How are you going to judge a fight where one of the competitors only dances and never punches? I score it for the man who is engaged and competing.
What if there is a fight and one side keeps throwing exceptionally low blows? At a certain point, that kind of dirty fighter gets disqualified by any fair referee.
I am voting for Tancredo and Buck. It is kind of shocking for me to write, let alone do. The vast majority of my votes through the years have been for Democrats. I voted for Obama in 2008. I am disappointed in the President and the Congress.
As I pondered the two biggest political races in Colorado, I have wandered the downtown streets of our Mile High City. The 16th Street Mall is looking sad and feeling sadder. Huge federal repair money just fell through. It feels just like Colorado missing that enormous education money that Team Obama was doling out. It is the worst of both worlds, government handouts bypassing Colorado. It appears these Colorado Dems have zero clout with the White House.
Denver's magnificent New Deal courthouse has been replaced by a sterile cookie cutter Justice Center. The new courthouse is a winner if you love maximum solar energy and accompanying sun glare dominating the entry and hallways. In the old courthouse, you only had to worry about prisoners bumping into you. Bring your shades, Mayor, if you wander over from your nice perch still in the magnificent City and County Building.
As recently as a month ago, I anticipated voting for John Hickenlooper, but I watched the debates. I heard Hick say he wanted to "strengthen the death penalty" by making it only applicable in cases of absolute proof because so many people on death row have been shown to be innocent. How about focusing on Colorado's Death Row where Nathan Dunlap lingers for his second decade?
I heard Mayor Hickenlooper recently tell KOA that the campaign was so enjoyable, he would like it to last several more months. He also said that his Lt. Governor choice, Joe Garcia, is a "rock star." Rock star is what Hick called Van Jones, the Marxist dismissed from his job as a White house czar. Friday night, I watched John Hickenlooper try to perform like a country rock star at the Denver Press Club Gridiron dinner. The performance was more embarrassing than entertaining.
After the show and some goodbyes, I started walking down 17th Street back to my Lodo law office. The Mayor and his show business entourage, leaving ahead of me and also walking west, went into a big back booth at Harry's.
Across 17th Street at the northwest crosswalk at 17th and Stout, a large pothole posed danger to autos and pedestrians. People waiting for light rail seemed a bit uneasy on Stout Street, perhaps the specter of downtown gang attacks still fresh. A homeless person was passed out in the vestibule at the Bank Lofts and a tent city housed lots of homeless people under the pillars of the Colorado National Bank.
Michael Bennet has run a dishonest and nasty, negative campaign, criticizing a non-charging decision in a sex case where no reasonable prosecutor would have proceeded. When Bennet was in charge of Denver Public Schools, graduation rates were pathetic and, as reported by the New York Times, his Wall Street background led him to create exotic deals that put DPS deeper in debt but enriched his banker buddies.
Bennet and Congress have hurt this country. They also have failed to even address next year's budget or tax changes. Bennet does not deserve to return as my representative in D.C and neither does Diana DeGette. DeGette was the lone member of the Colorado delegation to not back Israel with a simple supportive resolution.
I do not think that DeGette or Bennet or the Dems are willing to address the menace of radical Islam as represented by al Qaeda, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Dr. Mike Fallon, an accomplished medical doctor, entrepreneur, and family man, will get my vote for Congress.
Tom Tancredo and Ken Buck both scare me a bit. They are by and large right wing conservatives and I am not. Neither is Colorado. But look at some of their independent positions, such as Buck on the futility of the Afghanistan war and Tancredo on legalizing marijuana. I sense these men think hard about the issues and make the best decisions they can. I worry that the current Democratic positions are more scripted from the top, and from special interests.
As a fourth generation Denverite, I confess my preference for Colorado originals. I also feel a kinship with veteran prosecutors, having dedicated 16 years of my own life to that honorable pursuit. Ken Buck has risen through the prosecutorial ranks on the state and federal level and he is still standing tall. So is his family, including a proud wife and two gifted children who are actually old enough to vote.
Tom Tancredo is a north Denver native. Like so many in the Tancredo family, he became a public school teacher before becoming a prominent state legislator. Ronald Reagan trusted Tom Tancredo with a significant Education Department job and a mandate to cut costs. Tancredo did the job.
It is easy to caricature Tom Tancredo. The real man is considerably deeper. There is acumen and some prescience there. Tancredo saw the critical flaws in Dan Maes when others missed it. Tom Tancredo never really wanted to be Governor, and that might be his greatest asset. Tancredo could chart a course for the future that will allow Colorado to better weather the financial storms that are upon us. As Tom and I once discussed on his last time hosting radio, it is all about the freedom.
Tancredo does not play a lot of political games. He will bluntly tell you what he thinks. Both Ken Buck and Tom Tancredo are plain spoken and have authentic good humor. They are accessible to the media, and therefore the public.
So those are my votes. You vote however you want. I will root for whoever wins to do well for Colorado. I will continue to do so from the vantage point of an unaffiliated and independent voter with an amazing media opportunity to ask good questions of our political leaders. I score the fights for Buck, Tancredo and Fallon.