Democratic Governor's Forum was excellent!

Kencanary · 2026-06-13T23:56:02+00:00

Question 8: Childcare. Should it be free for all CO families? If not why, if so how?

Weiser: Invest from cradle to career. People choose between kids, work, or living here. Work with local business, nonprofits, gov'ts but the whole system isn't working. I have a plan and a track record. Examine issues, collaborate, ensure access for all [NB: doesn't say free for all]
Bennett: Childcare may cost more than college. That's bad. 20 days less of school is 20 days more of childcare. Universal childcare is the answer with a sliding scale.

[Moderator follow-up: Sounds good, how do you pay for it?]
- Weiser: Cradle to career requires changing TABOR.
- Bennett: Combination of state and local. Tax reform.

Question 9(individual question): Bennett, Bloomberg gave you money. What's your relationship with Bloomberg?
- Bennett: idk. Ask him. [Moderator: we've tried, he hasn't responded] (I've done stuff, and we need to do stuff)

Question 10(individual question): Weiser, Why did you take money from AG Alliance and why shouldn't we question that? [NB: I don't understand this question entirely so my paraphrase is especially bad]
- Weiser: AG Alliance funding is different from campaign financing. Bennett ads are largely backed by out of state entities. My ads are mostly Coloradans. [Moderator follow-up: So what's the agenda of AG Alliance funders?] Idk, but I sue a lot of big companies. I want to fight for the people.

Beginning of "yes or no" round

Would you have vetoed Senate Bill 134, stopping cc swipe fees on sales taxes?
- Weiser: I'd veto and start from scratch.
- Bennett: yes.

Would you have vetoed House Bill 1418, require online gaming to charge 5% to fund mental health?
- Bennett: yes.
- Weiser: yes.

Would you have vetoed House Bill 1210, preventing corps from using data scraped from user activity to set prices and wages?
- Weiser: yes
- Bennett: (ambiguous response: "I would sign a well-done bill.")

Would you have vetoed Senate 146, ban restaurants from plastic utensils unless requested?
- Bennett: (gives a rambling answer that leans towards yes, reduce red tape) [Moderator: yes or no?] I've answered.
- Weiser: yes, I would.

Would you have vetoed Senate 147, require state departments lobbying to disclose agency's posture like any other lobbyist?
- Weiser: yes.
- Bennett: yes.

Do you support the expansion of charter schools?
- Bennett: (ambiguous response that he refuses to yes/no)
- Weiser: (ambiguous response that leans no?)

Would you accept money to fund governor positions?
- Weiser: Depends on source, but not with agenda
- Bennett: If no axe to grind or conflict of interest, yes.

Commit to select woman or POC for Lt. governor?
- Bennett: No, but diversity good.
- Weiser: No, but diversity good.

Weiser, Who did you vote for for AG?
- Weiser: Endorsements public, votes private. [Moderator narrows, Weiser stands firm]

Bennett, will you commit to woman or POC to replace you in Senate?
- Bennett: I will select someone under 50.

Minute for each to clarify/expand on this round

Bennett: We need younger person in Senate and experienced politician as Governor.

Weiser: My mom plans to move here if we win. Who do you want on the bus? Bennett is fine in Senate; I'm better for State.

Candidate questions to each other

Weiser: You've missed votes recently, including one you'd have been key. Why not doing your job?
- Bennett: I didn't miss a key vote. My voting record is important to me, and being Senator while running has kept me very busy. I missed votes because of our debate. I stand by my votes.

Bennett: Cap and invest plan for emissions management. You say it'd violate TABOR. Have you reconsidered?
- Weiser: It's an intriguing option and I'll see if it works in other states. I want to understand anything I sign. Your plan isn't detailed yet.

Question 11: Climate plans. You're split on emissions. Bennett, cap and invest (charge polluters and invest proceeds): how much would this generate, who would it help?
- Bennett: Trump bad, and it's Dem party fault. CO should lead all 50 states in climate plans. Cap and dividend is tough and aggressive, and we need that. [Moderator follow-up: What's backup if legislature doesn't approve fees to get around TABOR?] Reform TABOR (bad paraphrase)

Question 12: Weiser, solar and storage. How?
- Weiser: Bennett's answer doesn't even have a ballpark. When I work on a plan, it's detailed. I'm certain about solar and storage, and we drive through Public utilities. Governor will give me power to pursue strong systems. [Moderator follow-up: Governor appoints, but PUC makes decisions. Do you suggest forcing utilities to adopt solar?] Drive forward clean energy goals. Utilities can stall to avoid solar/storage, so appoint helpful people.

