Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Dueling Initiatives Elevated Voices: "We'll take a break from the Hickenlooper show to discuss something else related to politics: Initiatives! "Admittedly, that sounds less exciting than talking about actual, human candidates, but with all of the press last week about competing gay marriage initiatives, I got to thinking: what happens if two opposite ballot measures both pass? There will be an initiative on the ballot in the fall to ban gay marriage in Colorado (even though it is already illegal, but that's another story), and there will also be an initiative and/or referendum to increase partner rights for gay and lesbian couples (such as health care access and burial rights, etc.) "These measures aren't totally contradictory, but what if they were? What if there was a ballot measure to ban gay marriage and a ballot measure to legalize gay marriage...and what if they both passed? Would Colorado just implode?" Category: Denver November 2006 Election 7:35:33 AM    comment []

Madden for Governor? From Peter Blake's column in today's Rocky Mountain News, "So how long does House Majority Leader Alice Madden have to dither on her possible candidacy for governor? Not long. The Boulder Democrat is giving herself a week - and that's pushing it. After that no one will care. She didn't sound quite so certain Tuesday about getting in as she did 10 days ago when she said she probably would run if Hickenlooper didn't. 'I don't want to do this if I can't win the race,' she said Tuesday. 'I'm talking to folks around the state.' She meant win in November. She seemed more confident about winning a primary against Bill Ritter." More about Alice Madden from the Denver Post. They write, "Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden is so serious about a potential run for governor that she has asked her husband to cancel a business trip to China next week. She plans to spend much of this week on the phone, gauging whether she would have enough support to beat Bill Ritter for the Democratic nomination and go on to win November's general election, she said. She already knows one hurdle she would face if she runs. 'It's not the liberal thing,' she said, 'it's the Boulder label, which I think is sort of insulting to voters.'" Jim Spencer thinks that Mayor Hickenlooper's decision not to run helps Bob Beauprez. He writes, "Supporters congratulated Democratic candidate for governor Bill Ritter at his headquarters Monday afternoon, two hours after Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper decided not to enter the race. Even if another big-name Dem challenges him, it will be much easier for Ritter to make it to the general election in November. Still, the guy who really should be smiling is would-be Republican candidate Beauprez. Hickenlooper said he was shown polls that had him beating other candidates by as many as 25 percentage points." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:42:53 AM    comment []

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