Dana Perino AP

By Christa Marshall - With Tony Snow expected to return to the White House today after a month-long absence following a recurrence of cancer, acting press secretary Dana Perino will return to a behind-the-scenes communications role.

The 34-year-old Parker native and CSU-Pueblo graduate began her press secretary career working for former Rep. Dan Schaefer, R-Colo., before moving in 2001 to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she was tapped last year to serve as Snow’s deputy.

On Friday, Perino spoke with Denver Post staff writer Christa Marshall about her time in the spotlight. >> MORE

Number of candidates in the debate: 8 (Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn; Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y; Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C; Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M; Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del; Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio; Former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska; Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Number of candidates who are current U.S. senators: 4

Number of candidates who are former U.S senators: 2

Number of candidates who have owned guns in their adult lifetime, by their own admission: 5 (Biden, Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich, Richardson)

Number of candidates who said they would go along with Kucinich’s attempt to impeach Vice President Cheney: 0

Most attacked candidate of the night: Barack Obama, who had to defend himself from simultaneous attacks by Kucinich and Gravel about whether he intends to start a war with Iran

Number of candidates with experience leading an executive branch of government: 2 (Kucinich and Richardson)

Number of candidates who said they would raise taxes to pay for universal health care: 1 (Edwards)

Total number of questions: 64

Number of dark suits with red ties: 4

Quote picks of the night: >> MORE

By the Denver Post – Colorado’s congressional delegation split along party lines Wednesday on a war-funding measure that suggests a timeline for troop withdrawals.

Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, Marilyn Musgrave of Fort Morgan and Tom Tancredo of Littleton voted against the bill.

They opposed the timeline and what they called the “pork,” extra funding for special interests added to attract votes. >> MORE

Rudy Giuliani AP

By Christa Marshall – Just when you thought the 2008 presidential race might focus on often-ignored topics such as carbon sequestration and declining Medicare funds, the politics of September 11, 2001, to the campaign trail.

Speaking in New Hampshire Tuesday, former New York City mayor and presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said the country would be safer with a Republican president.

“The Democrats do not understand the full nature and scope of the terrorist war against us,” he said. “If one of them gets elected we will be back to our pre-Sept. 11 attitude of defense.” >> MORE

Although he has not declared his candidacy officially, Rep. Mark Udall has hired two Coloradans to help run his 2008 Senate campaign.

The Colorado Democrat announced Tuesday that former state Democratic Party Executive Director Mike Melanson will be his campaign manager, and former Udall staffer Jennifer Rokala will serve as finance director.

“Mike knows Colorado, he understands the challenges facing working families, and he’s worked across party lines to get things done,” Udall said. “Jennifer has played a valuable leadership role on my previous campaigns and I am grateful that she has accepted this important position as well.” >> MORE

Last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to add the Wiccan pentacle to a list of approved religious symbols available for engraving on veteran’s headstones.

The decision came as the result of a lawsuit filed last year by Americans United for Separation of Church and State on the behalf of several military families. A settlement in the case was reached Friday.

There are 1,800 Wiccans in the armed forces, according to court documents in the case.

Now that the Wiccan pentacle has been added officially to the Veterans Affairs Web site, we thought it would be interesting to take a peek at the other approved religious symbols.

You can view them here: http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp

AP

By Anne C. Mulkern in Washington - Leaders of a congressional effort to boost embryonic stem-cell research will huddle soon to develop strategies for passing their bill around President Bush’s promised veto.

One option is adding the legislation to a bill Bush will have a harder time vetoing.

“There’s going to be a bill at some time that President Bush has to sign,” said Jennifer Mullin, spokeswoman for Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, a co-sponsor of the bill passed in the Senate earlier this month. >> MORE

By Christa Marshall - The University of Colorado has made a dramatic turnaround in terms of credibility, but is threatened by a growing lack of public confidence in the higher education system, CU President Hank Brown said Monday.

Brown told the National Press Club that reforms during his tenure such as streamlining staff have eased the university’s problems with state funding and improved the quality and diversity of its student body.

