Colorado Dems Favor Obama by 2 to 1 in Caucus

Updated Percent Attendance UnCommitted Clinton Edwards Kucinich Obama Richardson 11:24 PM 98.78 % 119853 1253 38587 102 57 79344 18

My thinky box no worky for to make good words for blog. Now is sleep. Be back tomorrow with smart talk.

The Bluing of a Red State?

Here are some recent poll numbers from a Denver Post Online Straw Poll as of 4:37 PM MST
n=3578.

[Note: Keep updated with timely news at Virtual Vantage Points, and follow "SuperTuesday"on Twitter.]
[Please keep these three points in mind about the Colorado caucuses:
1. The only Coloradoans who have voted yet are overseas.
2. Colorado has a closed-caucus, meaning that only registered party members (of at least two months prior to Feb 5th) may vote in the caucus.
3. Colorado's Democratic delegates will be proportionally allocated. All of Colorado's Republican delegates will go to a single candidate (winner-take-all).]

Who is your pick for president?

Barack Obama
1110 Votes, or 31.02 %

Hillary Clinton
935 Votes, or 26.13 %

Mitt Romney
779 Votes, or 21.77 %

John McCain
365 Votes, or 10.20 %

None of the above
274 Votes, or 7.657 %

Not caucusing
115 Votes, or 3.214 %

The Calm Before the Storm? (or vice versa?)

It does not appear as though a fast-moving winter storm that rolled through Colorado's front range last night will have any sort of significant impact on voter turnout for this evening's presidential caucuses, at least here in CO. The state is expected to continue churning toward the upper midwest, potentially bringing However, this storm is just the latest of several for communities across the four-corners region. In Chama, New Mexico where 33 inches has fallen since Saturday, Gov. Bill Richardson has called in National Guard support to help clear the snow-blocked roadways and assist stranded residents with collapsed roofs.

Above the city of Fort Collins, we only got about 5-6 inches of the dry, fluffy powder, but parts of the Denver foothills were hit with up to 9 inches. The storm is still expected to bring some snow and heavy winds to parts of Colorado's eastern plains, generally considered a conservative Republican stronghold.

Turnout is expected to be high across most parts of the state. Colorado is one of several states that moved up its party primary elections to increase voter turnout and attract more candidate attention. Republican and Democratic officials are both predicting record-turnouts for tonight's caucus. Yet, I must wait.

And as tough as it is for me to do so, I basically need to sit on my hands until about 6pm (MST) when I will head about two miles down the road to my tiny little caucusing location in Masonville, CO (pictured above). The official proceedings at my local precinct will not start until 7pm (though the micropolitics are scheduled to commence around 6-ish when my neighbors are stopping by for a beer before we head up the road).

Keep updated with timely news at Virtual Vantage Points, and follow "SuperTuesday"on Twitter.


Denver Post
Rocky Mountain News
Photo: Tim Hurst

Giga Tuesday: Live-Blogging the Live-Bloggers

This weekend I was contacted by David Wescott at It's Not a Lecture to participate in a project he and others are working on for Giga Tuesday. Essentially, David and others will be 'live-blogging the live-bloggers' at all day long and well into the night at Virtual Vantage Points. In addition to the team of analysts and blog-monitors he is working with at Virtual Vantage Points, Wescott also recommends that you follow along "SuperTuesday"on Twitter.

Instead of merely following the ubiquitous and mundane exit polls and incomplete returns, Wescott et al are taking punditry to a whole new level. Wescott writes:

"I'm going to look at how communities you wouldn't necessarily think of as inherently political discuss the primary and if they use their blogs or networks to get more involved. I'm particularly interested in the environmental community, which I haven't heard much about in the debates or from mainstream media. I'll be looking at them over the course of the evening and passing along any nuggets of wisdom I find. I'm also going to compare and contrast the discussions from political bloggers in different states, to see if national issues are truly the driving topics or if there are state-based issues playing a leading role."

Cool, huh? Wescott plans on focusing on the environmental community and their take on today's election returns.

The party has already begun at Virtual Vantage Points and at SuperTuesday on Twitter, so be sure to stop in for this first-of-its-kind event. And if you can vote today. Please vote and tell your friends to vote (be sure to thank a pollworker).If you are still undecided and need some last minute help, Jason Phillip has put together some very useful links at Sustainablog that will help you green your vote.

