Two conservative news outlets owned by Republican billionaire Phil Anschutz are teaming up tonight to sponsor a debate for four Democratic candidates for Colorado attorney general.

Anschutz’s outlets, The Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics, are joined as sponsors of the event by the Common Sense Institute, a conservative think tank, which is also funded in part by Anschutz.

The three organizations appear to work with Advance Colorado, another Anschutz-funded conservative organization, and other organizations to support conservative campaigns, especially ballot initiatives that serve the interests of the rich Coloradans, as documented by the Colorado Times Recorder.

Given the presence of the Common Sense Institute, why wasn’t a centrist or left-leaning think tank, like the Bell Policy Center or the Fiscal Policy Institute, included as a sponsor of the debate, which starts at 7 p.m. tonight at the Pace Theatre in Parker?

Vince Bzdek, executive editor of The Gazette, Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics, didn’t return an email seeking an answer to that query, along with these questions:

  • Who are the moderators and how were they chosen?
  • Did the financial ties (e.g., Phil Anschutz) among the sponsors bring the three together? In other words, please explain how it came to pass that your media platforms hooked up with the Common Sense Institute for this event?
  • Do you consider the Common Sense Institute to be conservative? If not, how do you explain its alignment with conservative causes and organizations in Colorado, as documented in the reporting from the Colorado Times Recorder? If you agree that the Common Sense Institute is conservative, why didn’t you insist that a left-leaning research organization be included among the sponsors?
  • How would you respond to the argument that all three sponsors of this debate, among Democrats, are aligned with the Republican Party? (See the credible evidence of your own intervention at your newspaper on behalf of Republicans.)
  • Have you considered disclosing at the debate tonight that the sponsors are conservative? If not, why wouldn’t you? Of course, there’s nothing wrong with conservatives hosting a debate, but you’d agree that disclosure would be the best course?
  • Do you disagree with our data showing that your news outlets – despite lots of excellent reporting and staff — appear to promote the agenda of Anschutz-funded conservative groups, like Advance Colorado and the Common Sense Institute?

Conservative Network Pushes Ballot Initiatives

Ballot initiatives that are promoted by Anschutz-funded entities are the conservatives’ political tool of choice in Colorado, in part because the Colorado Republican Party has so little power in the state legislature.

Ballot initiatives skirt another obstacle for conservatives like Anschutz: the infighting and widely acknowledged dysfunction within the Colorado Republican Party, whose next chair appears likely to be nationally discredited election conspiracist Joe Oltmann.

Anschutz media platforms have sponsored events with conservatives in the past. A couple of years ago, Colorado Politics joined with right-wing groups and media outlets as a sponsor of the Western Conservative Summit, a showcase of Republicans and right-wing and conservative groups.