Former Georgia senator and Vietnam War disabled veteran Max Cleland endorsed Democrat Hal Bidlack in the 5th Congressional District.”Hal Bidlack has the grit, the guts and the experience it will take to bring change to Colorado’s 5th Congressional District and to the nation,” Cleland said in a release. “We need a true leader – someone who is in touch with working families and veterans – to take command in Washington. Bidlack is a veteran, a life-member of the Disabled American Veterans, and has the compassion to work for American veterans. Having experienced terror first hand in the Pentagon on 9/11, Bidlack has the motivation to end the Iraq War and focus on those responsible for attacking our nation.”Bidlack, a retired Air Force officer and former Air Force Academy associate professor, is trying to unseat Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican seeking his second term in a predominantly Republican district that spans six counties.Turning the PaigeSean Paige, former editorial page editor at The Gazette, has startted a Web site that provides a rundown of the latest political news and commentary to boot. It’s at http://www.locallibertyonline.org, and includes a blog called “Page by Paige” in which he’ll comment on various happenings in the political and government world.”I would describe it as a new media site focused on preserving and expanding freedom, opportunity and prosperity at the local, grass-roots level, recognizing that not all the threats to our liberties and pocketbooks originate in Washington or Denver,” Paige said. “We aim to be both an educational resource and honest forum for the nonpartisan exchange of ideas and issues in the Pikes Peak Region.”Advocates for the disabled praise GardnerColorado Springs Republican Bob Gardner got a “Legislator of the Year” award Wednesday from a group called Alliance, which serves people with developmental disabilities.Gardner is running for a second term representing House District 21, which covers southwestern El Paso County. He sponsored a measure approved this year to provide more funding so agencies that serve people with disabilities can reduce their waiting lists. Statewide, about 12,000 people with developmental disabilities qualify for help from the government such as job training but can’t get it because there’s not enough money.Gardner’s House Bill 1101 created the Developmental Disabilities Services Cash Fund. It could be funded according to an unusual formula – 2 percent of the amount by which total state general fund appropriations increase over the previous fiscal year. The fund doesn’t have any money yet, but if legislative committees follow that recommendation when lawmakers go back into session in January it could provide $9 million for people with disabilities.”I believed that it was the Legislature’s responsibility to provide funding to serve our vulnerable citizens with disabilities,” Gardner said in a prepared statement.

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