“I want to point out something important. Everybody that stands before you moving forward, who says that they want your vote to be the Republican nominee for fill-in-the-blank, you must insist on finding out whom they voted for for president.”

That might sound like a progressive media critic urging reporters to find out where conservatives candidates stand on Trump, but it’s actually GOP gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler speaking at a celebration of Trump’s first 100 days in office.

@GeorgeBrauchler speaks to a capacity crowd in Castle Rock, CO. 5/15/17 #copolitics pic.twitter.com/pWDzKNuD1M

— George Brauchler (@GB4CO) May 16, 2017

“And I’m here to tell you I voted for Donald Trump,” continued Brauchler, saying how impressed he was with the turnout. “…If you listen to the news, you think we’re on the verge of some sort of Constitutional crisis. This tells me we’re all in pretty damn good hands right now in terms of the United States of America.”

Later Brauchler, who’s the Arapahoe County District Attorney, told a conservative radio host that Trump’s first 100 days have been “productive.” And he bashed the media as “biased” and, with Trump’s help, making “mountains out of molehills.”

Mountains out of molehills?

By grabbing onto Trump like he’s doing, Brauchler is embracing the conventional wisdom that bedding down with the right is essential to winning the GOP primary next year.

But remember that Dick Wadhams (or was it Jack Graham?) finished second behind Darryl Glenn in the 2016 GOP U.S. Senate primary last year. And who knows what impact the open primaries will have on the Republican primary, which is looking to be a crazy clash of dynasties and cash.

So, yeah, the GOP Trump base seems energized, but it’s still surprising that when Brauchler looks across the state, all he seems to see is Trump. During his KNUS 710-AM interview (below), he said Colorado Republicans see “steady progress forward on a lot of things that people care about.” And, Brauchler said on air, “within the party, when you go to the Lincoln Day dinners…you can’t find a Trump naysayer in the group.”

Not a Trump naysayer! And this was the day Trump leaked classified information to Russians in the White House.

So how far will the GOP primary candidates go in their courtship of Trump voters?

Reporters should take a cue from Brauchler and not wait until the September to tell this dramatic and high-stakes story.

Listen to Brauchler on KNUS 710-AM May

U.S.  Sen. Cory Gardner told a conservative talk-radio host Monday that he wants people to “drop this hyperbole that we continue to hear” about the problems with GOP health care proposal and put in place a health care system that will work.

KNUS 710-AM host Steve Kelley didn’t ask the simple question of what “hyperbole” Gardner is referring to. Kelley played Gardner a series of audio clips of Democrats saying among other things, that the bill would cause Americans to suffer and die, how it would adversely impact the most vulnerable, and how it would give the rich a tax break.

So where’s the hyperbole Gardner is talking about?

The fact that an estimated 24 million people will lose their health insurance by 2026, in the likely event that this bill is comparable to the last one?

The fact that the latest Obamacare repeal doesn’t protect people with pre-existing medical conditions (like diabetes, cancer, even pregnancy)?

The fact that the rich would enjoy a tax cut of over $600 billion?

Where’s the hyperbole that’s bothering Gardner? (listen to him here on May 8, hour 1, at 13 min)

But you wouldn’t expect a conservative talk radio host to put these types of questions to Gardner, and the senator knows it.

That’s probably why, when the New York Times called his office last week to discuss the health care bill, Gardner didn’t return the call.

That’s also probably why Gardner has appeared on over 15 conservative talk radio shows in Colorado this year.

And why he’s appeared at exactly zero town halls.

CNN reported this morning that Jennifer Sisk, who complained that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch made disparaging comments about women during a lecture to his law school class, was “a registered Democrat who once worked for former Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado.”

Fair enough.

But the political background of a former Gorsuch law student who defended the SCOTUS nominee was not provided.

CNN quoted former Gorsuch law student, Catherine Holtgrewe, as saying Gorsuch never spoke “disrespectfully to or about anyone” — without identifying Holtgewe as a former Romney staffer and the volunteer coordinator of the failed 2006 gubernatorial campaign of Bob Beauprez. She works for a conservative think tank.

CNN quoted a letter, first reported by NPR, that Sisk wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee, claiming that Gorsuch told her class that “companies must ask females about their family and pregnancy plans to protect the company,” CNN reported.

Sisk writes that she was “distressed by the tenor of his comments” and made her concerns known to the law school’s administration.

Sisk, a registered Democrat who once worked for former Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, confirmed to CNN that she authored the letter.

