Free Republic

Tom Tancredo will become Colorado's next governor, and Republicans will take over the state's legislature while Attorney General John Suthers will be re-elected, predicted David Flaherty, president and CEO of Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, a Louisville, CO, pollster that works for Republicans around the country. In a phone interview, Flaherty said polls that show John Hickenlooper winning the gubernatorial race are using demographics and turnout numbers that incorrectly skew their results in favor of Democrats. "I do believe that Tom Tancredo is going to win," Flaherty declared. In recent polls, Tancredo has about 73% of Republican voters. Flaherty thinks...

In a rather disjointed and impromptu call, Sen. Michael Bennet finally joined the Peter Boyles program on the local morning talk radio circuit, asking to remind voters how important the election was and to get out and vote, while the host (Boyles) repeatedly asked him why he had not been available to talk on the program since his appointment to the U.S. Senate in January 2009. Via CompleteColorado.com, who grabbed the audio soundbite, the entire segment lasts less than three minutes. Boyle’s presses Bennet on his failure to appear on the show: “I actually didn’t know that ‘why now,’ just...

Michael Bennet tries to explain why he welcomed Obama in CO during primary but not during general: Video

Organized labor is holding its nose and spending money to protect key Democrats in the Senate, hoping to create a bulwark to hold back Republicans in the House. But labor has abandoned 26 House Democrats who did not support the union agenda in the 111th Congress, leaving them to be pounded by corporate-funded third party groups. Two of the nation’s biggest labor unions, AFSCME and SEIU, have spent generously on independent expenditures to help Democratic House candidates. But Blue Dog Democrats and other Democratic centrists who did not support healthcare reform or the Employee Free Choice Act are facing a...

Republican Ken Buck still holds a slight lead over incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet as Colorado’s U.S. Senate race heads down to the wire. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Buck earning 48% support to Bennet’s 44%. Three percent (3%) prefer another candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) The race remains a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings. Two weeks ago, the candidates were in a near tie with Buck leading 47% to 45%, the closest the...

Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck said Tuesday night he wouldn't commit to supporting Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as Senate GOP leader. Buck joined several other Republican Senate candidates aligned with the Tea Party movement who haven't yet signed on to supporting McConnell as the party's top official in the Senate. "You know, I'm going to make that decision when we get there," Buck said on the Fox Business Network when asked if he'd be supporting McConnell for leader. "I am not going to try to guess who's running and who's not running." The Colorado conservative isn't the only possible member...

Colorado's U.S. Senate race has clenched into a dead heat nine days before polls close, as incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet climbed to meet GOP hopeful Ken Buck's early lead, each man garnering 47 percent support among likely and actual voters, according to a Denver Post/9 News poll.

Ken Buck has a message for President Obama and the leadership of his own party: He'll make no compromises if he gets to Washington. Obama and some Republican leaders might feel pressure to work cooperatively on various major issues next year, including the deficit. If the comments by Buck, Colorado's Republican Senate nominee, are any indication, the conservatives trying to win races this fall have a different view of what their mandate will be. Buck, who is in a tight race with appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D), said in an interview that he would be willing to work with Democrats...

Incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet and his Republican challenger Ken Buck are in a virtual tie in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race as the candidates prepare for a nationally televised debate on Sunday. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Colorado shows Buck with 47% support to Bennet’s 45%. Four percent (4%) prefer another candidate in the race, and another four percent (4%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These findings move the race from Leans Republican to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings. This is the closest...

A reader writes in, raving about this ad for GOP Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck, and I concur. It’s a basic, simple message that I think hits the sweet spot of appealing to conservatives and independents simultaneously. “We protested when the government ran up trillions of dollars of debt. We sent e-mails when they nationalized health care. We asked them to get off the backs of small business so we could create jobs. We pleaded with our government to secure our border. And you know what? They heard us, and yet they ignored us. And folks, on Nov. 2, they...