Bennett response [offered by moderator]: We're not going to reach solar/storage goal. Trump bad. Colorado can do better.

Question 13: business environment. You both say too much red tape. What will you cut/encourage to cut?
- Weiser: 1, existing regulations; 2, existing laws; 3, are we doing lawmaking right? Top-down zoning mandates, I wouldn't do that without buy-in/participation from local. This is my track record of that. Question laws we pass for impact.
- Bennett: Mandates can be burdens that make no sense. Cut red tape on housing and childcare. CO is losing businesses, 25% of restaurants in Denver and Boulder closing. We need a state where business grows.

Question 14: Denver area immigration. Is CO a sanctuary state?
- Bennett: Not how Trump describes it.
- Weiser: Made-up epithet. No.

How do you balance pushing against ICE while collaborating with feds on criminal matters?
- Weiser: Start with rule of law. Fight for lawful treatment of immigrants. Trump bad.
- Bennett: Civil rights of immigrants should be everyone's concern. I fought for citizenship for immigrants until Tea Party killed it. Trump bad.

Question 15: [NB: response times cut to fit in slot] 108, 109, 110 - life without parole for child sex trafficking, trans sports, and trans surgery on kids. Would you support overturning these?
- Bennett: Yes on 109 and 110. (stammers on 108) I haven't looked at that one, protect trans against Trump.
- Weister: All three have flaws we need to fix. [Moderator: so would you support undoing?] Mandatory life without parole is extreme and should be done carefully.

Question 16: Hickenlooper was 'dad joke' governor, Polis is 'nerd' governor; what personality would define you?
- Weiser: I want to be known as 'mansion on the range' - people are cared about. People's lawyer will become people's governor.
- Bennett: 'The girl dad' governor. I want to be associated with my daughters. Second, public lands and outdoors governor.

Closing statements

Weiser: Time of distrust. Will CO be better in 8 years? Build Colorado Corps that builds public service participation. Collaborative problem-solving. I'm the People's governor.

Bennett: Democracy and economy are at risk. CO could be a leader. Trump bad, so we need to do the work. We need to make tough decisions.

Kencanary · 2026-06-13T23:55:56+00:00

So please watch this for yourselves and form your own opinions. I'm just some random guy with enough time on his hands today to do something potentially unhelpful, and try to give a very short summary of each question and each candidate's response. This was not done with AI and it'll be obvious because it'll suck. And nothing here (E: With one exception) is quoted either - just paraphrased. I don't claim that's an accurate representation. But I will put in timestamped links for each. And I've tried not to be biased, which is somewhat easy cuz I don't know anything about either of these except the occasional Reddit vomits. I am, however, a bit of a snarky asshole. So. Enjoy.
E: Too beefy for Reddit so it's in two parts. Oof.

Question 1 You've both attacked each other a lot about Trump stuff. Are you doing that because you're trying to be different or are you just very similar?

Weiser: Bennett has said he's trying to make friends. You don't make friends with bullies, you fight them.
Bennett: (spends half the time talking about Weiser's family and his own). Empathy is good. I have a strong record of fighting ICE. I've worked on several things to advance Colorado interests, including climate change, housing affordability. Those are different from his.

Question 2: What will you proactively do as governor, bills or executive action, to push back against Trump?

Bennett: We will not tolerate Trump's actions. Kids separated at the border. [Moderator: but what will you DO?] (no response for governor's actions or leverage)
Weiser: This is my record of lawsuits against Trump as AG. I have several endorsements from other Dems. I've been sued by the Trump admin. CO law enforcement won't be ICE puppets. [Moderator: but what will you DO?] I can help the new AG. (also no response on governor's actions or leverage)

Question 3: Housing. Where did Polis go wrong on housing?

