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The press is breathlessly reporting that U.S. District Judge James Robertson has resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court - "apparently" in a fit of conscience over news that President Bush was using the National Security Agency to monitor the telephone conversations of terrorists. If the reports are correct, Judge Robertson's conscience has evolved considerably since the days when he was dismissing one criminal case after another against cronies of Bill Clinton - the man who appointed him to the bench in 1994. Old Arkansas media hand Paul Greenberg has long had Robertson's number. In a 1999 column for Jewish...

Post your results here for the Colorado Senate primaries. Pete Coors vs. Bob Schaffer on the GOP side; Ken Salazar vs. Mike Miles for the Dems

Where have you gone, Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Tomorrow, one of the most tedious reality shows of the political season will finally end, as the Colorado Republican senatorial primary race concludes. A Denver Post poll shows that Pete Coors leads Bob Schaffer 45 to 41 percent among 400 likely Republican primary voters - a contest too close to call. Whether it's Coors or Schaffer, the anointed Republican candidate will be scarred and battered as a result of a worthless skirmish that pitted two conservatives who would likely share interchangeable records in the Senate. Yes, primaries are a valuable function of our...

Where have you gone, Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Tomorrow, one of the most tedious reality shows of the political season will finally end, as the Colorado Republican senatorial primary race concludes. A Denver Post poll shows that Pete Coors leads Bob Schaffer 45 to 41 percent among 400 likely Republican primary voters - a contest too close to call. Whether it's Coors or Schaffer, the anointed Republican candidate will be scarred and battered as a result of a worthless skirmish that pitted two conservatives who would likely share interchangeable records in the Senate. Yes, primaries are a valuable function of our...

Poll has Salazar on top Schaffer would fare better than Coors if race were held now By Gwen Florio, Rocky Mountain News April 27, 2004 Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Ken Salazar would beat Republican Bob Schaffer if the election were today, according to a Rocky Mountain News/News 4 poll. Even so, the Schaffer campaign found good news in the numbers. That's because, according to the poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, Salazar also would beat Pete Coors - the silver-haired political novice with the golden name who's challenging Schaffer for the Republican nomination. And Salazar would beat Coors by an...

April 15, 2004--Pete Coors (R) is a political newcomer, but he's already competitive in the race for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat. A day after announcing his entry into the race, Coors trails Attorney General Ken Salazar (D) by just six percentage points, 47% to 41%. Salazar has a bigger lead over former Representative Bob Schaffer (R), 49% to 37%. The nominees for each party will not be officially determined until an August 10 primary. The candidates are campaigning for a seat currently held by popular Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Campbell cited health reasons for stepping down. With Campbell in the...

DENVER -- Real estate magnate Dave Liniger said Monday he will not run for the U.S. Senate, leaving former Rep. Bob Schaffer the Republican front-runner for the seat being given up by GOP Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. "I have spent a great deal of time over the last two weeks exploring the possibility of serving Colorado," he said. "But, after much reflection, I have decided not to run." Liniger, who co-founded the RE/MAX realty chain, was out of state and unavailable for further comment, company spokesman Bill Echols said. Last week, Liniger met with members of the Colorado congressional delegation...

Bob Schaffer's supporters ripped Colorado Republican leaders Thursday for not uniting behind the former congressman in the race for U.S. Senate. The criticisms came a day after wealthy businessman Dave Liniger - flush with praise from Gov. Bill Owens and Ted Halaby, the state Republican Party chairman - said he might seek the seat being vacated by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who replaced Schaffer in Congress after he honored a term-limits pledge in 2002, criticized Halaby on Thursday and accused him of taking sides in the Republican primary. Musgrave said Halaby had crossed a line with...

DENVER -- Colorado's lieutenant governor has opted out of running for the U.S. Senate, just as a former representative officially entered the race. Jane Norton said Monday in a statement that she and her family believe she can best serve the state by continuing as lieutenant governor for the next three years. "We have important work to do by continuing our progress in education and healthcare reform, transportation improvements and protecting and preserving the environment. I will continue to fully support Gov. Owens as he leads the state forward in these efforts," Norton said. Her decision comes as Bob Schaffer...

DENVER - Former Rep. Bob Schaffer on Friday became the first Republican candidate in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Schaffer made the announcement just hours after Reps. Scott McInnis and Tom Tancredo joined a growing list of Republicans who declined to run. Schaffer said a formal announcement would come next week. "I've filed and I have an organization that I've put together, an exploratory team and a team that is getting larger," he said. "I see nothing that discourages me." Schaffer was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996 and served three terms, stepping...

McInnis, Tancredo Not Running For Senate Republicans Have No High-Profile Candidate POSTED: 8:06 am MST March 12, 2004 UPDATED: 8:46 am MST March 12, 2004 DENVER -- Colorado Rep. Scott McInnis announced Friday that he is not running for Senate, leaving the GOP struggling for a high-profile candidate to try to replace Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell who is stepping down this fall after serving two terms. Several other Republicans including Gov. Bill Owens, Rep. Bob Beauprez, state Treasurer Mike Coffman and Rep. Tom Tancredo announced this week that they will not run for the open seat. On the Democratic side,...

Two years after he left the House to honor his pledge of "three terms-I'm-out" and barely a week after Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R.-Col.) dropped the political bombshell that he was retiring this year, Bob Schaffer looms large as the probable Republican Senate nominee in the Centennial State. "I'm running and the phone is ringing off the hook!" a breathless Schaffer told HUMAN EVENTS, as he hastily cobbled together a campaign from his home in Fort Collins. The stalwart conservative lawmaker, who once made headlines by refusing to attend the State of the Union address because Bill Clinton was delivering...

Republican hopes of picking up a Senate seat in North Dakota next year are riding on one man: former Gov. Ed Schafer. The Sioux State's Republicans readily admit that the popular two-term ex-governor represents their last, best hope of defeating Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) and cracking a surprisingly tough nut -- the all-Democratic congressional delegation that represents this predominantly Republican state. Schafer, who has returned to the private sector since leaving the governor's mansion four years ago, told The Hill he was not interested in returning to public life. But he did not slam the door shut. "In this business,...