Interviews, Audience Questions, Answers

Colorado Republicans should read the Colorado Statesman's strong interview with Dick Wadhams, chair of the Colorado Republican Party. He says he's 50/50 on running for a third term. This interview looks like the beginning of his campaign for re-election, but it also could be the beginning of his a 2012 campaign manager's job search. InnerView with Dick Wadhams, by Ernest Luning and Jody Hope Strogoff.

John HIckenlooper said in a 2009 interview, "We have some of the same, you know, backwards thinking in the kind of rural Western areas you see, in, you know, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico." As President Obama has said, I guess, people in those areas "cling to their guns and Christian beliefs." You sure know an Obama Democrat when he hear one. LINK: HIckenlooper bombshell: 'Backwards thinking in rural, Western areas', by Michael Sandoval. John Hickenlooper thinks you're a small-minded redneck (if you don't live in Denver), by Ross Kaminsky. John Hickenlooper's 'Bitter Clinger' moment? Colorado voters uninspired, by Ben DeGrow.

Like his colleagues , Ryan Frazier (R-CO CD 7) and Scott Tipton (R-CO CD-3) Cory Gardern (R-CO CD 4) is an attractive candidate and has a good chance to unseat a Nancy Peolsi Democrat—Betsy Markey—on Nov. 2. Gardner is another very attractive Republican who will greatly strengthen the Colorado GOP's bench if he wins in two weeks. 

U. S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO CD 7) doesn't want to defend his support for death taxes or Nancy Pelosi's failed fiscal stimulus, which obviously is why he refused to appear on Fox News with his opponent, Republican Ryan Frazier who more than took advantage of his opportunity to sell himself and attack Perlmutter.

Scott Tipton does a great job on a Fox News interview. In keeping with the strategy of a lot of Democrat incumbents who cannot defend their voting records, John Salazar (D- CD 3), refused to appear on the show. The Fox News interviewer served up soft ball questions that Tipton hit out of the park.

Tim Hoover's report on the Denver Post/ 9News gubernatorial debate nails down where Governor-elect John Hickenlooper and his conservative challenger, Tom Tancredo, stand on the issues. A quick review of the article and the table that shows the candidates' yes and no answers shows that Hickenlooper is a strong enabler of illegal immigration while Tancredo continues to oppose it. Tancredo also supports the personhood, or "rape babies" Amendment 62, and the legalization of pot for recreational use. Although Tancredo is against tax increases, he supports imposing tolls on users of I-70. Go figure. Only Republican Dan Maes talks sense about transportation. Having driven the state many times, he says all but a couple of highways are in good shape. Hickenlooper and Tancredo continue to pander to road building contractors. The Q & A is in the top clip; a pretty good budget discussion is in the bottom clip. LINKS: Immigration, budget dominate gubernatorial debate, by Tim Hoover. (Scroll down for the Q & A chart.) 3 gubernatorial candidates face off in 9News debate. Clips from the debate also are here.

CNBC had a good interview with Ken Buck after the annoying ad.

Every successful politician has "applause lines" that get audience reactions every time they are used. Tom Tancredo, the American Constitution/Republican Party candidate for governor of Colorado, has several such lines, which he used at Monday night's Elevate Colorado candidate's forum in Glendale.

Tancredo's applause lines include his promise to tell his department heads to bring him plans to cut their budgets by 10%, his proposal to cut at least some of the $158 million a year in benefits that the Democrats have added to the state's Medicaid program, his plan to turn PERA into a defined contribution plan instead of a defined benefit plan and his advocacy of vouchers for charter schools. The biggest round of applause came when former Governor Dick Lamm, a Democrat who backs Tancredo's opponent, John Hickenlooper, complemented Tancredo for putting the most substantial ideas on the table.

During Monday's Elevate Colorado debate in Glendale, former Governor Bill Owens pointed out to Obama Democrat John Hickenlooper that the Democratic Party's strongest supporters are union leaders. Therefore, it was no shock that Hickenlooper firmly defended unionization in general and Governor Bill Ritter's executive order that effectively unionized many of the employees of the government of the state. To reverse Ritter's order, he declared, would enrage union members and demoralize state workers (See my clip below.)

It is very hard for people who don't attend political events and listen to politicians and political candidates to get a sense of who they are, how they think and whether they are credible.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said in a phone interview today that the six Front Range GOP county chairmen who’ve called on him to not run should be focusing instead on getting rid of Scott McInnis and Dan Maes so he won’t have to run.

Since yesterday, a campaign spokeswoman who is monitoring Tancredo’s emails said, 65% of the some 1,000 emails he’s received are encouraging him to run. Since Arapahoe County Chairman David Kerber issued an email this afternoon calling on Republicans to email Tancredo and demand that he not run, about 85% of the 20 received after about an hour were negative to Tancredo. She did not know whether other county chairs are issuing the same email. The email appears to be the work of the McInnis campaign or the state GOP.

Speaking about disgraced GOP gubernatorial candidates Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, Tancredo told me, “I wish they would use their energy to state that if they win and are trailing (John Hickenlooper) in the polls, they will step down. That’s where their energies should be. I would be the happiest guy in the world if I do not have to run and if folks would do the right thing.”

