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November 2005

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Recent Posts

  • Notes From the Road: the Eastern Swing
  • Debating C and D in Western Colorado
  • A Successful Kickoff!
  • Welcome!

Recent Comments

  • Charles Barnes on Notes From the Road: the Eastern Swing
  • Radio Jockey on Debating C and D in Western Colorado
  • Marc Holtzman on Welcome!
  • C is for Churchill on Debating C and D in Western Colorado
  • Sandra Clinger on Welcome!
  • Sandra Clinger on Welcome!
  • jim schwartz on Welcome!
  • george on A Successful Kickoff!
  • Iron Mike on Welcome!
  • Susan Knapp on Welcome!

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Notes From the Road: the Eastern Swing

Last Monday, November 7, the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. Jesse Mallory, our competent young Field Director for Eastern Colorado and Jeff Small came to pick me up in the campaign RV for the 75 mile trip north to Fort Collins for breakfast with 50 leading Republican activists at the weekly meeting of the Larimer County Republican breakfast club. The gathering was a great opportunity to speak about my vision for Colorado's future. Our host was former Congressman Bob Schaffer. The County Republican Chairman, Nancy Hunter and State Representatitves Jim Welker and Kevin Lundberg were also in attendance. One of the highlights of the morning was spending time with former Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez, our Holtzman County Co-Chair for Larimer County. Larimer is one of the leading counties in Colorado with a strong Republican base and having mayor Martinez aboard has been a huge boost to our local effort.

Following the breakfast I had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Benson, reporter of the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

By mid-morning it was on to Greeley for a live appearance with talk show host Amy Oliver of 1310 KFKA. While I have appeared on Amy's show on a half a dozen occasions during this past year, this was my first live opportunity to exchange ideas with Colorado's version of a cross between Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter. Amy's show was about 40 minutes in length and we covered virtually every topic including taxes, the economy, education, and immigration. It's often hard to make this statement, but Amy and I agree on virtually every important issue facing Colorado's future.

Next it was lunch with the Weld County Republican Women. During lunch I had the pleasure of sitting together with my close friend Senator Dave Owen, a fiscal conservative, and guardian of the taxpayer. It was a pleasure to join 40 of Weld County's outstanding activists including Republican County Chairman Darrell Call and Perry Buck, the new State GOP Vice-Chair. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss my proposal to that would require 65% of education dollars from our K-12 budget be earmarked for the classroom. Currently in Colorado, we spend only 57 cents in the classroom. My plan would move more than $480 million away from bureaucracy, overhead and administration and into teacher training, teacher salaries, after school programs and the real work of educating our children.

Following lunch it was off to an interview with Doyle Murphy of the Greeley Tribune. Doyle and I had the opportunity to discuss my strong opposition to Referendums C and D and how as Governor I will go about much needed structural reform for our budget process.

Mid afternoon took us to Southern Weld County for a meeting with Steve Curtis in Firestone. Under Steve's dynamic leadership as Republican State Chairman in 1998, we Republicans won the governorship and both houses of the legislature by impressive margins for the first time in 24 years. It was a huge gain for our campaign to receive Steve's endorsement and personal support. He and I were recently together at the Colorado Right to Life banquet. Steve is a respected leader on this and many important issues facing Colorado.

Catching a short nap en route, it was on to Evans in Northern Weld County for the highlight of our week. Mark and Dora Fauth, our county leaders in Weld County, hosted a chili supper for our supporters. Eighty-nine committed Holtzman for Governor supporters came to dinner to express support and enthusiasm for our campaign! Mark and Dora were there with their five children (with number 6 on the way). This gathering was full of excitement and energy.

Thanks to Mark and Dora's outstanding leadership and support, I have no doubt that we will strongly carry Weld County. Most participants agreed to host a Meet and Greet, post yard signs, and eagerly took bumper stickers and campaign brochures. Many signed up to be a part of our Weld County Leadership Team. I was particularly grateful to have met Dan Rhodes, who volunteered to become a key part of our leadership team and is in the process of arranging to host his own Meet and Greet for me. After dinner, Jesse, Jeff and I boarded the RV for the two hour journey to Sterling.

On Tuesday morning, Bo Cottrell, former Arapahoe County Republican Chair and supporter extraordinaire, met us at the famous J&L Cafe for a breakfast meeting with Logan County's Republican leadership. Greeting us briefly was my old friend Laurie Jones, a dynamic entrepreneur whose husband Dale is now mayor of Sterling. During breakfast it was nice to discuss a vision for our party and our state. Water and natural resource management was top on the list. Deb Carlstrom, Phillips County Republican GOP Chairman, joined us as well. After our discussion I moved about the Cafe.

Jeff was good to move ahead to pass my brochures around the restaurant and I met at least 30 patrons. Most impressive was Bill Bornhoft and his son Gerry who are partners in Sterling Ethanol, a $30 million new ethanol producing facility about to soon open its doors. Sharla Cikes from the Sterling Journal-Advocate joined us at breakfast.

Next it was on to Julesburg, traveling further northeast, just miles from the Nebraska border. Claudine Kappius and her husband Robert were kind enough to host lunch where we met with Randy Renquist. Randy is our Holtzman County Chair for Sedgwick County. Following a tour of the courthouse where we met most of the elected county officials including: Clerk and Recorder Patrice Carter, Deputy Assessor Karon Johnson and the Undersheriff Delbert Ewoldt.

