Gingrich, however, is the latest in a revolving list of candidates who have floated to the top of the party’s primary contest as an alternative to effective frontrunner Mitt Romney. PPP recently reported Gingrich leading Romney among Colorado Republicans 37-18, partly due to the fact that Gingrich is drawing the lion’s share of Herman Cain supporters left in the lurch when their man dropped out of the race in the wake of horrifically managed spiraling sex scandals.

That Newt is leading here is an obvious problem for the state GOP. Unaffiliated voters make up roughly a third of the Colorado electorate and Obama is polling way out in front of Gingrich in that demographic. PPP surveyed roughly 800 voters this week in Colorado and found Obama leading among independents by a 56 to 32 point spread.

PPP reported a plus/minus 3.5 percent margin of error in the week’s survey. Director Tom Jensen seemed to be having fun writing up the polling results.

Our new Colorado poll is more evidence that the Newt surge could be disastrous for GOP hopes of beating Barack Obama next year….

As weak as Obama is in Colorado, if the Republicans nominate Newt Gingrich it doesn’t look like it matters. Obama leads Gingrich 50-42 in the state, including a whooping 56-32 advantage with independents. Gingrich is a reviled figure with only 32 percent of voters seeing him favorably to 55 percent with a negative opinion, including a 25/59 spread with independents…

The GOP’s move toward supporting Gingrich is seriously endangering its chances of winning in the fall.

Jensen writes that Romney is running roughly neck and neck with Obama and that, if Republican primary voters can hold their noses and vote to nominate him as their general election candidate, Colorado could “go back into the swing state category.”

“Or it could be another easy Obama win as it was in 2008.”

Got a tip? Story pitch? Send us an e-mail. Follow The Colorado Independent on Twitter.

A new poll from Bloomberg News shows likely Republican Iowa caucusgoers split four ways between Herman Cain, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

But perhaps the most interesting finding of the poll, conducted Nov. 10 to 12, is that 60 percent of respondents said they “could be persuaded” to support another candidate. And with seven weeks before the nation’s first presidential nominating contest, another 10 percent said they have “no first choice candidate.”

Just 29 percent said their “mind is made up” on who they’ll vote for to be the Republican nominee to take on President Obama.

Romney, the perceived national frontrunner, and others may also note just 14 percent of those polled voted for him in the 2008 caucuses, while 58 percent either voted for someone else or didn’t participate. Another 9 percent voted for Paul in 2008, further suggesting the race is wide open.

And Gingrich, who’s enjoying a surge in polling in Iowa and nationwide, may take some pause from the results as well. The poll found 48 percent of voters would rule out voting for a candidate that’s been married three times and had extramarital affairs.

But those polled also said social issues aren’t the most important factor: 24 percent said they are, compared to 71 percent who said fiscal issues are the most critical.

Those findings line up with the poor support measured for U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who have focused much of their message on social issues. Bachmann has 7 percent support in the poll, and Santorum has 6 percent.

The poll, conducted Nov. 10 to 12 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, includes 2,677 interviews with Iowa voters, 503 of which said they were likely to participate in the Jan. 3 caucuses. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Download full poll results here.

Last December, the FCC implemented rules that limited the establishment a “fast-lane” by internet service provides available to those with the highest bid. Under the rules laid out in December by the FCC, telecommunications companies cannot discriminate in what internet content they allow their customers to access. Net neutrality advocates have said that without a framework, large businesses could pay large telecommunications companies to direct internet traffic to their businesses without the consumer knowing that other websites had been skipped over, a practice known as paid prioritization.

That rule takes effect on Nov. 20, but House and Senate Republicans have pushed to have that rule withdrawn through legislative means. The House already passed the bill, and Senate Republicans are pushing a similar one as the deadline approaches. They are using a procedural gimmick in the Senate to force a floor vote without the option of a filibuster.

Republicans have put the issue into a resolution that simply reads that the FCC rule “shall have no force or effect.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Franken penned an column explaining what he feels will be the result if Senate Republicans are successful.

“While millions of Americans have become familiar with the concept of net neutrality, it’s important that we’re all on the same page,” Franken wrote. “Net neutrality isn’t a government takeover of the Internet, as many of my Republican colleagues have alleged. It isn’t even a change from what we have now. Net neutrality has been in place since the very beginning of the Internet.”

He added, “But many Republicans want to change that so that the large corporations they represent can increase their profit margins at the expense of small businesses and consumers.”

Franken has been a champion of net neutrality since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008.

But he also felt the net neutrality rules created by the FCC weren’t strong enough.

“The rule also contains almost no protections for mobile broadband service, remaining silent on the blocking of content, applications and devices,” Franken said in December. “Wireless technology is the future of the Internet, and for many rural Minnesotans, it’s often the only choice for broadband.”

