Coyote Gulch

Saturday, January 17, 2004

Webloggers Unite
Denver Stories is sponsoring a live reading on February 8th at Paris on the Platte. One of these days I'm going to make one of these gettogethers. As it it I'll be hanging out in La Joya that day. I recommend the "Zorba the Greek" salad.
6:42:39 PM

20th Anniversary of the Macintosh
Will Parker: "Of course, Big Brother then went on to become an anchor on the Fox News Channel."
6:28:07 PM

Digital Democracy Teach-in
Well it's official. Coyote Gulch will be attending the Digital Democracy Teach-in on February 9th in San Diego. Mrs. Gulch gave her go-ahead so I'll be hooking up with Doc Searls, Phil Windley, Halley Suitt, and many more of my heros in the weblog world. I can't wait. Democratic participation in the 21st century - a computer and an Internet connection.
Colorado Webloggers, drop me a line at jworr@operamail.com, if you're going to the conference. In honor of my boss, Mayor Hickenlooper, I'll buy you a beer at a brew pub.
9:59:38 AM

Denver November 2004 Election
The redistricting battle is over or not depending on pending lawsuits but Denver voters are pretty well set, Denver is not part of the fight. However there is a lot of interest in redoing the way the redistricting is handled in Colorado. The current party in power, the Republicans, are criticizing the State Supreme Court for overturning their last days gerrymander last spring. The Democrats praise the judicial decision because it rolled back the district map to one that was set by a State Court judge. This week Tom Downey chimed in with recommendations for a redistricting commission in a speakout in the Rocky Mountain News [January 16, 2004, "Speakout: A sensible redistricting alternative"]. What should be the goals for a redistricting commission? According to downey, in priority order: Equal population; Compliance with the Voting Rights Act; Honoring county and municipal boundaries; The creation of competitive districts; Compactness and contiguity. Well now that should be easy to do.
Gary Hart has not announced that he will run for a third term in the Senate but the dirt is already being stirred. Democrats warned that Hart's past should be off limits to supporters of the incumbent, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, according to the Denver Post [January 16, 2004, "Democrats: Campbell has dirty laundry too"]. From the article, "Hart declined Thursday to address Campbell's sex-scandal comments, the question of when he'll decide whether to run, and Campbell's contention that Hart would run only to lay the groundwork for a presidential run in 2008. Hart has said the allegation of an affair with model Donna Rice is old news that should be left in the past."
Here's the link to an article where Senator Campbell accuses Gary Hart of running for Senate to set the stage for a presidential run in 2008, from the Denver Post [January 15, 2004, "Hart would run as 2008 tuneup, Campbell says"]. The Post quotes Campbell as saying, "The presidential aspirations are still there, I would think he might see it as a steppingstone again." According to the Post, Mike Miles has picked up the endorsement of Jared Polis in his Senate run.
Mike Miles' campaign events can be accessed from his home page by clicking on a the "Events Calendar" link. Mr. Miles, you should redesign your website to allow deep linking or better yet publish your schedule as an RSS feed. The next Denver event for the candidate is, January 18th, Vicki Rottman and Janet Barrett will host a coffee for Mike, 765 Oneida Street, Denver, 1 p.m.
I don't find any events listed for Brad Freedburg.
Senator Campbell still does not have a campaign website that I can find.
So far I haven't found websites for the candidates in the Denver District Attorney race.
Candidates, where are your weblogs? As always, Coyote Gulch is there to offer free support to any candidate wanting to start a weblog. E-mail me at jworr@operamail.com and we'll hook up.
9:03:26 AM

2004 Presidential Election
Coloradans are in Iowa to work for their Democratic nominee of choice, according to the Rocky Mountain News [January 17, 2004, "Coloradans go the distance"]. From the article, "For Democrats furious at President Bush, the Iraq war, tax cuts, White House environmental and education policies - and that seems to be every Democrat in Iowa this week - the pilgrimage begins here, in a state of silos and flagpoles."
"Most Coloradans in Iowa are working for Howard Dean. They have had epiphanies, too, and campaign staff say they all begin with some form of 'I'm frustrated.'" The home office, for (Deb) Olszonowicz, is adorned with two life-sized Dean cutouts, 75 or so blue "Dean for America" signs and so many workers from Colorado that other staffers joke about buying John Denver records just to fit in." No John Denver please. How about a little Sugarloaf? They were formed in Denver in 1969 out of the ashes of another Colorado band the Moonrakers. ... Green eyed lady, passions lady ...
If you're thinkin' of going to Iowa it's, 10 hours, 13 minutes and 671.81 miles away from Denver. Take I-25 to I76 to I-80 to I-235.
A picture named denver2desmoines.jpg
Coloradans are also trekking to New Hampshire and New Mexico, according to the Rocky [January 17, 2004, "Iowa barely scratches surface for itchy Colorado Democrats"]. New Hampshire is next week and New Mexico is one of the Super Seven states.
Taegan Goddard reports the Iowa is still a statistical tie between John Kerry, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt, and John Edwards. He is citing the Zogby tracking poll. The Daily Kos is analyzing SurveyUSA's last Iowa poll and comes to the age old conclusion that the elections will turn on who can best get their supporters to participate in the caucuses. You gotta think Dean and Gephardt have the most people on the ground and that should translate to the most supporters at caucus.
Mike Littwin takes a look at the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in his column this week in the Rocky [January 14, 2004, "Littwin: Dean's got sticking power"]. Mr. Littwin's article details his observations on Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, John Edwards, and Joe Lieberman.
Juan Cole is looking at the war in Iraq and how it may effect the election this year and then offers up his views on Iowa. I can't find a permanent link so scroll down to, "Democratic Candidates in Iowa Differ on Iraq, and it Probably Doesn't Matter." Ouch.
Update: Here's an election app that allows you to research candidate positions and compare them against each other. Thanks to Dave Winer for the link.
Update: Josh Marshall is pointing to Bloggerstorm, a collection of RSS feeds from Bloggers on the ground in Iowa.
7:09:25 AM

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