3rd Annual Tea Party Rally – Denver, CO, April 15th, 2011

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This was the 3rd annual Tea Party tax day rally. On April 15th, Tea Party activists gathered on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol in an effort to motivate one another to get involved in the legislative process. Speakers included, Matt Arnold, of Clear The Bench Colorado, Ken Buck, former candidate for U.S. Senate, and John Caldara of the Independence Institute.

I would have had these photos up earlier, but my the Comcast outage just got resolved so I could not upload anything earlier.

Anti Bailout protest and counter demonstration in Fort Collins, CO / 08-09-2010

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On a sunny afternoon in Fort Collins, Colorado, pro and anti-bailout activists converged at the intersection of Mulberry Street and South College Avenue in Fort Collins, Colorado. These are photographs from the event.

Sarah Palin appearance in Colorado on May 22nd.

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On May 22nd, 2010, at the Magness Arena in Denver, Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of the curious, the disappointed, and adoring fans.  This appearance comes on the night that Ken Buck received 76 % of the delegate votes at the Republican State Assembly. While waiting outside the arena to enter it, I spoke to a few people who were nervous because they were not sure if Sarah Palin would endorse Jane Norton in her speech. Some ticket holders informed me that if Jane was endorsed, they would boo and walk out in disgust. This never took place.  Jane Norton was never mentioned in the speech.

The general tone of her speech seemed to be catering to the ideals that conservatives favor in terms of less spending and more fiscal responsibility. She also made comparative analogies between Colorado and Alaska in terms of the weather. The crowd erupted in applause on many occasions. I am not sure if this means their nerves were calmed by virtue of no endorsement. That has yet to be determined.

The other people you see in these photos are Dennis Prager and Hugh Hewitt. Admittedly, these photos did not turn out as well as I would have liked them to. I might need a better camera.

May 22nd Colorado Republican State Assembly.

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On May 23, 2010, the Colorado State Assembly convened. What you see in these photographs are the various people running for office along with the delegates. This was the 1^st state convention I have been to. In the process of photographing this event, I sat next to a few people who said it was their first time as well. When Steve Barton spoke (he was running for U.S. Senate, he only got 56 of the delegate votes), he said one of the things he wanted to do as senator was to make marksmanship a part of the education curriculum for kids. Upon hearing this, the couple sitting next to me said they found this alarming. And they happen to be conservative for the most part. I informed them that some states actually do that. Not that this would change their perspective. It didn’t.

The general tone of the rest of the speeches consisted of getting back to the princibles of less government and a desire to end the bailouts and spending that consumes Washington D.C.

These photos turned out better than I thought they would considering the section I was sitting in when I was taking pictures. This event took place at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, Colorado.

In all there were 3528 delegates votes cast. The ones who got under 30% were eliminated. It should be noted that for the office of Senator, Jane Norton decided to circumvent the nomination process at the convention and try to gather as many signatures as possible to get on the November ballot.

This is the breakdown of delegate votes at the convention for Senator:

Robert Greenheck 56 votes – 1.59 percent

Cleve Tidwell 522 votes – 14.8 percent

Steve Barton 35 votes – .99 percent

Ken Buck 2701 votes -76.56  percent

North Suburban Republican Forum – 5/8/2010

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Yesterday I went to an event billed as a North Suburban Republican Forum and took photos of the event.  The event consisted of various candidates for office giving speeches. The people you see in these photos are Erik Hansen (running for Adams County Commissioner), Mike Sheely (running for Colorado’s 7^th Congressional District), Bob Brancato and Steve Bailey (both candidates for Colorado’s 2nd District), and Dana West (running for Adams County Clerk and Recorder). The majority of candidates expressed a need for fiscal responsibility in terms of how government currently functions.  The candidates for the 2^nd Congressional District expressed optimism in the idea that Jarad Polis is beatable because the voters don’t like the idea of members of Congress spending money like a drunken sailor. Bob Brancato’s 2^nd round of radio and TV commercials are set to hair soon if they have not already started.  Mike Sheely expressed the idea that he has the fire in his belly to run for Congress and help change the current political direction the country is going in. He is targeting the independents because the independent voters are swing voters.  Mike Sheely said he will not ask for 1 dime from anyone until he earns the support of 150 delegates.

