Outgoing U.S. attorney Troy Eid has announced he will run for Attorney General in 2010.

Eid had previously stated he was looking at a run for Governor, U.S. Senate, and CD-7. Attorney General would seem to be a more logical position for him to seek. He has been added to the 2010 candidate directory, which is tracking announced GOP candidates for office.

2009 COLORADO LEGISLATIVE SESSION KICKS OFF: Will Bill Ritter finally follow through on some of his campaign promises?

RMA RADIO ON ITUNES: Podcasts of Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 radio is now available for streaming and download directly from iTunes.

RITTER DISSES OTHER SENATE CONTENDERS: Bill Ritter is now suggesting that the other potential senate appointees (John Hickenlooper, Ed Perlmutter, Andrew Romanoff, etc.) didn't have what it takes to win election outright in 2010. Is he trying to fragment his party?

BARNES-GELT RIPS BENNET IN THE DENVER POST: "Appointing a smart, privileged wunderkind to the "world's most exclusive club" confounds the premise the governor set forth: select someone with gravitas, proven electability and a track record."

CQPolitics has an interesting article on the poor odds of appointed Senators in their first elections, and the especially poor odds of those who have never held office before:

Mitchell is the only Senate appointee to win election after having holding no prior public elective office since at least 1958, according to data compiled by Sen. Robert C. Byrd , D-W.Va., and a review of the appointments made since Byrd’s statistical history of the Senate was published in 1993.

The last electoral newcomer to win an appointment and then lose at the ballot box was Missouri Sen. Jean Carnahan, who was appointed to the seat her husband Mel won posthumously a plane crash. Carnahan lost to former Rep. Jim Talent.

At least one of the new appointments, Michael Bennet of Colorado, will enter with no prior elective experience. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has said he will appoint Bennet, the Denver schools superintendent, to succeed Salazar.

Caroline Kennedy, who has been campaigning to persuade New York Gov. David Paterson to give her Clinton’s seat, also has no elective experience.

Did Bill Ritter know what he was getting himself into?

(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right -)

In the wake of our junior US Senator's announcement, I wanted to offer my help with a sample logo to the Bennet campaign. This one is free of charge by subsequent logos will, probably, also be free.

As you can see, the logo captures a lot about Bennet. First off, the colors are similar to Yale's colors. It's fairly simple and doesn't say alot, which is what we've seen so far from Bennet. Finally, the message at the bottom is short and concise. Let's face it, he comes from the East Coast, Ivy League schools and hob-knobs with the rich and powerful. Though many of us more simple folks out West will perceive Bennet as arrogant and aloof, the fact is he is better than us.

Hope this helps you during your first term. Good luck.

RITTER'S BROKEN PROMISES: The Rocky Mountain News picks up on some of Ritter's discarded 2006 campaign promises.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Michael Bennet returns home... to Washington DC.

Representative-elect Scott Tipton (HD58) launched a legislative website.  His press release is below.

Today Representative-elect Scott Tipton launched his online legislative office offering an innovative approach to constituent service. Tipton’s online office presents a variety of resources and tools for the people of the 58th House District.

“I have always believed in offering more open and responsive government. As the next Representative of the 58th House District, I will work tirelessly to give the people a stronger voice in the General Assembly.”

Tipton’s online office offers his legislative agenda for the 2009 session, a constituent tool box to assist people in dealing with state agencies, a forum to express your concerns along with a page dedicated to online communities, media outlets and blogs.

Visit www.ScottRTipton.com for more information.

###

His YouTube video welcoming visitors to his website is below.

CORY GARDNER SWIPES AT CHENEY: “‘Dick Cheney can’t be a Senator and the Court isn’t supposed to legislate,’ said Gardner. ‘We look forward to an explanation from the Chief Justice and her answers to our concerns.’” (GJ Sentinel)

"SENATOR WHO": Is that anything like Doctor Who?

LIBERTY ON THE ROCKS: Wednesday, January 7th, at 7:00 PM at the Uptown Tavern in Denver.

Michael Bennet grew up in Washington, D.C.. He is the product of Ivy League colleges and private preparatory schools. His father served in both the Carter and Clinton administrations. There is little indication he stepped foot in Colorado prior to 1997.

