show everyone how it has. If a meteor hit Pueblo tomorrow you'd be telling us it shows Pueblo's central role and attention paid to it by the cosmos in general.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

This will be a interesting race, it could come down to what base is more energized. Personally I hate to see a republican win as Pueblo made a lot of strides with Governor Ritter and I would hate to see us lose them in the next 4 years.

Meh, this is the only thing that matters to you.

$50 bucks says you wouldn't care it Mcinnis platformed on new restrictions on gay rights if he also heavily championed development in Pueblo and brought a Fortune 500 corporation to the city.

[Eeyore]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Meh, this is the only thing that matters to you.

$50 bucks says you wouldn't care it Mcinnis platformed on new restrictions on gay rights if he also heavily championed development in Pueblo and brought a Fortune 500 corporation to the city.

That is so true, who needs to get married when I could have a Fortune 500 company in Pueblo. My friends always get mad at me but when I vote because its Pueblo first above everything else, they just don't get to mad because it falls in line with gay rights by random chance.

[Pizzuti]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

That is so true, who needs to get married when I could have a Fortune 500 company in Pueblo. My friends always get mad at me but when I vote because its Pueblo first above everything else, they just don't get to mad because it falls in line with gay rights by random chance.

So the gay people who don't live in Pueblo are SOL eh?

[Eeyore]

I can't defend my position so I am not going to try. Fortunately, I have never had to make that choice as most Republicans tend to ignore Pueblo while democrats are here all the time. Just look at Ritter compared to Owens. Ritter did all he could to help Pueblo while Owens thought Colorado ended south of the Springs. When Pueblo got Vesta's Ritter was here for the formal announcement and while giving his speech talked about how Puebloans told him the state does not end at the El Paso county line. So when Pueblo came to him for help recruiting Vesta's he told his advisors to give any help Pueblo needs so they get this company that way they know they are a important part of the economy in Colorado. Of course the crowd cheered, including me, I am easy to please just say a nice thing about Pueblo. Then when President Obama was in Pueblo again Ritter was here to introduce him and said I know many people are here from outside the Pueblo metro area but today this is for Pueblo as this is more proof that Pueblo is not only a important city in Colorado but the United States. Now you guys know on this one I was jumping up and down in fact, I know you guys will laugh but that's ok, I got teary eyed and still do when I think about it. Now I know that is him being a good politician but at least he thought enough of Pueblo to say that, Owens never would have, IMO. To give a example Owens ran on fixing I-25. Then when he got in office he sure fixed I-25, in Denver. He kind of forgot that part in his stump speech. I have a feeling that Hickenlooper will be more like Ritter then Owens. Also, it was always the republican governors who thought it might be a good idea to move the state fair while the democrats always managed to stop it. Because of incidents like these my vote is usually safe for democrats, especially on the local and state level. So maybe I would feel different if I had to make that kind of choice but I have not, well in state and local elections. National is a different story.

Here is when he was in Pueblo at the State Fair grounds. When he said "I will be back" I was so loud my friends were like calm down....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_bSYUPGDqw

[seventwenty]

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[Eeyore]

Since the republican won in Massachusetts does that mean anything for the national election this year?

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

Since the republican won in Massachusetts does that mean anything for the national election this year?

I think it means the Democrats have just committed suicide, Eeyore. And frankly, given their inability to do a fucking thing besides argue with each other, I'm glad. Let the Republicans cave into every big business, cut the rich's taxes some more, cut every bit of social spending, etc... Let them run deficits that make Obama's look small. And let the voters switch again in a couple of years.

For once, make the Republicans responsible for doing something other than saying "No!"

And for the record, if healthcare reform doesn't pass with 59 votes, I suggest Obama resign effective immediately. The Senate needs to immediately get rid of their bullshit 60 vote to beat a filibuster rule, and get rid of it now! But if Obama can't forcefully get behind healthcare reform, bang the drum, bully from his bully pulpit, then he has admitted defeat by the minority, and he needs to resign.

The dems have caused this on their own. They're weak, ball-less, gutless scummy pieces of crap without a backbone. They looked and acted like slugs with their slime trail behind them, and they deserve to get squashed when they act likie that.

Aaron (Glowrock)