In discussing Holtgrewe, CNN reported:

Another former student, Catherine Holtgrewe, said she “never heard Judge Gorsuch ever speak disrespectfully to or about anyone.”

“As a former student, I am a witness to the respect that he showed towards his female students and fellow professors at Colorado Law,” she said in a statement. “The supposed remarks he made in his 2016 Legal Ethics class are completely out of character, and I find very hard to believe are accurately relayed.”

Obviously, Holtgrewe’s political background is relevant to the story, as is Sisk’s. CNN need not have included Sisk’s political party.

I did not immediately receive a response to a tweet to Ashley Killough, a CNN political producer, whose byline appeared on the piece.

Last week, the Trump Administration decided against offering the job of national security adviser to former CIA director David Petraeus, after the retired four-star general indicated he wanted to have authority over personnel.

Patraeus was Rep. Mike Coffman’s (R-Aurora) favored candidate for Trump’s national security adviser–despite Patraeus’ resignation from the CIA as the FBI was gathering evidence that Patraeus leaked classified documents to his biographer with whom he was having an affair.

“I’ve worked with general Patraeus,” Coffman told KNUS host Krista Kafer Feb. 14. “I know he had a misstep, obviously, in terms of working with classified information. Much less than what Hillary Clinton did [laughs]. And he was certainly disciplined for it. But I think he’s well-trusted here on Capitol Hill, and I think by the American people as well. I think he would do a great job as the national security adviser to the president.”

(Listen here at 5 min 20 seconds.)

Kafer should have pointed out that unlike Clinton, Patraeus faced felony charges for his leaks, eventually agreeing to a plea-deal conviction.

FBI Director James Comey, who’s no friend of Hillary Clinton, and other experts have stated that Patraeus’ actions shouldn’t be compared to Clinton’s use of a private email server. She faced no charges, much less a conviction. And she didn’t hide documents in the attic. CNN reported on Comey’s testimony on this topic in July:

Comey pointed out that Petraeus not only shared the classified information, but also hid the documents in his attic and then lied to investigators.

“So you have obstruction of justice, you have intentional misconduct and a vast quantity of information,” Comey said. “He admitted he knew that was the wrong thing to do. That is a perfect illustration of the kind of cases that get prosecuted.”

He added: “In my mind, it illustrates importantly the distinction to this case.”

Kafer should have called crazy on Coffman’s comparison of Patraeus to Hillary Clinton.

Republican leaders at the Colorado State Capitol are trying to improve their media relations, with off-the-record happy hours, weekly press briefings, and more, according to Feb. 6 report by Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Bente Birkeland (included below).

That’s great news! I’m serious, because journalists can actually help facilitate good policy making, if Democrats and Republicans help them do their job.

Rep. Chris Holbert (R-Colorado Springs) says he and Senate President Kevin Grantham (R-Canon City) want to be more “open and inclusive” and get to know the press better.

Rep. Justin Everett (R-Littleton) told Birkeland that Republicans “think there’s a liberal media bias, and then when you kind of see it in little things” it reinforces the perception. But Everett thinks better personal relationships lead to better stories.

He’s right!

Here are a four tips for Republicans. Obviously these are offered from a progressive perspective, but I don’t think serious conservatives would disagree with me on this (plus I wrote a book about it):

1. Don’t make sweeping generalizations about journalism, as some Republicans do when they complain openly about “liberal media bias” when they see a story they disagree with. There’s no study or proof of any “liberal media bias” at the local level, and making the accusation is rude. So be very specific about your complaints about coverage, and you’ll find reporters will be receptive to your criticism.
2. Be factual. This is key. Journalists look for the truth, supported by facts. They don’t want to hear unsupportable statements like blaming Obamacare for Colorado budget woes.
3. Don’t be boring. Think about your visual appeal.
4. Don’t blow up your long-term relationships over a disagreement. Today’s news is history tomorrow.
5. Don’t compliment Trump’s media-relations strategy, as Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling) did in Birkeland’s piece, when he expressed admiration for Trump for calling journalism fake news. As wrote in a post yesterday, don’t insult reporters by calling their work “fake news,” even if they make a mistake.

Oh, and can progressive journalists attend those happy hours?

Is an error committed by a professional news outlet “fake news?”

In response to Time Magazine’s Jan. 24 note to readers, in which the news outlet apologized for its erroneous report that an MLK bust had been removed from the Oval Office, conservatives cried “fake news,” even though Time corrected the error within an hour of committing it–and apologized to the White House.

Here in Colorado, conservatives have trotted out the “fake news” label when they criticize the news as well.

