( - 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 Rocky Mountain Right - )

In 2006, the Democrats, Moveon.org and George Soros were pissed. Not only had George W. Bush survived his 2000 election, but he won reelection in 2004 handily. The most galling part of the 2004 election for the Dems was the state of Ohio. Ohio's Republican Secretary of State had not only kept out questionable ballots that would have benefitted the Dems, but the Secretary allowed in ballots for Bush that seemed unkosher to the lefties. Bush carried Ohio and got 4 more years. What to do? What to do?

The next election cycle, in 2006, saw the Lefties' creation of the Secretary of State Project or SoSP for short. The SoSP Project was co-founded in July 2006 by James Rucker, formerly director of grassroots mobilization for MoveOn.org Political Action and Moveon.org Civic Action. During a panel discussion at the Democratic Party's convention last year, we learned that the Democracy Alliance, a financial clearinghouse created by Billionaire George Soros and Progressive insurance magnate Peter B. Lewis, approved the Secretary of State Project as a grantee. This means the SoSP Project is effectively funded by Soros and Lewis.

The SoSP web site is proud of their achievements to date as well as their Soros funding. " We've helped to elect 11 of 13 election reform candidates in key states like Minnesota and Ohio. Winning in these states has made a difference already, and now we're gearing up for more wins in 2010. Potential donors should know that the SoS Project's startup and overhead costs are already fully funded. So your contributions go to providing money directly to candidates in targeted races and independent expenditure campaigns in critical states, not to our operational costs."

The SoSP, in 2006, targeted its funding efforts on the Secretary of State races in seven swing states -- Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and financed our own Ken Gordon in Colorado, and Michigan. Democrats emerged victorious in five of those seven elections -- all except Colorado and Michigan.

The 2006 SoSP Minnesota victory had national ramifications two years later when Minnesota's 2008 U.S. Senate race was decided by the SoSP endorsed Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie. Since the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN for short, had endorsed Ritchie and contributed to his campaign, ACORN had a certain level of immunity when it came to counting ballots. On Election Night, incumbent GOP Senator Norm Coleman had won the election by a razor thin 300 votes. After weeks of challenges and rulings by Dem Secretary of State Ritchie, Al Franken became Minnesota's newest senator and the Dems 60th vote in the U.S. Senate. The 2,074 page Senate version of Obamacare passed a key cloture vote with 60 votes, the bare minimum. The Secretary of State Project had now paid off like a winning powerball ticket for the Democrats.

Now we have a new election coming up in 2010. In 2008, sitting Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman won election to the 6th Congressional District and this left a vacancy for Secretary of State. Governor Ritter appointed defeated Democratic State Senator Bernie Buescher to fill Coffman's term. He is the first Democrat to fill this slot in over 40 years. Since the SoSP participated in Colorado's last Secretary of State race in 2006, they are probably out for blood this time around.

This upcoming election cycle, the SoSP has so far only endorsed three Secretary of State incumbents. No new candidates yet. The current SoSP list includes Minnesota's Mark Ritchie, Al Franken's best friend. Since there is about a year to go before the 2010 election, there is no rush for the SoSP to endorse now. The SoSP uses another Soros' backed entity, ActBlue.com, to handle contributions. As a private 527 corporation, the SoSP can accept unlimited financial contributions and doesn't have to disclose them publicly until well after the election.

When you visit the ActBlue website, Secretary of State Buescher is well represented. Although not openly endorsed yet, his ActBlue account for Colorado's Secretary of State race already includes 35 financial supporters. Not bad for a guy who isn't even supposed to be on the SoSP radar screen.

A number of troubling events have occurred in Colorado since SoSP's birth in 2006. ACORN has set up shop in Colorado with a foothold in Aurora. After his 2006 win, our sitting Democrat Governor, Bill Ritter, saw fit to sign an Executive Order allowing Labor Unions to penetrate the state government. Because of this, the AFSCME has started a Local Union of Colorado State Employees more formally called Colorado WINS/AFSCME Local 1876 part of the AFL-CIO. They share the same Denver address with the SEIU local union. Our Colorado tax dollars now flow to the AFL-CIO in Washington. The newness of this AFSCMELocal has not prevented their parent from giving a couple of thousand dollars to Mr. Buescher in his quest to become an actual elected Secretary of State.

