( - promoted by Hestons Ghost - )

Democrat candidate for Attorney General and Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett’s hand must be hurting after banging it on the podium so much lately. In his latest press screed, he says that “states should have the right to decide important states’ rights issues…” and that Suthers “appears to support states’ rights on a selectively partisan basis.” Here, Garnett is referencing a Massachusetts court overturning the Federal Defense of Marriage Act.

As a side note, The Durango Herald interview also quotes Garnett as saying “Boulder is not nearly as liberal as people think. When it comes to education, public safety, quality of life, Boulder’s very conservative.” I though Udall’s victory showed that the Boulder-Liberal label no longer works? Maybe we need a new Boulder-Conservative label. Stan, do you really believe the weed-friendly Boulder-ites have a conservative public safety bent? Put the pipe down!

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Hickenlooper for Guv

The news in the Guv’s race is Hick raised $370,000 in a month, which is pretty awesome. But the big news is he already did an $850,000 media buy, $120,000 in mail and a $26,000 poll leaving him with $130,000 in the bank. Clearly, Hick was waiting to pay folks until now too.

( - Promoted by Hestons Ghost - )

Apparently, fundraising isn’t going well for the Boulder Obamacare apologist Stan Garnett. After trying to solicit funds for over the past month, the PAC money appears to be going elsewhere. What do candidates do? They make a late announcement that they won’t accept PAC donations, which means that they can’t get PAC money.

 ( - Promoted by Hestons Ghost - )

Who says the liberal media are concerned with only the liberal blogs? From The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels:

A Republican blog is reporting that Attorney General John Suthers won't support three of the four Colorado Supreme Court justices on the ballot in November.

The Republican attorney general isn't talking, except to say that he wishes he had kept quiet.

"I should not have gotten into any of that," Suthers said Monday. "I regret the conversation."

But Republicans who want to oust Supreme Court members up for retention this year are thrilled to have the law-and-order heavyweight on their side.

"When the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the state says he thinks the highest justices in our state are not worthy of continuing in office, that's big news," said Matthew Arnold, director of Clear the Bench Colorado.

The organization is trying to rid the high court of most of its members — including all four on the ballot this year. Clear the Bench maintains that the court is making unconstitutional decisions that favor Democrats.

Quite simply, we are flabbergasted, not because this is being cast as a partisan fight -- which it is not -- but because Suthers was not so shy when he -- repeatedly, and in no uncertain terms -- publicly and privately told conservatives that he believed several Supremes should not be retained this fall. Suthers' sudden scurry makes us wonder, since his views are likely not news to the justices; Suthers has clashed with the largely liberal court for years, and he has little in common with most of its members, so why should he care if his stance is publicly stated? What concerns us most, though, is how Suthers' unwillingness to actively, openly oppose the Supremes demonstrates the fundamental flaw in the so-called Missouri Plan, the system used to appoint and retain/elect judges in Colorado. The plan provides for little to no public input or criticism in the appointment of judges, yet, come retention/election time, despite the fact that the purpose of the retention/election is to allow public input and criticism of the judges, public input and criticism are frowned upon even more, even by the state's highest officials:

"The idea of sweeping four judges out at once is radical and very disruptive," said state Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver.

Not nearly as radical as the idea of not taking the retention/election seriously, Senator, which is what you -- and, now, Suthers -- seem to prefer. But that is hardly the only thing about this situation that strikes us as strange:

Suthers last week spoke to the Arapahoe County Republican Men's Club. The blog The Business Word reported that Suthers told the group that he would vote for Justice Nancy Rice.

"Suthers will vote against retaining Chief Judge Mary Mullarkey and Judges Alex Martinez and Michael Bender," the blog reported.

Suthers said court critics at the breakfast were "lumping all these justices together, and I felt I needed to say something in defense of Justice Rice."

We see no reason why Suthers would support Rice, but oppose Mullarkey, Martinez, and Bender. As far as we can tell, the only difference between the latter three and Rice is that Suthers, like Rice, is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, which is hardly a reason to support Rice. But that makes about as much sense as Suthers is making today, so maybe it is his reason.

The Democrats have finally gotten around to finding an opponent for attorney general John Suthers: Vice-Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party Dan Slater. Slater made a "pre-announcement" at his blog:

If you’ve been following DemNotes for the past month — or especially if you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook lately — you’ve seen all sorts of cryptic messages about my plans for the future. If you attended some of the events where I’ve spoken or been introduced in the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard about what I’ve been considering doing.

