People’s Press Collective Beta

Bloggage and Original News Coverage From Colorado and Around the Country

Programming Note

**Update–Fear not, vanguard of the people! Despite counterrevolutionary propaganda to the contrary, El Presidente will continue to provide bloggage and commentary on Colorado politics. For the time being, however, he’ll be hanging out more at People’s Press Collective. Your implacable leader does have a few other irons in the fire, so to speak, so watch out for that in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, take a look at EP’s declaration of non-candidacy in 2010 and laugh.

Or he’ll report you to the White House for acting “fishy.”

SP will be on hiatus indefinitely.

In the meantime, check out the links below to stay up-to-date on the liberty movement in Colorado, and for all the latest political news and analysis.

People’s Press Collective:

Liberty on the Rocks:

Complete Colorado:

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0:

Face the State:

Clear the Bench Colorado:

Influential Blogger Not Seeking Office In 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Embargoed until 2089)
August 6, 2009

Underemployed Smartass Blogger Opts Out of GOP Senate Race

Independent, Maverick Hope’n’Changer Has Better Things To Do

(His Parents’ Basement)—Pajama-clad chickenshit People’s Press Collective blogger and itinerant Independence Institute groupie El Presidente has, after careful consideration and extensive consultation, decided NOT to challenge Senator Who? in the 2010 election. He now joins an elite group of only three other individuals who have not tossed their hat into the GOP primary.

“After conducting a comprehensive state-wide listening campaign that consisted of a blue-ribbon panel comprised by his four Facebook fans and a guy named Larry, and a feeling that any multi-cellular organism could defeat an appointed Senator whose speech patterns are less interesting than 1980s animatronics at Disneyland, I have decided to take the decisive and bold path and not enter the race,” declared El Presidente. “Besides, what’s the point of splitting the primary vote 1,013,476 ways?”

Though he believed himself to be a formidable candidate despite having staged a failed 5th grade class coup, he had left the possibility of running for a democratically-elected state-wide office open until today. However, citing extensive familial responsibilities as a reclusive bachelor and noted misanthrope, El Presidente also concluded that he could not stomach the grueling campaign schedule required to build name brand recognition, nor the number of handshakes that were in store for him.

“Campaign events before noon? Yeah, riiiiiiight. Besides, I’d need a whole lot of Purell, and that is dangerous for our climate in this new energy economy,” remarked El Presidente.

Had he launched a formal Senate bid, El Presidente planned an extensive, scorched-earth campaign chock-full of disastrous launch stumblings, calculated missteps, unidentified geography in his ads, inexplicable verbal gaffes, annoying/antiquated/untimely/irrelevant press releases (like this one), a general lack of focus in his messaging, and a complete disregard for anything even remotely resembling a Republican principle.

“Socialism for everyone sounds so socialist itself, so I planned to burden the economy with even more government spending so that I could avoid any real, serious conversation and get down to the business of the people—getting myself reelected, and then surreptitiously switching parties. I believe in the 80-20 principle, 80% for me, 20% for all of you unwashed, gun-toting, God-fearing troglodytes who whine about ‘high taxes’ and ‘liberty.’ It’s not all about you or your liberty, it’s about me, your hypocritical elected official. You people make me sick,” concluded El Presidente.**

During the trial period, he spoke to several egregiously overpaid political hacks, faux-Internet gurus, and old-guard roadblocks who encouraged him to run.

“The superficiality of these GOP insiders is amazing, and I looked forward to their non-sensical advice and thoroughly deplorable backstabbing,” noted El Presidente. In addition, had he actually decided to have it bothways and mount a run before he ultimately decided against it, El Presidente articulated the need for a clear New Media strategy involving Web 2.0 tools that he hopes other GOP candidates will latch on to in their own meretricious efforts.

“The Democrats have the Gang of Four, the Colorado Model, and almost every elected position in the state. But we have Facebook and Twitter and the severely underfunded and generally disregarded conservative blogosphere on our side. Not that I’ve ever visited those or any other websites on that new-fangled “intarwebz” thingy,” argued El Presidente. “My college-aged anarcho-syndicalist commune, which doubled as my campaign war room, told me that multiple sockpuppets and an outrageously obvious and horrendously misspelled astroturfing campaign launched from my own IP using my personal email address would ensure me a grassroots following so far-reaching, that literally billions would join the cause. I crap you negative. After all, I know people, and am a mighty oak.” El Presidente’s entire cadre of earnest but unwitting supporters has subsequently been liquidated, following a judiciously unjust, farcical show trial.

