Wednesday, October 25, 2006

VoterJones.com Say hello to VoterJones.com. They are chronicling the, "persistent need for accountability, transparency and competence at the Denver Election Commission. Category: Denver November 2006 Election 5:35:09 PM

Amendment 38 The Cortez Journal looks at Amendment 38. From the article, "Amendment 38: Petitions What it does: Eases requirements for getting initiatives on the ballot. Extends the ballot initiative process to local governments. Who is for it: Yes on 38. Who is against it: Coloradans for Responsible Reform. Who pays the bills: Yes on 38 reports receiving only $300, although TV commercials have aired in favor of 38. Coloradans for Responsible Reform has raised $740,000, including $100,000 from the Colorado Association of Realtors and numerous other contributions from business interests." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 7:01:22 AM

Amendment 40 Here's an analysis of Amendment 40 from the Cortez Journal. From the article, "What it does: Limits judges on the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court to 10 years. Who is for it: Limit The Judges, led by former Senate President John Andrews. Who is against it: Citizens to Protect Colorado Courts. Who pays the bills: Limit the Judges is funded almost exclusively with $812,000 from Colorado At Its Best, a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. One of its directors is Howard Rich, a politically active New York real estate developer. The anti-40 campaign is funded by $450,000 from the Colorado Bar Association and contributions of $5,000 to $25,000 from various law firms." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:59:13 AM

Obama: The country is in a serious mood U.S. Senator Barack Obama was howling with Colorado Democrats yesterday, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Giddy Colorado Democrats embraced their party's emerging star Tuesday as he stumped for congressional candidate Ed Perlmutter and said the nation is hungry for new leadership. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told a crowd of about 1,300 people that during the past two weeks he has traveled to 15 states. Everywhere, he said, he hears the same thing. 'The country is in a serious mood,' he said. 'It's in a sober mood. People are tired of the slash-and-burn, sound-bite, lots-of-sound- and-fury-signifying-nothing style of politics. They are tired of small and timid politics. What they're looking for right now is someone who is willing to have a genuine conversation with them about the challenges we face as a nation.' Obama said he, by contrast, is optimistic, fueled by the hope that Democrats would get out the vote and flip the 15 seats needed to take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1994... "Americans are hungry to earn a living wage and have affordable health care, Obama said. They are eager to stop funding both sides of the war in Iraq, to find an exit strategy and to find new sources of renewable energy." Meanwhile Mike Littwin was on hand to observe the Obama phenomena. He writes, in his column in today's Rocky, "The Barack Obama love-fest tour came to Colorado. If you caught the act, you know why America has a crush on Obama. He's new. He's fresh. He's attractive. He's tall. He's quite tall. He's smart. You're guessing he feels your pain - or will by the time he runs for president. He's definitely got that -Tiger Woodsian-generational feel, and with a Harvard Law degree. It doesn't matter that no one, including Obama, has any real idea what kind of president he might actually make. Two weeks out from the end of another ugly political season, America needs a politician to love." Here's the coverage from the Denver Post. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:46:37 AM

Voter registration efforts Campaigns often walk a tightrope between keeping their base together and reaching out for registered voters that do not choose a party affiliation. The Rocky Mountain News is running an analysis of Colorado voter registration. From the article, "Almost half of the new voters this year in Colorado shunned the political parties and registered as unaffiliated, leaving the state with almost a third of its voters with no party loyalty, voter records show. Analysts and political officials said the trends reflect an electorate increasingly fed up with bitter, partisan politics. 'It may be disaffection with politics generally,' said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University. 'Certainly, the character of the campaigning we are seeing these days is not something designed to whet the appetite of people for politics.'[...] "Still, the analysis shows that Republicans continue to register more voters than Democrats in Colorado, though the gap shrank as the political season progressed. Adams said the GOP focused on voter registration until mid-August, then switched to other political endeavors. Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party, said the pace of voter registration slowed somewhat to train staff." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:42:26 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 11/1/06; 7:48:28 AM.