There are currently a million more registered voters in Colorado than there are actual voters. You can thank the lack of voter role purging and cleanup for that. That creates a lot of room for shenanigans by ACORN and its buddies.Since Mr. Buescher will be the acting Secretary of State when the 2010 ballots are counted, he must feel pretty good about the final vote outcome next November. Come to think of it, he will oversee Colorado's U.S. Senate and Congress races as well. This must make acting Senator Bennett and Betsy Markey sleep well at night

The Republicans have reacted to this entry of Chicago-style politics into our Rocky Mountain state by offering up Scott Gessler in opposition. Mr. Gessler may become a burr in the Chicago style saddle of the SoSP. Scott Gessler is a Lawyer who offices in Downtown Denver. His practice concentrates on Election Law. He has 16 years in as a U.S. Army Reservist. He has been a Federal Prosecutor. Gessler is not a lightweight.

The SoSP has a litmus test to get an endorsement. Their web site states the requirements for an endorsement which includes:
**-"Election officials should not place onerous requirements on or attempt to intimidate non-partisan voter registration groups. (such as ACORN)
**-Efforts to suppress the vote through onerous requirements, such as unconstitutional photo ID laws, must be opposed.
**-Efforts to raise voter participation of citizens who often face special barriers, such as students, military personnel, low-income people and minorities - including Election Day Registration - should be endorsed and actively supported."

Amazingly, Mr. Buescher feels the same way as the SoSP. He doesn't like a photo ID requirement to vote and likes it when a person shows up to vote and registers on the spot. ACORN joins in with their approval of these onerous methods to make Mr. Buescher, the SoSP and ACORN a loving threesome. Scott Gessler is in direct opposition to the SoSP way of voting.

One thing appears certain, if you vote for Bernie Buescher to become Colorado's Secretary of State, a lot more votes ala Chicago, will be counted, including dead people, people who have left Colorado, non-people, etc. If you vote for Scott Gessler, a lot more legal votes will be counted and the votes will likely reflect the actual number of Coloradans who live here.

I live in Colorado. I vote Gessler.

" You know, comrades," says Stalin, " that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes, and how." From Memoirs of a Secretary of Stalin's by Boris Bazhanov.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock, CO Law Firm.

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Douglas County has three streams running from South to North. The Cherry Creek, East Plum Creek and West Plum Creek all eventually flow into the Platte River and the water then makes its way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Many of Colorado's first settlers made their homesteads on these three rivers. The West Plum Creek ends at Sedalia, Colorado, founded in 1865. This land along the West Plum Creek is Horse Country as it has been for over 140 years.

On Saturday September 19 th, the Douglas County Republicans held their annual picnic. They chose the Wiens Ranch as this year's site. We are still over a year away from the next statewide election but politics was heavy in the air. The Wiens Ranch is owned by former state Senator Tom Wiens and his family. The spacious ranch has over 1,200 acres along the West Plum Creek and it was a wonderful location for the GOP picnic.

GOP hopefuls for Governor, U.S. Senator, Congress, State and Local races were present to meet and greet the GOP faithful. The weather was perfect, the conversation was joyful, and all had a good time.

Gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes addressed the crowd. Having been an employee and business owner over the years, he said "I know what its like to sign the two sides of a paycheck."

J.J. Ament, running for State Treasurer, brought cheers when he talked about how concerned he was how much the noise coming from the Colorado State Capital is sounding more and more like the noise coming from Washington D.C.

Scott Gessler, running for Secretary of State, talked about how that office is the first line of defense against voter fraud by organizations like the disgraced Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Tom Wiens was the host of the Picnic and he spoke to the throng. Although not yet a formal candidate for U.S. Senate, he was graciously received with the other candidates. He talked about how the 2010 election is the chance to send people to Washington that will work for us instead of taking from us.

Candidates for Governor who were at the picnic included Mr. Maes and former congressman Scott McInnis.

Candidates for U.S. Senate included Ken Buck, Ryan Frazier and Jane Norton. Congressman Mike Coffman attended as well, along with candidates for the District RE-1 School Board and county offices.