In preparation for what could ultimately prove to be Colorado’s most expensive Senate race since the last most expensive Senate race and assuredly not as expensive as the next one, El Presidente’s fundraising efforts in the exploratory phase had yielded a staggering $0.57 cents, most of which came from a single donation from his parent’s couch.

“No candidate can seek funding from just one source. A great candidate needs resources from a large pool of donors of all political stripes, and I was able to bring both sides of the sofa together, by drawing support from both the right AND the left cushions,” boasted El Presidente. The response was phenomenal the past 45 quarters, and we even saw a generous amount of foreign backing in the form of Confederate war bonds and Zimbabwean currency. “Never too early to get in the race, nor build up a campaign war chest,” asserted El Presidente.

El Presidente’s nascent campaign drew endorsements from a wide variety of public groups, including “People with ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Bumper Stickers On Their Cars” or PWDTOMBSOTC and the “Society for the Total Usurpation of Public Involvement in Democracy” also known as STUPID. “The STUPID socialists were some of my biggest and earliest supporters, but unfortunately, since they don’t believe in the free market, capitalism, or personal property, none of the STUPID bastards could give me any money,” lamented El Presidente.

While El Presidente has not endorsed any specific candidate in the GOP primary, he has identified a few potential frontrunners and personal favorites in the ridiculously overcrowded field.

“If I can get through 100 candidates an hour, 24/7, for the next 10 months, I might be able to have a grasp of the entire field, and issue my endorsement—or I’ll just withhold support and then note one week before the general election, as the Republican candidate heads for certain defeat, that I could have run a much better race and actually, you know, won the damn thing. Ahhh, the bitter taste of sour grapes, low expectations, and a sense of paid-my-dues entitlement,” quipped El Presidente. “I call on all Republicans running to make a commitment to do everything possible to piss off the base, irrevocably destroy the party, ostracize Libertarians and freedom-oriented independents, and empower Democrats for the next century or two with nasty, hyper-partisan, ad hominem attacks in the primary. Let’s circle the wagons once again and, in a show of party unity, fire in—that’s the ticket!”

El Presidente has scheduled a press non-availability at an undisclosed, undetermined location, as security concerns will only permit a few teleprompters, some stage plants (primarily Ficus), and a Gatorade stand. Only pre-screened softball questions submitted by a sycophantic and propagandistic media will be allowed, and generally ignored. Your cooperation isn’t appreciated, or even all that important to us. After all, you’re probably just a wide-eyed blogger with a covert agenda, and jeebus, why do we even bother . . .

For more information contact:
Yo Momma
c/o State GOP HQ
303-BITE-ME
soyunperdedor@republicanscantgettheirshitstraight.com

**Not actually elected, though you probably didn’t read that far anyway, so what does it matter?
Editing by MIM

No Climate Tax Pledge

Partial transcript:

Hello, I’m Senator Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma, and I am proud to be one of the hundreds of lawmakers on all levels of government to sign the Americans for Prosperity “No Climate Tax Pledge.” This pledge states clearly that climate change legislation should not be used to fund a dramatic expansion in the size and scope of government. As I add my name to the list, I am also here to call on all those who oppose the largest tax increase in American history to join me in signing the pledge by going online to http://www.noclimatetax.com/.

I have worked tirelessly over the past ten years to expose cap-and-tax for what it really is: the largest tax increase in American history. I began by leading the opposition against Kyoto in 1997 and have successfully led the fight against the cap-and-trade tax in 2003, 2005 and most recently in 2008. Today as American consumers continue to face tough economic times, the last thing Washington should be doing is raising the price of gas at the pumps, energy in our homes, and the cost of food in our grocery stores.

We have a lot to do in the coming months to defeat cap-and-trade again, and hopefully this time, for good.

Only A Test

Barack Obama–Teleprompter In Chief

Photobucket

Brought to you by Republican Princess.

Economic Development . . . For No One

Government waste–often disguised by agencies with well-meaning titles like “Office of Economic Development”–is frequently cited as having at least a marginally positive effect on those it is intended to help. More often than not, however, that wasted taxpayer funding goes absolutely nowhere and benefits precisely NO ONE:

The Office of Economic Development (OED) was created by the General Assembly with the simple, if not obvious task of promoting economic development. But sometimes obvious and simple tasks don’t always remain that way.

