I'm really not going to bother to say more than this: some days, I disagree with my friend Soren Dayton, sometimes even strongly. But today is not one of those days.

If you want a good summary of just where the GOP is right now, where the parties have really changed over recent (and not-so-recent years), and exactly what the hell is wrong with us (well, anyway, this is what I derived from Soren's piece), click here. If, on the other hand, you think that what happened last year was but a flesh wound and that the GOP is all good, if only we keep being super conservative and reminding people that the problem is too many gays, too many abortions, too many global warming theorists (and not, say, too much pollution itself), and above all, too many liberals (by which we mean anyone to the left of Jim DeMint), then a) don't read what Soren has to say and b) query why you're reading my blog.

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Colorado Pols has some interesting data up today about the Presidential race. Citing a Rasmussen report, they note that:

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has a ten-point lead over New York Senator Hillary Clinton in race for Colorado's nine Electoral Votes . It's Giuliani 50%, Clinton 40%.

Arizona Senator John McCain leads Clinton by just three points while the former First Lady is essentially even with former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. However, Clinton doesn't attract more than 45% support against any of the GOP hopefuls. No Democrat has earned more than 45% of the vote in Colorado since 1964.

Readers will know that I watch politics in the West fairly closely (and Colorado, more closely than the rest of the region). And I consider this poll to be significant.

Colorado has been trending blue when it comes to Governor, Senate, House, and State Legislature elections since at least 2004, and arguably, even as early as 2002. However, I do not believe that this is because the state has been becoming more liberal, per se, but rather that it's become less conservative and more libertarian-ish (which some may confuse for liberal, but is quite a different thing). Meanwhile, the Colorado Democratic party seems to have realized that by running socially moderate (as opposed to Nancy Pelosi-level liberal) Democrats, who like to spend a bit less money than their friends in Massachusetts, don't want to grab everyone's guns, and aren't tax happy nuts like, say, Charlie Rangel, they can win-- specifically because a lot of those who think libertarianish would rather vote for a party that is fiscally decent, and leaves people alone to be as gay or non-God-fearing as much as they want while owning as many guns as they want than they would vote for the party of, oh, say, Marilyn Musgrave.

A lot of...

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From CATO@Liberty:



From a recent Heritage Foundation paper on eliminating the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a.k.a. SCHIP, a.k.a. MediKid:

As an alternative to the tobacco tax, Congress might look to raise income taxes to avert a SCHIP funding shortfall.

Yeeeeouch! is right!

I wondered what exactly Heritage were on when they got in bed with Romney to help him formulate a plan that is so "conservative" and "free-market" that now John Edwards & Co are ripping it off, but when they start proposing income tax hikes, I get to the point of thinking they've totally lost the plot.

Obviously, I recognize that what Heritage is really advocating for here is a solution that's a little more free-market friendly than SCHIP. Still, they said it: raising income taxes. Jeesh.

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