But if you haven’t, I want you on DemNotes to be among the first to know: On October 1, I will be announcing my candidacy to be Colorado’s next Attorney General.

So save that date (if you’re on the Western Slope, save October 2 instead).

Let me be clear: I’m not a candidate today. I can’t accept any contributions until October 1 — that’s when I will be a candidate.

The fact that a state party official is jumping into the race would seem to indicate that any top-tier candidates have decided not to run. This isn't exactly surprising as most statewide campaigns have started long before now. This can probably go in the "sacrificial lamb" category.

In a surprising move, John Suthers has reversed course and decided not to stand as a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010. Chris Rizo at LegalNewsline reports:

As for a possible Senate bid, Suthers said while it is a "marvelous opportunity" and that he would be able to be a viable candidate against Salazar's successor, Democrat and former Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.

Suthers said the fundraising demands would be too onerous.

This is a very sudden reversal for Suthers. His U.S. Senate candidacy had been considered by most insiders a "sure thing" earlier this month. Only in the last few days did rumors begin to spread that Suthers was getting cold feet.

His run for U.S. Senate was considered so likely that Weld County D.A. Ken Buck and U.S. attorney Troy Eid were already gathering support to run for attorney general, Suthers' current job. Buck has previously hinted at an interest in running for CD-4 while Troy Eid has hinted at an interest in running for, well, anything...

As for the Senate race, the departure of Suthers could create an opening for someone like Mark Hillman or Ryan Frazier to tie up a considerable amount of early support now freed up.

Weld County D.A. Ken Buck has been looking at both running for attorney general and challenging Betsy Markey in CD-4. He now looks to be settling on running for attorney general in 2010. The Loveland Connection reports:

Buck spoke briefly to Larimer County Republican activists who gathered Saturday to elect Kevin Lundberg to fill a vacant state Senate seat previously held by Steve Johnson. He told the group that Attorney General John Suthers — who is expected to seek the GOP U.S. Senate nomination — has announced he wouldn’t run for his current seat in 2010.

“I am going to make an announcement in February,” Buck said, adding that legal restrictions prevented him from being more specific until he filed appropriate paperwork.

Outgoing U.S. attorney Troy Eid has already announced his intention to run. Republicans now face the very real possibility of a primary for every statewide office in 2010 (primaries in the governor, senate, and secretary of state races are likely; it remains to be seen who will run for treasurer).

Outgoing U.S. attorney Troy Eid has announced he will run for Attorney General in 2010.

Eid had previously stated he was looking at a run for Governor, U.S. Senate, and CD-7. Attorney General would seem to be a more logical position for him to seek. He has been added to the 2010 candidate directory, which is tracking announced GOP candidates for office.

I am a Christian, a mom, a female, a Veteran, and I come from a long line of Republicans.  I am appauled by all the gossip and mudslinging and want to know about WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FOR THIS MESS AMERICA IS IN (BECAUSE OF BUSH???)! God clearly hates gossip and lies and digging up crap, so STOP IT!!!!  I served in the US NAVY for 5 years and was involved in the Lebonon Crisis, I would not follow Palin nor McCain into battle! He was captured, while millions died! This is NOT Vietnam, nor is it the days of our forefathers. These are frightening times, SAY SOMETHING WE (myself included  as someone that has not committed to whom we will vote for) NEEDS TO HEAR!!! I turn the channel and feel discust when all I have ever hear come out of your mouths is GOSSIP!!! STOP IT!!! Also, McCain said HE would NOT ALLOW PORK BARREL SPENDING to be attached to laws anymore, and would give their names, WHAT WAS HE THINKING WHEN HE LEAD THE SIGNING OF THE PORK HE JUST PASSED ????? WOODEN ARROWS ?????? YOU WILL NOT WIN AS LONG AS YOU USE UNGODLY TACTICS !!!!!!!!!! STOP THE GOSSIP . START TALKING ABOUT AMERICAN'S PROBLEMS AND HOW TO FIX THEM THIS ISNT ABOUT YOUR POPULARITY I DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHO YOU ARE !!!!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS - WE NEED ANSWERS NOT CRAP ?????? BUSH IS AN ABOMINATION to THE REPUBLICAN PARTY and needs to be IMPEACHED !!!!!!!!!!