Author: Eric Sondermann
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A mistaken commutation and an over-the-top reaction | Eric Sondermann
It seemed an itch that Gov. Jared Polis just had to scratch. After months of hints and speculation, Polis put his signature on a commutation of the prison sentence of Colorado’s election-denying queen, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. True, Peters’s break was one of 44 commutations and pardons announced en masse by Polis late on a Friday afternoon.…
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Colorado needs a sane, viable opposition party | Eric Sondermann
If you are upset with the increasing regulatory burden in Colorado, the exodus of too many large employers, accelerating property taxes, the condition of the roads and all of the funding for transit schemes with low demand, of course you can lay the blame on Democrats who control all levers of state government. The same holds if your misgiving centers on annual…
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The applicability of Hungary’s election to our politics | Eric Sondermann
American conservatives, largely synonymous these days with MAGA — save for a few lonely voices of courage and dissent, have plenty to lament. Their domination of the political landscape is waning. Various special elections hither and yon have presented bright, flashing caution signs. A very difficult, perhaps devastating, off-year election beckons. Major fractures have surfaced within the movement. A Middle Eastern war…
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A long shot, an upset bid and a few quick takes | Eric Sondermann
It is hard to keep up these days. The flow of news often seems overwhelming. Let’s focus today on an unordinary congressional race before moving onto a few quick, supplementary observations. Since its creation 54 years ago, Congressional District 5 has been represented by a grand total of five people – Bill Armstrong, Ken Kramer,…
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Democrats rebounding without learning necessary lessons | Eric Sondermann
“When we fight, we win!” That, reportedly, was the chant heard over and over again at the Colorado Democratic Assembly a week ago. It suggests that pugilism has been the piece missing from the Democratic toolkit. Perhaps it was just me, but I seem to recall Democrats fighting back in 2024. The slugging went hand-in-hand with Kamala Harris’s faux “politics of…
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Kwame Spearman warrants criticism, not cancellation | Eric Sondermann
All of us are flawed humans, some more so than others. This is the tale of Kwame Spearman, who burst onto Denver’s business and political scene a handful of years back. His ride has taken a downhill trajectory. Within the past week, Spearman was shown the door as an undefined executive at the just-opened Denver Book Society, a new venture for…
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The insular bubble of caucuses and assemblies | Eric Sondermann
Nearly 30 years ago, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan coined the term “irrational exuberance” to describe the overheated stock market. That descriptive phrase could also apply to much of the political realm. The hype in politics often grossly exceeds the reality on the ground. In that vein, let’s focus on Colorado’s precinct caucuses held earlier this month, the first step in the process leading to…
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Is Trump a builder or just a latter-day headhunter?
It was well under 100 hours after President Donald Trump’s overly long, overly theatrical State of the Union speech that he unleashed American bombers across Iran. As I write, it is now less than 100 hours since those bombers started releasing their lethal payloads. Who knows what the next 100 hours will bring? It is hard to keep us these days. In…
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A cynical import Colorado doesn’t need | Eric Sondermann
“But mommy, he started it,” Every parent, definitely those with more than one kid, has heard this instinctively defensive reaction to the point of exhaustion. It is the ultimate deflection or shifting of the blame. A similar rationale, often about as juvenile, has overtaken our divisive, dysfunctional politics. All manner of bad behavior is excused away by pointing the finger across the…
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One small step for dialing back partisanship | Eric Sondermann
Much ink, including a good deal of my own, has been spilled on the excesses of super-charged, toxic partisanship in this current era. Except for true believers along with those who profit from this all-consuming poison, there is broad agreement that it needs to be toned way down and dialed far back. The nearly 51…