Frost-Brewed Irony

Republican Rick O’Donnell is already facing problems in his campaign for congress in CD7 because he once called for an end to Social Security. It looks like O’Donnell has once again figured out he’s on the wrong side of a big issue and is trying to change his stance. As Christopher Osher of The Denver Post reports:

Republican congressional candidate Rick O’Donnell on Thursday changed his position on federal financing of embryonic stem-cell research, saying new technology had allayed his concerns about the destruction of embryos.
His comments drew a quick challenge from O’Donnell’s Democratic opponent, Ed Perlmutter, who said, “It seems like he is kind of flip-flopping.”…

…O’Donnell, in an interview, cited news reports that biologists had established colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it…

…Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who in July pushed stem-cell legislation that Bush vetoed, was drawn into the fray. “Mr. O’Donnell must be reading the polls in his district that show that the vast majority of the voters in the 7th Congressional District support stem-cell research,” she said.

Perlmutter made stem cell research a big piece of his primary campaign in July, and O’Donnell has obviously figured out that this isn’t a good issue to be on the wrong side of in November.

———–Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter is fighting Republican accusations that he was soft on crime as a Denver district attorney. As Mark Couch of The Denver Post reports, Ritter’s conviction rates were actually higher than comparable districts around the country:

Ritter’s office had a conviction rate that exceeds the national median for similar-sized offices in communities with population ranging from 250,000 to 999,999.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, those prosecutors’ offices in 2001 obtained convictions in 83 percent of their cases. That same year, Ritter’s office won convictions in 4,750 of the 5,000 felony cases that closed, a 95 percent conviction rate.
Colorado’s 4th Judicial District, which handles cases for El Paso and Teller counties, won convictions that year in 2,658 of 3,252 cases that closed, an 82 percent conviction rate.

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Ritter and Republican Bob Beauprez squared off in a debate about health care yesterday in Denver. As Stuart Steers of the Rocky Mountain News notes, both candidates for governor offered significantly different plans for dealing with health care access.

Did you know that Beauprez used to milk cows? Oh yeah, he milked them silly.

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The two candidates for secretary of state criticized new campaign rules put in place by Republican Secretary of State Gigi Dennis recently. As Lynn Bartels of The Rocky Mountain News reports, both Republican Mike Coffman and Democrat Ken Gordon agree that Dennis should not have changed election rules in the middle of a campaign:

Democrat Ken Gordon and Republican Mike Coffman said it was unfair for Dennis to decide in August that “membership organizations” must get permission from individual members annually before their dues can be used in political campaigns.

Previously, the dues were automatically deducted and the groups, such as unions, then transferred money to small-donor committees to push for certain candidates.

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The Pink Lady is making a comeback.

Ads featuring a woman in a pink suit lampooning Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave were the talk of the 2004 election, and the Pink Lady theme is back. As Deborah Frazier of the Rocky Mountain News reports:

The Web site www.DearMarilyn.org features a video of a Rep. Marilyn Musgrave look-alike describing her past two years in Congress.

“Corruption, selling out families to big business, being out of touch with the people in my district. I’m Marilyn Musgrave and that’s my record,” says the imitation Musgrave.

The liberal group ProgressNowAction spent $132 on the video, which was e-mailed Thursday to about 3,000 people in Musgrave’s eastern Colorado district, said Michael Huttner, ProgressNowAction’s director.

The Gravy wonders if Musgrave ever had a lot of pink in her wardrobe that she just can’t wear anymore.

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Republican Pete Coors, the beer magnate and onetime U.S. Senate candidate, pleaded guilty this morning to a lesser charge of driving while impaired while in court on a DUI case from last May. As Julie Poppen of the Rocky Mountain News reports, Coors was sentenced to 24 hours of community service. He was also ordered to attend an education course on alcohol abuse.

Mmmm…frost-brewed irony.

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Walking door-to-door is a classic campaign tool that most observers agree is vitally important in winning elections. Or is it? Check out this tidbit from the Rocky Mountain News:

Rick O’Donnell, a candidate in the 7th Congressional District, was knocking on doors in the Melody Hills neighborhood when he got an enthusiastic greeting.

“I’m so surprised to see you again, but I’m glad you’re back,” a voter said.

Turns out the woman had O’Donnell confused with another baby-faced Republican, state Rep. Matt Knoedler, who is running for the state Senate.

Knoedler has his own ID mix-up. He keeps getting asked, “Did you go to Green Mountain High School?” No, he explains, that’s Democratic Rep. Andy Kerr, who is running for a House seat.

You know what they say