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Colorado GOP notebook

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 4, 2008 at 1:06 p.m.
Updated September 4, 2008 at 6:57 a.m.

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Colorado delegates Gabe Schwartz and Sharon Johnson, both of Denver, and Keri Brehm, of Castle Rock.

Photo by Lynn Bartels / The Rocky

Colorado delegates Gabe Schwartz and Sharon Johnson, both of Denver, and Keri Brehm, of Castle Rock.

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Puckish authenticity

Those large homemade- looking "Hockey Moms for Palin" signs that were waved during Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday night were actually manufactured by the McCain campaign and handed out before her speech with instructions on how and when to wave them.

It's a new world

When former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens checked his BlackBerry he saw that the McCain campaign needed help with an interview request.

When he read the e-mail he got another reminder that he's no longer in office.

"KOAA TV out of Colorado Springs is requesting a 5-minute TV interview with Monica Owens Thursday."

Monica is Owens' eldest child and a delegate to the convention.

Keystone props

The award for best prop goes to the Pennsylvania delegates, who are seated in front of Colorado's delegates.

The Keystone State folks wave yellow towels, a la the Pittsburgh Steelers, that read: "Pennsylvania for McCain. We're not bitter."

The line is in reference to Barack Obama's remarks in San Francisco in which he suggested some were bitter about their economic circumstances. It has made the rounds throughout the campaign and was repeated by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

He has a growl

Sarah Palin told the joke about the hockey mom and a pit bull. U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, of Fort Morgan, modified it a bit at the Colorado delegation breakfast Thursday.

"Do you know the difference between Dick Wadhams and a pit bull? Dick Wadhams is scarier," she said to laughter.

Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, enjoyed the comparison.

Ready to vote

The youngest member of the Colorado delegation is alternate Athena Dalton, of Longmont, who turns 20 on Dec. 25.

"That's Karl Rove's birthday, too," she said.

This November she'll cast her first vote for president, and she's particularly excited about Sarah Palin appearing on the ticket.

Dalton is a student at the University of Colorado who works on campaigns.

Cross-dressing

The Colorado delegation has been wearing a variety of Western-style shirt uniforms all weekend. On Wednesday, delegate Keri Brehm's Rockmount Ranch Western shirt was too big. Delegate Gabe Schwartz's shirt was too small.

Delegate Sharon Johnson, of Denver, took one look at their shirts and said, "Come here." She made them switch and their shirts fit perfectly. Schwartz's new shirt smelled of perfume, but no problem.

"This is why we call Sharon 'Mom,' " Brehm said.

Make it stop

The most overused phrase at the Democratic National Convention in Denver is the most overused phrase at the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities.

It has several variations, all with a baseball theme:

"Barack Obama hit it out of the park" or "Sarah Palin hit a home run."

If true, the Rockies and Minnesota Twins are standing by.

In the house

Three of Colorado's seven U.S. representatives are Republican: Tom Tancredo, of Littleton, Doug Lamborn, of Colorado Springs and Marilyn Musgrave, of Fort Morgan. They mingled with the delegation Wednesday.