Voters give Lang Sias an earful about Obama, economy

Posted June 24, 2010, 5:44 pm MT

By Lynn Bartels

Denver Post Staff Writer

A recent Denver Post poll found Coloradans think jobs and economy is the No. 1 issue facing the country today, and Lang Sias heard the same thing on the campaign trail.

Republican Lang Sias greets Tom McDougal in a Lakewood neighborhood Wednesday night. (Photo by Kenneth D. Lyons, The Denver Post)

Sias, one of two Republicans running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, walked Lakewood precincts last night.
“How’s the economy treating you?” Sias asked 26-year-old Nicole Chavez.
“Not too good,” she responded. “I have a good job but my boyfriend’s unemployed right now.”

Sias, a pilot from Arvada, and Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier square off in the Aug. 10 primary. The winner faces U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, who is vying for his third term.
The 7th District, on Denver’s western, northern and eastern boundaries, is a swing congressional district, with 113,360 Democrats, 92,357 unaffiliated voters and 86,777 Republicans. The unaffiliated voters are crucial to deciding which party wins the seat, and the national mood makes it tough for Democrats.
Sias heard plenty of complaints about the Obama administration and the Democratic-led Congress while knocking on doors, just as Frazier has.

Posted June 25, 2010, 9:59 am MT

5280 digs into Shepherd story

 5280 magazine this month has an intriguing story on the downfall of Willie Shepherd, a Denver powerbroker who once dreamed of a top job with Obama.

Here’s how the magazine bills the piece:

Along the way to becoming one of the city’s most influential figures, politically wired attorney Willie Shepherd bullied, belittled, lied, and then some. And his fellow partners at Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert failed to stop him until two junior attorneys took a stand.

The article, by Maximillian Potter, looks at Shepherd’s role in raising money for the Democratic National Convention in Denver as well as his legal billing processes that helped do him in.
The article begins by talking about an exclusive VIP party the first night of the convention at Tamayo restaurant.

“It was filled with local and national VIPs … and positioned in the middle of the first floor was attorney Willie E. Shepherd. …
“Even if you hadn’t recognized Shepherd upon entering the VIP bash at Tamayo, you likely would have pegged him as a somebody, maybe the host, which would have been fine by him. … This was the time, he told colleagues, when he would make the jump: Maybe he would be appointed Colorado’s U.S. attorney; maybe he’d get a seat in Obama’s cabinet.”

You can read the entire legal/political drama, “Power Broken,” by clicking here.