Monday, January 17, 2005

"Its gonna be a long two years..."

Today marks the start of the second week of the 2005 session of the Colorado General Assembly. Here is a link to the Rocky Mountain New's coverage of the state legislature. The Denver Post doesn't have a special legislature page, but here is a link to their "local politics" page.

Last week we saw the first fireworks of what promises to be a nasty two years. The Republicans have not been in the minority of both houses in Colorado since Kennedy was in office and some members of the caucus are bitter over the loss.

The tone for the 2005 session was set early when State Senator Norma Anderson (R) of Lakewood made a move to block the election of State Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald (D) of Golden from assuming the post of President. The move failed, but it inspired some local columnists such as self described hippie Mike Littwin and the guys over at Colorado Pols to cry foul. (Check out Colorado Pols for an interesting line on the upcoming gubernatorial race, some interesting work going on there, still waiting on the odds for control of the State Legislatue)

Governor Bill Owens shot some rhetorical warning shots over the bow of the Democratic leadership in his State of the State address last week. If you compare it to State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald’s opening day remarks you can see where some of the biggest battles will be. Look for internal battles among the Democrats when it comes to social issues, such as the bill that would add sexual orientation to employment anti-discrimination state laws and between the Democrats and Republicans on fiscal matters, especially when it comes to the fate of Colorado's Tabor amendment which limits taxes and government growth.

Also, the Rocky Mountain Alliance of Bloggers got an invite to sit down with Governor Owens after the State of the State. It appears that the Guv has taken notice of the work of these well connected and articulate conservative bloggers. A picture of the gaggle is available here.

Look for a continuation later this week of my series on the state legislature. My last article can be found here. Cross posted at Polstate.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Delphi on Colorado: State Senate Leadership.

Today marks the first time since Kennedy was President that Democrats have control over both houses of Colorado's legislature. A link to the Rocky Mountain news is available here. As the state legislature opens, we can look forward to a colorful session. Tabor, the nationally known Taxpayers Bill of Rights, is sure to come under direct attack, not only by the Democratic majority, but by Higher Ed. and the AARP. Additionally, we will get the pleasure of watching infighting in both parties.

On the Democratic side: Colorado Labor Unions staged a rally today at the capital to announce exactly what they want from the Democrats, who, while they may not have signed IOUs, certainly owe Colorado Labor for their victory last election cycle. Key members of the Colorado Democratic party believe that if they play the "fiscal responsibility" card they can maintain their majorities in Colorado, a state where even as the GOP lost its majorities in the state legislature, it received tens of thousands more votes than the Democrats overall. This attempt by the Democratic leadership to stay away from "social issues" will sting the party faithful, who are already calling the historic Democratic victory a win for "GOP Lite."

Republicans are having some difficult times themselves. Immediately after their loss they chose new, more moderate leaders. However, this belies a civil war that is occurring in the party. An example of this is a open letter from the Chairman of the Jefferson County GOP to Bob Schaffer over a mailing that Schaffer sent out during the general election which probably cost a moderate Republican her seat. And how can we ignore the three ring circus that is Douglas Bruce's election to the El Paso County Commissioners.

Here is a look at the new leadership of the Colorado State Senate.

State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald (D) Golden, a social and fiscal liberal from New York, is the first female President of the State Senate.

