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Colorado Republican Convention

June 1, 2008 |  Tagged , , , , , , , |

I had a good time covering the Republican Convention in Broomfield, Colorado. Bloggers were given press credentials this time, so I was there with other Rocky Mountain Alliance v2.0 bloggers, Ben from Mount Virtus and El Presidente from Slapstick Politics. We live-blogged part of the festivites at The Minority Report. Video of the major speeches can be found at Slapstick Politics.

I arrived late to the event because I had to go into the office. There is some significant electrical work being done on the site, so I had to move power connections to temporary power. Once I arrived, I realized that I didn’t miss much. Most of the first hour filled with procedures. Ben was at the 2004 event, and had a great seven signs this isn’t the 2004 Convention.

1. Bill Owens seconded the nomination of Bob Schaffer for U.S. Senate.
2. The event is running on time. Amen!
3. The George W. Bush video on the big screen was dead-time filler, and almost no one was paying attention.
4. No signs that any cases of sunburn or heat stroke are imminent.
5. The name Barack Obama not only means something to attendees, it serves as the primary foil for many of the speechmakers on the stump.
6. I received a flyer advertising a Bob Schaffer fundraiser sponsored by Pete Coors.
7. Bloggers are given seats (and Wi-Fi) at the Convention press table.

There was a lot of enthusiasm at the convention, including quite a number of very vocal Ron Paul supporters. Fortunately, the disruptions were kept to a minimum. I won’t go over what was said by the candidates, you can see that for yourselves in the videos linked above. Two things were obvious to me. The first one is that Colorado has some good people running for office against some very entrenched democrats for the statewide offices. The second thing I noticed was, regarding the 2006 election results, some still don’t get it, but some do. I waited until today to write this blog, because I wanted to convey what really stood out in my mind from the candidates.

Bob Schaffer, the Republican candidate for the open United States Senate seat, gets it. The three of us had an opportunity to meet with Rep. Schaffer. Unfortunately, our interview was cut short after only one question. Ben reports,

“Republicans cannot propose to the voters of Colorado that we can keep doing the same things and inspire confidence” - He has not been pleased with where party has gone in recent years, having drifted from its core values since about 2003 … “we’ve got to be the party of change by applying freedom-based solutions to real problems, the reform I’m calling for has to do with finding courage to make tough choice, honest choices about future.”

Two things really jump out from this. Rep. Schaffer understands that our Republican representatives in Washington have drifted away from our core values, and we have to get back there. The other thing is that we are the ones that can offer real change, if we’ll only get back to those values. Solutions must be freedom-based.

The other thing he said just as we were leaving is that he understands that we have a tough road ahead of us. There are no easy solutions to the problems we face, unlike what the opposition is saying. It’s going to take hard work by everyone to find these solutions, but we will all be better off if we do.

This is by far the most important race affecting Colorado in 2008. One Senate seat is already in Democrat hands, and this race is a real toss-up right now. Mark Udall is a moveon.org-type liberal from Boulder, but is doing everything he can to present himself as a moderate. Bob Schaffer is a principled conservative; the kind we really need in Washington.

While walking the floor, I had the opportunity to meet with Wil Armstrong, Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives for the 6th Congressional District in Colorado. This is the House seat that is currently occupied by Tom Tancredo, who is not seeking re-election. The real race here is the primary election. This seat is securely in Republican hands, so here’s an opportunity to get a real believer as Armstrong puts it in Washington.

Wil Armstrong is a solid conservative. He will flat-out tell you that he will not go to Washington to bring something back for you. He is adamantly opposed to pork spending. He owns three businesses, so he understands what small business owners deal with on a regular basis. Talking with him, I could just tell he really gets it.

There are three other candidates running in this race. Right now, it’s a two-man race between Armstrong and Mike Coffman, the current Secretary of State for Colorado. Coffman has held a few offices, but has never completed a term in any of them. Each one seems to be a stepping stone to the next one, which really concerns me. Armstrong has this to say about that tendency,

We have a Congress with too much political posturing and too little principled leadership. Climbing the political ladder has become the top priority. Delivering solutions to our most pressing problems is not.

I really believe these are the types of leaders we need in Washington right now. If you’re looking for a campaign in which to contribute, these are two that can really make a difference.

After Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech on behalf of John McCain, the press had the opportunity to attend a question and answer session with Mitt Romney and Bob Schaffer. Video is available at the link above. One of the things that caught my attention was the discussion about energy. Mitt Romney made it clear that what separates McCain from the Democrat candidates is that he knows we need to use all types of energy available to us. Bob Schaffer had a great answer for this.

It is ridiculous to think we can change to plugging into only alternative energy starting tomorrow. We’re going to need to utilize all available methods of generating energy while we develop renewable sources.

I encourage you to watch the videos of the speeches and read through the live-blog at The Minority Report. I had a great time at the Convention which was my first opportunity to attend an event as a representative of the press. I’m looking forward to more opportunities in the future. I wanted to say a final thanks to Ben and El Presidente for their assistance and joining in on my live-blog. They’ve been doing this for much longer than I have, and I’m hoping to continue learning from them.


Comments



2 Comments so far

  1.    Colorado Republican Convention on June 1, 2008 12:21 pm

    [...] coloradodivorcerecovery wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]

  2.    exvigilare » Colorado State Republican Convention on June 2, 2008 6:00 am

    [...] Rocky Mountain Alliance (2.0) bloggers were there and live-blogged the event. Night Twister has a good round up, too. Check out [...]

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