Colorado Politics, News and Inside Information

The Governor Line

The Governor Line is up and running. We'll go through each candidate in-depth in a few days, but for now feel free to comment below.

Next U.S. Attorney? Troy Eid

For those of you wondering whatever happened to former Bill Owens golden boy Troy Eid, who was seemingly passed over as the nominee for Colorado Attorney General, look for him to soon be named as the state's next U.S. Attorney.

Here's a clip from the Rocky Mountain News on Dec. 17:

The U.S. Attorney candidates are Troy Eid, former legal counsel and personnel director for Gov. Bill Owens; Jim Peters, outgoing Arapahoe County district attorney; and Stu VanMeveren, outgoing Larimer County district attorney.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're all superb," Allard said.

He said that, at this point, he doesn't have a preference, although he has a longtime relationship with VanMeveren.

Now here's the whole story: Sen. Wayne Allard submitted three names to the White House in mid-December as candidates for the job, but only after he promised his buddy VanMeveren that his name would be the only one submitted for the post.

A few weeks later, the list of three names surfaced, though one of those names was just added in for filler - Jim Peters has as much chance of being named U.S. Attorney as the Pols have of becoming the starting frontcourt for the Denver Nuggets. This is Eid's job to lose.

Why is this story so interesting? For two reasons: 1) Troy Eid apparently has some serious juice inside Republican circles if he can put enough pressure on Allard to make him turn on a longtime friend, and 2) This is a strong indication that Allard may be planning to run for re-election in 2008 (or Governor in 2006). Allard has previously claimed, albeit halfheartedly, that he will retire rather than run for re-election in 2008. But politicians who are planning on retiring don't cave in to political pressure that won't have any benefit to them later on. Politicians who are retiring appoint their friends and give the Troy Eid's of the world the finger.

Why would Troy Eid use his juice to get the U.S. Attorney job rather than the Attorney General position? Because the U.S. Attorney has more power and the job carries a better salary.

The other lesson? Don't be friends with Wayne Allard.

Colorado Governor Candidate Update

Marc Holtzman, former aide to Governor Owens and rejected candidate for Colorado State University President, is telling friends and family that he will run for Governor in 2006 on the Republican ticket. Holtzman is currently the President of Denver University and was Secretary of Technology in Owens' first cabinet. He is also a wealthy businessman who may be able to self-fund some of his candidacy as well.

Holtzman joins Treasurer Mike Coffman as the two known Republican candidates for Governor. Check back at coloradopols.com for a breakdown of candidates for Governor and their odds at winning both the primary and general elections. 

Your Vote Counts In Colorado! (Depending On Where You Live)

Looks like the Colorado Secretary of State's office botched implementing the Help Amerca Vote Act statewide this past election.

Donetta Davidson's crew spent yesterday crowing that an average of 72 percent of provisional ballots were accepted in Colorado.  But, the Rocky Mountain News dug into the numbers to find that acceptance rates of provisional ballots ranged from 20 percent in some counties to 100 percent in others.  The Help America Vote Act requires election officials to apply voting guidelines consistently around the state.  With acceptance rates of provisional ballots all over the map, and county officials admitting to the Rocky that some areas may have applied voting laws differently than others, looks like Davidson's minions may want to take another look at the job they did this past November. 

Bob's Christmas Message For Colorado's Veterans

The 7th District's own Bob Beauprez had a special holiday message for ill and injured Colorado veterans today:  get used to sub-standard health care!   

Today, the Denver Post published a detailed article explaining how veterans needing health care in Colorado must go to VA facilities that are understaffed and operating out of outdated facilities.  The culprit?  A steady decrease in funds from Washington, including a $3 million shortfall this year.  The budget problems are compounded by lack of foresight (sound familiar?) by Washington in planning for thousands of ill and injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Ed Thorsland, director of the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System is quoted as saying of this year:  "We can just hope and pray that we make it through."

Representative Bob Beauprez's comments on this stiuation?  According to the Denver Post:

The funding is more than enough to cover both existing needs and "the new cases coming home from the battlefield," Beauprez said.

The funding is enough if you think making veterans wait months for health care is acceptable.  But, what can we expect Bob to do?  He's only a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which writes and approves the Department of Veterans Affairs budget each year...

Umm...What?

From today's Rocky Mountain News:

Republican Gov. Bill Owens this week unveiled his own proposed budget fixes that include tinkering with TABOR. Owens' spokesman, Dan Hopkins, said the governor would never approve of abolishing TABOR or significantly changing it. "The governor is a staunch defender of TABOR and believes it has served the state well," Hopkins said.

Served the state well, huh? TABOR has clearly been a boon for Colorado, except for that pesky massive budget deficit thing.

Do Republicans Taste Like Chicken?

"Stand up, yah voracious man-eatin' sonofabitch, and receive your sentence! Thar were only seven Democrats in all of Hinsdale County and you ate five of them!"
     - Judge Melville Gerry, April 13, 1883, in sentencing Alfred Packer for cannibalism