Brian Colón, chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party, knows a little something about elections in the West. So we asked his take on the Denver convention’s importance to the West, the Udall family dynasty, and the most famous political facial hair in the West. Westword (Joe Horton): What’s the…
Last week, the Republican National Committee offered a sneak peek of the “party boxes” that will be for sale at the convention in St. Paul. The boxes, which are 2”x3”, tops, look too small to include actual “party” items like noisemakers or hard liquor. Chances are that they’re just full…
Doonesbury took note today, July 22, of Barack Obama’s recent decision to move his planned acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field at Mile High during the Democratic National Convention next month. And although Mayor Hickenlooper is likely still freaking out a little about logistics for the move…
“The Colorado Model,” an article in the July 21 Weekly Standard, gives coast-to-coast exposure to what its author, conservative Beltway Boy Fred Barnes, refers to as “an ambitious scheme” by well-heeled lefties to “crush Republicans” in the state. The tack “isn’t a secret,” Barnes writes, but “it hasn’t drawn much…
Playing host to the Democratic National Convention was supposed to bring Denver a gusher of national publicity, and it has — but a lot of it has been bad. Earlier this month, the New York Times smacked the DNC around in regard to rising costs. More recently, USA Today weighed…
View larger image Washington Total Number of Delegates: 97 Pledged: 78 Unpledged:19 How to Recognize a Washington Delegate: A smiling Washingtonian is more an indication of a nearby photographer than an invitation to friendship. Washingtonians will be extremely polite and helpful, but don’t expect to exchange personal information. As the…
As far as we know, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain hasn’t tried the computer-oriented products pimped by Colorado’s own John Scherer, the 2006 Westword profile subject known to late-night infomercial viewers as the Video Professor. But the folks behind a satirical YouTube clip understand that McCain can use all…
Not so long ago, Focus on the Family chieftain James Dobson (pictured) was at risk of becoming irrelevant in regard to the 2008 presidential campaign due in part to his oft-stated dislike for both John McCain and Barack Obama, one of whom will take possession of the White House from…
Zen master attorney David Lane led a First Amendment seminar today at Denver University for a large gathering of legal disciples seeking free speech enlightenment before the Democratic National Convention. “Your right to free speech goes as far as cop’s billy club will allow,” said Lane, whose most recent client,…
Democrats, God bless-’em, have made their share of mistakes over the years on the campaign trail. But for every Blunder there’s a Best, a shining moment that continues to turn states blue and keep donkeys in their seats. Click here for a slide show of the Top Ten Best Democratic…
Katherine Archuleta, Mayor Hickenlooper’s Senior Policy Advisor and point-person for the Democratic National Convention, poked fun at members of protest group Re-create 68 in the audience by asserting that less than a dozen protesters will show up in Denver. The statement came yesterday evening at a DNC safety forum for…
“If you believe you should pay more taxes,” John McCain said in his July 7th Denver town hall meeting, “I am the wrong candidate for you.” Aside from the fact that it’s not as though Barack Obama is running on an “I’ll tax the hell out of all of you…
$10 million dollars. That’s the base amount that the City of Denver plans to shell out for hundreds of extra officers from surrounding municipalities as a way to augment DPD forces during the week of the Democratic National Convention next month. The final sum will be much more since the…
View larger image Virginia Total Number of Delegates: 101 Pledged: 83 Unpledged: 18 How to Recognize a Virginia Delegate: The American Civil War ended in 1865, but not for Virginians. The battles that rage daily are no longer between the Union and the Confederacy, but between the “come-heres” who move…
The John McCain ad starts out with images of America in 1968, the so-called Summer of Love, and moves halfway across the globe to tell us that he was gettin’ busy with some hot-and-steamy love of country back then. Of course, he ended up in a Hanoi Hilton and was…
When the Democratic National Convention Committee announced Monday that Barack Obama would be delivering his acceptance speech from the roofless confines of Invesco Field at Mile High, local and national news outlets, each with their own reasons, were quick to jump on Mother Nature. Local dailies, knowing too well the…
Shiloh Benson Tillemann Dick has a head – a very large head – for politics, one that stands out even among the feisty politicos of the colorful family profiled in the July 10 Westword. The 18-year-old correctly predicted Obama’s church affiliations would prove problematic – last August. Shiloh took time…
As reporters headed into the Pepsi Center on July 8 for the second – and final – media walk-through, a volunteer was handing out doughnuts. Fried doughnuts. You better believe that members of the Democratic National Convention Committee, which organized the walk-through, are fit to be fried over the ribbing…
Poor Gary Hart. The former senator, erstwhile presidential candidate and subject of two recent Westword Q&As (click here and here to check them out) got to walk the red carpet with — woo-hoo! — Arianna Huffington prior to an American Film Institute tribute to actor/director Warren Beatty, and he was…
John McCain, fresh from his Denver town hall that made nearly as much news for the ticketing of a protester than for what he said, must be a little lonely. After all, the guy lacks support from liberals — even those who used to have some grudging respect for the…
The American Presidential Experience, the largest traveling presentation of presidential memorabilia, will set up shop in Invesco Field’s parking lot during the convention. Here are some of the items you will not see at the exhibit: -Back-up set of George Washington’s false teeth with MO DOLLAZ spelled out in diamonds…
Before Barack Obama settled on accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in Invesco Field at Mile High, convention organizers also considered Coors Field as an alternative to the Pepsi Center. But Invesco has two advantages over the ballpark: It can hold 20,000 more people (a total upwards of 76,000) — and…
