"Thanks, Bob!"

Yesterday the national grassroots group US Term Limits sounded off on one of the key figures in Colorado's Senate campaign, touting the praises of Republican candidate Bob Schaffer for his support of charter schools and other successful education reforms:

Why is US Term Limits a big fan of Bob Schaffer? Because the former Congressman not only made a term limits pledge, but kept his word. A new story in Fort Collins Now explains the pressure Schaffer faced in making his decision:

The morning of Aug. 14, 2001, Bush was raising his national stature after a bitter election and looking ahead to his first four years as president. He stopped by Estes Park to clear brush with some children at the YMCA of the Rockies, and Colorado’s congressional delegation came along.

At one point, the van carrying Schaffer and congressional colleagues stopped and a young man asked Schaffer to get out. The president wanted to ride with him, the young man said.

Schaffer climbed into the armored car, noticing the machine-gun-carrying man in the rear, and sat across from the president.

“He said, ‘Bobby, I heard a bad rumor,’” Schaffer said, affecting a raspy, Bush-like twang. “‘I hear you’re gonna leave the Congress.’”

“Well, I hadn’t really come to that point yet,” Schaffer said. He had planned it, but the decision hadn’t been announced.

Bush said he knew about Schaffer’s term limits pledge.

“He said, ‘Well, you should break it, because the last thing I need is another open seat to worry about,’” Schaffer recalled.

He hesitated, and told Bush it wasn’t that simple.

“And he said, he actually used the words, ‘It’s your patriotic duty.’ Well, that’s about as flattering as it gets,” Schaffer said. “All I could think was, ‘My mom is an immigrant. And here is her son, sitting in the car with the president of the United States.’ All I could think of was that my grandfather would never believe this. Only in America can the grandson of a Ukrainian peasant be sitting in the car with the president of the United States, considering whether to run again for the U.S. House of Representatives, and I’m about to tell him no.”

And say no he did. He explained his promise to his constituents — 70 percent of whom had voted for a (eventually overturned) statewide measure to term-limit Colorado’s congressional delegation — and he talked about his kids.

As Bush waved out the window, Schaffer discussed his responsibility as a parent of five, and how his then-12-year-old son would remember if his dad didn’t keep his word.

“Then he turns to me, and he says, ‘You know what, Bobby? That's a pretty good answer,’” Schaffer recalled.

A pretty good answer, indeed. Schaffer's integrity and his commitment to his family are two of his strongest characteristics.

An Ignorant Denver Post Editorial

The Denver Post published an amazingly ignorant editorial today that it called "With Friends Like These, The West Doesn't Need Enemies."

The bark beetle tree kill in Colorado has been historic in magnitude. With all this tinder lying around on federal land, you might think the government would be redoubling efforts to haul out dead trees, make the forests healthy and support fire management activities.

Unfortunately, that's not the reality reflected in President Bush's budget request for 2009.

His budget actually cuts funding by 11.2 percent for the region of the Forest Service that includes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

To hear the Denver Post tell it, this is all President Bush's fault. It conveniently leaves out the fact that President Bush or his successor could direct the entire Federal budget toward getting rid of the dead trees and not a single tree would be removed.

Why? The Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and their congressional toadies like Mark Udall, Ken Salazar, and John Salazar have laws in place which prevent the building of forest roads necessary to do the work.

If the Denver Post did a Lexus-Nexus search, it would discover that the victims who lost their homes in last summer's Lake Tahoe fire were blaming the Sierra Club for going to court to stop the construction of forest roads. The roads were needed for the thinning that would have saved their homes and at least one life. The problem wasn't a lack of Federal funding. It was a lack of common sense by the Mark Udall's of the congress.

Mark Udall not only doesn't want new roads to be built, he wants existing roads closed. In 2007 he proposed an amendment to do just that.

Yes, the west has friends that it can do without. Ken Salazar, Mark Udall, and John Salazar along with their eco terrorist sponsors in the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society are much higher on that list than President Bush or his successor, Republican or Democrat ever can be.

Wake up, Denver Post, and put some pressure on these turkeys. Your editorial was a cheap shot that gives the real culprits a free pass. It was pure ignorance.

Bush Fundraiser for Schaffer

The Denver Post is reporting that President Bush will be in Colorado for a $1500 a person fund raiser for Bob Schaffer on Jan 31.

Our friends at Rocky Mountain Politics published an identical report six days ago.

Udall Political Dynasty At Stake In 2008 Senate Races

"One reason to call those two the 'Kennedys of the West' is because they share a very liberal voting record with the Kennedys of the East"--Bob Schaffer's campaign manager, Walt Klein, on Mark and Tom Udall's Senate bids in Colorado and New Mexico

Can't add it to the scoreboard, but the analogy hits the liberal record of candidate Mark Udall dead on--his is no ordinary moderate Democrat vote, and his family no ordinary political dynasty:

"I think the West in the 2008 election is all about the Udalls, and it's all about the return of the Udall ethic," said Terry Bracy, chairman of the Udall Foundation, which was founded in part to honor the environmental and civil rights legacy of Mark's father, former U.S. Rep. Morris Udall, D-Ariz.

"The Udall ethic is really an ethic of public service, of conservation, of civility, of seeking to lead, and it reaches into both parties in the West," Bracy said.

The family's history in politics has led some to call them "the Kennedys of the West."

Hagiographical puff pieces by the MSM aside, aren't America's democratic (little d) ideals better supported through the election of a wide variety of citizens from all walks of life instead of political dynasties? Isn't that part of what we fought a revolution for?

Michael Barone had an enlightening piece earlier in the year on the specter of royalism that could occur under the constitution. A Hillary Clinton victory in 2008 and reelection in 2012 would mean 36 years with either a Bush or Clinton in the White House as President or VP. It is already true that a sort of hereditary qualification for office has devolved upon the descendants of politicians or their immediate family. One only needs to look at the political fortunes of the Salazar brothers in Colorado to witness an example. Families like the Udalls have made election to office seem an almost familial duty.

That Udall's family has had such electoral success shouldn't be a reason to vote against him, but it should also not prevent the discussion over the long-term viability of a republic willing to hand over the reins of government to political dynasties from any party. However, being labeled the "Kennedys of the West" won't help too much in establishing either Udall's moderate credentials--certainly a reason not to vote for either candidate in 2008.