Americans For Prosperity Regulation Reality Tour 4-19-2010

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On April 19th, 2010, the group Americans For Prosperity made a few stops in Colorado on its Regulation Reality Tour,” speaking out against the environmental policies of the Obama administration. The featured speakers were Tim Phillips, founder of AFP, Jeff Crank, Colorado AFP director, David Schneider Fort Collins utilities commission & Jeff Cochran, business management systems. This was the 2nd leg of their tour, which started in Arkansas.

When Tim Phillips spoke, he gave examples of EPA regulations that hurt business owners. While motivating the audience by saying “November is coming,” he also mentioned that the card check & cap and trade legislation is dead because of the conservative political movement that is presently taking place. That doesn’t mean that the House and Senate won’t try and bring it back. They probably will. He also mentioned that the EPA now has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by virtue of a finding and without action of Congress. Tim also went onto explain that single source energy emitters will be regulated by the EPA because of this. Single source emitters basically mean pizzerias and small businesses. He gave numerous examples in terms of who would be affected adversely by these regulations.

These photographs are of the Fort Collins and Denver events. What I found surprising is that more people showed up to the Fort Collins event in Washington Park than the Denver event in Civic Center Park. Usually when I photograph events in Civic Center Park there is a lot more people. For this photo montage, I combined both events.

Karl Rove book signing in Lone Tree, Colorado on 4-17-2010

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Unless you live in the land of fruits and nuts (aka California), a celebrity siting is sort of like climbing the Great Wall of China in the sense that it is a once in a lifetime experience. So when I found out Karl Rove would be in town signing copies of his memoir, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone: get my copy autographed, and get some photographs. The way it basically worked is you had to go up to the front of the book store and get tickets and wait in line in accordance with whatever number was on your ticket.

When I walked out of the store, I was wondering if there were any Code Pink protesters like there was a while back in California. It turns out there were only two protesters, who, while not representing Code Pink, basically accused Karl Rove of being a war criminal and wanted him arrested. They are the last two photos in this montage.

Tax Day Protest/Rally in Washington Park, Fort Collins, CO on 4-15-2010

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This event took place in Washington Park a few hours after the event in Denver which I photographed as well. Near the end of the presentation you see candidates for offices such as State Treasurer, Governor, Congressional District 4, among others. Some of the people are Tom Lucero and Dean Madere (running for Congress), Dan Maes (running for Governor) Ali Hasan and J.J. Ament (running for State Tareasurer), and Former Congresman Bob Beaupre. There is also a photo of Matt Arnold who heads Clear The Bench Colorado. This is an organization that seeks to replace some of the State Supreme Court Justices on the Colorado Supreme Court.

As for the rest of the photos, it can be determined that the group of people is motivated to get involved and recyle Congress in November because they don’t believe it is presently going in a positive direction.

Tax Day Tea Party Rally @ the Colorado State Capitol 4-15-2010

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At the Colorado State Capitol on 4/15/2010, a group of local activists gathered to protest taxes and government policies. Some of the speakers were people running for various political offices. in this montage you will eventually see photographs of Dan Maes, candidate for Governor. The rest of the photos consist of crowd shots and signs. some of them are quite amusing. At least I thought so.

Adams County Assembly on April 3rd in Colorado

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These are photographs from the Adams County Assembly convention. At this assembly, multiple candidates showed up to speak and mingle with the voters. what you see in these photos are the following candidates: Scott McGinnis and Dan Maes (both candidates for governor), Ali Hasan and JJ Ament (both candidates for Colorado State Treasurer), Bob Brancoto and Stephen Bailey (both candidates for Colorado’s 2nd district), Steve Barton, Cleve Tidwell and Ken Buck (all 3 candidates for U.S. Senate), Ryan Frazier, Mike Sheely and Lang Sias (all 3 candidates for the 7th Congressional District), John Suthers (Colorado’s Attorney General).

In their speeches, they all communicated the urgency of fiscal responsibility and getting people into office with real world experience. A lot of the candidates have worked in the corporate arena and in science, for example. They like the idea of smaller and more financially responsible government. When Cleve Tidwell and Dan Meas told the crowed that they are not a lawyer or professional politician, the crowed erupted in applause.

One speech I found to be most effective was that of Ali Hasan. He used visuals to demonstrate his point when he was talking about how the state budget is spent on various things and he expressed a desire to create jobs and divest from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The crowd applaud in agreement with his stated goals.