Jeffco Round-Up

Some notes from today's Jefferson County event that drew a couple hundred people and almost 50 candidates. Unfortunately I was only able to attend a few of the candidate events and will only be able to talk about the Senate, Governor's and CD-7 races.


Senate Race
Tom Wiens: presentation was good. Wiens was able to relate his answers all back to his business experience and conservative record in the Colorado Senate like when he spoke of never voting for a tax increase.

Cleve Tidwell: his first presentation was energetic. Cleve was able to give direct responses and relate his business experience. What Cleve does better then on stage though, is one-on-one conversations with the people which he did in all his free time.

Jane Norton: her very rehearsed opening statement was surprisingly energetic. However, when questions were asked you get not get a more vague response. Jane is out of touch. Just one example is when she called on us to look back at the elections of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Unless she means when John McCain won the New Hampshire primaries, I don't know why she would point us in that direction since she probably meant New Jersey...big difference.

Ken Buck: loud which was nice in a room that you could barely hear. Buck stood strong on his record as Weld County DA, cutting crime and cracking down on illegal immigration. I also saw Buck doing many one-on-one conversations as well.

Steve Barton: they few times I could hear him I heard something about how he had to flush twice yesterday to get the toilet to work and somehow that relates to his campaign.

Governor Race
Scott McInnis: showed up late and paid for it. You could barely even hear the man even though it seemed like he was yelling to get his point across the room. Looks like he has acknowledged that Maes is serious competition finally and can't keep skipping all these events.

Dan Maes: was in line with pretty much everything McInnis said only louder and more effective. If you have not gone to one of these events go, because Maes has a lot of support from all different people. I saw Norton, Tidwell, Buck, Frazier and Sias people all wearing his sticker. Dan Maes is going to get on the ballot and everyone should start debating between themselves whether he can beat McInnis at the convention.
CD-7 Race
Mike Sheely: his thick accent and crowded room prevented me from hearing too much from Sheely, though he is a pleasant guy and isn't afraid to answer questions.

Lang Sias: This former democrat wasn't able to make his presence heard in the room. I had absolutely no idea what he said besides a few words here and there.

Jimmy Lakey: You can definitely tell Lakey was in the radio business with his booming voice. His point was for smaller government.

Ryan Frazier: Frazier didn't even need a mic and everyone heard him. If I was Ed Perlmutter, I would be more fearful of Frazier than anyone else. He can raise the cash and even topped Perlmutter, he is extremely charismatic and a great Obama-style speaker, only minus the big government helps garbage.

Mike Deeming: There wasn't anything great about him, but nothing horrible either. Deeming is overshadowed by his peers Frazier and Lakey with their loud presence and Sheely who's cow-boy hat cannot be missed in a crowd.

One thing I can tell you is every time I go to these events I come out more undecided then when I went in because of the great candidates there. Throughout the month we will get candidate interviews posted to help you and me decided whom to support at the caucus on March 16.