Electoral College and Colorado’s caucuses
Re: “Electoral-vote change gains,” Jan. 23 news story.
I read with interest state Sen. Ken Gordon’s idea of splitting the electoral vote, giving the popular vote-getter the majority of the state’s electoral votes. I would hope this is the start of doing away with the Electoral College entirely.
A true democracy is one person, one vote, and the majority winner is the one who is elected. I don’t think it’s fair for a candidate to win the popular vote but lose because one state has more electoral votes. Look what we got because of the Florida vote.
It’s a shame that candidates have to campaign in a few states with the most electoral votes and pander to them. Why vote in the states that have only a few of them? Just hold the election in California, New York and Florida.
Howard Botnick, Aurora
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Re: “Stacking caucus deck; Dems aim to lift state’s stature in presidential race,” Jan. 28 news story.
Some have recently suggested the very bad idea of moving Colorado’s caucus date up to February in 2008. If anything, it should be moved back to April or even to May. The warmer weather would increase participation, whereas the February date will very likely just kill it off. People who care about grassroots and neighborhoods should speak out about this now.
John Wren, Denver
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I don’t know if it’s hypocrisy or stupidity. On one hand, Democrats claim they can make Colorado more relevant in the presidential selection process by moving the caucuses up to February. On the other hand, Democrats in the legislature, led by Sen. Ken Gordon, are trying to make Colorado one of the least relevant states in the nation by mandating that all of our electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the popular vote – without regard for the will of this state’s electorate.
If Gordon’s legislation passes and Gov. Bill Ritter signs it, they may as well hold the caucuses after the election. On Mars.
Rich Keenan, Colorado Springs
City Council’s decision to hold special election
Re: “One election too many,” Jan. 25 editorial.
The Post suggests that my colleagues and I who voted in favor of the January special election owe voters an explanation and an apology. But I would vote today just as I did on Dec. 26.
Let me explain why the statement from Alton Dillard of the Election Commission, regarding “the rushed timeframe that didn’t allow for routine updating of voter databases,” is erroneous. When the City Council took this action, the Election Commission and the council agreed that the customary post-November election purge of voting records should not take place. We did not want to run the risk of listing voters as inactive who were among the estimated 18,000-20,000 disenfranchised November voters who may have wanted to vote.
When Mr. Dillard said the commission would have used January to accomplish the purging, he was defending the commission regarding the number of returned ballots. But he need not be defensive because it is normal to have this many ballots returned. When I served as election commissioner, we held the first all-mail election in November 2001 and a similar percentage was returned. The same was the case for the all-mail election held in November 2003. Now that the election has been held, the commission will update the voter records in preparation for our May election.
Marcia Johnson, Denver City Council
Learning Spanish from a local radio station
Re: “Ferrufino’s KBNO plan strives to keep things local,” Jan. 30 Cindy Rodríguez column.
Thank you for the story about KBNO 1280-AM. I want to learn Spanish, so I watch Spanish-language telenovas (I’m especially fond of “La Fea Mas Bella”) and “Sabado Gigante.” I do not usually listen to Spanish-language radio. I will now try KBNO because, as Cindy Rodríguez reported, it is locally owned.
Radio talk is more difficult than TV to understand for a non-Spanish speaker, but I want to support local programming.
Victoria Berge, Denver
Why the International tourney can’t get Tiger
Re: “International still lacks star appeal,” Jan. 25 sports story.
Regarding the impending fate of our local golf tournament, I’m somewhat perplexed as to what the mystery is about Tiger Woods’ non-involvement. Yes, part of the problem has to do with scheduling, but the main issue is the format. Why would Tiger, a player who takes pride in his aggregate score and ability to outlast the rest of the field, play in a venue where he could be eliminated after two days, and where he has to start from scratch on the final day? After all, he could have the best score of the week and still lose the tournament, which has happened on occasion in the past. Playing at this altitude is an additional hindrance, especially for someone who hits the ball as hard as Tiger does, and might mess up his sense of distance when he returns to sea level.
I’m sure International founder Jack Vickers is a nice chap, but his pre-eminence in Colorado is hardly a factor for the world’s best player. Your suggestion that slipping Tiger $500,000 at a social occasion might make an impression, but hardly matches the $2 million-plus he garners at Dubai and other tournaments overseas. It’s all about economics and sense, guys.
John L. Bellante, Denver
No Child Left Behind
Re: “Educators assail No Child Left Behind,” Jan. 23 news story.
My son did not read at grade level until this year – sixth grade. He has been at grade level in every other subject every year. Should he have been held back so that the school would be at 100 percent profiency? If he had been, he would not be reading at the level he is now and he would not be at his current levels in science, social studies and math.
The belief that every child should be reading at grade ignores individual differences in children as well as their educational background before they came to that school. Schools should be about educating each individual child, not about making politicians get votes.
Kay D. Kerlin, Westminster
In defense of unions
Letter-writer John Alcorn (Jan. 26 Open Forum) states that “Over the past couple of decades, unions have thought only how we can gouge the company.”
I beg to differ. As an airline pilot and a member of the Airline Pilots Association, over the last 10 years I have watched as we have given up pay, benefits and in some cases totally lost our retirement plans to help our companies survive. What did management do? They gave themselves bonuses! It’s not just in the airline industry, but in every industry. Forty years ago, the average CEO pay was 30 times the average employees pay. Today it is more than 400. So who is gouging whom?
Roy Wilson, Thornton
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In my experience as a union leader, it is the union that plays the role of employee advocate, most often because the employer does not. Historically, unions forced employers to deal with working conditions, fair wages and benefits. I don’t call adequately paying employees corporate gouging.
Part of the reason jobs are outsourced is that foreign labor is cheap. Who is earning the profits from these outsourced jobs?
If Gov. Bill Ritter signs House Bill 1072, it will move Colorado forward to become a more labor- friendly state. Businesses should view this positively. They can attract employees who want their rights protected, not dictated and arbitrarily enforced, employees who want to earn fair, living wages and benefits.
Is some of the business opposition to this bill because of a perceived threat to their profits?
The climate still exists where companies do not take care of their employees. This is why unions still serve a function in the American workplace.
Amy Grant, Denver
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