Coyote Gulch

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Doc Searls - Salam is back
Doc Searls reports that the "Where is Raed?" weblogger is back online. I was freaked that I might be without an Internet connection for a day, this week, while Salam wondered if the war would stop him permanently:
Raed between the lines.
Salam is back with a long accumulated post. A chunk:
The truth is, if it weren't for intervention this would never have happened. When we were watching the Saddam statue being pulled down, one of my aunts was saying that she never thought she would see this day during her lifetime.
But,
War. No matter what the outcome is. These things leave a trail of destruction behind them. There were days when the Red Crescent was begging for volunteers to help in taking the bodies of dead people off the city street and bury them properly. The hospital grounds have been turned to burial grounds when the electricity went out and there was no way the bodies can be kept until someone comes and identifies.
I confess to the sin of being an escapist. When reality hurts I block it out, unless it comes right up to me and knocks me cold. My mother, after going out once after Baghdad was taken by the US Army, decided she is not going out again, not until I promise it looks kind of normal and OK. So I guess the Ostrich maneuver runs in the family.
Things are looking kind of OK, these days. Life has a way of moving on. Your senses are numbed, things stop shocking you. If there is one thing you should believe in, it is that life will find a way to push on, humans are adaptable, that is the only way to explain how such a foolish species has kept itself on this planet without wiping itself out. Humans are very adaptable, physically and emotionally.
and I also confess that I am going thru massive internet withdrawal symptoms.
So here are what should have been 15 entries to the blog, for whatever it is worth.
Read through the whole thing. It's worth more than any week of the usual on CNN and Fox.
[The Doc Searls Weblog]
9:22:58 PM

2003 Denver Municipal Election
John Hickenlooper tells us that the people are ready for change, Don Mares pipes up that the people do not want business as usual in city government. Then come the voters. Here's an article from the Rocky Mountain News on how the current crop of politicians in the city faired in yesterday's election.
The Rocky Mountain News is running a column about Cathy Reynolds, the first woman to serve on City Council and it's member with the longest tenure.
8:52:03 PM

2003 Denver Election for Auditor
Dennis Gallagher and Ed Thomas are heading into the June 3rd election runoff. Councilwoman Debbie Ortega barely missed beating Thomas, Bill Wells and Landri Taylor were far behind. Here's the story from the Rocky Mountain News and the coverage from the Denver Post. Gallagher needs to raise some dough quickly. He was third in fundraising behind Thomas and Ortega. Can he raise the money? Probably. Can Thomas get Ortega's support? Maybe. Can Gallagher win using his base of West and North Denver? Maybe. Will the fact that Thomas was a policeman hurt him with some voters? Yes. Who will Ortega endorse? Will her endorsement help a candidate? You bet.
7:50:20 AM

2003 Denver Mayoral Election
The people have spoken, Don Mares, Denver's current auditor, and John Hickenlooper, Denver's favorite brewer, will face off in a runoff election in 3 weeks. Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "In election after election, the candidate who won Round 1 lost in the runoff, like Federico Peña did in 1987 and like Webb did in 1991 and 1995. But Hickenlooper has something they didn't: A 20-point lead over his closest rival. That will make him tough to beat June 3, said Lori Weigel, a partner in Public Opinion Strategies." I think they mean that Pena and Webb won after losing in the first round. The Rocky has a short bio for Mares and Hickenlooper. Here's the coverage from the Denver Post.
The Post quotes Phil Perington as saying, ""I don't plan on calling either one of them, It is all about marketing. Neither one of those candidates came up with any solutions or answers." Sour grapes Why would either candidate call Perington? I think they'll be working people that voted for Zavaras, Casey, and Tate. My tally shows at least 31.58% of the voters need to switch candidates now. Can Mares pick up most of those votes? Yes. Can Hickenlooper? Yes. A significant chuck of the votes that the two front runners didn't get are party regulars, police, fire, women, african-american, hispanic. Do they want someone from outside of political circles? Maybe. Can Mares get out the vote on election day? Yes. Does Hickenlooper have the people around him that know how to win elections? Yes. Will the Rocky keep lashing out at Mares? Probably. Will that help Hickenlooper? Maybe. The June 3rd election is not in the bag for either candidate. What fun.
The Denver Post is highlighting the approach John Hickenlooper plans for the runoff. Apparently Don Mares is taking Don Bain's advice and trying to define the discussion from the start. Mares went on the offense immediately says the Post. From the article, "The early offensive was designed to clearly identify Mares as the experienced candidate while painting Hickenlooper as a candidate interested in business and development."
The Post has a view on the type of campaign that's ahead along with some advice from pundits.
Here's a column from the Denver Post delivering a post mortem on Ari Zavaras' campaign. They're right about the consultant gravy train and Zavaras failing to reach out to voters. I was at the Empress on Alameda at lunch one day a couple of weeks ago. Zavaras, Greg Sulley and a couple of other people were seated at the next table. I know Greg from North Denver politics. Zavaras didn't say anything to any of us around the restaurant. No handshakes, no waves, no request for support. He and his advisors were too caught up with themselves. My lunch companion said to me, "See, he thinks he's already won. He acts like he doesn't care."
7:10:17 AM

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