Free Republic

This started as a top ten list.Let's face it, with President Obama's awful approval ratings and the unfortunate consequences of Obamacare felt like a sting around the country, Democrats were already vulnerable in this year's midterm elections. These gaffes certainly won't help. Let's take a look at some of the worst mistakes Dems have made on the campaign trail so far:1.) That awful/insensitive/shameful and now infamous ad from the Wendy Davis (D-TX) gubernatorial campaign. 2.) Those colorful campaign memos from Michelle Nunn’s (D-GA) campaign, in which her own campaign referred to her as a “lightweight.” 3.) Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) saying he was...

Republicans are blowing out Democrats in Colorado early voting, the secretary of State there says. ADVERTISEMENT According to the Associated Press, 104,000 more GOP voters have taken advantage of early voting in Colorado than Democrats. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is trailing his Republican opponent, Rep. Cory Gardner, in most polls. A loss by Udall would make it exceedingly difficult for Democrats to retain control of the Senate. Colorado’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, is also in a tight race as he seeks a second term. Historically Democratic voters have long been more likely to stay at home in midterm elections, and...

Democrats in Colorado have a big problem this election: women. Colorado Senator Mark Udall, the Democrat incumbent, appears to be in particular trouble going into November's elections after running a campaign with a strong focus on women. Back in 2008, Udall won his senatorial seat as a man from a political family who ran a very traditional campaign. He won the seat with ease despite being the candidate who'd had the most money spent against him. Had he utilized a similar strategy this election season, he arguably would be in much better shape now. Instead, this time around, Udall ran...

In the past week we've see votes cast on machines in Illinois' Cook County and in Maryland switch from Republican to Democrat due to "calibration errors." Watchdog.org has done phenomenal work in documenting changed votes. Now, a new report from The Weekly Standard shows that votes cast in Illinois for Republicans are being changed yet again in favor of Democrats. ... So what do we do about this? If machines in different states repeatedly changed votes from Democrat to Republican, Eric Holder would have launched a federal investigation under suspicions of fraud and I doubt "calibration error" would be accepted...

For people who live in nursing or long-term care facilities the process of casting a ballot is not always simple and can be controversial. Election teams sometimes go into the group homes to help residents cast ballots. One woman, who didn’t want to be identified, recorded a conversation with her father about his voting experience. The man, in his 90s, claimed he was confused and perhaps influenced. ... There are individual but unlocked mailboxes for each resident. That’s why they are personally given their ballot.

Eighty-eight teachers over the last decade have been permanently removed from Colorado classrooms for sexual improprieties – the vast majority violating young victims from their own schools. ... not a single teacher lost their license for simply being a weak educator of children. To get decertified, records show it usually takes felony-level criminal allegations or lying on the teaching certificate application about lesser crimes. Karla Danzeisen says she spent years teaching Spanish to Denver high school students in a fog of pain pills, cocaine and methamphetamines. She told Halsne, “I was using drugs every day. I was going to teach...

Bowie Resource Partners says it has eliminated 150 jobs at the Bowie #2 coal mine near Paonia. ... Last year the shutdown of another mine in the region caused nearly 300 people to lose their jobs. That coal mine is in Somerset. In the release, Bowie says it will provide the 150 laid off workers with 60 days of wages and benefits.

With strong support from men, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, the Republican challenger in the Colorado U.S. Senate race, leads U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, the Democratic incumbent, 46 - 39 percent among likely voters, with 7 percent for independent candidate Steve Shogan, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 7 percent are undecided. This compares to a 46 - 41 percent likely voter lead for Gardner in an October 24 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. With Shogan out of the race, Gardner is up 49 - 41 percent.

If Quninnipiac polling matches turnout, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is toast. And a catastrophically bad performance among men is at cause. Beauprez Pulls Ahead In Colorado Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Republican Up 21 Points Among Men Men are going Republican in a big way in the Colorado governor’s race, giving former U. S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, the Republican challenger a 45 – 40 percent likely voter lead over Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic incumbent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Libertarian candidate Matthew Hess has 4 percent, with 2 percent for Green Party candidate Harry Hempy....

