Tuesday, November 8, 2016

2016 GENERAL ELECTION PREDICTION




This is my final electoral college prediction.


WHO CONTROLS THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY (2016 EDITION)

Before I reveal my final electoral college prediction, I cannot stress enough how important downballot races are. What happens in your state capitol matters; probably more than what happens in our nation’s capital.

Again, to quote Omar Navarez, “Obama’s going to give me (a gay Latino) my equality. But he ain’t going to fix the roads in Dallas.”

How did Colorado, Oregon, and Washington institute a mail-in ballot system. It was magic. Because they had legislators who believed in making it easier for people to vote. Oregon has automatic voter registration which I am hoping we can bring to Colorado.

On the opposite side, look at the list of bad legislation that is coming from certain states and look at which political party controls that state’s legislature and governorship. Voter ID, limits to polling locations, right to work laws, anti-abortion laws, anti-LGBT legislation, and so many others.

Monday, November 7, 2016

OUR SENATOR(S)



2016 was going to be a tough year for Republicans defending the gains made the last time these seats were up six years earlier. In 2010, Republicans won senate seats in Florida, Indiana, Illinois, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin as well as re-election of incumbents in Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, and North Carolina. Democrats were successful in holding seats in Colorado and Nevada.

Why are these states mentioned?

With the exception of Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina, Obama won the remaining 7 states twice in his presidential runs. While Indiana and North Carolina were Obama states in 2008, both states were in the Republican column in 2012 though North Carolina is trending more towards battleground while Indiana has reverted back to a reliably red state.

Here are my picks for some key senate races to keep an eye on while watching the election coverage on Tuesday night. For the purposes of full disclosure, here is a list of senators I donated money to this cycle.

FLIP THE HOUSE (2016 EDITION)




It is not going to happen.

Well… it could, but based on what I have seen it will not happen.

CHOOSE WISELY


I might have been a TAD abrasive in my critiques of third parties, but the truth is that one of these two people will be elected president tommorrow.

To the undecided voters that remain and especially those that live in competitive states, ask yourself this: you have two candidates for a job. One group, A, thoroughly vetted their two major choices and one person emerged. The other group, B, vetted 17 people and one person emerged out of that group.

Group A’s candidate was as an administrator, played an active role in community service, is well versed in international relationships, and knows the inner workings of how the company work. The candidate has detailed knowledge about the makeup of the company’s employees, their issues, and is constantly studying on ways to improve their lives. Group A’s candidate has an issue with record keeping but has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

While Group B’s candidate despite a business background has a well-documented history of sexual harassment, discrimination, prejudice, promoting a hostile work environment, and has not disclosed any financial records that have been requested. Group B’s candidate also has looming unresolved legal issues.

The company will pick one of these two candidates. A third option is not viable. Selecting a third option means that your choice will be noted, but will likely result in a candidate you despise running this complex company and its employees for the next four years.

Obviously, Group A’s candidate is highly qualified but has flaws. There is no such thing as a perfect candidate. B’s candidate could potentially damage the reputation of the company that would take years to recover from, and the morale of the employees would drop.

The time for choosing is upon us.


Choose wisely

THIRD-PARTIES


In reviewing my posts from the 2012 election cycle, I noticed that there was barely any mention of third and minor party candidates.

And here is why.

AND HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER




Incumbent-Senator Mark Kirk faced challenger Representative Tammy Duckworth in the Illinois Senate debate on back in October.

There were two statements that stood out.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

2016 NFL SEASON: WEEK 9


Election Day is 8 November, this coming Tuesday.

VOTE




Me
Monica
WEEK 8
70-48-2
75-43-2
TOTAL
7-5-1
8-4-1

Saturday, October 29, 2016

I’M (STILL) WITH HER



Don’t act so surprised

I endorsed Hillary Clinton prior to caucusing for her in March, and I am returning my ballot for her at a drop off location.

KEEP IT LOW KEY



When he was appointed to fill the seat in January 2009, Michael Bennett was a relative nobody in the political word. He was the Denver School Superintendent when then-Governor Bill Ritter picked him to fill the seat vacated due to Obama picking Ken Salazar to be the Secretary of the Interior.

CLEARING THE SMOKE (COLORADO AMENDMENT 72)


Political ads on television are commonplace at this time every two years in Colorado.

One ad I have noticed talks with ranchers about this constitutional amendment that would create these new taxes, and they are not fans of it.

I also noticed a “No on 72” sign on the door of a gas station’s Kwik-e-Mart one day.

So I pulled out my phone to see what Amendment 72 is exactly.

IN GOOD CONSCIENCE (COLORADO AMENDMENT 106)


I recently had a discussion with my mother about Amendment 106, the Access to Medical Aid in Dying proposal called the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act. It is modeled after Oregon’s law that was passed in the 1997.

A BIRTHDAY CARD FOR A BIRTHDAY BOY


Friday, October 28, 2016

TAKE A STEP BACK AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE (COLORADO AMENDMENT 69)



TWO-FOR-ONE (COLORADO AMENDMENTS 107 & 108)



Here is a special endorsement; a two-for-one deal involving both Amendments 107 AND 108.

Both amendments deal with how the political parties deal with choosing their nominees for offices; 107 deals with the presidential primary while 108 would open the primaries for all non-presidential elections.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

ON RAISING THE BAR (COLORADO AMENDMENT 71)



Here is why I support changing the signature threshold requirements for ballot initiatives.

It is because of personhood.

RAISE THE WAGE (COLORADO AMENDMENT 70)



VOTING POWER



DOWN BALLOTS MATTER (2016 EDITION)



I received my ballot in the mail last week.

While there is the top of the ticket, there are also several downballots that deserve just as much attention.

I am equally concerned about who occupies 200 East Colfax Ave ZIP Code 80206 as much as who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and who controls Capitol Hill.

Many require a deeper analysis and I will announce my findings about those issues in several upcoming posts.

For now, these are some of elections that are on the ballot specifically in Denver that I am endorsing.