The Obama administration pushed back on Tuesday as well, indicating to Senate Republicans that a veto any bill that weakened net neutrality would be likely.

“The Administration strongly opposes Senate passage of S.J. Res. 6, which would undermine a fundamental part of the Nation’s Open Internet and innovation strategy—an enforceable, effective but flexible policy for keeping the Internet free and open. Today more than ever, the open Internet is essential to job creation, economic growth, and global competitiveness,” the White House said on Tuesday. “If the President is presented with S.J. Res. 6, which would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the Resolution.”

Paradoxically, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the author of the rules repeal, says her bill would encourage an open and free internet.

“The Internet and technology have produced more jobs in this country than just about any other sector. It has been the cradle of innovation, it does not have a problem, and it does not need fixing,” Hutchison said in a statement on Tuesday. “More regulation of the Internet is going to stop the investments, it’s going to stop the creativity — and put our businesses and our providers at a competitive disadvantage with Europeans and others that have kept their Internet free of over-regulation.”

A bill signed into law Monday will make it easier for ski resorts to expand their menu of summer activities.

“After five years of pushing this through Congress, I am ecstatic that my bill has finally been signed into law,” Udall said. “It’s a sign that, even after the contentious year we’ve had in Washington, we can still come together to pass a common-sense fix for communities around the country. It’s not just the local outdoor enthusiasts who benefit from this change; more recreational opportunities are a bigger draw for tourists, who spur economic development in our mountain areas and inject much-needed revenue during slower months and otherwise-tight times. I’ll keep working with the Forest Service and Colorado ski areas to help implement the new law in a way that makes sense for our communities.”

The bill cleans up language written in the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 in order for resorts operating on federal land to receive permits for activities other than alpine and Nordic skiing. The bill is designed to enhance mountain economies by spurring the expansion of bike trails, Frisbee golf courses, zip lines, rope courses, alpine slides and more. Those activities already take place on public and private land at many ski resorts but the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act, as it is called, is widely expected to make the process less cumbersome. Officials say the bill will impact as many as 13 states and 22 of Colorado’s 26 ski resorts.

While festivals and outdoor recreation already attract large crowds to many of America’s ski resorts in the summer, executives such as Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, say Udall’s bill will “add new jobs during the summer and will help increase employment in rural mountain communities across the country.” He called the bill “a major milestone” that will be felt industry-wide.

The president signed the bill Monday.

Even though Colorado’s ski resorts are wildly popular in the summer, they aren’t without their critics.

Last month, Marian Lyman Kirst, an intern for High Country News, wrote about her disappointment with the summer vibes she found in Aspen, Crested Butte and Vail compared to those at ski resorts in Montana, from where she came. She titled her blog “Colorado ski town zombification.”

“What I didn’t expect were the townspeople’s walking-dead demeanor. They didn’t want to eat my brains, exactly, but they sure mumbled and shuffled around a lot,” she wrote on the High Country News website. “What really enraged me, though, (particularly as a fisherman) was my experience at a Crested Butte fly-shop. I went in to buy some hoppers and a license and left appalled. The shop’s two flunkies reeked of weed, looked — for lack of a better word — sticky, and were too stoned to operate the license machine. … Aspen was no better … We walked through Aspen’s downtown to take in the ‘sights’ and get some Italian food at a restaurant our hotel’s concierge recommended. Our waiter was a less sticky-looking version of the fly-shop flunkies: red-eyed, monotone and hugely indifferent. … Places like Aspen and Vail can make summer tourists feel like hapless intruders attempting to rouse a hibernating ski bum from his dreams of powder days and high-speed quads.”

Udall’s bill doesn’t address “sticky” customer service; he’s just glad the bill finally stuck. Udall first introduced legislation to breath more summer life into ski resorts when he was a member of the U.S. House in 2008. He floated the idea again in the Senate but it was dragged down in partisan bickering.

This year the bill moved through Congress with bipartisan sponsorship and zero opposition.

Rep. Michele Bachmann at a rally last year. Photo: Patrick Caldwell

At a speech Monday hosted by the Family Research Council—a conservative Christian organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group—U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann said she would defeat socialism, described leading Republican candidates for the White House as “frugal socialists” and accused Pres. Barack Obama of working to “usurp” the U.S. Constitution.

She said “Washington D.C. will never look the same again after my administration.”

Would pursue federal amendment banning same-sex marriage
Bachmann repeatedly attacked Pres. Barack Obama saying he does not follow the U.S. Constitution.