Buck (website here) is up by 3 according to the RCP average. That's well withing the margin of cheating. No one has signed up for a Colorado event yet...BE THE WAVE.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller told a Fairbanks audience Monday that he would back an amendment to repeal the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitition.That’s the 1913 amendment that shifted the job of selecting U.S. senators from each state legislature  and required a popular vote in each state.The issue has garnered support from some Tea Party candidates across the country.The idea, apparently, is that if senators are selected by legislators, they would be less susceptible to special interests and more supportive of states’ rights.A Wall Street Journal law blog summarizes the argument this way:  “Nowadays, Senate candidates have to...

Colorado’s U.S. Senate race second in the nation in terms of the total spent by outside groups in support or opposition of the candidates... outside groups have spent $3.61 million in the Senate race that pits Democrat Michael Bennet against Republican Ken Buck. That total trails only the $3.65 million spent by outside groups in the Pennsylvania Senate race between Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Sestak. Among those who’ve plunked down the most money are the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has spent $1.67 million going after Buck; while American Crossroads, a group backed by former Bush political advisor...

DENVER – Tea party favorite Ken Buck has defeated former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton to clinch Colorado's Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. The vote Tuesday was seen as another blow to politicians with close connections to Washington. Norton was endorsed by GOP leadership and co-chaired John McCain's presidential campaign two years ago in Colorado. Buck, a Weld County prosecutor, was little known before he began courting tea party groups more than a year ago. He trailed Norton in fundraising but used his law enforcement credentials in vowing to crack down on "criminals" at home and in Washington.

Lt. Gov. Jane Norton conceded defeat in her campaign against Weld District Attorney Ken Buck for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. With 4,115 of 5,458 precincts reporting statewide, or 75 percent, Buck was leading Norton in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, with 177,617 votes (52 percent) to Norton's 166,955 (48 percent). With about 90 percent of the votes counted in Weld County, Buck was trouncing Norton 76 percent to 23 percent.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't . . . Imagine if a Republican candidate had been caught on tape praising birthers. Chris Matthews would have been all over him. So what happens when a Republican candidate is caught on tape criticizing birthers? Why, Chris Matthews is . . . all over him, of course. Bizarrely, the Hardball host actually labelled the matter "Macaca 2.0," invoking the incident that--with the help of scores of stories in the Washington Post--brought down George Allen. The candidate in question is Ken Buck, who Matthews described as the front-runner for the GOP nomination...

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Ken Buck called Tea Partyers questioning the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate "dumba---s" to a Democratic operative recording his comments without his permission. On an audio tape obtained by The Denver Post, Buck was caught muttering "will you tell those dumba---s at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I'm on the camera?" outside a June 11 event in Crowley. Buck then started laughing as he walked into the event with the Democratic tracker. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked, rhetorically. So-called birthers have challenged Obama's standing as...

Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck has once again talked himself into some trouble - this time by calling certain tea-party activists "dumbasses" for questioning the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate. According to the Denver Post, Buck was caught on tape saying in June, "Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I'm on camera." He added, laughing: "God, what am I supposed to do?" Buck was speaking to a Democratic operative who had secretly recorded the conversation. Buck, who enjoys strong support from the Tea Party movement, has since...

Insurgent Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck is apologizing for a degrading remark he made about the Tea Party movement last month that was caught on tape by a Democratic tracker. The Denver Post and 9News is expected to report Sunday night that Buck referred to the members of the Tea Party as "dumbasses" after a campaign event in Crowley, Colo. last month. "Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking about birth certificates? Woah, I'm on camera. God, what am I supposed to do?," Buck says on the tape, according to his campaign. Buck campaign spokesman...

DENVER - South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a Tea Party idol and aspiring conservative kingmaker, is coming to Colorado next week to rally supporters on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck. Buck's campaign confirmed Wednesday that plans have been finalized for a rally that will take place next Thursday, July 8, with the final details still being worked out. "We're thrilled to have Sen. DeMint visit Colorado," said Buck's spokesman, Owen Loftus. "Sen. DeMint is a respected grassroots leader, who if fighting the establishment to fix Washington. Ken is honored to have his endorsement and support." DeMint endorsed Buck...