In 2008, the OED created a grant of $47,000 to spend on office space that was occupied by…no one.
. . .
The ACC was asked to market the unused space. However, when the unoccupied space was offered at market rates to other non-profits, the OED couldn’t find any takers.

“This is a perfect example of how, when government dips into work outside their core activities, they are still insulated from having to make market decisions that affect their bottom line,” said Dennis Polhill, senior fellow at the Independence Institute. “Some business would rather move than throw away $47,000, but when it’s taxpayer money, what the heck?”

After all, it’s only taxpayer money anyway . . .

**Update: 1200 In Colorado Springs; Fort Collins, Colorado Springs See Hundreds Rally Against ObamaCare, Outnumber Pro-Obama Factions

**Update 3–Media bias? Colorado Springs Gazette ignores the anti-ObamaCare rally completely

**Update 2–Americans for Prosperity has video and several more photos up from the Colorado Springs rally

**Update 1–Approximately 1000-1200 anti-ObamaCare rallyers showed up in Colorado Springs, easily eclipsing the incredible turnout in Denver yesterday (video); tons of photos from the rally; 9NEWS has more from Fort Collins

Continued from yesterday’s overwhelmingly successful anti-ObamaCare rally in Denver:

Hundreds more in Colorado Springs rallying against government-run health care, where only a “handful” of ObamaCare supporters showed up–photos/video from the rally on the way.

NoCOPolitics attended the earlier Fort Collins rally as hundreds voiced their opposition against government-run health care, outnumbering pro-Obama supporters 3-1; slideshow of the rally is up at the Coloradoan:

Hundreds Attend Anti-Obama Care Rally In Denver


Hundreds (500-700) attended yesterday’s anti-ObamaCare rally in Denver during the lunch hour.

**Update 8–Hundreds more in Colorado Springs rallying against government-run health care, where only a “handful” of ObamaCare supporters showed up

**Update 7–Hundreds attend rally against government-run health care in Fort Collins, outnumber pro-Obama supporters 3-1; slideshow of the rally is up

**Update 6–speaker highlights:

**Update 5–Joshua Sharf captured revealing pics of the decidedly underwhelmingly attended pro-Obama rally later in the day, featuring supporters sporting union-made signs and t-shirts; Face the State has an update on Michael the Hutt of ProgressNow doing a little projection of his own, Kim Jong-Il style; the geniuses at ColoradoPols can’t count.

**Update 4–Instalanche, sweet! Thanks Glenn.

**Update 3–Face the State has a comprehensive report and a slideshow of the rally, and estimates that upwards of 700 attended.

**Update 2–Obama’s supporters are staging their own rally at 6pm in Denver, and there is already a planned counterprotest:

What: Socialized Healthcare Counter-Protest

When: July 28, 2009 6:00 PM

Where: Colorado State Capitol Building
Colfax & Lincoln West Steps of the Capitol Bldg
Denver, CO 80203

The White House’s own activist group “Organizing for America” is holding a rally in support of nationalized health care at the Colorado State Capitol this evening, July 28th. A coalition of 9/12 and Tea Party groups is banding together to form a counter-protest from 6pm to 7pm!

If you were unable to make the rally against socialized medicine at lunch today, this counter-protest is a way to make your voice heard and to let the politicians and the anti-liberty groups know we oppose what they are trying to do.

Because anti-liberty activists may very well try insult us or force confrontations with us, it is VERY important that we remain civil and professional - don’t sink to their level!

Obama’s astroturfers (unions/SEIU) vs. true grassroots, should be fun! Obama’s union thugs supporters better hope for a larger turnout than their own counterprotest earlier today:


The large contingent of Obama Care supporters rally across the street.

**Update 1–Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette (CD 1), who represents Denver, puts forth the ObamaCare line:

Perhaps DeGette should take the time to listen to her constituents. And read the bill . . .

Denver Post:
“This is not the kind of health care change we want!” shouted Jeff Crank with Americans for Prosperity, which organized the rally. “We demand something different.”

Instead, protestors advocated for tort reform to cut down on malpractice costs and making health insurance “portable” from job to job.

Crank said national health care reform proposals being debated in Congress call for rationing care. He told those at the rally to think of the hot dogs and T-shirts as liver transplants — “if we run out, we run out.”

CBS4Denver had pre-rally coverage (video).

