A voter-approved amendment that's helped slow campaign contributions in Colorado was temporarily lifted Tuesday by Denver District Court Judge Catherine A. Lemon, who several times called the rules discriminatory and confusing.
She largely agreed with the collection of business, labor and non-profit leaders who argued that Amendment 54 - approved by 51 percent of voters in 2008 - violated free speech rights.
The amendment prevented anyone tied to an entity that receives a no-bid government contract greater than $100,000 from giving to political parties or candidates at any level.
Plaintiffs complained that vagaries in the language left would-be contributors afraid of donating, even if rules might not apply to them.
"In my mind, it's just not a close case," Lemon said after hours of arguments. "When First Amendment freedoms are involved, the state has got to come forward with evidence of a sufficiently important (threat)."
Lawyers for the Attorney General's office, which defended the amendment, declined to comment.
Denver lawyer Mark Grueskin, who pled the case of unions affected by the amendment, said the state will likely appeal the temporary injunction.

It's not that you're doing a bad job congressman, it's just that the system needs changing.

With that co-opting of Obama's change message, Unity Party candidate Bill Hammons announced today that he would challenge Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, in 2010.

Hammons received .63 percent of the vote last November.

"Although Jared is currently representing our District well, he is a part of a system that is defunct," Hammons said in a release. "The two major parties' stranglehold on American political power was primarily a 20th century phenomenon, and cannot continue indefinitely.

THE FULL RELEASE FOLLOWS:
Boulder, Colo. -- Bill Hammons, 2008 Unity Party of America candidate for Colorado's 2nd Congressional District (Fact Sheet: http://bill-for-congress.us/hammons-fact-sheet.htm) is running for the 2nd District once again, against incumbent Jared Polis.

"Although Jared is currently representing our District well, he is a part of a system that is defunct," says Hammons. "The two major parties' stranglehold on American political power was primarily a 20th century phenomenon, and cannot continue indefinitely.

"It gives me great pleasure to see the Unity Party of America on a rather short list of American political organizations which are formally recognized in at least one State of the Union, and to see the Unity Party on a much shorter list of organizations which could conceivably govern one day. In the meantime, the Unity Party and its 200 Colorado members will need to field a candidate in 2010 to remain an option on the State's voter registration form.

"I therefore declare my intention to run for Colorado's Second Congressional District in 2010 as a Unity Party of America candidate. As before, I support a Balanced Budget Amendment to stop the nonsense, at least of the spending variety, in Washington. I support Federal term limits, and, if elected, I will serve only four terms as a US Representative. Finally, to encourage true competition and thus innovation in American politics, I support abolishing the practice of gerrymandering US Congressional districts, and placing the drawing of such districts in the hands of retired judges.

"Moving forward, I will be running against an incumbent in a District which was last represented by a third party at its creation in the 19th century. I am a small businessman of limited means who will make a point of not spending money on this race; I'm primarily grateful that my New York-based Communications Director and other supporters are sticking with me for the long haul."

Ever since Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien considered leaving Capitol Hill for Denver Public Schools in January, her office has had to bat down rumors of potential interlopers for the No. 2 spot on the 2010 gubernatorial ticket.

The most frequent rumored challengers? Former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and state Sen. Paula Sandoval, said O'Brien's spokeswoman.

But the lieutenant governor isn't going anywhere.

"She's not leaving the ticket. She's here to stay," said spokeswoman Ellen Dumm. "The governor would not have put her in charge of Race to the Top had she been thinking of bailing."

Race to the Top is a multi-year federal grant competition that could net Colorado an estimated $500 million in education money.

Yuma Republican Cory Gardner today announced his candidacy for the 4th Congressional District, a seat now held by Democrat Congresswoman Betsy Markey.

Gardner touted his roots in the district where his family has lived for more than 100 years and said he wants to head to Washington, D.C., to rein in "the bureaucrats and the fat cats" responsible for the latest burst of spending. 

"Washington, D.C., is out of control. Whether it's Republicans or Democrats, the spending is unacceptable and it's got to stop," said Gardner, a lawyer and farm equipment dealer. "There will be no doubt that in Washington, D.C., I will be representing 4th Congressional District values."

He's served in the state House since 2005. He'll first face Tom Lucero in a GOP primary for the long-time Republican seat formerly held by U.S. Rep.  Marilyn Musgrave.