The state of Colorado has embarked on a far-reaching experiment this campaign season: Its 2014 election, featuring a high-profile contest between incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and Republican challenger Rep. Cory Gardner, is being conducted exclusively with mail-in ballots. Every voter in the state has received a ballot; if a person wants to vote on Election Day, he or she will have to take that ballot to what is called a voter service center, present it to officials and then vote. It's expected most will opt to mail their ballots. And each day, as the ballots arrive, the Colorado secretary...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Have you heard the latest attempt against Cory Gardner in Colorado? I mean, it's so bad, the Democrats are running commercials saying that he wants to ban condoms. I'm not kidding you. He's only one of the guys that suggested making birth control available over-the-counter without a prescription to blunt this silly War on Women thing. Udall, his opponent, is simply repeating things. Udall, I don't even think his mind is in the can. He's a walking, talking robot. So while Gardner is talking about making birth control available over-the-counter, Udall is, for two weeks after that,...

The Bias Matrix: What does kausfiles want? It’s complicated! Before a modern political writer can slant his coverage practice explanatory journalism determine what readers need to know, he first has to figure out whom he wants to win. That’s not always as easy as it sounds, especially if you are a blogger whose major issue** (control of our borders to help create a tight labor market) does not break down cleanly along party lines. (SNIP) Arkansas, where Tom Cotton has made immigration a consistent attack theme against Mark Pryor, who ( like every Senate Dem) voted for the Gang of...

The Colorado secretary of state is investigating allegations that some Boulder County Republican election judges are actually Democrats in disguise. Boulder County GOP Chairwoman Ellyn Hilliard initially raised the alarm when visiting polling locations where she didn’t recognize some of the GOP judges who are tasked with comparing voter signatures on mail ballots to protect against vote fraud. She became alarmed when she noticed some ballots whose signatures clearly didn’t match those on file for the voter being accepted. Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert began investigating and confirmed to the Daily Camera that she found “some troubling inconsistencies with some...

DENVER (CBS4) – A new poll out Wednesday morning from Quinnipiac University shows Republican Bob Beauprez with a lead over Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in Colorado’s governor’s race. The poll shows Beauprez with 45 percent and Hickenlooper with 40 percent. That’s a reversal from last week when Hickenlooper led the race by 1 percent.

We sent our tracker to a public rally where Gov. Hickenlooper was speaking. His staffers were none too pleased.

Paul Kitterman, the 53-year-old father who went missing during halftime at Thursday's Denver Broncos-San Diego Chargers game, has been found safe, police said. Denver police made the announcement on their Twitter account: "DPD confirming that Paul Kitterman has been located and is safe after going missing from the Bronco Game." Later they added: "Paul Kitterman was located in Pueblo, Colorado. Again, he is unharmed. All questions should be directed to the family."

Colorado is home to one of the most crucial races for Republicans to take control of the U.S. Senate, and it appears to be slipping away from Democratic Senator Mark Udall in the final stretch. Republican Cory Gardner now picks up 51% of the vote to Udall’s 45% in the latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Colorado Voters. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate in the race, while two percent (2%) are undecided.

Just a week out from election day and a new poll released by Rasmussen today has former Rep. Bob Beauprez up by 2 points on Gov. John Hickenlooper, 49%-47%. This is a marked contrast from earlier this month when Hick was up by 4 points on Beauprez (50%-46%). And, when we look beyond the toplines, it doesn’t get any better for Hick. Beauprez is up by 7 points with those who have already cast their ballots (51%-44%), just like having money in the bank already. Even though Hick leads among those who haven’t cast a ballot (50%-46%), he has to...

Police obtained CCTV footage on Monday from officials at Mile High Stadium in Denver to look for clues into the ongoing investigation of a man who vanished during halftime at the Broncos-Chargers game last Thursday. Because of patient privacy laws, they can't obtain confirmation whether the man has been admitted to the hospital. Bakke said she continues to call stadium officials. "And they keep telling us that there's nothing they can do for us," she said.

Electoral cheating is not the "myth" the Left pretends it is ... More than 14 percent of non-citizens in both the 2008 and 2010 samples indicated that they were registered to vote. ... Because non-citizens tended to favor Democrats (Obama won more than 80 percent of the votes of non-citizens in the 2008 CCES sample), we find that this participation was large enough to plausibly account for Democratic victories in a few close elections. Non-citizen votes could have given Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health-care reform and other Obama administration priorities...