Colorado: Dave Schultheis

Senate Minority Leader John Penry is apparently beginning to seriously engage in discussions about running for Governor, and may soon file paperwork to make it official. Penry is doing this quietly while he tries to gauge support for a potential run against Gov. Bill Ritter, and trying to keep this quiet is probably the smartest thing Penry has done in months.

Our prediction? Penry doesn't actually end up running for Governor in 2010. And here's why...
Penry has long been touted by Republicans as a "rising star" in the Party, but like many "rising stars" who have come before him (from both parties), Penry's just not ready to move from "rising" to actual "star.

Good advice every time they hear it--too bad they never seem to listen, as the Pueblo Chieftain reports:
The Republican Party's message has been all wrong, according to GOP member Nelson Balido.

"We haven't been doing a good job telling our story," Balido said in an interview before his speech Saturday night at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Pueblo Convention Center.

Balido told the local GOP that the party needs to rebuild itself, strategy and that it needs a more consistent dialogue with voters - especially Hispanics.

"Ronald Reagan said something in the '80s: 'Hispanics are more Republican, and they just don't know it.

As the Denver Post reports:
Sen. Dave Schultheis says the Colorado Department of Transportation is wasting mucho dinero by running ads in Spanish that urge drivers to buckle up.

"All these ads are going to do is provide one more assimilation off-ramp for new arrivals," Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, said today. "Bilingualism in our buckle-up ads - just like bilingualism in our schools - will only encourage the further balkanization of our culture, reduce the pressure on new immigrants to learn English and make it harder in the long run for immigrants to become Americans."

The department is holding a press conference to announce the TV ad campaign, its first ever Spanish ad campaign, on Tuesday.

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In this edition of Winners & Losers, a bunch of congressional candidates have a good week, while we get a view of Mr. TABOR that we would have rather not had. Also some losers come out of the GOP assembly and the 2nd District Court. So check in with Wally Edge for this week's Winners & Losers and get your Friday off to the best start possible. | CLICK HERE