Hefley Says Lamborn’s Sleazy; Who Are We to Argue?

Things are relatively quiet today in Colorado political-land.

The Los Angeles Times has picked up an Associated Press story on the rift between Republicans in the 5th congressional district…albeit a story that is more than a week old. Retiring Rep. Joel Hefley has refused to back Republican Doug Lamborn in CD5, but has not announced any plans to support Democrat Jay Fawcett…

I made this clear at the start of this campaign that I would never again support a Republican who ran a sleazy campaign against another Republican, and that’s what Doug Lamborn did,” Hefley said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s not good when we have these angry, bitter campaigns [against Democrats]. It’s sure not good when we have them within the party.”

Lynn Bartels of the Rocky Mountain News reports on another quarrel among the candidates running in the 7th congressional district. Democrat Ed Perlmutter blasted Republican Rick O’Donnell for failing to answer any of the tough questions in a Rocky Mountain News online questionnaire.

Democrat Ed Perlmutter on Wednesday accused O’Donnell of skipping the questions because the answers would reveal O’Donnell to be “radical and out of touch” with voters in their suburban congressional district.

The questions are part of an online candidate questionnaire created by the Rocky Mountain News. They range from whether the United States should withdraw all troops from Iraq to whether the candidate supports embryonic stem cell research.

O’Donnell said he answered “open-ended questions,” but deliberately skipped others because they either are irrelevant in a federal race or because he wasn’t allowed enough space to explain his position.

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New polling results for CD7 and CD4 are available from Constituent Dynamics. The polls show Perlmutter with a 48-46 lead over O’Donnell, while in CD4, Republican Marilyn Musgrave leads Democrat Angie Paccione 47-41. Square State breaks down the demographics from the polls and notes that they don’t accurately represent voter registration numbers from the respective districts.

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Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a potential Democratic candidate for President in 2008, is in Denver today stumping for Secretary of State candidate Ken Gordon. Vilsack will appear at a fundraiser in downtown Denver at 4:30.

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Some lawmakers are voicing concerns about the way initiatives are worded and will appear on the November ballot. As April Washington of the Rocky Mountain News reports, the infamous Doug Bruce is actually