A voicemail message that all-but-announced gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis left on an unidentified machine has raised questions about whether the former congressman is inappropriately coordinating with a 527 political group.

Candidates and their committees are barred by law from collaborating with the 527s on campaign messages and how money is spent.

In the voicemail, posted first by CompleteColorado.com, McInnis says "We've got Sean Tonner on board ... Sean's doing our 5, our ah 527."

McInnis, who verified that he left the message, points out he's not officially announced his candidacy or formed a candidate committee, so the rules do not yet apply.

And what he really meant to say was that Tonner, president of consulting firm Phase Line Strategies, is a supporter and answering questions about potential future 527s, he said.

"I should have been a little more explicit. I should have said Sean Tonner is the one I'm looking to for answers on this," McInnis said. "The law doesn't prohibit you from discussions on 'This is what's going to be needed.'"

He said the message is being ballyhooed by those jealous of his ranking in a recently released public poll, which showed him as the only Republican beating Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.

Tonner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Colorado Constitution says: "A person is a candidate for election if the person has publicly announced an intention to seek election to public office ... and thereafter has received a contribution or made an expenditure in support of the candidacy."

In statements to the media - which count as public announcement under the Secretary of State's rules - McInnis has said running against potential gubernatorial candidate Sen. Josh Penry "will be a little awkward."

"Most of the time I run against people that, while I respect them as a person, I may not have high regard for their policies and their principles. I have high regard for Josh Penry," he said in a March 22 Post article.

Today he said he's not a candidate, he's just building support ahead of his candidacy.

"I don't have a campaign. I'm not a candidate," McInnis said. "That's the next step."

Even if he passed the "announcement" threshold, he would also have to accept something of value or spend money in support of his exploratory effort, which he said he hasn't.

In the voicemail, McInnis says he's "done extensive polling."

But McInnis said today that he meant that he's keeping close tabs on public polling sites and that he's not spent any money on his future campaign or paid staff.

McInnis may not have technically broken campaign laws, said Common Cause Director Jenny Flanagan, who is still reviewing the voicemail and law. She said there is one single rule when it comes to 527s: Don't talk to them.

"Technically, that may not be a violation if there's not a 527 in existence, but it's certainly a violation of the spirit," Flanagan said. "Doing outreach for your campaign and working with staff, these are activities of a candidate."

But McInnis contends the rules against coordination with a 527 do not yet apply, not that he's coordinating.

"Lots of inquiries are being made. ‘How can we help you?'" McInnis said. "I hope there's a 527. There's not a 527 now. I have not formed a 527. We don't have one.

"We're right now trying to figure out structurally what are we going to do," McInnis said. "The best way to answer questions is to turn it over to an expert."

A partial transcript of McInnis' voicemail follows:

"I want to visit with you on this 2010 governor's race. I'm going to run for governor. We've got a great team on board. We're picking up a lot of support...

"We've got Sean Tonner on board. Barb Card on board she's doing our finances. Sean's doing our 5 a(cough) our ah 527. Mike Hesse is doing our day-to-day operations. We've got Barb McTurk on our volunteer operations....

"I'd like to get some imput from you, some counsel from you. Historically Colorado's only thrown out two incumbents. We've been out in the field. We've done extensive polling. This guy is beatable. We can beat him....

"Monica Owens is working for us through Sean Tonner."

The seemingly endless releases from North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling continue today, with more bad news for Democrats -- this time a poll showing disapproval (49 percent) for Gov. Bill Ritter exceeding approval (41 percent).

Making matters worse for the incumbent: The poll shows him at a significant disadvantage to former GOP Congressman Scott McInnis in a hypothetical matchup, 48-41. Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry trails Ritter in their hypothetical matchup 42-40.

Troubling for Ritter is that the poll finds a majority of voters not affiliated with the two major parties disapprove of his performance (52 percent compared to 40 percent who approve).

And as with their polling on Sen. Michael Bennet, PPP finds that Ritter must also improve his standing with Hispanic voters should he hope to be re-elected in 2010. That group's favorability ratings for the first-term governor are a net negative, with 47 percent disapproval and 46 percent approval.

“Bill Ritter has some work to do to win reelection next year,” Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling,said in a release. “He needs to shore up his standing with one of the Democratic Party’s strongest demographics and he also needs to win back the independents who have been so critical to the success of Barack Obama, Mark Udall, and himself over the last couple election cycles in the state.”

