The conventional wisdom about political campaigns is that voters don’t care about foreign policy. Political consultants advise their clients to focus on “kitchen table” issues like jobs, health care, education and safe neighborhoods and schools. I’ve long believed that this piece of campaign orthodoxy was based on a false premise: the problem isn’t that voters […]
Daniel Baer
Special to The Colorado Sun
Twitter: @danbbaer
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Political campaigns must go on, and they still need you — even during a pandemic
If you conducted a survey of political candidates and asked them to name the best and worst parts of running for office, the vast majority would tell you that their favorite part is talking to voters, small business owners, activists and others about real issues they face. And an even larger majority would tell you […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Dan Baer: Cory Gardner and the gun industry are blocking efforts to end violence against women
In 1994, Congress passed a landmark law called the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). It took important steps to combat violent behavior and domestic abuse against women by giving law enforcement the resources to track down and apprehend serial abusers, prohibiting those abusers from possessing guns, strengthening penalties against domestic violence and funding community organizations […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Universal national service would produce better citizens and a stronger America
Toward the end of his career, Sen. John McCain worked with Sen. Jack Reed to create, as part of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service. Questions about the need to modernize the Selective Service registration system, including whether it should include women, precipitated the creation of […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Education funding increase is a big step forward for Colorado students and families
Earlier this month, the Joint Budget Committee in the state legislature approved a 12.9 percent increase in the budget allocation to support Colorado’s public institutions of higher education. This increase, which was strongly supported by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and was part of both former Gov. John Hickenlooper’s and Gov. Jared Polis’ […]