UPDATE 2: Tim Hoover gets around to writing about the cheating. Better late than never.

UPDATE: WhoSaidYouSaid has video of Chairman Carrera lying through his teeth about the different deadlines for Democrats and Republicans.



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If you want to know the back story of the unethical fiasco forced upon Coloradans yesterday by Democrats and their lap dog Chairman Mario Carrera over reapportionment, don't read Tim Hoover's cockamamie narrative. Read The Denver Post editorial board head Curtis Hubbard's post today detailing the back room scheme developed by Democrats to force their "politically vindictive" deal down the throats of Coloradans.  

In a bid to force through a last minute map, which was clearly disallowed by rules set by Chairman Carrera, the Democrats released their real map at 10 pm the night before the meeting. This ambush was done in the dark of night, with Republicans under the assumption they couldn't construct new maps, and Democrat operatives still hacking away at theirs for four extra days.  

From Curtis Hubbard's excellent post today detailing the unethical back room dealing:

This morning I asked [Reapportionment Commission staff member Jerry] Barry whether Republicans were ever given a comparable notice that new plans could be delivered through Sunday.  

"No," was his response.

Asked if he felt there had been a level playing field, Barry said: "I think I don't have a response. I think I probably need to communicate with all of the commissioners my understanding of the process and if they want me to speak to the press about anything else."

While Hubbard deserves a great deal of credit for covering this unfolding fiasco quickly and getting to the heart of the cheating, a hat tip is also due to Kelly Maher of WhoSaidYouSaid. Soon after word came of the ambush map, Kelly sent a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request to the Commission for emails between the Democrat commissioners. After Kelly's request, the Commission released the emails to The Denver Post.  

What Hubbard has revealed is a plan so unethical and dirty that the whole process has been tarred. Forget the Midnight Gerrymander of 2003. This takes partisan power plays to a new level.  

High dollar Democrat donor and "wolf in sheep's clothing" Chairman Carrera allowed the Democrats to sneak around crafting maps that would purposefully pit Republicans against each other, without a single district combining two Democrat incumbents, while the Republicans were busy chatting up Grandma at Thanksgiving dinner, none the wiser.    
You wouldn't have gleaned that from the atrocious story trying to pass itself off as journalism written by Tim Hoover. Unbelievably, he turns his story into a he said, she said narrative, refusing to mention pertinent facts or cut through the terrible spin proffered up by the Democrats. While other journalists finally came around to the conclusion that it was important to let their readers know that Mario Carrera is not just an "Unaffiliated" but a big time Democrat donor, Hoover pressed on with the BS charade of Carrera as simply an Unaffiliated voter.  

Nor did he find it necessary to point out the obvious: Democrats had one set of rules and Republicans another. In a story about cheating, it's kind of an important distinction.  

While the GOP members napped off the tryptophan from the turkey over the long weekend, Democrat operatives were busy planning one of the more vindictive and spiteful moves we can recall in recent history.

What ultimately may prove the most damaging to the Democrats is not the malicious intent in the maps, but the downright dirty, no-good tactics they employed to reach their goal.  

Democrats LOVE to talk about fairness. Obama  doesn't seem to shut up about "paying your fair share of taxes." They railed on Secretary of State Scott Gessler about following the law and requiring ballots only be mailed to active voters, claiming it was unfair to inactive voters.  

Well, when it comes to one of the most important processes in politics, redrawing state legislative lines for the next decade, Democrats threw out their sense of fairness, along with the rules.  

The Chairman of the Commission unfairly and unethically pretended to be an Unaffiliated voter. He has lied to the 1/3 of Coloradans not associated with a political party, claiming to be an unaffiliated voter all the while dropping serious chunks of change into a laundry list of Democrat political campaigns.

And Democrats unfairly rigged the process to their advantage, following one set of guidelines for themselves while Republicans were following what they understood to be the clearly set out time line.  

We'd love to hear what state Senator and Democrat commission member Morgan Carroll has to say. She has long fancied herself the good government type. Is this her idea of good government?  

Does she think the rules were broken and call into question the validity of the map approved yesterday?

Does she think the Commission needs to have another vote where both sides are given a level playing field?