Colorado

Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014 and the Pot Rush is on—but the ERs are filling up and a generation of kids is at risk.

Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014 and the Pot Rush is on—but the ERs are filling up and a generation of kids is at risk.

Marijuana sellers have cute ways to get around D.C.’s legal loopholes, but trying to bank their cash becomes money laundering in the eyes of the feds.

President Donald Trump said during his campaign he was in favor of keeping marijuana regulation a states’ rights issue, according to a recording released Thursday by the Colorado Springs Gazette.

'My neighbors probably think I’m nuts,” says Cory Gardner. The fresh-faced senator is from tiny Yuma in northeastern Colorado, a 3,500-person town with “horrible cell service” to the point where he doesn’t get reception inside his house. So when the secretary of state calls, Gardner does what the…

“My neighbors probably think I’m nuts,” says Cory Gardner. The fresh-faced senator is from tiny Yuma in northeastern Colorado, a 3,500-person town with “horrible cell service” to the point where he doesn’t get reception inside his house. So when the secretary of state calls, Gardner does what the…

Two years ago, when the Supreme Court declared a constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the court stressed that recognition of such of right would affect no one but the same-sex couples who marry. “Indeed,” Kennedy and his four colleagues stressed in…

Lakewood, Colorado

As doubts continue to linger over the efficacy of Obamacare, Colorado voters will decide whether they want to create the nation's first functioning single-payer system on Tuesday.

If there's a Republican on the ballot this year who deserves to be called the anti-Donald Trump, it might be Colorado's Mike Coffman. The Denver-area congressman is testing whether his strategy—running as the spiritual opposite of the GOP presidential nominee—won't pay off in a tough swing district.

The latest surveys of swing states in the election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton find the GOP candidate lagging in critical battlegrounds, with both nominees still sitting below 50 percent in expanded three- and four-candidate fields.

Four polls conducted prior to the first presidential debate suggested that the race in potentially decisive Colorado had become a dead heat: Trump narrowly led in two polls, while Clinton narrowly led in the other two. But the first poll of Colorado conducted since the first debate finds that…

This summer, The Scrapbook was visiting family at a Fourth of July celebration in downtown Denver. We were settling in and getting ready to watch the fireworks when we were accosted by petitioners. The fact that there is seemingly no time or place in this country where politics is considered an…

This summer, The Scrapbook was visiting family at a Fourth of July celebration in downtown Denver. We were settling in and getting ready to watch the fireworks when we were accosted by petitioners. The fact that there is seemingly no time or place in this country where politics is considered an…

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tied at 47 percent in a head-to-head race in Colorado. When Libertarian and Green Party candidates are added into the mix, Trump is down just 2 points (44 percent to 42 percent). That's a big swing from Quinnipiac's last poll of Colorado…

Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Colorado, according to four NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Friday.

The results of a Gallup survey released this week reinforce the message from several recent national monitoring instruments that use of marijuana by American adults is surging. From seven percent reporting regular use in 2013, the figure has nearly doubled to 13 percent answering in the affirmative…

Colorado Springs

Two new polls of important swing states finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump among registered voters.

Cory Gardner stunned Coloradans in February by announcing he would give up a safe seat in the House to challenge Democratic senator Mark Udall, a well-liked incumbent with no obvious weaknesses. It was a huge risk, despite a strong Republican tailwind. The energetic young congressman from the…

Colorado Springs

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on Donald Trump's constant conspiratorial complaints.

Donald Trump is explaining his recent loss in Colorado by once again blaming "the establishment" for introducing changes to Colorado's delegate-selection process that would secretly undermine his campaign. But contrary to Trump's conspiratorial claims, interviews with participants in the debates…

Donald Trump is furious over losing to Ted Cruz in Colorado. Of the 37 Republican delegates up for grabs in Colorado, 3 are party leaders, 21 were elected at district conventions, while another 13 were elected over this past weekend at the Colorado State Republican Convention. According to the…

Boulder, Colo.

Libertarians in Colorado are flying high after their success in getting marijuana legalized in the state. In our little town of Aspen, there are now seven stores in which eager consumers – I perhaps should say addicts because one user recently held up a store, threatening staff with a hammer,…

Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood recently gained notoriety when the Center for Medical Progress released a video of people at the abortion clinic picking through a dish of aborted baby parts in order to sell them. Now the Planned Parenthood affiliate is facing accusations of serious wrongdoing:

Democrat Hillary Clinton is trailing some potential Republican opponents in three key swing states, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac, and doing about as well against the GOP as one of her rivals for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders.

Vice President Joe Biden posed for a picture with a man wearing a marijuana themed t-shirt on a recent visit to Colorado. The t-shirt, from High Times, reportedly says, "I got high in Colorado."