The automated telephone poll of 1,050 Colorado voters was conducted April 17 -19 and has a margin of error of 3 percent. PPP noted that factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier for unions to organize, will get a new look in the Democratic-controlled Congress and by President-elect Barack Obama, who told the AFL-CIO in April that he would make it "the law of the land."

To push the cause, American Rights at Work, a pro-labor group based in Washington, released a survey from seven Senate battleground states: Colorado, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Oregon. It was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc.

The conclusion?

A majority of the 2,104 respondents polled by telephone favor the EFCA. The results to one of the questions not published are linked here.

Interestingly, Colorado was the only state where the "strongly favor" and "somewhat favor" responses added up to less than 50 percent.
That survey question doid not explain the complicated rules on unionizing a workplace nor how EFCA would shift from a secret ballot to a more open (critics say potentially coercive) card-check process.

But American Rights at Work is touting the survey as proof that advertising attacks against successful Senate candidates who back EFCA - including Colorado Sen.-elect Mark Udall - were ineffective.

“No matter how hard corporate interests tried to mislead voters, it just didn’t work. State by state, millions were spent, but the fact remains the Employee Free Choice Act never became the wedge issue corporate interests sought," said the chairman of the group, David Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is also part of the transition economic advisory board that is meeting Friday with Obama in Chicago.

EFCA opponents include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, headed by Thomas J. Donohue.

"I don't think you can make a very rational argument" for taking up the labor legislation on top of efforts to stimulate the economy, Donohue said today, reported the Associated Press.

Donohue is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt Denver at an event sponsored by the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck law firm.

The Colorado AFL-CIO has 1,000 members beginning work this weekend to get out the vote, according to Mike Cerbo, executive director.

Walking precincts, knocking on doors, making phone calls and leafleting worksites are priorities through Tuesday, Cerbo said on Friday.

Union volunteers were urged "to early vote and vote by mail so they're not standing in line on Election Day," said Cerbo, a former Democratic state legislator who resigned last year to take the AFL-CIO post.

The intended beneficiaries of the GOTV effort are Democratic candidates from Barack Obama on down the ticket. Unions in Colorado are also focused on defeating three ballot issues, including Amendment 47, the initiative known as right-to-work.

Across the country, "tens of thousands of AFL-CIO volunteers will visit more than 3.9 million union households, make 5.5 million calls and distribute more than 2 million leaflets at worksites through Election Day," according to a statement from the national AFL-CIO headquarters.

To help elect Democrats, the AFL-CIO is spending $53.4 million, separate from $20 million being spent by Change to Win, a coalition of seven other unions, reported Marc Ambinder.

Change to Win said it sent a mailer this week to 49,200 registered voters in Colorado, supporting U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall.

Mike Coffman, the Republican running to fill the seat of Rep. Tom Tancredo in Colorado’s sixth congressional district, gave a fiery defense of Tancredo’s signature issue: opposition to illegal immigration. It happened Monday night when Coffman spoke to more than 2,000 of the party faithful at the “Battleground Talkers Tour” event at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, sponsored by KNUS 710 FM.

“I firmly believe that if we had more Tom Tancredos in the Congress of the United States, the Republicans would still be in the majority,” said Coffman, who is also the Colorado secretary of state. “When the Republican establishment in Washington ceased to govern by the conservative values that got them elected, Congressman Tancredo stood up to them and said no, that they were wrong.

“When the White House joined with Republican and Democratic leadership on a so-called immigration reform bill that would have done nothing to secure our borders but would have given a path to citizenship and amnesty to those who violated our laws, Congressman Tancredo said no to that.

“Congressman Tancredo never wavered on the issue of illegal immigration. And if I’m elected to be your congressman, neither will I.”

When Sen. Barack Obama departed his plane in Denver on Sunday, he carried some periodicals in his right hand, visible in a detail of a photograph by Helen H. Richardson of The Denver Post.

One was the Oct. 27 Time magazine cover headlined "Does Temperament Matter?" which features images of Obama and Abraham Lincoln in the top panels, with FDR and Sen. John McCain in the bottom panels.

Obama expressed admiration for Lincoln in a 2005 Time magazine essay, which was critiqued by Peggy Noonan.