“President Obama appears intent on ignoring our constitution by abusing his executive power when he chooses which laws he will uphold and which ones he will not,” she said. “We saw him say he will not uphold the law of the land, which is the Defense of Marriage Act.”

DOMA, passed in 1996, holds that the federal government will not recognize same-sex marriages, even those performed in states where it is legal.

She said she would have the American public vote to ban marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“I will work to protect American families from activist judges who are trying to dismantle marriage as a legal institution solely between one man and one woman. Some Republican candidates seem confused by this issue. I am not. It is at the core of my conviction.”

She added, “I want to and I will work for a federal marriage amendment so the courts cannot impose their will on this country. Only a federal marriage amendment can prevent the courts of one state from imposing same-sex marriage on us all.”

During the question period, Bachmann was asked to compare her stance on legal rights for same-sex couples compared to Mitt Romney, who has said he supports some rights for couples such as civil unions and domestic partnerships.

Bachmann dodged the question: ”Again, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I don’t believe in marriages with multiple genders and even multiple partners.”

On abortion, she went after her opponents. “Some Republicans seem to be confused about what it means to be pro-life. I believe it is the role of government to protect life from conception to natural death. I’ll never be confused about that issue and you won’t find you tube clips with me advocating otherwise. For starters, Planned Parenthood will be zeroed out if I am president.”

Bachmann says GOP candidates are ‘frugal socialists’
“President Obama believes in cultivating power unto himself and centralizing power unto himself, he’s been willing to engage in a massive redistribution of wealth and in the politics of an Occupy Wall Street envy to achieve his purposes.”

She said Obama’s stances should be contrasted “with the 10th commandment, which teaches that we should not covet what belongs to our neighbor.”

“I will work to eradicate socialism across the United States government. So many Republicans aspire to be frugal socialists. We can’t restore liberty if the choice a year from now is between a socialist and a frugal socialist,” alluding to Mitt Romney’s status as the GOP presidential front runner.

Urges defeat of child welfare treaty
She said she was also concerned that Obama will push to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty on child welfare that has been signed by all 196 members of the United Nations except for the United States and Somalia. It’s the most widely supported treaty in the world.

The United States hasn’t actually committed to the treaty. The Senate would have to ratify the treaty as it does all treaties.

The treaty is generally opposed by conservative Christian home-schooling groups and religious right leaders on the grounds that it may curtail parental rights, though things like homeschooling aren’t thought to be impacted by the treaty.

“This treaty would threaten the most basic unit of government, that many of you have come here to defend and that’s the family,” she said. “As president, I will withdraw the signature of the United States from this treaty.”

Bachmann believes in ‘liberty for lightbulbs’
On light bulbs, Bachmann said, “I championed the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, I believe in liberty for light bulbs.”

Bachmann’s new book, Core of Conviction, will go on sale later this month. At least eight times during the press event, she mentioned the title of her book, “Core of Conviction,” without ever mentioning she had a forthcoming book.

Politico reports:

The problem: Obama runs the risk of disappointing either labor unions or environmental groups that went to bat for him in 2008, and he can’t really afford to have any of his previous supporters sit on the sidelines next year.

“It’s a hell of a dilemma,” said one environmentalist who believes Obama will delay a decision for a while. “Clearly it would be in his benefit not to have this as a hot potato in his reelect.”

John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil Co. and now head of the Texas-based Citizens for Affordable Energy, predicts that Obama will wait until after the election to make a call on the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries.

“It is much easier to avoid a decision than to make a decision,” Hofmeister said. “And as long as he has not made a decision, he can hold out the hope that he will one day make a decision in their favor.”

“He wins both ways by deferring the decision, and he ultimately wins the loyalty and support of the American people by deciding in favor of the project,” added Hofmeister, who supports the pipeline and believes Obama will eventually approve it. “It’s just a common-sense decision for him to say, ‘Why do I have to decide now?’”

The article also cites environmental leaders saying they’d be fine with that. But would this really be to the president’s benefit? Delaying the decision would also keep the issue alive during an election year, which would undoubtedly mean the massive protests against the pipeline organized by environmentalists over the last few months would likely continue and perhaps even get larger.

Choose Liberty will take place in Orlando on Nov. 12 as part of a series of events organized by conservatives to “start our march towards November 2012 and taking our country back from the hands of the progressives.”

Joe Arpaio states on his website, “I have asked my deputies to train with the federal government so they may help in the fight against the illegal immigration. Today, I am proud to say I have the largest contingency of cross certified law enforcement men and women (160 of them) who are out patrolling in an intensified effort to bring illegal immigrants to justice.”