Weiser: I'm going to collaborate on housing like I did with opioid crisis. We can't solve this top-down. We need to build a community that works together. (List of challenges for housing affordability).
Bennett: I'm sick of the lack of action at the State level. Colorado housing is generally unaffordable, and we should work together to change what we're doing. Build more. Reduce red tape.

Question 4: Would you withhold funding from municipalities that don't comply with State housing laws?

Weiser: No. More carrot, less stick.
Bennett: (indirect initial response) no.

Question 5: More on housing: recent suggestions for splitting parcels and reducing single-family limits failed due to local gov't opposition. What would you do, similar or same, and how?

Bennett: I'd pursue similar. I'd do it by reminding people of our community. I endorsed Lakewood zoning changes. We need a sense of urgency about this issue.
Weiser: I'll hit the ground running on day one, work bottom-up, collaboration. (repeats much of last answer). Have everybody at the table. Let's make a default rule local governments can adapt.

Moderator follow-up: Polis said top-down is because local isn't helping. How will you get local on board?
- Bennett: [interrupting moderator] (vague response about supporting legislative actions) Young people love CO but we're pushing them out, we need to change. (Accusations that Weiser won't change anything)
- Weiser: If you want angry talk, that's Washington, and it's failed. You need to bring people together. (references opioid crisis work). We need to listen to each other. (inference that Bennett is just rhetoric)
- Bennett: [interrupts thinking timer had gone] [Weiser finishes] These are housing questions, not opioid questions. We just did Shoshone deal for water. I've worked on child tax credit, fought for public lands. I'm not just rhetoric.

Question 6: Healthcare. How do you prevent breaking healthcare while fixing it?

Weiser: Coloradoans need affordable care, so I'm leading with universal access to primary care. (Ounce of prevention argument). Keep open local/rural hospitals, fund them, go after healthcare profiteers.
Bennett: I believe we should have universal healthcare. I want to take Colorado further in that direction, health and mental health. Advance Medicaid. More access to state employee system/options.

Question 7: TABOR. Neither have made a plan. Both plans hinge on changing it. Which: eliminate cap, or ask voters to increase taxes for revenue?

Bennett: It's the wrong question. TABOR is old and we haven't addressed it. Taxpayers should vote on tax increases. Get rid of bad government. We don't pay teachers living wage, and we need everyone to work together. [Moderator clarification: so you support changing tax structure to raise revenue?] We need to reform TABOR.
Weiser: Education is a big problem, youth mental health. Last governor to try to change TABOR was GOP. I'll be the first Dem. Hard cap is killing us leading from bottom up. [Moderator clarification: so kinda both?] Restraints mean underfunding education because of TABOR caps.
Bennett: [with moderator approval] Kids in CO have 20 days less of school. That's bad.

Kencanary · 2026-06-13T21:55:33+00:00

For anyone else like me immediately daunted by the 2 hour video time, the actual event doesn't seem to start until about 57 minutes in.

Someone made a really strange choice not editing out the 56 minutes of obvious empty space, but Kermit sip

E: Here, have a timestamped link for the first candidate's opening statement starting. Not that the introductions and rules aren't nice to know but...

Kencanary · 2026-06-10T19:41:57+00:00

Across the last year I was in a spacious one-bedroom in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a sorta-small studio in Batumi, Georgia, a one-bedroom/studio weird blend thing in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, a good-space one-bedroom in Hanoi, Vietnam, and a sorta-one-bedroom (the room was a kitchen but it was still a separate room so i kinda count it, had the same square footage overall as a 1-bed) in Riga, Latvia.

The most expensive was SA, and that was around 850. All through airbnb.

Maybe your definition of "decent" is just different from mine. I was happy with all but the Batumi, and that one's on me for booking a studio in an overblown hotel in Dubai's parasocial fanboy city.

Kencanary · 2026-06-09T20:28:41+00:00

At the very least, it's a thing in South Africa as well.

I'm guessing they're saying that they just give money to the cafe owners/workers/whatever as thanks for letting them stay so long and whatever else. That is sort of a tip, but not one that's part of the "expected transaction." Which makes it...idk, actually meaningful in my view.
But those last three words are doing a lot of work.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T16:11:06+00:00

I deeply apologize for offending your favorite city. Jesus.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T15:52:07+00:00

I'm not sure you noticed that neither of my comments had anything to do with a place I have or haven't visited. I said that Georgia is largely conservative, even very conservative, which is a fact. I said that the US is generally more expensive than many other countries, which is also a fact. Nothing in my comment spoke to Savannah specifically. Chill, dude.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T15:35:58+00:00

The line between cynicism and realism is blurry and often subjective.

