Author: Eric Sondermann

Desperate times call for desperate measures. For Democrats, a party I left more than a quarter-century ago in favor of unaffiliated status and independent mind, their current situation would seem to qualify. Arguably, the same would apply for a broader swath of Americans if we are to take seriously concerns as to what a second…

There is much on the line in 2024. Some suggest that democracy itself, at least the American kind, is at stake. My point is not at all to minimize the consequence of the coming election. However, even before the year was underway, we saw in rather vivid relief that the argument about democracy cuts both…

The New Year is upon us. For some, that means parties, silly hats, ball drops, assorted resolutions, gym memberships and off-key renditions of Auld Lang Syne. On my end, the turning of the calendar calls for my annual recognition of eight particularly distinguished Coloradans. I call them exemplars for the example they set of how…

It’s the end of the year, amidst holiday cheer After this loathing and fear, will someone please hold my beer Even in rose-colored glasses, 2023 was not all that stout Let’s take stock of what happened and what it’s about   By George, the new Rep. Santos was exposed as a con His tall tales…

Dear Dad, It seems impossible, but Dec. 20 marks your 100th birthday. Even as you have been gone from us for over 45 of those years, having passed away a couple of months shy of turning 55. Who knows what, if anything, the hereafter holds for the soul? That remains the great mystery. Clearly, this…

Elisabeth Epps, meet Lauren Boebert. Tim Hernandez, let me introduce you to Dave Williams. And so on. Nationally and here at home, purveyors of extremism on both political poles are gaining currency at the same time they grow ever more annoying and poisonous to any attempt at improved discourse and governance. Off the top, let…

We live in an era of the perpetual presidential campaign, yet it seems somehow strange that actual voting is just around the corner. The Iowa caucuses – this year for Republicans only – are but six weeks away. The New Hampshire primary will follow eight days later. That brief interim should give mathematically-challenged Iowans time to tabulate…

It was a dinner out about 18 months ago with our friends, Heather Lamm and Alex Ooms, along with Heather’s mom, Colorado’s former first lady. After settling in and ordering drinks, Alex, out of nowhere, posed perhaps the best question I had heard in a long while. He asked, simply and directly, as to what…

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn would be advised to keep his head down. Even as he hardly needs my advice on the matter. Laying low as the walking embodiment of nondescript and undistinguished comes rather naturally to him. Though relative to Colorado’s two other Republican members of Congress, Lamborn is a font of political stability. Looking…