“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.”
Abraham Lincoln
Great politicians are people who are willing to lose a campaign before losing their principles. Terrible politicians are those who would lose their principles before losing a campaign.
Campaigns should be contests of not just the candidates themselves but also the ideas and solutions they want to bring to the office they seek. That is why we look with a jaundice eye at any candidate who runs for public office at the behest of Political Entrepreneuers and Republicrats like former State House Representatives Bill Kaufman and Don Marostica.
Whether Loveland attorney Richard Ball decides to follow his Republicrat friends’ likely advice to avoid taking a stand on controversial issues while campaigning or even worse pretends to be something he is not remains to be seen. Ball is his own man and only he can make that decision.
LovelandPolitics published a story about the recent foray of a self-described “moderate” Republican business cabal into local Democratic politics. We invite you to read the story which was a collaborative effort with contributions from people not usually involved with LovelandPolitics.
Please feel welcome to throw-in your two cents or make any corrections you feel are necessary.
Thanks
I personally would greatly appreciate it very much if you made the distinction between “Republican” and “Conservative”. They are not the same thing.
Thank you.
I am not a Republican but can you tell us if Bill Kaufman still attends those functions? It just seems like he only remains Republican to endorse Democrats. I personally vote for the person not the party but it just kind of seems like check fraud or something to me. He runs around saying he is endorsing another non-Republican but is he really Republican?
It seems these people aren’t really Republican nor Democratic. No is this about conservatives vs. liberals or vs. moderates; it’s not about social issues, in fact. The common thread to these candidates and their backers seems to be about getting handouts for their cronies.
Andrew Boucher is moving to South Carolina? Does anyone know the specifics, so we can warn the people of his new hometown of his coming.
Your reporting is true. As a Republican, it’s sad to see local party politics so twisted by these political entrepreneurs. Fortunately, they seem to have mostly gone bankrupt even with their subisidies. Many have moved and those that linger here have become less relevant, a happy development for all.
Urban Savage – yes I do walk the walk. Look at the McWhinney archive to find literally dozens of major news stories this website first broke that were initially ignored by the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
People who rely only on the Reporter-Herald for local news will either be behind on some stories or learning about events months after the story breaks because of a reluctance by the managing editor to cover news that might embarrass his friends or his advertisers.
However, our local daily newspaper does report local sports, publishes a community calender, classifieds, RH Line, police blotter not to mention is a place for local businesses to advertise more economically than in regional newspapers.
Therefore, I have subscribed to the paper for over a decade now and will continue to subscribe. Like all hometown papers, they are struggling to survive in an age when people can instantly access weather and other information traditionally provided by newspapers in minutes on the internet for free.
They have some good local reporters who do a fairly good job now covering the city council as well. One could argue that was the result of The Coloradoan starting Loveland Connection and creating some healthy competition for news reporting in Loveland.
Unlike serious mainstream newspapers the RH holds on to some small town traditions that do not serve their readers in a growing city the size of Loveland. One is a rule that they will not report any news from a source who doesn’t want to be identified and another is the belief they need to serve in a promotional capacity for local governments and businesses.
In a town of say 20,000 this makes perfect sense when most professionals know one another and the newspaper will soon be out of business if they offend anyone important in the community. But in a growing city of over 60,000 residents people want the hard news and not some story that simply repeats pablum sent to the newspaper in a news release.
Lastly, the Editor still suffers (in the small town sense) from the need to make all local political discourse “polite.” His constant editing of Letters to the Editor only frustrates local residents who want to be heard. Perhaps the most common reaction I hear from these victims of his censorship pen is they believe he has a political axe to grind.
Perhaps, but this is not a reason to want to see everyone working at the paper lose their jobs. The Loveland Reporter-Herald is an important institution in the community and its longevity and prosperity should be everyone’s concern.
They just need to grow away from acting like a trade journal or newspaper of a very small town. Residents of Loveland who are looking for objective hard news reporting and opposing views on the editorial pages will continue to be disappointed. This is because the Editor values too much his friendships with some city leaders and a small cabal of business people in town.
Not until the Reporter-Herald starts to consider its role more like a daily newspaper that puts its readers first and less like the Chamber of Commerce newsletter will their circulation improve. In the meantime, we struggle to publish what we discover that is not normally available in the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
Pretty off base article, from someone who was a guest to this enterprise group once or twice. Its pretty much business men and women talking about current bills that might affect business and hearing about candidates. And i’ve never seen bill kaufman there or marostica.