But Brown, who will leave his post next year, said CU remains vulnerable to crisis unless universities begin to provide detailed data about student performance and progress to alleviate public concerns about the quality of college education. >> MORE

Presidential hopeful and staunch Bush administration critic Rep. Dennis Kucinich plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney today at a press conference.

Under congressional rules, Kucinich’s articles will head to the House Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers will determine whether to begin a formal impeachment inquiry.

Cheney spokeswoman Megan McGinn dismissed the Ohio Democrat’s tactics, saying that the vice president is “focused on the serious issues facing our nation.”

Kucinich is considered an extreme long shot for the Democratic nomination, receiving the support of only one percent of likely voters in an April Gallup poll.

So for our video pick of the day, here is Kucinich explaining his views.

–Christa Marshall

Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales got a boost from President Bush Monday, as the White House pronounced that the Justice Department head will remain in his job.

Speaking in the Oval Office with reporters, Bush said Gonzales answered every question thoroughly during contentious testimony last week in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“As the investigation went forward, it was clear that the attorney general broke no law,” the president said.” He is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence.”
>> MORE

For the YouTube video pick of the week, we have to choose Arizona Sen. John McCain singing “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann.”

The Republican Senator did his recap of the ’60s hit single at a South Carolina campaign stop this week after being asked when America when was “going to send an air mail message to Tehran.”

After singing for a few seconds in front of the mainly veteran crowd, McCain declined to say whether he supported an invasion of Iran, but said he supported the president’s view that the country should not be allowed to “destroy Israel.”

McCain’s melodious moment was attacked by many on the Internet, and the liberal group MoveOn.org announced that they were preparing a “bomb, bomb, bomb” McCain attack ad to run in Iowa and New Hampshire next week.

McCain told a group of reporters Thursday that his detractors should “lighten up and get a life,” according to the AP.

Watch it for yourself here:

By Karen Auge — Colorado’s Medicaid program for the poor, elderly and disabled is among the worst in the nation, according to a nationwide assessment.

The state-by-state comparison - conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen - looked at eligibility, the scope and quality of care, and provider reimbursement. >> MORE

Sen. Ken Salazar

By Christa Marshall – Sen. Ken Salazar has recused himself from a Senate Ethics Committee investigation of Republican Sen. Pete Domenici’s role in the firing of New Mexico’s U.S. attorney.

In a statement Thursday, the Colorado Democrat cited his professional friendship with former New Mexico Attorney General Patricia A. Madrid, who lost a tough election race last fall to Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. Domenici is being investigated by the committee for trying to influence the outcome of that election by pressing for the firing of the state’s U.S. attorney, David C. Iglesias. >> MORE

The grim result of the nation’s deadliest shooting may stiffen the resolve of gun-control advocates but comes at a time when political and legal tides are running strong against further restrictions on gun ownership in America, the Post’s John Aloysius Farrell reported.

On a similar note, the Politico reported that the National Rifle Association’s power derives from its power to defeat incumbents.

Sen. Ken Salazar’s re-election fund raised $339,000 in the first three months of this year and ended the period with $304,000 cash on hand, the Post’s Anne C. Mulkern reported. Sen. Wayne Allard, who’s retiring at the end of next year, reported $12,000 in donations and $75,000 cash on hand.

The Supreme Court upheld a ban on a controversial abortion procedure that opponents term “partial-birth” abortion.

Native plants in the West are emerging as a key resource in the attempt to control global warming in the region, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

A new study reported that ethanol would have serious health effects if heavily used in cars, producing more ground-level ozone than gasoline, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And the Post’s David Migoya reported that horrific conditions have gone uncorrected for years at Colorado’s oldest nursing home, according to federal Department of Veterans Affairs records and interviews.

By Gabriela Resto-Montero — Howard Dean celebrated Denver’s selection as host of the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Thursday by declaring the Democrats as the party of fiscal responsibility and firmly in support of the U.S. troops in Iraq.

“This is a fiscally conservative state, and we are a fiscally conservative party - the other guys ran up a huge budget deficit,” Dean said to cheers from the crowd of about 400 at the Colorado Convention Center.

Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, also announced Leah Daughtry as the CEO for the Democratic National Convention Committee. >> MORE