Calling errors by real reporters “fake news” is obviously a cheap attack on journalism, because it conflates the fake-news phenomenon, as it’s been debated since late last year, with inevitable errors committed by professional reporters–errors that are usually corrected as soon as possible.

The term “fake news” refers to a specific category of false information: falsehoods that are packaged to look like journalism and spread on social media, especially Facebook–which has agreed to try to eliminate “fake news,” not journalism, from its platform.

It’s not just Facebook executives but also conservatives and progressives who want to fight fake news.

So can we agree to see “fake news” as a problem that’s not caused by professional journalists? And can we agree that professional journalism should not be called “fake news?”

Don’t get me wrong. Journalists should be held accountable. God knows, reporters deserve criticism. But let’s not throw the “Fake News” salvo at Colorado journalists.

I know that’s not going to happen soon, with Trump leading the fake-news attack on journalists, but still, we can do better in Colorado.

After a six-year run, John Rebchook has shuttered his Denver Real Estate Watch blog, but he’d fire up the platform again if the right sponsor makes the right offer.

Rebchook posted Dec. 13, “With only one sponsor it does not make financial sense to continue to publish DREW, given the huge commitment of time and effort it requires.”

A former Rocky Mountain News reporter, Rebchook practiced independent journalism under a for-profit business model, funding his blog through sponsorships.

He told me that in his blog posts, he “looked at issues objectively,” and at times “some people didn’t like that, frankly.”

Does he think, based on his experience, that the for-profit model is unworkable for journalist like him covering real estate or related issues?

“My experience shows it’s tough,” he said. “I did it for almost seven years. I never made a whole lot of money at it. I went the sponsorship route, but perhaps it would have been better to have individual adveristing. But that’s tough too.”

“Somebody could do it better than I did,” he said. “It was time consuming. I was a one-person show.”

Asked about remaining real estate coverage in metro Denver, Rebchook said there’s a handful of news entities still covering beat, which, he pointed out, has wide interest.

“There’s more coverage of real estate than the marijuana business,” he said.

Rebchook is working part time at the Colorado Real Estate Journal, a trade publication for commercial real estate.

Trump today called respected journalists “liars,” continuing an unprecedented attack on journalism that’s reflected in GOP circles across the country.

In an email last week citing an NBC story about Trump dodging reporters, the Pueblo County Republican Party claimed that the “liberal news media” tried to “submarine” Trump during the election, and it urged Republicans to “be even more skeptical” of the news in the coming years, because reporters are doing “anything and everything to try to make [Trump] look bad.”

“A word to fellow Republicans,” wrote Pueblo Republicans. ” A leopard doesn’t change its spots. The liberal news media did everything they could to submarine President Elect Donald Trump’s campaign.  Now they continue to do anything and everything to try to make him look bad even if it’s a lame report on going to a steak dinner without notifying them.  We have been skeptical of the liberal news media, both printed and televised, in the past but especially during the election.  We should be even more skeptical for the next four (eight) years.”

Reached by phone to discuss the comment, Pueblo County Republican Chair George Rivera said he believes news consumers should “always follow up” and “do background reseaarch” to make sure what they are reading or hearing is accurate, “whether it be on CNN or Fox News.”

Rivera, who served briefly as Colorado state senator after a Democrat was recalled in 2013, said he believes that media are often biased against the “conservative side,” based his own observations.

Public affairs TV host Aaron Harber will moderate two debate-watch panels at Regis University Wed., discussing media coverage of the presidential campaign and the Oct. 19 presidential debate.

The panelists are former Denver news anchor Tamara Banks, Editor of The Denver Post, Lee Ann Colacioppo, KNUS Radio Host Krista Kafer, and yours truly.

A 6 p.m. panel, in the Mountain View Room of Peter Claver Hall at Regis, will address media coverage of the presidential race to date, as well as what can be expected going forward. An 8:30 p.m. panel will discuss the debate itself, which will be shown at 7 p.m. on a large screen with live tweeting.

The event is free, and questions from the audience will be encouraged. Doors open and 5:30.

A livestream of both panels will be carried by Regis and made available to members of the Colorado Broadcasters Association.

A news release about the event quoted CBA President Justin Sasso: “We’re very pleased to work with Aaron and his team as well as Regis University to bring this nonpartisan public affairs educational opportunity to Colorado television and radio stations across the state right at such a crucial juncture in the election cycle when citizens are receiving their ballots.”

