•Could the Colorado GOP become a “minority party?” The Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara asks investigative reporter Todd Shepherd and Chuck Plunkett, member of the Denver Post’s editorial board, about that prospect, and what it means:
U.S. Senate
•Sen. John McCain is transferring $1 million to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, so some of those dollars raised in Arizona will go to the NRSC’s expenditures on Ken Buck’s campaign.
•Prepare for an October ground assault as the Senate campaigns hit the trail in the final weeks:
From the ColoradoBiz endorsement:
We endorse Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck because he’s placed a higher priority than his opponent on improving the plight of small business, which he correctly deems to be the engine of economic recovery. […]
While Buck has consistently campaigned for minimal federal government with regard to fiscal policy, he also has shown sensibility in conceding that the financial reform bill will give regulators the tools to get banks to lend money to small businesses in down economic cycles, when they need it most.
It’s no small matter that electing Buck also would send a message to the Obama administration and Democrat-predominant House and Senate that there will be a political price to pay for reckless spending at the expense of individual taxpayers and businesses.
House
•Ryan Frazier (CO-7) has made significant outreach efforts into a voting bloc that regularly eschews Republican candidates by a 9-to-1 margin: African Americans.
As an at-Large Aurora City Councilman, he’s forged deep relationships with the Denver suburb’s politically active Black community, which constitutes 4% of the district’s population. Not wanting to speak on record, many Black Democratic party insiders in the Denver-metro area express admiration for and familiarity with Frazier. Some within the party worry that Frazier could enjoy significant local Black support against Perlmutter, as African Americans in Colorado seek to regain political power lost with the departure of Colorado State Senate President Peter Groff and the term-limited retirement of state House Speaker Terrance Carroll.
Governor
•Gubernatorial debate goes off without a “Hick”–John Hickenlooper skipped Thursday’s forum.
•Speaking of “minor party” status for the Colorado GOP–the chairman of Arapahoe County (a swing county and major suburban area near Denver) lays out the consequences for Republican voters.