Bennet served as counsel to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. Gorelick's tenure in the Clinton administration was uneventful and remembered mostly for "Gorelick's Wall," a strengthening of prohibitions on intelligence sharing some claim contributed to the 9/11 attacks, and for her calls to ban private data encryption in order to ease government surveillance.

In 1997, Bennet and his wife Susan Daggett moved to Denver. Daggett joined the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund as an environmental lawyer. Earthjustice was previously named the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and Daggett's presence there presents an interesting connection to Sen. Mark Udall's wife, Maggie Fox, who was active in environmental groups at the same time.

Bennet worked for Anschutz Investment Co. upon relocating to Denver, and in 2003 became Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. In 2005, Bennet beat out a community college president and a former superintendent from St. Paul for the position of Denver Public Schools superintendent. Denver Board of Education president Les Woodward, who oversaw the process, said of Bennet's selection that "it’s really more gut than it is brain."

Bennet's record at Denver Public Schools, despite being touted as his main selling point, has been a mixed bag. The school district has made gains in test scores, but Bennet has had a contentious relationship with staff and students. DPS faculty took a vote of no confidence in Bennet last year after his failure to negotiate a salary issue. After Manual High School was closed, one of the students dedicated the following poem to Bennet:

You might as well put us in jail
because your plan sets us all up to fail.

Manual High School had been divided between three "experimental" education programs prior to its 2006 closing and Bennet came under intense fire for deciding to close the school in closed meetings with no public input.

A full 37% of DPS' operating expenditures were spent on administration in 2006. Nearly $4 million was spent on the top 35 administrators that year and Bennet himself has been earning $160,000 a year. He was considered by the Obama administration to be Secretary of Education but was passed over.

Michael Bennet is relatively unknown outside of Denver and may have serious problems with the Democratic base in the city. The closing of Manual High School infuriated minority groups at the time and it is unlikely they have all gotten over it. In addition to the aforementioned vote of no confidence from the teacher's union, he sparred with labor unions over efforts to expand unionization of city workers while in Mayor Hickenlooper's office. Bennet is likely to get tepid support at best from the unions in 2010. Local businesses are unlikely to support him with the same vigor as they did Bill Ritter in 2006 as a federal official is more likely to tow the party line than a state official; not to mention Bill Ritter turned out to be a let-down.

Bennet's 2010 campaign is reportedly already supported by Bill Ritter, Mark Udall, and the brothers Salazar. This is the same group who has met in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections to 'decide' on a lone candidate for the Democrats in each top-ticket race. Grassroots activists on the left have had some lingering resentment over the Salazar-Ritter-Udall "kingmaker" efforts to derail primaries before they start and it is very unlikely that Bennet will be able to get out of one.

Michael Bennet is in a very precarious position, and it seems very likely that Colorado's junior Senator in 2011 will be either a Republican or a Democratic insurgent.

I've been skeptical of Barack Obama's plans for the space program, but if he follows through on this it could be the most significant development since the Apollo program. Bloomberg reports:

President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.

Obama’s transition team is considering a collaboration between the Defense Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because military rockets may be cheaper and ready sooner than the space agency’s planned launch vehicle, which isn’t slated to fly until 2015, according to people who’ve discussed the idea with the Obama team.

COMPLETE COLORADO'S TOP 10 NEWS STORIES (AUDIO): From 740 KVOR in Colorado Springs with Jeff Crank.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Robocop loves him some Korean fried chicken.

JOHN SUTHERS: "The governor said his No. 1 criteria was to find someone who represented all of Colorado, I don't think Bennet fits the bill at all. He's very Denver."

DICK WADHAMS (AUDIO VIA COMPLETE COLORADO): The 2010 senate race is going to be wide open, we're going to field a strong candidate, and we're going to win this seat.

BEN DEGROW: Michael Bennet in U.S. Senate Creates GOP Chance - Not to Be Taken Lightly

SUSAN BARNES-GELT: "Here's yet another example of Bill Ritter making a strange choice that reflects nothing but the fact that he has not been listening to an overwhelming number of Coloradans."

FLOYD CIRULI: "9NEWS Political consultant Floyd Ciruli said Bennet is a risky choice for Democrats, who will have to spend millions of dollars defending that seat in two years."

SETH MASKET, POLI SCI PROF AT DU: Michael Bennet? Seriously?

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RIGHT: He has no name identification outside of the city of Denver, and even there it might be iffy. He has no fundraising base and will have to contend with a national party that wants him to step aside.