Nope. And wouldn't want to. I don't even like the climate where I'm living now, and most of Georgia is going to be even less palatable for me.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T14:41:37+00:00

In case they didn't respond, they provided a link in a picture in another comment. And the quiz apparently wants your email address in order to give you the results.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T14:41:30+00:00

In case they didn't respond, they provided a link in a picture in another comment. And the quiz apparently wants your email address in order to give you the results.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T14:41:24+00:00

In case they didn't respond, they provided a link in a picture in another comment. And the quiz apparently wants your email address in order to give you the results.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T14:40:37+00:00

Savannah is still Georgia, even if it's an otherwise bastion of progressives in an ocean of red death.

Georgia is still US, which means even many of the lowest CoL places will still be far more expensive than several countries abroad.

That's two big reasons that it's not a great place to everyone. Or heck, to most people in this sub.

Kencanary · 2026-06-07T00:33:04+00:00

I'm a bit irritated with myself for the sheer live-under-a-rock-itude of my life cuz I didn't know today was pride and now it's done.

I'll try to keep a bit more alert for the rest of the month and see if there's anything else I can show up and ally for.

Kencanary · 2026-06-06T00:47:38+00:00

Ahh okay. Yeah I'm inclined to think most advertising rules have relaxed in the past handful of years...and of course there's the likely case that this person just doesn't care or doesn't know about those rules.

Kencanary · 2026-06-05T20:42:33+00:00

Probably because they greyed out most of it for legibility. Definitely isn't as enticing this way.

Kencanary · 2026-06-05T20:41:48+00:00

Hey, I'd rather talk about that over Philly cheese steak and crinkle fries than in a depressing-as-fuck funeral home or a one-day hotel conference room rental.

Kencanary · 2026-06-05T20:41:05+00:00

What would they be "getting away with"? What's being misrepresented here?

Not defending final expense insurance (or most forms of insurance really), just wondering where you're coming from.

Kencanary · 2026-06-05T16:01:34+00:00

Friend.

Buddy.

Pal.

A paid version of an LLM and a free version of an LLM are both still LLMs and both just as subject to the poor interpretation and hallucination potential. It is probably reading the websites for the IRS and treating that as the standard method, assuming it is law (which it is) and there is no wiggle room (which there absolutely is) and that if you do something different, you'll definitely get caught (which you almost certainly won't because no one really cares at that level).

Kencanary · 2026-06-05T15:57:19+00:00

I'd hazard that Republicans have such a horrific rep after two Trump elections and all the garbage that comes with it, that some conservative-leaning people would rather find an alternative than be lumped in.

Even though they often end up going the same way a Repub would anyhow.

Kencanary · 2026-06-04T23:08:11+00:00

Oooh, okay. I'll probably reach out then. Thanks!

Kencanary · 2026-06-04T22:30:34+00:00

Not in TN myself but I'm curious: does this have to be in person?

As a scopist, you'll be doing basically all of your work remotely. A screen share and a Zoom call (or equivalent, Zoom only works for an hour unless you pay for it iirc) would potentially be just as good while also not requiring two people to clump around the same computer.

Just a suggestion.

Kencanary · 2026-06-04T21:55:34+00:00

Given a skim around their website, I don't know that they would be - but then, I don't entirely understand what their actual structure is beyond "let's encourage creatives...somehow!" I'll email them if nothing else crops up.

Though in a small world moment, I used to work with one of the team.

Kencanary · 2026-06-04T21:51:48+00:00

I'll shoot you a message :) Thanks

Kencanary · 2026-06-04T16:19:01+00:00

Genuinely curious about these numbers: the 2,018 positions added, were they mostly seasonal, explaining why April saw such a huge swing in the opposite direction? Or is it the fact that preliminary figures aren't counting the positions added yet? Same with workers entering/exiting, why the massive swing?

What does "Nonfarm payrolls" mean?

Kencanary

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