Thanks. And be sure to check back throughout the day for updates at ecopolitology, Virtual Vantage Points and at SuperTuesday on Twitter.

Greening-the-Vote Scorecard from EnviroWonk

For those of you wanting to put some green into your voting calculus for tomorrow's largest-ever day of caucuses and primaries (aka: Giga Tuesday), a couple of new crib-sheets appeared around the green blogsophere. Envirowonk, the new spinoff blog from the stalwart EcoGeek, was just launched last week and, so far it has been putting together some good, insightful posts. Additionally, The Good Human has put together the enviro platforms for Obama and Clinton. Read up. And if you can vote tomorrow, DO IT AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO DO IT!

Caucusing on Giga Tuesday? Watch This Video

I'm sorry, but I really don't want two days in one week officially referred to as 'super.' This Sunday, I am hoping that the New England Patriots will beat the N.Y. Giants in the NFL's 'Super Bowl.' Then, just two days later, 20+ states will hold their presidential caucuses & primaries on what is often referred to as 'Super Tuesday.' But, because so many states have moved up their primary dates to attract more attention and increase voter participation, this will be the largest Super Tuesday ever, leading some pundits to refer to it as 'Super Duper Tuesday' or, even worse, 'Tsunami Tuesday.'

Personally, I think 'Tsunami Tuesday' has its obvious drawbacks. And I think 'Super Tuesday' is kind of played. I do not have a problem with days being super. However, labeling them super before they have even happened, just sets us up for disappointment. What if they aren't super at all? Alas, I concede that a name would be useful. My favorite? Giga Tuesday.

So, on Giga Tuesday 2008, I will be joining my neighbors in an exurban enclave of Larimer County, CO. I do not expect there to be a tremendous number of people, which is all the more reason for me to sharpen my micropolitical skills. And as a politologist, I am really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my first choice has recently dropped out of the race, leaving me as officially undecided (though unofficially, decided). While I did not expect him to win, his platform had very strong environmental policy.

Want to know more about what the heck you are supposed to do in a caucus? Watch this clever, short and simple video that lays out the order of operations, what is expected of you, and what you should expect of the caucus.[Note: this video is produced by the Obama folks for the Colorado Caucus, but is applicable for any of Giga Tuesday's caucuses.

Map Key: Blue denotes Democratic-only caucuses (3), Red denotes Republican-only state conventions (2), and Purple represents states holding elections for both parties

Map Source: Wikipedia

Edwards Stumps on Clean, Renewable Populism

Enjoy this very short video of Presidential hopeful, John Edwards stumping in LA about two weeks ago. In my view, John Edwards has the strongest ecopolitical platform of any of the candidates. He is the only one gutsy enough to call for a moratorium on any new coal-fired power plants. The question that raises, however, is will that matter in the end? And if so, how?

I am considering caucusing for Edwards in Colorado on the Feb. 5th. If he doesn't get the required 15% in the first preference poll, I'll have to realign with another candidate (but not without letting my fellow precinct members why I chose Edwards). A piece of advice to the candidates' strategists and advisors: Pay attention to the Western vote (not just CA).


If any Democrat wants to do well in the purple states of the mountain west, they must start talking about issues that westerners care about (i.e. energy and enviro issues). If, come election time, the Democratic nominee is not talking about these issues, they will not catch the swing voters, indies, and Republicans who are considering casting a vote for a Democrat. How do you think Gov. Bill Ritter (D) got elected in CO? Three words: New Energy Economy.

Audio: Mitt Romney on the Enviroment

This week's Living on Earth has a good story about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his environmental policies. Now I don't know much about Romney's enviropolitics, except for the fact that while Governor of Massachusetts, he made national headlines with his opposition to Cape Wind, the proposed offshore wind energy project off the coast of Cape Cod. It wasn't so much that his position on Cape Wind was headline-worthy in itself, but rather, that he and Senator Ted Kennedy(D-MA) were on the same side of the issue (but that post will have to wait).

Including the forum that Living on Earth hosted last fall, the radio program is covering all of the presidential candidates' stances on environmental issues. If you are not familiar with Living on Earth, I highly recommend it, especially for its rather sharp political takes. Also, Grist has compiled the candidates' views on climate and energy issues into a single handy resource with lots of links.

Photo: Fecke