Tancredo said he’s talked to Colorado State GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams quite a bit about whether McInnis can recover from his scandal. “I do not believe he (Wadhams) feels that way,” (that McInnis can recover) Tancredo said. 

If the GOP can’t launch a successful campaign, Tancredo predicted, “They’ll blame it on me.” He noted that “two weeks ago Saturday, I was stumping for Scott McInnis. I have done everything that that campaign asked. What are my options? I hope that on Sunday or Monday I can announce that these guys (McInnis and Maes) are doing the right thing, and I will not run.”

And, if McInnis or Maes resigns after winning the primary and a vacancy committee announces a replacement, “It will not be me” he predicted with a chuckle.

Tancredo said it would not be legal for the GOP vacancy committee to pick him as a gubernatorial candidate if he were already a candidate of the American Constitution Party, which may make him his candidate. What the GOP could do “if I’m in and running well” is just not name a replacement who would be put on the ballot, he said. Then Republicans would vote for Tancredo versus Hickenlooper.

Tancredo confirmed that if he is named to run for the American Constitution Party, individual contributors would be able to give his campaign up to $550 each. This limit is well below what individuals can contribute to Maes or McInnis. It would make fundraising even more difficult for him.

Tancredo said that if he’s in the race against John Hickenlooper on the American Constitution Party ticket, he doesn’t think Bruce Benson would jump in as the appointed GOP candidate. And he doesn’t believe  Benson is interested in a two-way race against Hickenlooper. “Been there and done that,” Tancredo said, referring to Benson’s ill-fated 1994 gubernatorial candidacy.

Tancredo said he thinks that McInnis is out of money and won’t get any more from contributors. Maes doesn’t have any money and won’t get many new contributions, he predicted.

Asked whether he thinks voters will listen to the Wadhams and the county chairs who are trying to stop him, Tancredo replied,  “I never have.”

Tancredo’s phone died before I could ask a couple of more questions.

Those following the Jane Norton ads that charge that Ken Buck’s budget soared 40% in only a few years may want to review my April 18 interview with him. He answered a lot of questions about his budget. I concluded and believe that his budget increased with Weld County’s population and his office’s workload. I think he has been a fiscally conservative district attorney. See the link to our interview below.

How maddening. Both Scott McInnis and Dan Maes have blown opportunities to sell themselves in today’s Denver Post. When you’re interviewed by the editorial board of a newspaper, show some respect by doing your home work, preparing for predictable questions and taking clear stands on tough issues. Be articulate.

Both interviews were way too short to give the candidates time and space to discuss the issues in depth. That’s the difference between a space-limited printed newspaper and a blog, where space is unlimited.

LINKs:

A conversation with Scott McInnis. Denver Post editorial board transcript.

A conversation with Dan Maes. Denver Post editorial board transcript.

McInnis’ record shows slow steps to the right. By Karen E. Crummy.

Gubernatorial candidate McInnis’ voting record inconsistent on abortion. By Karen E. Crummy.

Taking the gloves off, former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton said in an 85-minute interview in her Centennial office today that Ken Buck, her opponent for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, is the real Washington insider and that she’s the fiscal conservative in the race.

“I am not the Washington insider in this race. That would be Ken Buck. Ken has a Washington insider 527 running over $1 million of ads on his behalf. And he received over a third of all his donations from employees of one company that relies on stimulus money and millions of dollars of special interests contracts,” Norton said.

(Her campaign provided me with a list of employees of Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co. who have contributed $141,800 to Buck’s Senate campaign.)

In reply to the Buck campaign’s charges that Norton is a Washington insider because she is backed by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and is related to a Washington lobbyist, Norton said, “Ken Buck was Governor Bill Ritter’s best man. If we’re going to play the guilt by association game, that’s an interesting connection.”

Like Buck, Norton says she would not vote for a bill that would help Colorado if it included a tax increase.

Appointed Democrat Senator Michael Bennet “is totally out of touch with Colorado values. . . He’s a rubber stamp for anything the Obama administration wants.”

As executive director of the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment between 1999 and 2002, Norton said, “My general fund request was down 28% when I left office. We eliminated programs that were not authorized by the state statute or in the state constitution.”

Norton also noted that when she ran for lieutenant governor, she took an unpaid leave of absence from her state job. Ken Buck continues to serve as the district attorney of Weld county even though he’s often absent so that he can attend campaign events, she said.

She also clarified her role at the Englewood-based Medical Group Management Association, where she was in charge of monitoring changes in states’ laws and regulations and informing managers of some 7,000 medical group practices about how they could comply with new state laws. She wasn’t in charge of the MGMA’s lobbyist in Washington and she never managed lobbyists or served as a lobbyist, she said.

“I have never been a lobbyist,” she said.

To see the 27 questions and answers, please click on the hed of this story. If you’re viewing this story at Rocky Mountain Right or Peoples Press Collective, go to www.businessword.com.

Is Ken Buck really a fiscal conservative? If he’s elected to the U.S. Senate, will the Weld County District Attorney (DA) put his votes where his mouth is?

The answer seems obvious. If elected, Ken Buck would be one of the most fiscally conservative members of the U.S. Senate. After reviewing some 40 pages of