Many of the attendees at the picnic are the men and women who built Douglas County from a thinly populated rural ranching county into the true modern metropolitan world that it is today. It is quite fitting that the picnic was held in one of the more historic areas of our state.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock law firm.

Preliminary results are out for the extensive survey of over 600 Republican primary voters conducted by Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus and Michael Sandoval of Slapstick Politics. The top-line results are below and detailed crosstabs and analysis will be released next week, so stay tuned.

July 2009 Colorado's Political Temperature Results

Bernie Buescher has gotten his wish and been appointed Sec. of State. The Rocky Mountain News offers this insight into Ritter's selection:

Some political observers say it was Buescher's close ties to Ritter that sealed his fate. Buescher and Ritter both advocated for Amendment 58, which would have closed tax loopholes for oil and gas developers, especially on the Western Slope. The amendment was defeated.

In the meantime, Andrew Romanoff will probably end up running for Senate even if he doesn't get the appointment. As for Ken Gordon? Well, he'll have to go back to spamming online polls.

Bill Ritter has announced the Secretary of State finalists. They are Ken Gordon, Andrew Romanoff, and Bernie Buescher.

As I wrote several weeks ago, Ritter had a real opportunity here to appoint someone with real experience who would put the job before politics. By opening up the process to applicants, he offered a little hope that he was actually looking for someone based on qualifications and not cronyism. Several excellent (and yes, Democratic) candidates applied including Denver County Clerk Rosemary Rodriguez and former Denver County Clerk Sherry Jackson.

Instead, Gov. Ritter has opted to use the position to reward his political allies and has given us a list of candidates who are only going to use the office to advance their own careers.

This all begs the question: if Ritter was just going to give the appointment to one of his allies and ignore the qualified candidates, then why did he put on the charade of taking applications in the first place?

With just a hint of desperation, Ken Gordon has taken to urging his email list to converge on an online poll sponsored by ProgressNow measuring member opinion of the Secretary of State appointment. Here's an excerpt:

You may remember that I ran for this job in 2006 and came very close to winning it.  I received over 49% of the vote and would have gotten a few thousand more votes if Denver had not had an electronic poll book meltdown.  I have asked the Governor to appoint me to the position.
 
You could actually help.  Progress Now is doing an online survey to see the support for various candidates.  I would appreciate a vote. You can also forward the survey directly from Progress Now's website to other people you think may be interested in the Secretary of State appointment by clicking here.

Gordon also sums up his credentials with somewhat of a swipe at his competition:

If you want a person in the Secretary of State's office who actually cares about doing the job, who cares about democracy and citizen participation than I would make a good choice. [Emphasis mine]

Later in the email Ken Gordon plugs his baffling, underwater campaign video from the 2006 election. It's hard to tell what Gordon hopes to accomplish here. Online polls are fairly meaningless to begin with and are even more so when they're for an appointed position. Gordon is as lost as ever.

Gov. Bill Ritter has an important choice looming on the horizon.

Mike Coffman unfortunately came under fire largely as a result of seeking higher office. By running for congress only two years after becoming Secretary of State he caused his attention to be divided between campaigning and focusing on his office's duties. Even more disruptive was the fact that by running for congress he had painted a giant partisan bulls-eye on his back, every Democratic group in the state was taking shots at him and making it even harder for him to get his job done. Do we really want to repeat this when Andrew Romanoff or Bernie Buescher decide to run for congress or when Ken Gordon gets an itch to run a primary against Ken Salazar?

Rosemary Rodriguez, Sherry Jackson, and Jessica Lovingier all have served as county clerks. While Lovingier, a Republican, is a long-shot; Ritter ought to give priority to Rodriguez and Jackson if he is serious about making sure the office is in competent hands.

If Ritter would rather engage in transparent political pay-back and naked partisanship then Romanoff, Bueshcer, or Gordon would be excellent choices.

By opening the process up to applicants as opposed to simply appointing someone, Gov. Ritter is at least offering a ray of hope that he is honestly looking for the most qualified candidate. Let's hope he follows through.

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 !!!!!!!!!!