Elevate Colorado's forum for gubernatorial candidates Tom Tancredo, John Hickenlooper and Dan Maes proved to be a great platform for not only them, but also for former governors Bill Owens (R) and Dick Lamm (R).

As a Tancredo supporter, I thought all three candidates did pretty well and that Tancredo did the best job of the three when it came to addressing the issues and taking on unions and other special interests. At the same time, Owens did a terrific job of not only asking hard, penetrating questions, but also in representing conservative values and principles. If only we could vote for him again. Lamm also was entertaining and asked hard questions that moderators of other debates and forums haven't asked with such authority and expertise.

Here are some links to reports on what the candidates and governors said last night before some 400 metro Denver business leaders. Read each story, because each reporter focuses on some issues that others didn't pickup on:

Gubernatorial candidates grilled; Lamm, Owens offer most in-depth questioning yet of three hopefuls. This is a fine report by Joe Hanel

Governor hopefuls discuss difficult budget plans; Former govs. Richard Lamm and Bill Owens moderated the forum, by Patrick Malone.

Former Colorado governors quiz candidates, by Steven K. Paulson. (This link won't last long, thanks to AP policy.)

Former govs. Bills (sic) Owens and Dick Lamm steal the show, by Karen Crummy. Is this the best we can expect from "Colorado's Newspaper"? Union work rules and a no-over-time budget probably kept an outstanding reporter like Crummy from filing a complete report forced her to blow off the story. The Post can get a late Rockies or Nuggets game story into the paper, but not an important political story. Sad.

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