President Obama this week told an audience in Jamaica that U.S. efforts against illegal drugs were “counterproductive” because they relied too much on incarceration—particularly for “young people who did not engage in violence.” 

According to an article in the New York Times on Monday, March 2, “a debate . . . has roiled Colorado’s growing yoga world.” (And don’t start thinking about what kind of planet the “yoga world” is.) 

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized pot legalization in recent remarks in Aspen. "This is one of the stupider things that’s happening across our country," said Bloomberg.

The Colorado Gazette reports this week that “Colorado is taking a novel approach to marijuana education — not telling people to avoid the drug, just to use it safely.”

Republican representative Mike Coffman of Colorado was the No. 1 target for defeat by House Democrats in 2014. Making matters worse, he had been gerrymandered out of his solidly Republican district and was opposed by the most impressive candidate Democrats could recruit. His future as a congressman…

Republican Cory Gardner is projected to beat incumbent Democrat Mark Udall in Colorado's U.S. Senate race.

Colorado Senator Mark Udall's press secretary had unexpectedly complimentary things to say about Udall's Republican challenger, before attempting to backtrack on their praise:

Bad news for Senator Udall.  As reported in The Hill, a big-time, high-profile, hero to Colorado is backing his opponent, Rep. Gardner. It isn’t the money. Another five grand, more or less, won’t swing the election. What is ominous for the Udall operation is the identity of the donor.  

Senator Mark Udall has been in the battle for his political life for months, as his Republican challenger Cory Gardner has gained and overtaken the Colorado Democrat in the polls. Gardner has led Udall in 11 of the past 12 polls, and has a 3.2-point lead in the Real Clear Politics average of…

A new poll of the U.S. Senate race in Colorado by USA Today and Suffolk University finds Republican Cory Gardner with a seven-point lead over first-term Democratic incumbent Mark Udall. The poll found 46 percent of likely Colorado voters say they prefer Gardner, while 39 percent say they prefer…

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on the 2014 elections.

Democrat Mark Udall may be trying to have it both ways on the issue of Common Core standards in education. In an interview with ABC-7 News in Denver, the senator from Colorado was asked a series of questions designed to elicit simple, one-word answers. Reporter Marc Stewart asked this: "Is Common…

Republican Cory Gardner leads incumbent Democrat Mark Udall in the fourth straight poll of the U.S. Senate race in Colorado. The new Quinnipiac poll of likely Colorado voters finds Gardner ahead of Udall by 6 points, 47 percent to 41 percent, while 8 percent support an independent candidate. With…

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on the competitive purple state senate races in Iowa and Colorado, and the competitive races in traditionally red states like Georgia and North Carolina.

A new poll of the Colorado Senate race from CNN has Republican challenger Cory Gardner leading sitting Democrat Mark Udall by 4 points. Gardner is earning 50 percent support from Colorado likely voters, his highest rating yet, with Udall earning 46 percent support.

A new set of polls from High Point University and SurveyUSA have good news Republican candidates for Senate in Colorado, North Carolina, and New Hampshire. The polls of likely voters in all three swing states found Republicans in good positions against incumbent Democrats with just weeks to go…

A poll reported in the Washington Post on September 23 offers positive news for those troubled by the movement to legalize marijuana. It also does not augur well for those pushing more states to follow Colorado and Washington, where legalization is already underway.

Republican Senate candidate Cory Gardner is going after Democratic senator Mark Udall for voting for Obamacare in a new TV ad. The 30-second spot shows the GOP congressman holding up a cancellation letter he received from his health insurance provider. 

Republicans have distinct advantages in Senate races this year, including President Obama’s low job ratings, the number of vulnerable Democrats, and an unhappy national mood. But there’s another advantage: the generally high quality of their candidates. This wasn’t the case in 2010 and 2012, when…

President Obama was asked whether he wanted to smoke marijuana by a fellow patron of a Denver bar last night. The offer came from Instagram user manton89, who posted video of the ask on his Instagram account. "Asked him if he wanted a hit of pot...he laughed!" writes manton89 .

Colorado's 9News reviews its state's Obamacare exchange and finds that it's "clunky, counterintuitive, and confusing." The site was built with a $179 million grant from the federal government, but even the sign in button doesn't work. 

