Coyote Gulch

Thursday, October 6, 2005

McCain for President?
Here at Coyote Gulch we love the Bull Moose's style. He writes, "The Moose explains why he would crawl across a field of broken glass for John McCain.

"The conclusion of the statement from John McCain on his amendment that passed the Senate last night which establishes new limits on interrogating detainees in Iraq and elsewhere, 'Mr. President, let me just close by noting that I hold no brief for the prisoners. I do hold a brief for the reputation of the United States of America. We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. To do otherwise undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation. We are not simply any other country. We stand for something more in the world - a moral mission, one of freedom and democracy and human rights at home and abroad. We are better than these terrorists, and we will we win. The enemy we fight has no respect for human life or human rights. They don't deserve our sympathy. But this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are. These are the values that distinguish us from our enemies.'"

Of course Colorado's own Wayne Allard just had to disagree. Bad show Senator.

Political Wire: "New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), 'who is very much in mix as a potential candidate for president, is interviewing a handful of Democratic media consulting firms with an eye on winning re-election next year and then turning his focus to a national race,' The Fix reports."

Political Wire: "Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) 'is putting off the much-awaited announcement on his political future until late November,' the Boston Globe reports."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:22:02 PM

Harriet Miers for Supremes?
Here's a post from The Moderate Voice about the Miers nomination. Mr. Gandleman writes, "President George Bush's nomination of his lawyer Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is now turning out to require a sales job that may not necessarily require an emergency visit by super salesman Zig Zigler - but all the King's horses and all the King's men may not be able to put George Bush's agenda and trust from some factions of his party together again."

Stygius writes, "If more than a handful of Republican senators oppose Miers, every Democrat in the Senate should join them -- in the expectation that even if they do for whatever reason find Miers palatable, the next nominee will be more so, while Democratic power in Congress will be solidified in the face of upcoming elections. This was something politically impossible with the Roberts nomination. With Miers, it now borders on the politically imperative."

Category: 2004 Presidential Transition

7:11:56 AM

Fitzgerald Indictments Pending?
From Josh Marshall: "There were rumors flying around all day today that Plame prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was about to indict one or more White House officials."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election
7:01:39 AM

Independence Institute Under the Gun
The Independence Institute is hoping to avoid disclosing the sources of their funding, according to the Denver Post [October 6, 2005, "Think tank fights ID of donors"]. From the article, "...the Independence Institute has not disclosed any information, saying that its radio ads about the proposed suspension of tax refunds under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights have been educational, not advocacy. Proponents disagree, accusing Caldara of hiding his political money to keep his donors and their motives from public view. Gov. Bill Owens, in a debate with Caldara taped Wednesday at KBDI-Channel 12, challenged him to reveal who paid for the ads."

Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News [October 6, 2005, "Owens, Caldara mix it up over Refs C, D"]. From the article, "Caldara, talk-show host and president of the Independence Institute, a Golden-based free-market think tank, said politicians want Ref C's five-year suspension of the state's spending limits under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, not because the state's in a budget crisis but because 'it's not as much as the bureaucrats want to spend.' Owens shot back that Caldara's own organization is in Kansas pitching the very same TABOR reform that Ref C would give Colorado: the ability to recover losses state government sustains during recessions. As written now, Colorado's TABOR doesn't allow that."

The debate will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 and 1 p.m. Oct. 16 on KBDI-Channel 12. The debate also will be available as a Webcast at www.RockyMountainNews.comand on the CBS 4 News site at www.cbs4denver.com after the first broadcast.

If you pay attention to politics at all you know that most races have become so expensive that campaigns have to go out of state to raise dough. Here's an article from the Denver Post about Marc Holtzman's If C Wins You Lose committee getting money from a Virginia group called Americans for Freedom and Opportunity [October 6, 2005, "Referendum foes get Va. cash"]. From the article, "Katy Atkinson, spokeswoman for the "Vote Yes on C & D" campaign, said the out-of-state opponents are trying to hide by donating money to nonprofit groups."

Here's a story from the Rocky about the Independence Institute and their funding [October 6, 2005, "Anti-Ref C donor a mystery"]. From the article, "Backers...say campaign finance reports released Wednesday by two other groups opposed to Ref C reflect a disturbing trend: Donors contribute to groups that do not have to report their donations, and then those groups fund issues committees fighting the tax measure."

Category: Denver November 2005 Election

6:26:18 AM

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