Author: Eric Sondermann
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Democrats rebounding without learning necessary lessons | SONDERMANN
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“When we fight, we win!” That, reportedly, was the chant heard over and over again at the Colorado Democratic Assembly a week ago. It suggests that pugilism has been the piece missing from the Democratic toolkit. Perhaps it was just me, but I seem to recall Democrats exhibiting plenty of fight back in 2024. The…
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The insular bubble of caucuses and assemblies | SONDERMANN
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Nearly 30 years ago, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan coined the term “irrational exuberance” to describe the overheated stock market. That descriptive phrase could also apply to much of the political realm. The hype in politics often grossly exceeds the reality on the ground. In that vein, let’s focus on Colorado’s precinct caucuses held earlier…
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One small step for dialing back the partisanship | SONDERMANN
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Much ink, including a good deal of my own, has been spilled on the excesses of super-charged, toxic partisanship in this current era. Except for true believers along with those who profit from this all-consuming poison, there is broad agreement that it needs to be toned way down and dialed far back. The nearly 51%…
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Michael Bennet and ‘the question’ | SONDERMANN
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The train usually runs only one way. The route goes from the state Capitol to Washington, D.C. State legislators become members of Congress; governors become senators. See Hickenlooper, John. Including our junior senator, no matter his years, a total of 12 current U.S. senators arrived there after first serving stints as governors of their respective…
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The biggest accelerant of our political tribalism | SONDERMANN
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In years past, my go-to word in describing our political condition was “polarization.” I used it endlessly and still do on occasion. But as time has moved on, and the divide has only grown in depth and toxicity, polarization no longer seems to fully capture the magnitude of what has overtaken us. In its place,…
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Unsolicited advice to both Republicans and Democrats | SONDERMANN
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This even-numbered year will be one of political turnover in Colorado with the governor’s chair opening up, along with the other state executive offices (attorney general, state treasurer, and secretary of state), all due to term limits. A U.S. Senate seat will also be on the ballot. The ultra-competitive 8th district to Denver’s north will…
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8 exemplars to guide us into the new year | SONDERMANN
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It started as a one-off in my first year of writing this regular column. To ring in the new year back in the eventful year of 2020, I offered a shoutout to eight Coloradans who served as models of how to lead lives to meaning, decency and contribution. The response to that initial piece quickly…
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Julie Gonzales’s long but not impossible odds | SONDERMANN
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Allow me to start with a flashback. It was Thanksgiving 2024, just over 12 months back. For the first time, our son Clarke hosted the family Thanksgiving near New York City. It is a sign of our aging when the kids start to step into the role of host and convenor. The occasion was lovely.…
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Dear Abby: A better answer to your question | SONDERMANN
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It was the beginning of October. I had been invited to speak to a class on political journalism at Colorado College, my old alma mater. The class was taught by none other than Vince Bzdek, the editor-in-chief of this paper and its sister publications. This was a relatively small seminar of perhaps a dozen undergraduate…
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COLUMN: Significance of Democratic triumph still unknown
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Excuse the truism, but winning sure beats losing. Rarely has a political party needed a victory as badly as Democrats did in the off-year elections two weeks ago. Theirs was a party in despair, struggling to come to terms with how they were so thoroughly routed by Donald Trump and his partisans last November and…