A new poll finds Colorado Republican Cory Gardner neck and neck with the Democratic senator Mark Udall in what's become one of the hottest Senate races of the midterm elections. Rasmussen Reports finds Udall with 43 percent support and Gardner, a two-term congressman, with 42 percent support, a…

The University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus has decided it won’t be involved in the White Privilege Conference anymore. Since 2007 the campus’s Matrix Center for Social Equity and Inclusion, directed by UCCS sociology professor Abby Ferber, had lent the controversial conference some…

Democratic senator Mark Udall of Colorado appears in a new TV ad targeting Republican congressman Cory Gardner for his opponent's "beyond troubling" record on birth control and abortion. "Because this really matters, it's important you hear this directly from me," says the Colorado Democrat at the…

Republican Senate candidate Cory Gardner of Colorado has a new TV ad saying the Senate needs a "new generation--one that's accountable to the next generation." The 39-year-old congressman says he wants to "shake up the Senate" but doesn't mention by name his Democratic opponent, first-term senator…

The legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington has spawned reports of increased use, declining perception of risk, increased neonatal risk, drug tourism, diversion of public assistance to fund use, creation of significantly more powerful forms of the drug, and new financial rules to…

"I love to smoke,” says Colorado congressman Cory Gardner, his voice trailing off. His aide’s eyes widen. “Finish that thought!” she says.

The front page of today's Denver Post skips Easter. Its main focus? Marijuana.

A new poll from a Democratic firm finds Colorado senator Mark Udall in a close race with the leading Republican challenger, House member Cory Gardner. PPP polls discovered in its poll of registered voters that 42 percent support Udall, the Democrat, while 40 percent would vote for Gardner. Another…

Americans for Prosperity has two new ads running in Colorado and Louisiana knocking those state's Democratic senators, Mark Udall and Mary Landrieu, respectively, for their support for Obamacare. The ads, which are a version of earlier AFP ads targeting Democratic House members, feature a woman…

Colorado senator Mark Udall, a Democrat first elected in 2008, is in a statistical tie with Republican challenger Cory Gardner, according to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports.

A Republican congressman will run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, the Denver Post reports:

One Colorado Republican running for the U.S. Senate this year has a message for voters: He cares. Ken Buck, who is running to challenge incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, has a new ad in a series touting his record of helping people in his role as district attorney of Weld County, north of the Denver…

Obamacare is extremely unpopular in Colorado, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, and that looks like trouble for the state's senior senator, first-term Democrat Mark Udall. In its survey of registered voters in Colorado, Quinnipiac found that 60 percent oppose the health-care law, and only 37…

With his unique appeal to the young, President Obama has suddenly transformed the “experiments” in Colorado and Washington state into an experiment involving every kid in America.

Democratic senator Mark Udall of Colorado won't say whether he'll campaign for his own reelection with President Barack Obama:

As Colorado’s new law permitting—encouraging?—the recreational use of marijuana went into effect, many of our country’s finest journalists felt the need to share the details of their experience with the ganja. Some came to celebrate the state’s new liberality, others to condemn it. 

Their betters from both coasts spent big to enlighten the people of Colorado which, east of the Hudson, is considered one of those square states full of primitives who don’t know what is good for them.

Al Jazeera finds an Obamacare navigator in Colorado who hasn't signed up anybody for the new program because it's too expensive:

It may be overdone to say that the Obama administration aims to shove America in the direction of European social democracy, but there’s one domain where this is surely true: energy policy. Any number of administration diktats and subsidy schemes, from Solyndra to proposed EPA strangulation of…

When it was announced earlier this year that gun rights activists were attempting to recall two Colorado state senators for helping pass new gun control laws, the campaign wasn’t taken seriously. It was treated as a marginal curiosity by the political press, when it wasn’t ignored altogether. But…

In its story on yesterday's ballot measure on repeal of a controversial law in Colorado, the Los Angles Times reports: 

A new poll measuring public opinion of gun control measures being considered in Colorado finds the issue could be politically dangerous for Democrats. And most don’t think “sweeping gun control measures will make them any safer,” according to the pollster.

A press release from gun-rights group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners announces that last night it gave a firearms class to 300 teachers in Colorado. There was no cost for admission.

Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, told the New York Times that his wife offered to stay married to him, if he was planning to run for president. The first couple of Colorado is currently separated.

On ABC News's This Week, former House speaker Newt Gingrich suggested the White House's response to the Benghazi terrorist attack will continue to hurt Barack Obama's reelection campaign.

The latest polling of likely voters by Rasmussen Reports shows that, for the first time, Mitt Romney has hit 50 percent support in Colorado — a state that Barack Obama won by 9 percentage points (54 to 45 percent) in 2008.  Romney now leads Obama by 4 percentage points in the Centennial State — 50…

Denver

Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway endorsed Mitt Romney ahead of Wednesday's presidential debate in Colorado.

Denver

Worth watching: Jeffrey Bell on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning, making the (contrarian) case for the importance of social issues in this year's campaign. For more on this, take a look at his fine book, along with his recent articles in THE WEEKLY STANDARD: here, here, and here.