Then it was on to the local Heavy Equipment Training Academy. It is one of the most impressive facilities I have ever seen. This facility trains young teenagers who choose a different course other than college, to operate heavy machinery and equipment for jobs that pay up to $55,000 per year as a starting salary. Special thanks to Jim Row who was one of the driving forces in starting this institute and clearly makes a difference in the lives of many young people.

The afternoon took us to Schmidt's Pizza, a landmark in Holyoke. Karen Schmidt was delightful and hospitable in providing a venue for us to exchange ideas with a group of concerned citizens.

As if Schmidt's Pizza wasn't delicious enough, we boarded the RV to Wray for another Meet and Greet at Bob's Pizza Place. Here we were joined by Senator Greg Brophy and a number of supporters. After dinner Jesse, Jeff, Bo and I made the trek back to Denver.

Later in the week we headed back east to Fort Morgan for a delightful dinner with the leadership of the Morgan County Republican Party. Here I had some of the best prime rib at the Country Steak-out. Before dinner we dropped by the Fort Morgan Times for an interview with Chris Marchueso.

November 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Debating C and D in Western Colorado

Last night I had the opportunity to debate State Representative Bernie Buescher of Grand Junction over the merits of the $5 billion tax grab known as Referendums C and D.  The event was hosted by Mesa State and its student newspaper, the Criterion.

First off, the Criterion did a great job with this event.  I was enormously impressed by the hard work that Eric Lincoln and his fellow students clearly put into organizing and publicizing the debate.  We enjoyed a large turnout by an engaged audience of students, faculty, and ordinary citizens. The questions that the student panel put to Bernie and me were thoughtful and raised the relevant points about Refs C and D in a way that generated a spirited back and forth between Bernie and me and genuinely advanced the public debate on what is at stake in this important upcoming election.

I told the audience last night, and it is worth mentioning again, that my sparring with Rep. Buescher showed how it is possible to disagree in an agreeable way, even on issues as contentious as these two tax-and-spend ballot measures.   Some of the most vocal proponents of C and D would do well to give Bernie Buescher's approach a try.  All too often, unfortunately, the tone of the C and D debate from the side of the measures' proponents has been less about good public policy than about indulging in personal attacks that do little to inform the public about the truly important issues that are at stake in this upcoming election.

My commitment to the people of Colorado is to lead the fight against C and D in a way that continues to focus on why these referendums are bad public policy.  Leadership is staying focused while opponents try to distract people from the real issues.

On the substance of my debate with Bernie, the conversations I had with the thirty or so people who stayed behind to speak with me after the debate showed that we made real progress.  Everywhere I go across Colorado, I can see that people are coming to realize that C and D are little more than an overreaching, unnecessary attempt to rob Colorado's economy of $5 billion -- out of the hands of working Colorado families -- and put those dollars into the hands of Democrat committee heads and, ultimately, state government bureaucrats.

The message I carried to Grand Junction last night resonated with the audience, just as I am finding it to resonate with audiences all across Colorado.  That message was simple -- that C and D are not the answer to our budget challenges. $3,200 a year from your family is not the answer.

We have certainly not finished the work of defeating C and D, but I believe we are solidly on the right path.  I plan to continue to carry my message about the importance of defeating these two ballot measures to every corner of our State, and I hope all Coloradoans who believe in fiscal restraint and who share a commitment to preserving the Taxpayers Bill of Rights will join me in my fight.

September 20, 2005 in In general... | Permalink | Comments (2)

A Successful Kickoff!

I kicked off my Colorado Roast Pork RV Tour this past Friday, August 19, in Colorado Springs and Saturday, August 20, in the Denver Metro Area.  The RV looks great and was a big hit at both events.

Over 140 people joined me and my campaign staff at Giusseppe’s Italian Restaurant in Colorado Springs on Friday to enjoy pork dishes in honor of the waste and excess spending in Colorado’s state budget.

The turnout was even bigger on Saturday, with nearly 350 people joining me in feasting on barbecued pork and brisket at my campaign headquarters in Englewood.

Both events ran out of pork, which I took as an auspicious start to my campaign to ensure the defeat of the $3.6 billion tax increase contained in Referendum C and Referendum D on this November’s ballot.

It was a real treat and extremely humbling to see so many friends and supporters turn out for both of these events.  As I told both crowds, I know that my race for Governor will be both an exhilarating and a challenging undertaking, and when things get rough (as they always do at one point or another in any worthy endeavor), I know just where to look for inspiration – I will look to the hundreds of signatures that so many friends have written on the sides of my rolling campaign headquarters!

August 23, 2005 in In general... | Permalink | Comments (1)

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! 

With the 2006 gubernatorial race beginning to take shape, I am excited to bring my campaign into the blogosphere.  Bloggers are today's Minutemen, the often-time heroes who repeatedly astound us with their ability to expose Big Media's attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of everyday citizens.

Just one example of this was Memogate, the shameful attempt by CBS news to influence the 2004 presidential election by springing an October surprise of its own in the form of a forged memo disparaging President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.  Bloggers stopped that story dead, and in doing so, they may just have changed the course of history.

Other examples are easy to find.  However you choose to look at it, one thing is beyond debate -- blogging has helped level the playing field between the citizen and Big Media.  With this in mind, I can tell you that it is a real pleasure to join this online world at long last with a weblog of my very own.  I plan to use this blog to provide Coloradans with frequent personal updates on the progress of my campaign as I work to earn their trust and to lead our State into its brightest future. 

Please check back often!  I'll have lots to report during the next year and three months, as I head out on the road touring the entire State of Colorado.  I hope you'll join me, online if not in person.  I know that together we can make this a campaign to remember!

August 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (15)