The Get More Smarter Podcast - A Weekly Show About Colorado Politics

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the State Republican Party met to vote on ending its participation in Colorado’s open primary…but that failed and they’re spending big money on a lawsuit about it anyway. Lauren Boebert gets called out, again, for taking credit for things she actually opposed; she’s also very confused about the meaning of sarcasm. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman may have pantsed himself ahead of his re-election effort this November, and Republicans around the country keep burning their hands on the same hot stove, over and over again.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, former President Donald Trump has been indicted -- again -- this time for trying to stop the certification of an election he knew that he lost and then for leading a wide-ranging conspiracy to try and stay in power. We unpack what this indictment means for our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado who also apparently got a new Democratic primary opponent. The Colorado Republican Party has fallen badly out of favor with Colorado’s largest group of voters (Unaffiliated voters), and in order to try to win them back has decided to try to ban them from participating in Republican Primary Elections. And...we play a new game! We’ll find out if it’s one of those where no matter who wins, we all lose.  

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, our 8th favorite member of congress from Colorado took a safe Republican district and made it a tossup, all by herself! Speaking of congressional races, friend of the show Dr. Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo has gotten herself an opponent in Colorado’s newest congressional race, and let’s just say...they’re not sending their best. Denver officially has a new Mayor -- one Mike leaves and one Mike takes over -- and Senator Bennet is out there fighting for the troops while Republican Senators are out there fighting culture wars and using our service members as pawns in their weird little game. BUT FIRST...he’s back! The 43rd Governor of the Great State of Colorado, Jared Polis joins us once again to talk about the 2023 legislative session; the state of the Colorado GOP; renewable energy and clean tech; the Libertarian Party; and the best part about being Governor of the greatest state in the nation.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Colorado GOP Civil War enters the Endgame stage...maybe. Just when we thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse or any stupider, it does. Republican Parties in Arizona and Michigan are as broke as the one here in Colorado -- what's the connection? Friend of the show Seth Masket appears in POLITICO to talk about surveying GOP county party chairs across the country, and -- surprise! -- most of them still really like Donald Trump. But first, Shad Murib, brand spankin’ new chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, joins us to talk about how Colorado went Blue and how Democrats can take the next steps in 2024 to oust Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, what are all these MAGA Republicans doing funding my centrist organization? Our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado is (still) more concerned with what Twitter thinks than doing anything constructive for her district; and the ethically compromised United States Supreme Court wraps up this term by doing some surprisingly good things on elections and gerrymandering...right before essentially ending Affirmative Action in colleges as we know it. But first...Spencer Soicher, weekend anchor and political reporter for KRDO in Colorado Springs joins us to chat about politics down there off I-25; sports versus political newscasting; and what on earth is going on with El Paso County Republicans (and the rest of the Colorado GOP in general). 

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, it’s a floor fight! Our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado helps prove what we’ve been saying for years: Elect a bunch of clowns, and you'll get a f***ing circus. The new Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party is hands down the best one the GOP has ever had in Colorado...at least as far as Democrats are concerned. And Republican Mike Coffman, the Mayor of Aurora, is trying to become king of the third largest city in the state, or something. Our guest this week is Dr. Erik Murdock, Interim Executive Director of The Access Fund. We talk about the CORE act, the PARK act, and how legislation around rock climbing may be the key to bipartisanship in Washington. 

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Dark Brandon signed the debt ceiling bill to avert a global economic catastrophe, for now, and House Republicans are revolting! (But not after supplying a sufficient number of votes to pass the bill in the first place) As a result, we have occasion to ask our favorite question, "What the Buck?" and check in with our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado as she breaks the first rule of holes...over and over and over again. Guns are the number one killer of children in the country, so it’s no surprise that the firearms-obsessed GOP is losing serious ground with young people -- even young Republicans. But first...the election in Denver is finally over, and Mike Johnston is the new Mayor of that city to the east. We have our two Denver experts back on the show: Bree Davies and Paul Karolyi from City Cast Denver join us once more to break down the final tally and ask “is there room for two guys from Lakewood in Mike Johnston’s Denver?”

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, we take this show on the road to visit State Treasurer Dave Young and look at all the weird stuff in the vault near his office. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy got a debt ceiling deal that’s about as good as it could possibly be (for Democrats), so don’t tell anyone! Our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado -- Rep. Lauren Boebert -- spent so much time trying to get attention for voting no on the debt ceiling bill that she forgot to show up and actually vote no on the debt ceiling deal. And the Denver Mayor’s race ending about as strangely as it began.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the Colorado Republican Party isn’t just morally bankrupt! No, the Grand Old Party may actually be financially bankrupt as well, and the national party may bankrupt the entire nation! Yay, fiscal responsibility! Yet another fiscally conservative Republican who lit 5 million dollars of his own money on fire in 2022 losing to Michael Bennet may be talked into lighting another pile of his own money on fire in losing to another Colorado Democrat in 2024. Ron DeSantis made a DeSasterous entrance into a now-very-crowded GOP presidential field and seemingly DeStroyed DeServers at Twitter. And we check in on the Denver mayor’s race with just one week to go. But first, as Christian nationalism goes from a theoretical threat to a really real oh-crap-here-it-is threat, we check in with Rob Boston, senior adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, to see what kinda Constitution these conservatives are reading.

Send us a message! Really!This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Republicans are losing municipal races across the country as Donald Trump continues to destroy the party, and one of those races is in what at least used to be Colorado’s conservative stronghold. Friend of the pod, Senator John Hickenlooper, seems to share our ranking for our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado -- and he has a banger OpEd in the Grand Junction Sentinel this week to prove it. Scott “There is No" Bottoms, who is either our 18th or 19th favorite Republican in the Colorado House, gives up the game on GOP obstruction. And someone with a podcast less popular than ours is lying to his audience, himself, or more likely both. But first...perhaps we could call this his exit interview...Alan Salazar, Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the godfather of top Democratic Staff in Colorado comes back on the pod to talk all things local government -- including the final days of the race for Denver Mayor.