Colorado Was A Political Bright Spot On Tuesday-- Will It Be On Saturday As Well?

Tuesday night was pretty good for progressives in Colorado. Bernie won a lion's share of delegates and had the most votes. He and Elizabeth together had a majority from Coloradans:

• Bernie- 273,677 (36.3%)
• Status Quo Joe- 175,820 (23.2%)
• Bloomberg- 157,755 (20.8%)
• Elizabeth- 130,380 (17.2%)
• Tulsi- 8,586 (1.1%)

Voters wanted Health care for all, an economy that works for everyone and the Green New Deal. Wednesday morning the progressive in the Senate race, Andrew Romanoff, noted that "Exit polls found Democratic voters favored single-payer health care and major economic reform. In a poll released last week, a huge majority-- 93%-- also backed the Green New Deal. " That's especially important for Romanoff since Chuck Schumer is running Frackenlooper-- who is a status quo/anti-change candidate and way to the right of where Colorado voters are-- against him.

Andrew, who has been endorsed by Blue America sent an e-mail out to Colorado voters pointing out that all that progressive policy adhesion in his state is " good news not just for our campaign but for every American who wants to see real change in Washington" and pointing out that his bold progressive platform was "crafted not in the Senate cloakroom but here in Colorado. Last night’s results show our message is resonating."

Colorado's Senate primary is June 30 but this coming Saturday, March 7, Colorado Democrats will caucus to determine which of the 10 candidates will be on the ballot. Voters elect delegates to go to an April 18 assembly, determining who makes the primary ballot. Candidates need the backing of 30% of the delegates to get on the ballot.




What kind of a senator would Frackenlooper be? A really bad one-- like one of the worst, on a par with Trump-friendly right-wingers Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Watch the video of him backing down on backing-- and signing-- a bill to ban high-capacity magazines. He told the sheriffs he never expected the bill to pass-- and suggested he might not have signed it if he’d known it would cause so much "commotion." He blamed members of his own his staff for making him do it! Is that what Frackenlooper means by leadership? No wonder he's so scared to debate Andrew Romanoff!

Tuesday night, Chuck Schumer got his pick for the North Carolina Senate pick, repeat loser, Cal Cunningham, who is likely to lose again in November. North Carolina voters also decided to vote against Medicare-for-All, the Green New Deal and free state colleges by picking Status Quo Joe over Bernie. Coloradans are a savvier bunch and are less likely to let Chuck Schumer saddle them with a loser. Please consider contributing to Andrew Romanoff's campaign by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Senate thermometer on the right and giving what you can.

Friends of mine in Montana tell me that Governor Steve Bullock may be overly cautious sometimes but that he's way more progressive than he came across as on his disastrous and short-lived presidential run-- kind of the opposite of Frackenlooper, who's even worse than he appeared when he was on the national stage. So... despite Schumer popping a boner when he heard that Bullock's going to run after all, the country may well have just gotten a potential boon. One old friend in Bozeman told me not to worry about him being terrible in DC. "There's no way he'll ever be anything like Sinema or Machin or even Chris Coons... Did you know he was formerly a labor lawyer?

Obama seems to have persuaded him to do it-- and none too soon. The filing deadline is Monday. The state isn't as red as its prohibitive R+11 PVI would suggest. Last cycle Democrat Jon Testa beat multimillionaire Matt Rosendale 253,876 (50.3%) to 235,963 (48.8%) and even an unimaginably horrible, unelectable Democrat for the state's one congressional seat, Kathleen Williams managed to take 233,284 votes (46.2%) against Republican Greg Gianforte. In 2016, though Montanans sensibly wanted nothing to do with Hillary Clinton-- Trump beat her 274,120 (56.5%) to 174,521 (36.0%)-- Bullock himself was reelected governor 250,846 (50.2%) to 232,080 (46.4%). So, like in so many states, Hillary was a drag on the ticket but Bullock managed to win around 80,000 voters who refused to vote for her against Greg Gianforte.

Trump's approval rating has plummeted 18 points since he was inaugurated, so the Republicans' unremarkable incumbent, Steve Daines, isn't likely to be rescued by Trump. Daines, in fact, has been a real rubber stamp Trump-enabler.