Mitt Romney's hosting a campaign event at Jeffco Fairgrounds in Golden, Colorado around lunchtime today, and a quick scan of Chick-fil-A's website shows several locations within fifteen miles or so of the Romney event. So it should be easy for Romney to stop at a Chick-fil-A for a photo-op (and a…

Can the Colorado shootings be blamed on the culture?  On too much violence in the movies? The argument is made all the time. But it is surprising to hear someone like Harvey Weinstein—who has made a career and a fortune turning out spectacularly violent movies—say it's time for Hollywood to address…

It was inevitable that after the massacre in a Colorado movie theater, the matter of gun control would come up and that the president would weigh in on the subject. And, according to this report by Michael A. Memoli in the Los Angeles Times, he has:

As a segue to talking about gun control in a speech at the National Urban League in New Orleans, Louisiana this evening, President Obama added context to the movie theater mass murder last week in Aurora, Colorado. " Every day, in fact, every day and a half, the number of young people we lose to…

MSNBC host Chris Matthews suggested last night on national television that maybe someone like Tom Cruise's character from the movie Minority Report might be able to prevent a future shooting like the one that took place in a Colorado movie theater last week. Matthews made the suggestion when…

Of the ten swing states, unemployment dropped in only one--Ohio--in the month of June. And things got worse in 6 of the ten swing states, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Bill Kristol, with Evan Bayh, Liz Cheney, and Kirsten Powers, yesterday on Fox News:

The Department of Defense announced that one sailor is missing after the Colorado movie theater shooting, and three servicemen are injured. Here's the press release: 

President Obama issued a proclamation directing government flags to be flown at half-staff "honoring the victims of the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gathered with supporters in New Hampshire this morning for "a word of prayer."

In brief remarks about the movie theater shooting, President Obama led the audience in prayer and a moment of silence.

Campaign spokesman Jen Psaki said, on Air Force One, that President Obama's reelection campaign has asked affiliates to pull down negative ads in the wake of the movie theater shooting in Colorado.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters this morning on Air Force One that, in regards to the Colorado movie theater shooting last night, "We do not believe at this point there was an apparent nexis to terrorism."

This morning, on ABC, reporter Brian Ross suggested the Colorado movie theater shooter might be a Tea Party member:  

Campaign spokesman Andrea Saul says, in an email to reporters, "Gov. Romney’s event today will go on as planned, and he will address the tragedy in Colorado." Romney will be speaking at Coastal Forest Products in Bow, New Hampshire. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and loved ones,"…

President Barack Obama issued the following statement this morning:

Colorado's wildfire has exploded into an "epic firestorm," in the words of Colorado Springs fire chief Richard Brown. Over 30,000 people have evacuated, and already hundreds of homes have been consumed. Ironically, the U.S. Air Force Academy has also been evacuated, at the very time that Colorado…

A new poll from We Ask America shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama in Virginia, a key swing state Obama won in 2008. Of the 1,106 likely voters in Virginia polled, 48 percent support Romney, with just over 43 percent supporting Obama and nearly 9 percent remaining undecided.

PPP reports on its latest Colorado poll: 

Looking at the electoral map this cycle, the focus has mostly been on Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. But what about the Mountain West? The assumption is that Obama has a virtual lock on Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, but is this valid?

The president is in Boulder, Colorado giving a campaign-style speech at the University of Colorado. Reportedly, on his way to the speech, he decided to stop for a bite at "The Sink ... a divey kind of place that seems more about the beer than the food," according to the the pool report. The report…

CNN projects Rick Santorum the winner of tonight's Republican caucuses in Colorado. Currently, Santorum is receiving 38 percent of the vote, while rival Mitt Romney is receiving 37 percent. Less than 500 votes separate the two front-runners. Gingrich is at 13 percent, and Paul is at 12 percent. 80…

Today's primary contests include Missouri's "beauty contest" primary, the Minnesota caucuses, and the Colorado caucuses. Polling firm PPP says all three contests look good for Rick Santorum.

To the Republicans of the states of Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado:

President Barack Obama will be in Colorado, a state he won in 2008, to pitch his American Jobs Act to a crowd at a Denver high school. The Denver Post, meanwhile, will be greeting Obama with a front-page story on Colorado's unemployed:

Proposals to enact so-called "parent trigger" laws, where parents can choose to convert their failing school into a charter school, are gaining traction, and the teachers' unions and some liberal groups are unsurprisingly up in arms. In Ohio for instance, Republican governor John Kasich has…

Senator Michael Bennet, the Democrat and junior senator from Colorado, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD today that he was talking about "the filibuster" when his conversation on the Senate floor was inadvertantly picked up by a C-SPAN microphone.

Colorado Democratic congressman Ed Perlmutter slapped back at his GOP challenger during a televised debate on Sunday—literally.

Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer and Juan Williams talk about the Kentucky, Illinois, Colorado and Nevada Senate races on Fox News's Special Report: