EP 9: Colorado Primary, Electric Scooters, and Firework Bans

In this episode of Politics is Personal with Leslie and Cole, special guest Marshal Zelinger talks about his experience in primary elections, whether Cole's predictions were correct, and if Colorado has a new face for the democratic primary. Then Leslie questions the safety of Denver's new Veo bikes, and 4th of July Firework Festivities.

Transcript

unknown 0:00

All right.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, welcome to Politics is Personal with Leslie and Cole. I'm Leslie Harrod.

SPEAKER_03 0:07

And I'm Cole West. Primary election is over. Seismic night in Colorado politics. We look forward to getting into that with our good friend Marshall Zellinger. Also going to be uh visiting with us or visiting about what's in our feed.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

You know, we're going to talk a little bit about um, first of all, Cole sweeping our predictions competition. I should have bet real money.

unknown 0:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

That would have been awesome. And I might also talk a little about what's bugging me, especially when it comes to scooters.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

So look forward to joining us. Uh look forward to you joining us uh today for politics is personal. Come on back. So hey Leslie, what's in your feed? Big night in Colorado politics, huh?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

It was big. But first, before we get into that, I just want to say thank you so much for coming to Pride. It was really nice to have you and your family there to celebrate what it means to be a part of this community and for you as an ally to show up and stay the entire day. I mean, you were there from almost, I would say sun up to sundown, but pretty darn close. So what what were your thoughts?

SPEAKER_03 1:51

Uh well first of all, thanks for welcoming me. Um we uh my wife and my daughter and I had a blast. Um it was fun hanging out with you for the day. Um I just I loved seeing the community out in such a positive event. Um the parade was amazing. Yeah, I just could not believe how many people were there. So it was just a very memorable day. So thanks as a friend for for including me in your pride celebration and uh look forward to doing it again.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah, it always means a lot to me to be with someone who, especially on their first pride, can see what what we've been talking about and why we need a pride celebration just so folks can be themselves and yeah, watching how long the parade was. The center did a great job moving it from Colfax to down 16th and just seeing everyone being their true selves and and watching you just run through the crowds and having a good time. It was it was really nice, so it meant a lot. So we appreciate it. Yeah, really fun. Yeah. All right. Well, let's get into the fact that I lost almost all of my predictions um for this primary, but I do that. I'm I'm gonna say I'm not the best at calling these races, but uh what what are your takeaways, Mr. Uh Winner?

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Well, uh just it it really fascinating night. Um, and I will say um I'm glad I was right about the governor's race. Yeah. You know, I had certainly personally invested in that race from the standpoint that I really believe in Phil Weiser as a candidate. Um I believe he'll be an outstanding governor for our state, and was just very gratified to see the voters' response to Phil. Um I I think uh we're in a really uh interesting time in Colorado politics. Um and you know, one question I have for you is with this democratic socialist push and Colorado was the extension of what happened in New York, uh do you think this would have happened had Zoran Bamdani not won the mayor's race? That seemed to catapult the democratic socialist movement beyond New York.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah, I do think Mandomini's win uh made a huge difference on how viable these candidates can be uh and how there is an opportunity for a real victory. And that also brings in financial resources and a machine behind them. DSA and Justice Democrats are a machine that should not be taken for granted. Did it take them a few cycles to get their steam and get their footing? Absolutely, but quite frankly, not that long. Um and I'm proud to see Millot uh having have won. And I actually had to check myself a little bit this morning because you know, when we had our predictions, I predicted Diana DeGett. And as a black woman, seeing what has happened to black women who run for these higher offices continue to be, I guess, their backs turned on them by the Democratic Party or by the establishment, um, or just in general, made me think she could not win. And quite frankly, uh she showed us that she could. Uh and I think that that's powerful. I think it's powerful to get young people back in these in these races, um, getting them back engaged in politics. Uh she is uh one to watch, and I'm really proud that she's coming from Denver.

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Um I I I I think it's gonna be an interesting process to watch the general election. Will there be, you know, where will the Diana together supporters go?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Will they gravitate over to Millot? Will they try to get an independent to run for that seat? Uh or or will they just sit home this year? And uh, you know, and obviously the Republicans aren't gonna win CD1. But I think uh the challenge for for Millot, I think, is to build a coalition. I will give her a shout out that I thought she was gracious in her speech last night. She did mention Diana Degat specifically, talked about how Diana Degat had been instrumental in welcoming her family uh to Colorado many years ago. So um I I that was a very uh good sign, I think, that I think she is a skilled politician. She understands the assignment. Um but I you know I was talking to my wife last night. I think she's gonna be a national superstar very, very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

I agree, and and you could tell by the way that I I was quite laughing about Kyle Clark. I don't know if you've been watching some of his interviews, but I feel like he geeks out over her. Like he's just a little bit obsessed, and uh and I love to see it because quite frankly, he's like the she is it, you know, she is leading the party, um, and she will be one to watch. And and I think he said something like, and if you don't do so, you do it at your peril. So Kyle's a Melat fanboy. It seems like, it seems like I've just never seen someone so like energized around or him specifically so energized around a candidate. And that's interesting to see. I mean, like, because he's an independent person, he's a journalist, you know, but I definitely think he was shocked and also uh I did see some uh enthusiasm, I will say, around around her victory. So I find that to be really interesting. Now I will do say though, in Denver, now that we have some chips that have fallen, if you will, um that means that the city council races and the municipal races will be very interesting as well. DSA is now a stronghold clearly for Denver. They have a machine, they have a winning machine, they have resources, they have people, they have money, uh, and they can quite frankly sweep more of these Denver council seats as well. I think that's where we should be looking next.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

I think ideology completely aside, um I I think people are calling for new leadership and incumbents that have stayed in office for a long time. Um look, they I'm casting no judgment here about how effective they've been. But and I've never been a big term limits guy, but there's a real anger out there in the electorate towards people who are quote unquote establishment, meaning they're they've been in office for a while. Um so I think that's one good takeaway from all of the stuff that's happening, ideology aside, and that is we need new blood in government, we need new ideas, we need new solutions, and we need new problem solvers.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah, and you know they say Colorado is one of those places where I actually say that it is the land of opportunity. Colorado, you can come, you could be from wherever, um, and you can run for office, you can, you know, start your business, and you could be quite successful at it, you know, go get get your education. And I love that about Colorado. We have this independent streak, but we also have this like power in numbers where we know like community matters. Community matters. And so on our birthday, the year of our birthday as a state, uh, we're at our 150. Um, again, I'm proud to see us kind of taking back, you know, our party as a Democrat and saying we need action for the people, for our people, for our communities, uh, and watching how that leadership is changing.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Uh do you think Democrats are poised to be a big tent party, uh, or is it gonna be fractious? I mean, are are we looking are are you thinking there's gonna be a lot of infighting over the next couple of years in the Democratic Party?

SPEAKER_00 8:17

I think there will be growing pains, for sure. I think there absolutely will be growing pains, and I think that's okay. Look, our tent can't get so big that we get nothing done. And I think we've showed that is that that is the risk. So let's talk about the other tent.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Um Bar and it's been a shrinking tent in Colorado, and and we've talked extensively about what I hope a Barb Kirkmeyer victory could mean for the Colorado Republican Party and the state of our politics generally. Um as we're taping this, Barb Kirkmeyer is clinging to a very small lead over Victor Marx. Uh I don't know how that race is gonna turn out. Um but I at at the Phil Weiser event that I went to last night, I I heard from a lot of, you know, very strong Democrats who were following uh the Kirkmeier-Marks race very closely, who said largely what I've been saying, and that is um a Kirkmeier victory would result in a thoughtful debate about policy and issues this fall. And you could say what you want about Bur Barb Kirkmeyer, but I think she would run a disciplined campaign that's not cuckoo for Coco Puffs, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Well, I I do think she's a little she's further right than I would say, uh than I would like to see in in this race, but I will to make her, I think, viable. I don't think there's any viability in her race. Um I do think like the cuckoo for Coco Puffs went really cuckoo with the the murderous man who just made up all of these stories, you know. But he might win. I mean, I think that there he's he's kind of like uh closing that gap. So by the time this airs, what we should know um who has won that race. Um I have heard that people think that Phil will have an easier race against Marx than Kirkmeyer. Um and quite frankly, I think Phil's up for the challenge. Um he he showed that he can run a good campaign, and I don't think it matters necessarily who is on that side for who will be the next governor, but it does matter for how the party will lead moving forward. Um I think it will be very disastrous for the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party will be done if Marx is um is the head of the party and if he is the one that is that is calling the shots, if you will.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Yeah, I I think you could see if if Victor Marx is the is the nominee of the Republicans, um I think we could you could be looking at a 70-30 uh kind of of governor's race, which would be just a complete disaster for Republicans. It would spill down and into down ballot races. And look, it's a tough year um in the midterms for Republicans anyway, because of Donald Trump. Um but having that person as a leader of your party, I think is gonna be a drag on everybody.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

What so if Marx wins, what does that do for CD8 and Evans race?

SPEAKER_03 10:45

Um I you know I think it hurts Gabe Evans, frankly. Uh I think if you know Barb Kirkmeyer would be somebody that I think most thoughtful Republicans would be happy to stand on a stage with and and pledge unity with and and try to present a united front. There's a lot of risk politically to standing on a stage with Victor Marx, who I think is a flawed human being. I think there are some questionable things about his past, about his business practices. And look, if you're a if you're a pragmatic politician thinking about what your future looks like, standing up to Victor Victor Marks may not be the best thing to do, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Okay, and I agree with you a hundred percent. I have a question for you though. It just popped up. Yeah. So you were you're a Phil Weiser supporter, you're a Phil Weiser stan, if you will. Um and you you've recently left the Republican Party, but you know, you're still a conservative. Uh if Barb is is going against Phil, do you stick with Phil or do you have that conversation about going over to Barb?

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Uh I I do stick with Phil. It's not even uh a close call for me. Um and you know, there are many reasons why I support Phil. I I I agree with him on some issues, I disagree with him on others, but really what I'm looking for, um, and this is largely the reason I supported you for Leslie, Mayor uh f uh you for Mayor Leslie, and that was um I appreciate people who who bring people in and hear perspectives and make decisions in a thoughtful way. Phil is that kind of a leader.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Um so I'm really looking for at the right brain, at the right decision-making process, uh, and the right kind of servant leadership that I see in Phil Weiser. I think he's gonna be a great governor.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yeah, it's gonna be great for Colorado. I agree with you. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Okay, so what else is in your feed? So well, we're coming up on the 4th of July, um, and it's America's 250. And it is sad to me. Uh so you don't remember this because you weren't born yet, but uh I'm old enough to remember the bicentennial in in 1976 and what a what an incredible event it was for our country, and uh everybody was so up and it was just a huge celebration. I don't feel the same kind of buzz at this time as we go up to uh our 250th anniversary. And for me, I think Trump has turned America's 250th birthday into a referendum on his on himself. And it's you know, the the rally uh in instead of celebrating America, Trump wants to do a campaign stop rally.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

So Yeah, I think it's interesting. I mean, uh as a military brat and someone who uh is very, you know, patriotic in a lot of ways, um the 250 has fallen completely flat. Uh no one is at any of the celebrations, and quite frankly, I think that uh people want to like they're shying a little bit away from um the patrioticness, or if you will, the traditional patriotic uh way for the Fourth of July and for the the 250. But I also think it's really interesting though that we're picking it up somewhere else, and that's with this World Cup fever, and it has been great to see people truly being the American spirit that we know it is, which is supportive, which is community, as I've just talked about. Um, watching people open their doors, share a meal with folks from different backgrounds, all standing together, not fighting with someone because they're cheering for Mexico or or whatnot, and instead coming together. That is really what's bringing the country together right now. That is the positivity that's in my feed, and I'm so happy to see it.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

I could not agree more. Um I think anything um that allows us to celebrate community, to celebrate diversity is a good thing for our country. Um and look, I uh there'll be a time when Donald Trump is is no longer president, and we're gonna have to learn how to talk to each other again about policy, about politics, about things that we disagree about. Um and the World Cup is a great reminder that there is much more that unites us as a human race than divides us. Absolutely, absolutely. Anything else on your feed? Uh you know, those are the main things. I I'm I'm kind of exhausted from the primary election.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

You were out late last night.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

I was, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna need a nap pretty soon. Um but I you know I I will say that voter turnout was incredibly high. Yeah. And that always makes me uh so hopeful about the future. And when I looked at that Malat Kiro's party last night, um It was fun. It looked like a rave. I mean, there was a lot of music playing and and people were pumped. But I love seeing young people excited about political engagement and how powerful it is to vote.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Um and you know, a lot there's been a a lot written about, you know, the the cynical, the cynical younger generation. I don't see that at all. I see younger Americans who are engaged, who are involved in their communities, who are reaching out to voters of all generations, trying to make a difference. So that gives me a lot of hope.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Yeah, it's working. Uh I'm really excited to see it. The turnout has been phenomenal, and I think that will carry through to the general election, but it's also carrying through across the country. Our country is pushing back against Trump and his MAGA regime and against just the hatred uh that he is leading with and saying absolutely not. And so, you know, I think we'll have an interesting conversation with Marshall as he comes on here next. But um we have a lot to talk about to break down these elections, to talk about you know what what our takeaways are from it. Um, but it will carry through, and I'm excited to see this energy that we are bringing from Colorado. Yeah, completely agree.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

So, friends, come right back. Uh, we'll have Marshall Zellinger on with us next. Welcome back. Uh we have with us as our guest today one of my favorite reporters, one of my favorite human beings. And I know, look around, but uh um but you know, we could use your nickname, politics guy, Marshall Zellinger. But uh Marshall, you've been a great reporter in Denver for a long time, somebody that I've really admired. I love the way you cover cover Colorado politics. And we're having you on the day after the primary election, and uh I'm really looking forward to to hearing your take on this.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Thank you. Clearly, my check is cashed, so that's good.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Awesome. Okay. I'm glad it cleared. I'm glad it cleared.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Well, it's good to see you again. It's actually been a minute since since I don't know if we've talked much since I left the legislature, but I've been seeing you in all your social media and everything. It's been really fun.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Thank you. Tell your friends to follow also.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I will actually, I'll do that today.

unknown 16:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

I was just telling Cole and we were talking a little bit about we actually met way before I came into the legislature. Yeah. So you wanna want to share with folks how we met?

SPEAKER_02 17:08

I have a memory box for every year basically from like the late 90s on. And I was, I don't know, I was going through it one day and I saw an award ceremony from my senior year in college, and I'm looking at the names, Marshall Zellinger, uh, Leslie Heron. What? And so I had just met you at the legislature, so I brought that in. Like, is that that's you, right? Because I vaguely remember being in the same like, but we didn't run the same circles apparently in programming school, no.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Yeah, you were apparently not a student government nerd.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

I was not.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

No.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Why not? I I wanted to do sports. I I still like to this day. No, I mean cover sports. Yeah. I like yeah, I wanted to play football in high school and then never tried. But like I am I am the embodiment of someone who covers sports, not play sports. Yeah. And so I was into sports journalism, not government. And then at my first job in Chico, California, someone taught me politics is essentially like sports. Two teams, winners and losers. And like it got me, it got me involved enough where I'm like, I could I could see that. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yeah. Well, last night, what'd you say then was the playoffs?

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Um last night what I guess I guess so, like the wildcard playoffs or the end of the season, and find out who makes the playoffs. Though in Colorado, you know, we talk about how the way politics have shaped out that the Democratic primary tends to be the election, given that the voters have not really elected Republicans into a statewide seat much lately. The last governor in 2003 was Bill Owen's last win as governor. Uh but John Souther's the last attorney general that was a Republican. So uh we're I know people don't like to hear that from us. Yeah. That the Democratic primary is the election, but in most cases, it's the election lately.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Yeah, and we had a chance to talk about that um in terms of you weighing whether or not as an unaffiliated voter, you're gonna vote in a primary. And I think you shared with me that you had never voted in a primary. You felt like it was, you know, perhaps a conflict of interest because and you and you shared some information with me that I didn't know, and that is as an unaffiliated voter, the ballot that you cast becomes a matter of public record, which I think is a little outrageous, frankly.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Were you in the legislature when that was decided? It was like a last-minute amendment by the parties that basically they want information, I believe, is why it would be.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

I'm pretty sure I was there for that.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Um I was too, but I w I would have voted against that piece of it. Because I think it's in nobody's.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

It feels like a Weissman amendment.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

We're gonna blame Mike, okay. Absolutely. It yeah, that I mean it wasn't in the I don't maybe my memory's a little off, but that was not part of the original legislation. I think it was an amendment toward the end and it was something that the parties came and said, if people are gonna vote in our events, we should know who they are. I can understand it from that perspective. But as an unaffiliated voter, that voter that just wants kind of some anonymity, that that makes it squishy to participate in. But being a Denver voter, look what happened with CD1. Right. Um, if you want to have a say in who's likely to be governor, like choosing the Democratic primary ballot in this election seem to be the the decision to make if you want to truly have a say and have your voice, not just have your voice, your vote counted, but have your vote matter. Like, could my vote sway some of the candidate winning or losing versus will it just be counted and tallied to the person who's probably gonna win in November?

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yeah, and I actually do think it's important that we know where the independents cast their vote. And I know that um as of Tuesday morning, it seemed like the independents were swinging on the Democratic, swinging towards the Democratic ballot. Now, of course, we don't know how you voted, but we know that you voted the Democratic ballot. And so I think we had 70% of independents voting on the Democratic or choosing the Democratic ballot as opposed to returning the Republican ballot. And I think that was interesting because I think the the the common theory was, well, if you're gonna vote that ballot, the d the independents that vote the Democratic ballot are probably more moderate and will swing things more of a moderate way. That didn't happen.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

No, and I don't know what it takes to find out. You know, like it was more than two to one, unaffiliated turning in democratic ballots. So how do you determine are they centrists, are they moderate Republicans, centrist Democrats, are they far l like I don't know what it takes in the end, what questions you have to ask or what polls have to be done, what pollsters do, to figure out of the unaffiliated that participated, which way did they lean? And I know Cole and I talked about this in terms of deciding are you do you want to choose the Democratic ballot and maybe have more of a say in in who advances, or do you want to choose the Republican ballot? And I've talked to some more centrists that are like, I want to like I may choose the Republican ballot to choose someone like Barb Kirkmeyer over Victor Marx, and look at how close that race, it's still undecided right now. We can't figure out who like that mindset is true. Like if someone chose the Republican ballot. Ballot for that purpose to try to, from a traditional Republican-conservative standpoint, that might have made a difference if you chose that ballot versus kind of the blowouts we saw on the Democratic side.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yeah, and I think people thought the Democratic races not only knew that it was going to determine the person who held that seat, but they were more interesting for folks. And what I've seen and heard from independents in Denver is that they in fact were more liberal and they went independent because the party wasn't doing enough. I feel like we saw that across the state in the margins of victory. I think folks thought that the Bennett race was going to be much closer, if not Bennett, because of that statewide. I know you did, and we'll get to that, if not statewide. But then CD1, for sure, the independent voters who were much younger went for the more leftist candidate. What are your takeaways?

SPEAKER_02 22:51

I mean, it's still that the uh day of voters are the progressives, the younger, farther left, which we've always kind of traditionally said. I actually learned this last night. I was covering the Bennett camp, and they said if it was five points or more in Bennett's favor, they felt good, but it would still be close because that would get knocked down as day of votes came in. If it was less than five points, it's going to be an all-nighter. And if the first results came out and Weiser was winning, it was over at the Bennett camp. So I I've talked with some people today. I don't know what my takeaway is. It's hard for me to gauge is this in in the race for governor, is this we want Wiser to be governor and Bennett, we like you, just continue doing your job, or was it we don't like you anymore, Bennett? We chose the other guy, and that's a message to you because that was the message in CD1. We don't we don't like what you're doing to get go away. So is that the same message that that Michael Bennett was delivered last night? Or was it, look, we like you both, continue to do both your jobs? I I don't know how to answer that question, and I don't know. I've already talked with some experts that believe it's that. It's the continue doing your job, and if he wants to run for re-election two years from now, which I I find that kind of more difficult after last night's result, but this person was like, yeah, let like there's they there's still a path for Bennett.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

I I'm gonna plant my fat flag on this today. Um, because I I saw some coverage last night, I think there were three examples of U.S. senators who had run for governor in in various states. Um I think in two cases the U.S. senators lost the general election, and in one other case they had lost the primary. And in each of the subsequent elections, when those senators went back to to serve in the Senate, all three of them decided not to run for re-election. So sitting here today, I don't see a path. Uh frankly, I, you know, I I don't uh think Michael Bennett will run for re-election. Um there was the big risk for him doing this, because I think for the most part, he was popular amongst Democratic voters, and he pissed a lot of people off with the way he ran this primary election in terms of the negative ads, um, running a negative campaign towards Phil Weiser, who, you know, I'll I'll just say it, Phil's a nice guy, and there's a risk when you come off that negative. So um I think Michael Bennett has done some permanent damage uh to his uh political profile. And uh I see the Democratic Party moving on for Michael Bennett, the next uh re-election.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yeah, I think we're gonna have both Senate seats open. Um Hick and Luber has already said he's not running again, could change his mind, but they said that this was his last time. I think it's been his last time. I will just say that, you know, my family's in southern Colorado. I obviously hang around in a lot of Denver circles. And what I will say is that across the board, across Colorado, um the nice way to put it is that they wanted him to stay in the Senate. I think the more realistic thing that I've heard the most about is people were very pissed that he confirmed those Trump nominees and he just could not shake that. And whether it's whether or not it's I don't like you or I don't trust you in this seat anymore, I don't I do think that that matters. Now, he's got time to make up for some of it. We don't know what this like, you know, far left wave will do to the party and people's sentiment around who should run next. But Bennett has also said very clearly he doesn't like being in Washington. That's why he wanted to run for governor. And so I can't see him running again. And if Hick and Looper said that too and he ran again.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

I mean he said that before he ran for Senate.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

A few things based on what you've said. Do you think Hick and Luper when you said both open seats, do you think they're both open in 28?

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Uh do th do I think Hickenlooper leaves early? I don't think so unless there's a health issue.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

But there could be.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

But that fascinates me now, because like if you start to have a progressive run against Bennett before he says he's going to run or not, or then Accenture says, like, well, what we can't see do we can't allow what we just saw in C D1 to happen to Bennett, so I'm gonna jump in. And then if Hickenlooper were to back out, you could have a special election for his race, and then you'd have you'd have to you'd have a division of people would have to choose which race are they running in, I believe, to to have two new senators at the same time. That w when you said that, I started thinking for the first time, like what if that was 28?

SPEAKER_00 27:10

That could be that would be wild. And it would be interesting because, you know, hearing from both Bennett and uh Hickenlooper camps, um, I will say that there is conversation about who were the who were the successors gonna be, what does that look like, but also do they want to battle, if you will, the left insurgency that is really taking over the party? Because I will say that I don't quite think Hickenlooper aligns with the the left wing of the party. Um and I think that that's gonna cause some tension, and we'll see if he really wants to stick there.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Um one thing that you said, Cole, about the other senators, I I had done the research on David Vitter in Louisiana in 2015. He ran for the gener he lost in the general election, had one more year, didn't run again. K. Bailey Hutchinson, Texas, 2010, she had two more years just like Bennett and chose not to run. And I don't know like that. I mean, that's 16 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

But I can't remember the the the name of the third, but but you're exactly right on on those two. And I I think when you say, as you as you pointed out, Leslie, when you say Washington is broken, I don't want to be in Washington anymore, um, it's hard to go back on that.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

I can see his out that he said he was in a better position to challenge Trump as Colorado governor than where he was in Senate. And so two years from now, he can make the argument, well, Trump's not gonna be there anymore. My argument was I was gonna be better against Trump, I can be your senator against whoever is maybe it's a Democrat that's gonna be president, and if it's n a a non-Trump Republican, watch me take this on. Uh you talked about the the confirmation votes, the Senate confirmation votes um he had a decent answer at our debate was that the easy thing is just to say no. Uh I but as you say, I don't know that he had the defense um for all of the ones that kind of piss people off in Colorado. And then the the Chris Wright thing was like he's from Colorado, I can we talk often like but has that shown to be a difference for Colorado? One last point if Joe Naguse was gonna be the believed anointed one to the Senate, if Bennett were not to run and Naguse truly wanted to be senator, but you know there's gonna be a progressive or a socialist who runs. Like Nagus would be possibly giving up his high-ranking congressional seat to perhaps lose a Senate seat and then be out of politics in Colorado for sh for a period of time. Like that seems tenuous, which is why I wondered is it possible Bennett resigns early and allows polis or wiser to appoint a a placeholder that could have a leg up.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

It will be really interesting. That would be really interesting. Um and and you know, it's the the Nagose Peterson Crow line is what I call it, right? I mean they are all. In that order? Yeah, I think so, actually. Yeah, I think so. Um and I think, I mean, I think they know it, you know. Um and Nagoose by far was really the one that was looking to be in that Senate seat um and then and then the line down. And and before we we move on to CD1, I do want to say, you know, all this talk about Bennett and and how he lost the race, I do want to give credit to you and to Phil about how Phil won the race. Um Phil won because his team were to their butts off. They were up and down the state, they were, you know, they stuck to their message, they were pretty disciplined. There was a few jabs back, which I think showed that Phil was a fighter, but he was really clear on what brand of politician he would be. And it wasn't gonna be, I'm gonna run the moderate caucus and do all this across the aisle. It was I'm gonna fight Trump, I've already done it, here's how I'm gonna do it, but I'm also gonna come into each and every one of your communities and have a conversation. One thing I will say about Phil is I never saw him mad on the trail. Did he have bad days? Absolutely, you know, but he didn't it didn't come across as mad. And in some of the conversations I saw on forums with Bennett, I think he was a little bit offended that that Phil even ran, and you could feel that.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Intr the last two days for both candidates, uh Bennett was in Fruta, where the fire was, and then was in the metro area on election day. Uh Weiser spent the last day in Pueblo in Colorado Springs, and I guess he has been in Pueblo the last day of every race he's so the three so that's tradition now. But I found that that interesting, like Bennett from his Senate position went to act as Senator but also running for office on the western slope. Yeah. But was he also worried about votes out there? And then just was confident in where he was at that he spent the day on election day in the Denver metro area. And then it was odd to me that Weiser would go to Pueblo and and in Colorado Springs and El Paso County. It's like of all the places to be on the last day, if you're trying to get those last minute votes, like those were the places. And I did uh ultimately it didn't matter. And and yeah, I guess if you're if you're shilling for votes on the last day.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

El Paso County is actually where to be El Paso and Pueblo are where to be. Because the Democratic votes in El Paso and Pueblo are large. Um Denver obviously is number one, but then the rest of those areas are it's quite large. And so if you all he already knew he was gonna win Denver, and the Bennett camp knew that Weiser was gonna win Denver. They didn't know by how much. But that was already done. And so I think knowing with the mulatte wave and everything like that, he needed to go shore up vote somewhere else. Again, I think he had a really, really smart strategy.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

So as a transition to C D1, um, and I think it's a it's a safe bet that Phil Weiser is our next governor. Um and uh I I so as as the the the next governor, he sort of takes on the mantle of being the leader of the party for the state. It's a fractured party. Uh what happened in C D one uh shows us that there is a very active, very powerful uh DSA wing of the party here. So Marshall, what what are your thoughts in terms of how Phil keeps everybody on the same page and rowing in the same direction? Because I think it's gonna be challenging.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

We'll find out at this uh Unity event that was pre-scheduled for two days after Election Day, where I just questioned when I saw that that a release from the Democratic Party, it's like, how do you how do you know that you're all gonna like it's it's it's for show, but then how much of it is true? Because it's like you don't know if DeGett's gonna win and if Milan Kiros wins, are you telling me everybody who shows up there is gonna be really unified with her messaging because it's all it's already fractured? I mean the vote itself tells you that. What like she won, but you still have what I don't know what the the number is at right now, but you still have like 40 some odd percent that didn't pick her in Denver. So there'll be that dichotomy is like, is Phil the de facto leader of the party, or is the national attention that Mulat's getting, does does that make her the leader of the party because of because of all the buzz she now has? And looking down ballot, these state senate and house seats that are won by more Democratic Socialists they they did really well. How does a governor uh Governor Weiser assuming that's the result in November, which is most likely to happen, but how does that interplay with now you're getting legislation fights with farther left s uh of the party than you are, and that's something that Governor Polis didn't necessarily have to deal with. And so it's it's a trend uh in this election, will it continue two years from now and four years from now for the Democrats? And is this the the MAGA movement for Democrats?

SPEAKER_00 34:37

Yeah, and I think you won't know until January, right? So that's after November. I think they're gonna have to try to play nice. I don't know that they will play nice in the sandbox through November, but Millotte won't go into office, right, until January. So we won't see how she actually serves in that way. But I do think Millot is is a de facto leader of the party now. Um she is the leader uh in the brand for DSA. Um I will say that she also ran a really amazing race, and a couple of my takeaways from from last night really were that, you know, young people will show up if you give them a reason to. And they weren't gonna show up for Diana, and they haven't showed up in some of these other races, but they did from a lot because she inspired them. I watched her speech last night, and I was very impressed. I was moved, in fact, by her speech, and I'm proud to see a black woman ascend into that position. And the way that she did it, the way that she won by organizing all of those folks, knocking doors. I mean, I saw Tim Hernandez on social media every single day, knocking doors for her and flipping votes. She deserved that win.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

You know, you used to count speeches by the number of applause, and last night was airhorn.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Did you notice that?

SPEAKER_03 35:46

Did I notice how did you We were laughing watching that? I thought it was crazy. So I'm gonna just push back on something you said there a little bit, Leslie, and that is um, you know, Phil Weiser is a plug-plug from my guy Phil here, but he he's I think a much better person uh to unite the party. Um one thing I've always been impressed with Phil Weiser, there's he he travels the state every year, he goes to every single county. Um he will sit down with anybody and talk about issues. And Phil, I think, has his definite ideology in terms of how he wants to run the state. But much he's much different than than Jared Polis. Um and I think he will be in a unique position because of his background. He was dean of a law school. Um he's used to building coalitions. So if the Democrats are smart, I think they will tap into Phil Weiser's ability to bring people together. I think it's the reason he won the primary, and he really does have that ability, I think, to to bring folks together.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

So I mean I agree with that. I agree with that. I just don't think it's his decision. I mean the insurgency is strong. And if you saw, you know, the the com the uh caucuses in the assembly, it is strong.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

I asked this question last week when it came to Attorney General and Secretary of State, depending on what the results were gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

And they have till July 9th to collect signatures. Now, if it's a statewide race, it's really hard to get uh a thousand or fifteen hundred per congressional district, okay. Uh in nine days. In C D one, you only have to do the signatures in one congressional district. You have nine days for Malak Hiros to possibly have not just a Republican to face, which is inconsequential, in Denver County, but an unaffiliated could still make the ballot in Denver County.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Wow. The clock is ticking. I think that's really fascinating to see. Um as a Democrat who will be at the Unity Rally, I prefer to unite around the Democratic candidate. Um but I know that there are folks who are independent, who have gone independent, they have to have been registered as independent before that will go that way. Um I think we're running a little bit tight on time. I hate this because I think we could talk to you forever, and we still will. We still have some time. But I do want to hit on some of those other races that you talked about. What's the takeaway from Attorney General?

SPEAKER_02 38:06

Uh for me, I expected, and I know Cole had a different e expected outcome for that one, but it if you add up, I mean the the prediction was Griswold would get kind of where she got, and the other three would split the vote. And if if they had somehow talked amongst each other about which one of us can just move forward, you add up their vote total, and it would have been enough to beat Griswold. So it's it's this is a good example of open primary, honestly, where you have like-minded candidates uh cancel each other out and then someone else gets elevated. Griswold is widely popular in the state, so she was the front runner going into it. Um the other three might have had a chance individually, and that still might not have helped because of how popular she is. Yeah. So that the end result of attorney general didn't surprise me. I guess the where the other three ranked below her, I I I honestly thought it would be like Doherty and Doshi would have split their votes and maybe Seligman would have had, you know, 10-15%. And Seligman, I think, at last check was still third. Um and so he kind of he kind of rode that progressive wave that that helped um in C D1.

SPEAKER_03 39:14

Because Jenna is so well known.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

Um I I think she has a ceiling. Um I think it's below 50 percent. I think it's around 40 to 45 percent. Um and we we've talked about this before. I'd said if the Democrats were smart, they would not nominate Jenna Griswold, where I think most of the state has has made up their mind on Jenna Griswold. Um I think she has very high negatives. And if there's a race that Republicans have a chance, and it's crazy to think about the Republicans as screwed up as that party is here right now, to have a chance at a statewide race. I see the AG's race being a legitimate shot because that's a candidate, um, Michael Allen, who is the district attorney in El Paso County, not well known. So he has a lot of potential to move up, and we have a long history of our state electing Republican AGs and Democratic governors.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

You know, prior to 2018, during Trump's first term, it it kind of locally was you'd you expect tradition, like voters would elect a Republican sheriff, the clerk, it just whichever way the electorate fell, it really didn't matter, Democrat or Republican. I look at Arapaho County and Jefferson County for examples there. Like Arapaho County went from a Republican sheriff to Democratic sheriff, knocked out Matt Crane, who hadn't done anything wrong necessarily as clerk, and then brought in a Democrat, and that was the D-Wave in 2018. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

I know a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

But law and order used to be like, okay, there we're we're just gonna elect the Republican to be the law and order candidate. And so that's where A.G. has traditionally, I think, just default been the Republican until this D-wave came through the state. Uh Griswold is just so popular.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

And there's a reason for that. I mean, listen, she won because she also worked extremely hard, but she stayed disciplined on her message and her strategy. And if that meant not coming to debates, quite frankly, I think it that shows that maybe there were too many. And this ganging up on her from the other three candidates, I think was was I think was not um was not advisable. It didn't do what they thought it would do to bring down her popularity across the state. I also think that it will be a challenge for the Republican to win, because I think that the Republican Party is not going to put as much money or attention in the Colorado races after what they saw this primary, and the only chance for any type of Republican um support from out of the state or even just energy will be around CD8.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Covering political ads often, I just noticed that in Griswold's main political ad that she aired, it was Zoom interviews, probably with national organizations, and a fake walk and talk and news conference outside Union Station. There was no real true public facing in-person Jenna Griswold in those political ads. And so avoiding the debates is one thing. Like avoiding pup public appearances, and I know she she has said she has security concerns.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

And we know they're true.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

Yes. Um we talk to candidates uh all the time who can do it in person, even with like that don't have uh security on she has security with her too, I believe. Not not to the extent that like the governor has. But it just stuck out to me in that political ads like you you you've you've avoided debates, you you avoid public appearances. Th there has to be some sort of in-between there.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Yeah, we'll see what the strategy is uh in the general election, because she will have to run a race and she knows that.

SPEAKER_03 42:38

And she'll have to show up and and do debates. Okay, you can't do rope a dope in a general election. That won't work.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Well, I think you can limit the number of debates. I mean, you can't say that she didn't show up at any, she did. You have to limit them. And I do believe that. I mean, I know that we get to voters in different ways now, and quite frankly, Zoom interviews that might be the way. More people are getting their social media or their news through social media.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

Aaron Ross Powell And I'll say when when I worked at Channel 7, uh the only time John Sellers as Attorney General ever really did interviews, it was always Teresa Marchetta. She always met him in the parking lot of the AGs building. And it wasn't the palace that it is now. So he always had to come out above ground to the park. And there's one moment where she's coming up to him with the camera and and he says, All right, Teresa, make it quick. Because that was just the way we could talk to the So I you know, there's a history of avoidance of interviews. But now, yeah, in Zoom today, like it makes it easy. Yeah. I go I can talk to you over Zoom.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

In person still.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Yeah, I mean I agree. I agree. Um, CD8.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

I mean, that was a bigger margin than I guess I anticipated. Whoo, it was a blowout. Uh watching Kyle's moderated debate against the two of them, it it was not great for Manny Rutneau. Um there's sticking to your talking points, and then there's wait a minute, do you have like, okay, we've heard everything is deeply concerning or passion or whatever I think was deeply that's deeply concerning. I mean, heard it many, many times. Move on. And let's let's hear some true talk. But yeah, um hearing from the progressives that had previously supported him that say, you know, like deep uh uh D saying he's flipped completely from his position to try to get elected. It's hard to um uh defend that in a general election. It like that's where that's where Gabe Evans has already started, like this guy's 180, you don't know what he stands for, but he's still pushing like Manny Rutnell is the far-left vegan activist that he kind of isn't anymore. Right, right, right. The results of C D eight, I know Shannon Bird had left the legislature to focus on the race. Maybe that wasn't a great decision anymore. I honestly think she probably left the legislature so she wouldn't have to vote on certain things that she would have to uh defend herself on also.

unknown 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:53

I think there is a broad generalization that Manny is going to inherit this large Latino wave in C D eight. Uh I'm gonna push back on that a little bit. Let's not forget that Gabe Evans is also a Latino and had support in the Latino community. Um and look, it's it's it's a very different electorate than when Donald Trump won uh a couple of years ago. But Latinos are not they're not a homogenous voting group that is is gonna move like the the way the pundits believe. So I think this district, I think it's around 40 percent Latino in in C D eight. Um but uh those who say that Manny is uh going to inherit that voting block because uh because of ICE and and some of the other issues that have sort of inflamed the Latino community, I think that's erroneous thinking. So what what's your what's your take on that?

SPEAKER_02 45:44

It is a midterm, so it's probably bad to be Gabe Evans right now, just from that standpoint. But tw what, 2400, 2500 Gabe Evans advantage uh in his win two years ago, sixteen hundred is what Yadira Caraveo beat uh Barb Kirkmeyer by. Yeah. It's going to be the closest race in the nation. And given given that fl I just think being in a midterm, it's going to be that much closer because there will be voters that say, I want someone different than who's currently there simply because it's like the referendum on President Trump at that point. Yeah. But the voters here are quite smart, they they're engaged, and maybe they're like, guy hasn't done me wrong right now, and I don't know if I know the new guy well enough. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

I mean I I hear you, and I would say a few things based on what you both said. One, being good on social media is not the same as being media trained, as you know. And we learned that I think people took for granted that Manny would do well in those debates, um, but because of his social media presence, but he needs more training there, and I'm sure they will not make that mistake for the general election. Um when it comes to Latino voters in that district, and I am not in that district, nor am I Latino, but what I will say is I come from a Latino household, and across across the board, what I have heard is while some folks who are Latino might have voted for Trump and they're not homogenous, they are feeling the effects of these ice rates the same. And they are feeling like, you know, um we are we're still nervous about this Trump regime coming in into our communities, into our neighborhoods, into our homes, and taking our family members, no matter how they voted. And we've seen that kind of trickle back from the Latino community. I will say that the Latino Victory Fund was very supportive of Manny's election, and I think we'll continue to be strong in supporting him for CD8, which will give him that edge. Uh and then I also think in general, um uh Gabe Evans hasn't done enough to distinguish himself from Trump, and so with this wave now of uh of Democrats across this across the country getting elected, I think he'll be a part of that pickup.

SPEAKER_02 47:51

I'll say Gabe Evans might not just the ICE issue, but the HR1, the Big Beautiful bill, the budget bill, that and the changes made to to Medicaid that impact CD8 the most. Um I I there used to be a fact sheet that I had memorized and now I can't remember it, but but I think CD 8 had the most, or CD three, the two Republican areas, um had the most um residents on Medicaid that would be impacted by some of the new rules that are being implemented. And they're not all there yet, so like the the impact hasn't been fully felt and won't be fully felt by the time this election happens. So I don't know if that that that to me from just a number standpoint might impact more people uh broadly than just issues about are they concerned about ice?

SPEAKER_00 48:39

Yeah, and Byrd is not a Democrat.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

Say that again. Bird is not a Democrat.

SPEAKER_03 48:44

Let's begin to pull draft Shannon Byrd for Republican government.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

She should be running for Republican governor. I think she would be formidable on the debate stage. I have served with her. Um I feel like I'm pretty uh clear about her views on things, and I don't think she aligns with the Democratic Party as we as we are today, but also, period. I think her the major issues she's voted against Democrats on are bread and butter issues, and I don't think that she is uh a Democrat. I think she ran the wrong race. Can I can I end on a fun note? Sure.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

Um I've always so uh if you don't know the Marshall Mitchell story, go look it up. It's classic. Always sort of viewed you as being the dog whisperer because of your interaction with John Kellner's, what was it, a Great Dane?

SPEAKER_02 49:28

Yeah, a huge Great Dane.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

So how was your interaction with Victor Marx's dog? Did you guys get along with the Mr.

SPEAKER_02 49:33

No, he went after Yeah, he just he just kind of stood up for Kyle. And so like now we both have our own dog stories of uh Victor Marx's dog was didn't didn't pay me any attention. Uh the Great Dane from John Kaiser in 2016, I was investigating whether he had qualified for the ballot with forged signatures. Now I knew probably on the front end, he knew nothing about the forged signatures, but his campaign was run so poorly they wouldn't answer questions about it. It's as easy to be like, look, I didn't know about this, we're gonna get to the bottom of it, it's probably somebody rogue, which it was. But I went to uh he was he wasn't responding to me, his people weren't responding to me, so I went to his house at like two in the afternoon. I rang the doorbell, his nanny answered. I could tell I probably woke up a child who was crying, the dog's barking, I apologized for waking up a child, dog very friendly. And when I finally got him for an interview, it clicked. Like he, oh, I'm the guy that showed up to his house that the nanny must have told him I showed up to the house, and he kept calling me the wrong name. He kept saying, Well, Mitchell. After I corrected him, well, Mitchell, no, it's Marshall. And I wasn't gonna say anything at first, but then I'm like, no, no, my name is Marshall. That happened over and over. And then suddenly he's like, wait a minute, you're the guy that came by my house, you met my dog, he's a lot bigger than you. All facts. And uh I all at for a split second I thought about, like, did you just threaten me?

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

That would have changed the whole dynamic of the interview. And I just said, what did you mean by that? And then that just didn't like, well, you know, he's bigger than you. And like it was clear what he was saying at that point. And I'll say he was upset that I came to his house. He got on the ballot by people going door to door to get people to sign their names. I did the exact same thing that he paid people to do. That's fair. That's fair. So that he called me Mitchell, and ever since then, for 10 years, I'm I'm Mitchell. Except Victor Marks doesn't know my name, so I'm Mitchell and nothing. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 51:22

And you have another name, another nickname. What is it, the kiss of death?

SPEAKER_02 51:27

Oh, that's what he called the kiss. No, uh the harbinger of death, because I get sent out. So when Kyle and I get sent out to the field, you know, Kyle would traditionally go to where the action is, and I would be, you know, 1A. And it's always worked out. Kyle just happens to be at the winner, I'm I'm at the losing candidate. Well, Kyle was in studio. So we were debating where should I go? And we chose Michael Bennett's camp because win or lose, it was going to be a story. He wins, I'm at the winner. If he loses, he's still senator. It and we can talk about what that means. I show up and uh I am the harbinger of death because I traditionally am now at the losing. So when you see me coming.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

It means your race is over. Yeah. Oh my and you were at Bennett's last night.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

I was at Bennett's.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Yeah, yeah, that's wild. Okay, one last question, do you mind? I just want to know, as someone who's been you've been covering Colorado politics for so long, um, and you've gotten some really interesting stories. Do you have a favorite moment in Colorado politics?

SPEAKER_02 52:24

I mean, the the Mitchell thing is is pretty iconic when it comes to politics stories. Um this one is just one like I I could probably come up with a better example. Sure. But Hume McKean had a bill when he was House Minority Leader, and this was during COVID times, and I was scrambling for a story. And I got a tip at like two o'clock, hey, this fiscal note for this Hume McKean bill came through, and you'll never guess how much it's gonna cost the state. And I'm like, well, it's Hume McKean, it's probably not gonna cost anything. $1.5 billion. Like it was more money than the state legislature could play with.

SPEAKER_00 52:57

Yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 52:58

And so it was like 4 30 in the afternoon, and I'm like, Hugh, like this or Representative McKean, would you do this interview with me about this bill that you have that came back? And he did it. He did it, he was gracious, he was fun about it, and um it stands out because it's so ridiculous. And and the person who gave me the tip was angry that I had more fun with it and that this should have been this hard-edged thing, but it's like, but it's not. It's this fiscal conservative had this idea that he didn't realize was gonna cost the state a bonkers amount of money, and then he talked about it because that's what politicians should and and can do.

SPEAKER_00 53:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

That's not a great example because it's like this kind of story that took up maybe 45 seconds on TV, but it's memorable to me.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

Yeah, it stands out. Well, we appreciate you covering Colorado politics. I think that your team over there uh keeps things really interesting and fun when they need to be, but also hard-hitting uh when we need them to be as well. I feel like there's been a really interesting shift of independence in the last maybe year of you all as well. And it's just really good to see. So thank you so much for coming on Politics is Personal. We really appreciate it, and we hope to have you back.

SPEAKER_02 54:02

Thank you. I'll be back. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 54:03

Thank you. Stay with us. What's bugging us is coming up next. Welcome back. Um again, one-on-one Leslie and Cole edition of What's Bugging Us. Uh, I guess there's a lot bugging us, so there's a lot for us to vote. Not a lot for us to be weak to vote. So, what is bugging you this week, Leslie?

SPEAKER_00 54:20

Oh my God, I feel like such a boomer, and I'm not. Um, but like that's a bad thing? It it's it's an older thing, okay.

SPEAKER_03 54:29

You know, I'm a boomer, officially. I don't, you know, I don't feel like a boomer, but I guess I'm a boomer. Yeah, born in 1960.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

You're but well, how do you I the scooters, the scooters. I know school is out. I live right next to a school, and you know, I'm just like, it's not to stay off my lawn, but it's like, can the scooters not be on there? Which is like these these mobile, these um sorry, um motorized scooters, uh, you know, they're they're like you could you could put your cart in and then you can use a scooter. There's some that you can actually sit on that feel like they're maybe comfortable or more safe. They go pretty fast though in some of these areas that one shouldn't even have bikes on them, much less these these scooters, they're not safe. Um it's the numb scooter accidents right now are still the number one cause of traumatic brain injury at Denver Health. I'm seeing accidents happen left and right. Just recently, a scooter went onto the highway on I-25 evading a law enforcement officer, hit my friend's vehicle. Oh my gosh. And they died. Uh the scooter, the person on the scooter died, and they, my friend and her mom almost well, were injured. And I think that that is terrifying. So when the scooters came in and we kind of switched over from the line bikes to these scooters that we have now, uh, there was promised geofencing that was supposed to keep the scooters um on roads that were appropriate, um, and also not on the highways, right? And and not running in certain areas during certain times. So it's supposed to be very high-tech. I'm not seeing that geofencing exactly working. It should never have been able to go on the highway. The technology allegedly is there, but that part's not working. And so I just find them to be really dangerous. And um I want to know, I mean, I I know we talked about this a little bit, but I actually think I don't understand why the scooters are there without helmets. You should not be riding a scooter without a helmet. You shouldn't, quite frankly, be on any of those major roads in a bike, in a scooter, or whatever um without a helmet. Uh, and and people are, and that's why they're getting so injured. I would like to see helmets on the same corner as where the bikes are, where people can pick up a helmet, drop them off, and they could ride safely.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

How do you do that though? Uh are you gonna have the helmet attached to the scooter?

SPEAKER_00 56:31

I mean, I think you could. You could have it attached, and then if it's lost, you have to pay a fee and they charge your card uh and it reminds you or whatever to put it back on there. If not, like just have a scooter, like just have helmets, you know, um that are available for people to take or to rent or whatever if they don't have one. Many people that ride scooters, I think, know that they're riding a scooter for the day, so maybe they can bring their own helmet. Um, those who don't, they should be accessible for them. And then I think people are responsible enough to return them. Hopefully we don't see the streets littered with helmets, but we gotta do something because people are getting very injured.

SPEAKER_03 57:03

So, you know, on the on this issue, Leslie, I'm I'm a liberty guy when it comes to things like helmet mandates. And look, all my kids wore helmets when they were riding bicycles, and that was something that I wanted to to make sure that I was clear on as a parent. Um but it really is a personal decision in terms of whether or not you wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. And I think scooters are a logical extension of that. So you know, I I think w when you're talking about young people, um you know, maybe that makes sense to have a conversation about if you're gonna use a scooter, you're under age 18, one of the conditions is you wear a helmet. But for consenting adults, I think we've got to let people make their own decisions about what's right for them. Um of course the the the the argument on the other side is that we're all gonna end up paying for it. Paying for it because these people are getting injured and they they increase the cost of insurance. So there's probably no right answer to that, but because I think it's very difficult to enforce and because I think you should allow people to make personal choices for themselves, uh, I just I don't think it works.

SPEAKER_00 58:11

I think I think I'd love to see a helmet mandate in Denver. Um I think that if your scooter can get as fast as the motorcycle or it hits that speed limit, you should be required to w wear that helmet. Uh and I think we need to change the culture around wearing helmets so that less people get hurt. And again, we're as taxpayers are the ones paying for it. You've seen all the you know funding, and it's still not enough that Denver Health gets from the state and from us because people come in uninsured, young people are more of the larger, largely uninsured population. Um, we should be concerned about that. And quite frankly, why do we why would we allow it? But I understand where you're coming from.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

Something for the Mike Johnston suggestion box, correct?

SPEAKER_00 58:51

He wears helmets.

SPEAKER_03 58:52

I've seen him with his helmet on, so but uh have you talked to the mayor about whether or not he would be supportive of a helmet mandate?

SPEAKER_00 58:58

No, but maybe I maybe I will call him. I think that's a good that's a good question. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's bugging you?

SPEAKER_03 59:03

Uh you know, well, the the the fires that are happening in Colorado and Utah are a reminder of how di dire uh the situation is when it comes to our drought and the lack of water. Um but I I I saw a story last week, and it was a Utah story, not a Colorado story, but I think it's really reflective of people not having uh uh not having a feeling of responsibility to the greater community good, and that is Utah's governor, a Republican, uh announced a a fi you know, a fireworks ban for the state of Utah. And I heard all of these people from the magosphere who were just a bit pissed off that they couldn't go blow stuff up on the 4th of July. And how tone-deaf do you have to be when you've got massive fires happening? We lost three big firefighters um in one of those fires in western Colorado, uh eastern Utah. And for people to be saying it's more important for me to blow up fireworks on the Fourth of July than it is to make sure that we're all looking out for each other to try to not create more fires out there. That that bugs me.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:16

I agree with you a hundred percent. I mean, listen, all of the fire bands need to be respected. So right now, I think throughout most of Colorado, you can't have open flames at all, whether that's a charcoal grill or you're setting a campfire. And yes, I know people like to go camping on the 4th of July weekend, but quite frankly, these fires are devastating and our conditions continue to get drier and drier throughout the state. Um we are still in drought conditions throughout most of the state. Uh and we have drones now, we have other technology you can celebrate still in that way. You don't have to do something that could that could literally set entire communities on fire. But that is a mandate.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:51

So I w has Jared Polis announced a ban on fireworks in Colorado? If he did, I I missed it. I'm not sure, but I have seen the fire bands. So and he's been out to Grand Junction, is he's looked at at the at the situation out there. I'm just surprised that we haven't heard something more definitive from the governor on this.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

I don't know. All I've seen is I've seen the camping bands because I was looking at going camping, and I've seen the the um promotion of the drone shows, but I haven't I'm not sure about the the firework ban.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:19

So maybe how about for for 2026? Let's conserve all those fireworks and and let's blow them up on Christmas or in December. Okay. Let's just let let's just put a pin in it this year, okay? We can celebrate America's independence without fireworks. And we love we all love fireworks. I love fireworks, I'm sure you do too. Um but there are times when it just doesn't make sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:41

Yeah, I mean obviously America's independence wasn't just about a firework, you know. And so I think if we want to get back to that, we could actually study the history of our country and we could go out and and participate in democracy in whatever way that looks like. I think that's very patriotic. That's the most patriotic thing to do. Yes. You know? So um all right, well, I guess that's what's bugging us.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:59

Um and on a personal note, I hope you'll have a great 4th of July. What do you what are you doing this year for the fourth?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:04

Thank you so much. Uh well, we have, I think the best parade in Denver, we have the Park Hill Parade that happens right on the fourth. It goes right through my neighborhood. I will be participating in that. It's always fun to see. It's a family event. Um, and I'm really excited to to do that and to go out and to celebrate with folks. It is hot. It's like at one o'clock in the afternoon. But if anyone's listening that's around that wants to come hang out, uh come to the parkill parade.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:27

What's your favorite thing to eat on the fourth of July?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:29

Hot dogs. I don't even have to hesitate. I am the hot dog queen, okay? Give me a glizzy any day, actually, not just on the fourth, and I am a happy camper.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:37

Well, I I am happy that I'm going to my hometown, Peonia, on the western slope. They have their big cherry days festival. Nice. Um, and I some of my friends used to say, is there like a Pit Spit contest? Yes, there is a Pit Spit contest. Do you win? Have you won? I've never been, not that I would admit it to it, but I've never been in the Pit Spit uh contest. But they have a rail, they have like a log splitting contest, but it's just a good, wholesome, small town 4th of July. We have a parade, there's a big thing at the park, uh, there's music and and people coming together and and you get to see all the all those folks that you grew up with. So I'm looking forward to being in Payonia for the fourth of Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:14

That's fun. Okay, so what's your favorite food then for the cherry festival?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:17

Barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

Barbecue, just straight-up barbecue.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:19

Ribs, just anything, anything barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:21

You like to get right up in there.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:22

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

Do you make it or do you go buy it?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:25

Um I well, I like to to to smoke my own ribs. I don't do that at my um at my mom's house, so I'll have to have you over for some of my ribs. I've actually taken take great pride in my ribs.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

I will bring the potato salad. Okay, all right.

unknown 1:03:36

Deal.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

All right. Well, thank you all. That is all the time that we have today on Politics is personal with Leslie and Cole. Thank you so much for listening uh to our growing number of supporters and watchers. We really appreciate your support. We would not be here without you. And of course, at Denver Community Media for having us back in our lovely studio. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:57

And and we love hearing from listeners. So if there are things that you want us to talk about, things you like about the show, maybe some things you don't like about the show, uh let us know because uh you're you're part of uh our family and we appreciate you being there with us. Remember, friends, politics is personal, so keep talking.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:13

Thank you so much for listening. Politics is personal with Leslie and Cole is hosted by Leslie Harrod and Cole Whist. This episode featured Marshall Zellinger and was directed and edited by Jamison Johnson, produced by Leslie Harriard, Cole West, Ian Silveri, and Julie Jackson. Special thanks to Halle Wist, music by JKK. And follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and any site you get your podcast at Politics is Personal with Leslie and Cole. Recorded at Denver Community Media, all rights reserved.