The fiscally conservative Colorado Union of Taxpayers ranks Senator Fitz-Gerald as the 8th most fiscally liberal member of the State Senate. This is a special achievement since some Democrats, such as Paula Sandoval of Denver and Bob Hagedorn or Aurora are ranked as the 5th and 7th most conservative members of the State Senate (sandwiching outgoing Senate President John Andrews). In 2002 she voted with the Colorado Farm Bureau 75% of the time. In 2004 she received a A rating from the Colorado Political Voice for Animals. Also in 2004 she voted with the Colorado PIRG 100% of the time (if you aren’t familiar with the work of the state PIRGs, think of Ralph Nader), voted with the Colorado National Federation of Independent Business 41% of the time, voted with Equal Rights Colorado 100 % of the time, voted with Colorado Conservation Voters 100% of the time, voted with Colorado Women's Agenda 100% of the time, voted with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners 0% of the time in 2003 and got a grade of an F from the NRA in 2002. Going farther back she voted with the Colorado AFL-CIO 100% of the time in 2001. For a link to project vote smart’s group rating page click here. Overall, Senator Fitz-Gerald’s liberal pedigree is impeccable. In 2004 the most generally conservative think tank in Colorado, the Wilberforce Center, ranked Joan Fitz-Gerald the second most liberal member of the Colorado State Senate, behind only Ron Tupa (D) of Boulder.

Senator Ken Gordon, considered a moderate by many, has voting patterns that make him appear to be a mainstream to liberal Democrat, not a moderate.

The fiscally conservative Colorado Union of Taxpayers ranks Senator Gordon in the middle of the pack in the State Senate. In 2002 he voted with the Colorado Farm Bureau 80% of the time. In 2004 he received a A- rating from the Colorado Political Voice for Animals. Also in 2004 he voted with the Colorado PIRG 100% of the time, voted with the Colorado National Federation of Independent Business 41% of the time, voted with Equal Rights Colorado 100% of the time, voted with Colorado Conservation Voters 100% of the time, voted with Colorado Women's Agenda 100% of the time, voted with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners 0% of the time in 2003 and got a grade of an F from the NRA in 2004. Going farther back he voted with the Colorado AFL-CIO 100% of the time in 2001. Overall, it is hard to call Senator Gordon a moderate in a true sense of the word. However, in the more narrow context of among Democrats, he does appear to be mainstream. For those keeping count on how liberal this "mainstream" Democrat is, he is ranked fourth most liberal member of the State Senate by the Wilberforce Center.

This is the first in a series of articles looking at the State Legislature and how the mainstream media portrays it. Look for an in depth analysis of how the election was won in the coming weeks.

Cross posted at Polstate.

Text of letter from Jeffco GOP Chairman to Bob Schaffer.

Dear Bob:

As a loyal Republican and as Chairman of the Jefferson County Republicans I
was stunned by the Voucher mailing sent out to constituents of Ramey Johnson
in House District 23.

Although cleverly written not to urge voting against Ramey there can be not
other conclusion from the tenure of its content.

Bob, you have greatly disappointed many Republicans who were your greatest
supporters in your run for the U.S. Senate and who were upset over the way
they perceived you were treated by state leaders of our party with the
addition of Pete Coors as a candidate.

Under the circumstances I would have thought you would be more
sophisticated, especially with your background in our party and as a
legislator both here in Colorado in Washington, to have willingly engaged in
trying to influence the defeat of one of our party‚s standard bearers in
this general election. Right or wrong the time for such action would have
been to with an eye to a primary in support of one who might hold similar
beliefs about vouchers, or after the election --- not one week before the
general election.

I have spent two years as Chairman of our County urging all Republicans to
consider that they have more in common with each other than with the
Democrats. If people like you to whom many look to for leadership cannot be
trusted to work for all of our candidates that have earned their way on to
the ballot, what hope do we have for the future.

This party can not endure if segments of it continue to have such tunnel
vision for their one big issue that they fail to see the big picture that
our party, to be significant here in Colorado, must recognize that it is a
coalition of many factions held together by some very basic underlying
principles that distinguish us from the Dems.

We need people like you to be in the front lines bringing our party together
rather than sowing seeds of division.

Lynn Watwood
Chairman, Jefferson County Republicans

Delphi on Colorado version 2.0

We are back, look for some heavy posting over the next few days as we get our sea legs back. We are putting the finishing touches our overview of the 2004 election, which, we are still trying to get published (hello Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News).

Look to see the site get some major updates, new links and new analysis.

Sorry you all couldn't come to Mazatlan with us, but our southern command is only so big.