Thank you for this article, and as was stated, there is a huge difference between Republicans and Conservatives. Bill Kaufman and Don Marostica are both in the political game for personal game, even if that involves the detriment of the area or region. Both of these men seem to believe that the government should be the arbiter of success and failure, which does not fit the limited government beliefs of the Reagan Republicans. These people are the check pants Republicans of the Eisenhower era, as long as we collect a little, everything is okay! It makes me sick to think that I was fooled by Marostica when he first ran for the legislature, but I will never forget the insolence he exhibited to those of us who attended his dog and pony show at the City Council Chambers where he attempted to justify his “Growth of Government at all Costs” plan. Both of those guys should go ahead and join the Democrat Party, maybe they can get a little payola from George Soros to help with the destruction of this country.
I could not have said it better myself Greg.
RJ you have confused the fish with the fishermen. I too was lured to an Enterprise meeting as a small business owner in Ft. Collins. It was Andrew and he wanted to pitch me on how they were working for less government regulation and lower taxes. I enjoyed his blog and was really impressed with what he was writing.
Maybe I asked too many question because they never called me back after just the one meeting. I wanted to know more details about how they decided what candidate to support.
In other words, to echo the Urban Savage: Business as usual. You criticize others, but you offer no realistic solutions to valid concerns and problems.
By the way: The business model you are using – it didn’t work for The Rocky Mountain Chronicle or The Rocky Mountain Bullhorn. It won’t work, period.
Business model? Are you kidding? Nothing about this website is a business.
This is a volunteer website that doesn’t take advertising or even donations from NPR type “sponsors.” Any links are for your information and certainly not something we are paid to provide.
Think of it more like an act philanthropy to provide vital information and publish controversial comments by concerned citizens like you about Loveland politics.
We have no illusions about receiving a plaque or any recognition from the Mayor or City Council. Why can’t virtue can be its own reward?
I’m mystified by your last post, Tony, as I generally tend to agree with you.
Was its particularly caustic nature due to the fact that this article portrays some Democrats in unflattering light? Is this site only ok when it exposes the dark side of certain Republicans?
As one who puts principle before ANY party, I welcome any light that exposes the candidates on any side of the aisle. That includes who is funding them, what they stand for, etc. If they can’t stand on their own merits or withstand such scrutiny, then I say they probably aren’t good -either for one’s party or the public. Gilliland, for instance, was a horrible Mayor. She was as un-democratic in nature as they come… did whatever her patrons in the real estate development industry (like McWhinney) wanted; always tried to do it behind closed doors, etc. I don’t know about this Ball guy as he wasn’t in any office, but as it looks like he’s backed by some of the same crew, it makes me wonder. If I want a Republican, I’ll vote for the real item. Otherwise, I like the idea of an opposition party / candidate.
One thing I’ve always admired the publisher of this news source for is that (s)he focuses on the issues and the principles at stake, and does NOT simply advocate for one Party or one group… doesn’t just regurgitate the KoolAid of the talk show talking heads, the wealthy few, or other self-serving propagandists.
Of course anyone can choose to put Party first…it’s their right. But I hope this web will continue to put an informed public before such things.
I agree with you, Harry. This site provides information not found anywhere else. There has been some great reporting that shines a light on issues all around; damn the torpedoes, etc. — and is independent in a way the traditional media thinks it cannot be (unless those running the show, starting with the publisher, have more courage than is usually the case). It’s called real journalism. Wish more Loveland residents would join the conversation. As for those with site oversight, virtue is indeed its own reward. And is appreciated on this front. By the way, I’m not the other Tony. I always sign my full name.
Tony Benjamin,
Loveland, Colorado
I can assure you, the first person to approach Rich Ball about running was a Democrat, not Marostica or Kaufman. Mr. Ball may have consulted with them as any good candidate would, but that is hardly an indication of Mr. Ball being a shadow republican candidate. His support of moderates in the Republican party is more an indication of the extremism of his opponent and nothing else.
Look for Rich to win this election a la Jim Roberts vs. Stan Matsunaka. Hardcore extremist Roberts (Lundberg) vs. moderate Democrat Matsunaka (Ball).
The previous poster’s claim doesn’t reassure about who Ball represents; and doesn’t offer any basis for the claim. As to who first approached Ball to run, it’s clear from published stories and financial reports that Kaufman & other RINO elites were very early Ball supporters.
Hang on to your wallet when someone tells you so-and-so is a moderate. Too often that’s just code for biz-as-usual corporate welfare scammers. They’re in both parties, and it seems the party hacks themselves care more about just getting the seat than what they do once they win it…so they’re easily manipulated by those who use politics for personal gain and who know exactly what they’ll do when they get in…i.e. to carry water for their cronies. As I recall, thats what Masunaka did when he was in office.