Photos are up (click to enlarge)–


Co-sponsored by the Independence Institute and Americans for Prosperity.


Sentiment was strongly against President Barack Obama’s plan.


Ominous.


Rationing is a primary concern.


The posters were creative and not mass-produced.


Just a portion of the large crowd gathered, probably 500 or so.


Major media outlets were there as well.


Ari Armstrong of FreeColorado.com argued that government is responsible for getting health care into this mess in the first place.


Health care choice vs. government control.


But but but . . .


Where there are cameras, ProgressNow’s paid hack Michael Huttner is sure to be weaseling his way through the crowd.


Jon Caldara, President of the Independence Institute, demands that elected officials, you know, actually read the bills they are expected to vote on.


The large contingent of Obama Care supporters rally across the street.


Winner for best use of props and allusion to pop culture of the day!


The rally wraps up and the crowd enjoys complimentary food.


Sums up the mood and message of the day.

No Dominant GOP Choices Emerge: Frazier Beats Out Rivals; Penry Ties for Support, But McInnis Seen As Stronger

Approximately 600 people completed the July Colorado Political Temperature survey.

Open online from Thursday, July 9, 8:00 AM MDT, to Friday, July 17, 5:00 PM MDT, the survey gauged opinion on prominent policy issues, philosophy, and political dynamics; as well as candidate preference and assessment questions for five 2010 Colorado Republican primary races.

There are plenty of items of particular interest, but here are the top-line results. Crosstabs and other analysis will follow in the next week.

July 2009 Colorado’s Political Temperature Results

Not All Republicans Are Clueless About New Media–Taking Aim At Gov. Ritter On Waxman-Markey

**Update–ColoradoPols is impressed:

We have to admit we were also impressed with the speed Sen. Jim Imhofe’s office had this video packaged and distributed through a wide viral network–all the way down to our own community talking-point beacons. Clearly they’re getting better at this. The problem is that, as the Post’s Lynn Bartels correctly points out, what these guys are claiming Ritter said…isn’t what he said at all. In fact, reading what Ritter actually said makes what the Republicans claim he said look, well, spun beyond recognition.

Of course Ritter never answered the question, so exactly who is spinning?

For many of us outside the Beltway, the perception (and the reality) is that the “insiders” on the Hill don’t get new media, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. For every rule, however, there is an exception, and in this instance a very good example of how Republicans can use new media to challenge Democrats on any number of issues, including our own Gov. Bill Ritter on his support for the Waxman-Markey bill–from Lynn Bartels at the Denver Post (apologies for a lack of link earlier):
A Republican activist who heckled Democratic Senate candidate Tom Strickland during his 2002 run helped highlight the questions that made Gov. Bill Ritter squirm at a hearing this week in Washington.

Matt Dempsey, 30, is the communications director for Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Ritter testified before on Tuesday.

In 2002, Dempsey worked for U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard’s re-election campaign, often hollering out anti-Strickland slogans through a bullhorn at various political events. Dempsey’s arrest just 10 days before the election went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, Dempsey laughed when asked if he had a role in the Ritter hearing.

“Well, a little,” he said, adding, “But I don’t use a bullhorn anymore.”

Now Dempsey has YouTube, a blog linked numerous times by Drudge, and a national audience.

Releasing video and digital press releases to blogs as-it-happens and not waiting for the MSM to garble the story is the best way to move the message on offense, instead of always playing catch-up, and Dempsey has proven that this new model works:

Dempsey also released an exchange between Ritter and U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., over the bill, known as Waxman-Markey, after its Democratic sponsors.

Critics say the bill is a tax increase, and in Colorado it would cripple oil shale development and increase costs for farmers.

With that in mind, Inhofe asked of Ritter, “Are you here supporting Waxman-Markey today?”

“I support a national energy policy that’s married to a national climate policy that gets at these goals that we have for greenhouse gas reductions,” the governor said. “And I believe that if you do that, that there will some vehicle that may not look exactly like Waxman-Markey, particularly after the Senate finishes its work.

“But I very much support climate legislation that is joined with a national energy policy to get us to the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals that are set for 2050.”

Republicans have had success employing “new media,” including YouTube, the Senate website and a blog.

The headline over the Denver Post story Wednesday read “Ritter attracts negative energy in D.C. hearing.”

“We got our message across,” Demsey [sic] said.

The video of the exchange quickly made the rounds on the blogs, including Michelle Malkin:

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