The release also quoted Colorado Press Association CEO Jerry Raehal: “Given the prominent print journalists on the panels and the fact many Colorado publications have Websites which can offer the live-streaming of the event, this is a great public service for everyone in Colorado.  Colorado publications exist to serve their communities so we’re delighted to partner with Aaron, a CPA member, to bring these discussions to our members’ readers across the entire State.”

John Hickey, Regis University Associate Dean and Chair of the Communications Department, stated via a news release: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Colorado citizens to hear from and interact with some of the best-known and most insightful journalists in our state. We are especially grateful to have someone of Aaron’s caliber — who is known for his balanced and effective moderating skills in challenging debate situations — leading this effort.”

Moderator Aaron Harber stated, “We’re delighted to work with Dean Hickey and everyone at Regis University to bring this opportunity to as many people as possible.  By live-streaming the event, Regis is making this as accessible as possible to millions of Coloradans. I’m also honored by the incredible line-up of journalists that we have on our two panels.”

Harbor is moderating a in-depth series, called Your Decision 2016, on aspects of Colorado’s upcoming election.

I’ve previously chronicled the various positions of Colorado Republicans on Trump, but this time I ran into problems categorizing their stances.  As you’ll see below, there’s Never Trump, Dumped Trump, Maybe Trump, Love Trump, and many more.

It’s confusing to be the bean counter (me), but it’s undoubtedly far more taxing to be them, trying to figure out where they stand on their standard bearer.

In any case, below is my handy guide–and please send me new information and updates, as the list is changing rapidly with each debate and video tape.

I haven’t seen a tally like this in the Colorado media—though it’s been good to see numerous outlets reporting on the shifting loyalties of top GOP officials toward Trump.

Elected Officials Who Jumped Aboard the Trump Train, AND Affirmed Support after The Release of Trump’s Pussy Comments

State Sen. Laura Woods (In January, she called him one of her two favorite presidential candidates. In August, she called him the “people’s candidate,” and last week she affirmed her support and agreed that no presidential candidate is “perfect.”)

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (affirmed support here)

El Paso Country Commissioner Peggy Littleton

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (affirmed support here)

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (affirmed support here)

Elected Officials who Backed Trump, Dumped Him, but Haven’t Said Whom They Will Vote for

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (His spokeswoman said her boss would “absolutely” back the GOP presidential nominee, but Coffman later hedged, and now Coffman says he won’t vote for Trump.)

Sen. Cory Gardner (once called Trump a “buffoon,” then said he’d vote for him (after being asked seven times), and then dumped him.

Candidate Who Jumped OFF the Trump Train, But Is Now Reconsidering

El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn

Elected Officials Who’ve Expressed their Support for Trump but Not Necessarily Confirmed it since the Pussy Video

State Rep. J Paul Brown

Former State Rep. Greg Brophy  (if Trump is nominee)

State Sen. President Bill Cadman (if Trump is nominee)

A reporter characterized State Rep. Don Coram as a Trump fan

State Sen. Vicki Marble (Facebook)

State Rep. Patrick Neville.

State Sen. Tim Neville.

State Rep. Clarice Navarro (here and here and elsewhere)

State Rep. Dan Thurlow.

Elected Officials Who Were Undecided Along the Way

State Rep. Kathleen Conti, who’s said, “I’m hearing growing support for [Libertarian] Gary Johnson.”

State Rep. Justin Everett

State Sen. Kevin Grantham.

State Rep. Yuelin Willet. 

Former Elected Officials Backing Trump

Former Colorado Senate President John Andrews

Former Rep. Bob Beauprez

Former Rep. Jon Keyser (He reiterated  his support here.)

Former CU Regent Tom Lucero

Former State Rep. Spencer Swalm (an “out-of-the-closet” endorser)

Former Elected Officials Who Will Not Vote for Trump

Former State Sen. Shawn Mitchell (also left GOP, posting on Facebook, “Whores don’t merit unwavering loyalty.”).

Candidates Backing Trump

George Athanasopoulos (Running against Perlmutter)

Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Doty

House District 1 candidate Raymond Garcia

Casper Stockham, who’s the Republican challenging Rep. Diana DeGette.

House District 14 candidate Jeff Williams

Notable Republicans Who said, “We May Be Seeing the Final months of the Existence of the Republican Party”

Former Rep. Bob Schaffer

Colorado GOP Officials Who’ve Left Republican Party

Vice Chair of Rio Grande County GOP Patrick Crowder

Chair of House District 43 Republicans Craig Steiner.

Activist Jennifer Raiffie (Facebook)