He adds:

An illegal immigrant breaks the law – local police bring them to jail and charge them with the crimes they committed on the streets. My detention officers take things a step further. They are now trained to follow up with each of those arrested and, if the arrestee is found to be in the country illegally, my officers charge him/her with that crime as well.

Arapaio, who created “Tent City,” writes:

Today, there are about 2000 men and women living in Korean War tents that we received for free from the U.S. military. Inmates sleep in bunk beds, twenty to a tent. They have full access to showers and port-a-johns.

We supply fans and ice water in the summer because temperatures inside the tents can reach as high as 140 degrees. In the winter, when it’s cold, inmates are issued an extra blanket.

A 2009 Time magazine article points out that Arpaio — who this week called on President Obama to release his birth certificate microfiche — “has faced numerous complaints from Amnesty International, the ACLU and other rights groups. His office is being investigated by the Justice Department for alleged discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.”

Americans for Prosperity, which helped organize Choose Liberty, “is an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state, and federal levels.” The group has received millions of dollars from the controversial Koch brothers.

According to Florida Political Press, founded by Florida tea party activists, “the left is planning to keep us in bondage with increasing debt, excessive spending and tougher regulations on individuals and companies.”

In an interview with Omaha, Neb., station KETV, Obama said the State Department — which was expected to make the decision on the pipeline — will instead deliver recommendations to the White House on the proposal.

Obama said he will then consider a variety of factors, including environmental concerns, public health, jobs and energy independence, before making a decision.

“The State Department’s in charge of analyzing this, because there’s a pipeline coming in from Canada,” Obama told KETV’s Rob McCartney in the White House. “They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months, and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also, what’s best for the health of the American people? Because we don’t want for examples aquifers, they’re adversely affected, folks in Nebraska obviously would be directly impacted, and so we want to make sure we’re taking the long view on these issues.

“We need to encourage domestic oil and natural gas production,” Obama added. “We need to make sure that we have energy security and aren’t just relying on Middle East sources. But there’s a way of doing that and still making sure that the health and safety of the American people and folks in Nebraska are protected, and that’s how I’ll be measuring these recommendations when they come to me.”

Earlier this week, the White House press secretary had indicated that the final decision would rest with the State Department.

The ad opens with a match being struck and an announcer saying: “You know the old saying….fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Will Dave Loebsack fool you again?”

It then notes Loebsack support for ARRA, and asks whether he’ll support President Obama’s Americans Jobs Act. It then shows Loebsack’s phone number.

“What will Dave Loebsack do? Tell Dave Loebsack: don’t burn us again,” the announcer says.

Brian Fristch, political director for Loebsack’s campaign, said “Iowans are sick of these constant negative attacks.”

“If Republicans in Washington want to tell Iowans that increasing taxes on working class Iowa families is the position of their candidates, they should step up and say so, instead of once again hiding behind attack ads,” he said.

Fristch noted tax relief was the largest piece of ARRA, and said 99 percent of working Iowans received average tax relief of $1,115 due to the bill.

“Dave’s focus is, and always will be, fighting for an economy that actually works for Iowa families and businesses,” he said.

Gingrich, who’s consistently polled in the bottom half of the Republican field, may have received the most applause of any of the six candidates at the event.

Also speaking were Atlanta businessman Herman Cain; U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann; Texas Gov. Rick Perry; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul; and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. About 1,000 people attended the event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, which was the group’s 11th annual fall banquet. Tickets were $55.

Gingrich said defeating President Obama in 2012 will go a long way toward jump-starting the economy, claiming investors will begin spending and small businesses hiring as soon as the news is out.

“The process of recovery economically is not that difficult,” he said. “I predict that late on election night as it’s clear that Obama has been defeated and the Democratic Senate has been defeated, that late that night the recovery will begin.”

If the right approach is taken through tax cuts, repealing the Dodd-Frank Act and modernizing the Food and Drug Administration, Gingrich said, the economy will turn around quickly.

“If you praise and favor and like people who create jobs and get rid of class warfare at every level you will be astonished how much we will get done, how rapidly people will go back to work,” he said.

Gingrich also advocated for replacing the Environmental Protection Agency with an environmental solutions center, and said he would make permanent any kind of tax credit for wind and solar energy and continue development of crop-based fuels.

“This is the most anti-American energy administration in history and it’s just unbelievable,” he said.

Gingrich did make some comments on abortion and same-sex marriage, saying he would defund Planned Parenthood and devote those funds to adoption services. He also promised to sign an executive order ensuring that no doctor or nurse can be compelled to perform any activity against their will.

He also said “we don’t have to tolerate radical, anti-American judges rewriting the Constitution.”

“Most of our major crises in our culture are driven by radical judges who violate the American Constitution, violate American history and do things that are fundamentally destructive,” he said.