After being snubbed by Bill Ritter for the Secretary of State appointment, Ken Gordon disrupted the governor's announcement by sending out a pre-emptive "congratulatory" email several hours before Bernie Buescher was named for the spot. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, having been passed over for the senate appointment, is engaging in a bit of Gordon-esque behavior of his own.

Ed Perlmutter and his staff started to leak news to the liberal blogosphere that he had been passed over for the appointment. In light of this, it would hardly be surprising if the anonymous sources for the Rocky Mountain News were Perlmutter loyalists.

9News.com now brings us a round-up of reactions to the Michael Bennet appointment and publishes a statement from Perlmutter that doesn't even mention Bennet:

"It's an honor and privilege serving the people of the 7th CD and I look forward to continuing to do so. I'm very grateful for the outpouring of support I received from people across the state as I was being considered to fill Sen. Salazar's seat, to those I owe a great debt of gratitude. Our country is facing very tough times, and I'm ready to head back to Washington to work on these issues on behalf of the hard working people of the 7th."

Hopefully there's more to that statement somewhere and Ed Perlmutter isn't just patting himself on the back.

The major newspapers are now confirming Michael Bennet will be announced by Bill Ritter to replace Sen. Ken Salazar.

If you're like most Coloradoans, you're asking "who the hell is Michael Bennet?"

In short, he's the superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He was expecting an administration job in Washington, but was passed over by Obama and had been rumored to be looking for a consolation prize. He has no name identification outside of the city of Denver, and even there it might be iffy. He has no fundraising base and will have to contend with a national party that wants him to step aside.

So what was Bill Ritter thinking? There are really only three scenarios:

1) Bill Ritter wants to stay out of the way of the up-and-comers in the Colorado Democratic Party. By appointing Bennet, he has appointed someone who will be gone in 2010 either due to a primary or stepping aside. Ritter already had to make a tricky choice with the Secretary of State appointment and probably isn't relishing getting in the middle of a fight between Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Andrew Romanoff, and John Hickenlooper.

2) By some twisted logic, Ritter thinks that appointing a candidate with no name I.D. and no fundraising base will "take the Republicans by surprise" and sweep Bennet to victory in the 2010 general election. After all, if a relatively unknown Denver District Attorney could avoid a primary and win by 17-points in the gubernatorial race, why can't a relatively unknown Denver Public Schools Superintendent do the same in the senate race?

3) Ritter is using Bennet as bait. By appointing someone who looks incredibly easy to pick off to the senate seat, Ritter might be hoping to push any serious Republican challengers out of the governor race and into the senate race.

Either way, Ritter and Bennet are going to fielding a lot of irate phone calls from the DSCC.

LUNDBERG V. LYNCH BRAWL HEATS UP: "GOP moderates characterize the selection as crucial to addressing economic issues over social issues. The race is being miscast. All three candidates presented themselves as conservatives." (Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

RMR IS ON TWITTER NOW: The Web 2.0 revolution continues, and you can be a part of it!

Rumor and innuendo are the order of the day at the soon-to-be sole surviving, statewide newspaper. Visitors to the politics section of the Denver Post website usually see the latest stories ranked chronologically with major stories sometimes appearing with top billing. If you were to visit the site yesterday, you would see that the Post felt a two-day old story rehashing attacks on Sarah Palin and her child deserved to be at the top.

"FALAFEL ISN'T ISRAELI!": Joshua Sharf wades into a pro-Hamas rally at the state capitol.

TANCREDO SAYS SOMETHING LOGICAL FOR A CHANGE: In a radio interview, Tancredo finally acknowledges his sky-high negatives would make him a poor candidate. This comes among rumors that he is backing away from running for Governor.

BALMER ETHICS PROBE COMMENCES: And Rep. Bob Gardner continues his odd, blind support of Rep. Balmer.

What better way to send off 2008 than with a brief look at biggest and most pointless political event of the year in Colorado: the DNC protests. Here are some highlights set to the tune of the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the spirit of Abe Simpson:

DEGETTE IS OUT: Diana DeGette is withdrawing her name from consideration for the U.S. Senate. It's too bad, she was the only one in the running willing to talk about the issues.

BREAKING DOWN THE BUDGET: Face The State has cleared up the state budget for us. K12 education has swollen to 41% of spending.