Mike Coffman

The Fourth of July is about fireworks, barbecuing, parades and -- of course -- politicking.

After the jump, check out where Colorado candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress will be on America's birthday.

CO-6 is all the rage in a sloooow news week, producing winners and a loser; and a general mishap with his tongue pushes a General into the losers' ranks. So check in with Wally Edge for Weekly Winners & Losers. You won't want to miss the fireworks.

Congressional candidate Mike CoffmanSixth Congressional District Republican Mike Coffman will report raising more than $300,000 for the second quarter of 2008, his campaign announced Tuesday.

Coffman manager Dustin Zvonek told PolitickerCO.com that the campaign is still tabulating exact numbers for 2Q fundraising.

But already the campaign has easily bested Coffman's 1Q haul of $244,239, the campaign said in a release sent out Tuesday afternoon. Zvonek added that "the vast majority" of contributions is for the CO-6 Republican primary.

Federal candidates have until July 15 to submit 2Q fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission.

U.S. Sen. Wayne AllardIt's official: U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Loveland) is backing Wil Armstrong in the 6th Congressional District Republican primary.

The endorsement, announced Monday, was not a surprise: earlier this month, Allard sent out a fundraising letter on Armstrong's behalf.

"In the many years that my wife Joan and I have known Wil, he has consistently demonstrated his conservative principles as a business leader, as an involved community member, and as a father," Allard said in a statement released Monday. "We need more leaders in Congress who have hired employees and grown businesses in the real world. Wil's business acumen, particularly relating to the current economic woes and financial turbulence, will make an impact in Congress."

In today's Inside Edge, we check in on the CO-6 race, because it gives us a good excuse to plug the CO-6 debate, sponsored by PolitickerCO. Our version even has the scenes deleted by PBS!

This Sunday at noon, Rocky Mountain PBS will broadcast a debate between the four Republican candidates for the 6th Congressional District.

The debate, held April 21 at the Southridge Recreation Center in Highlands Ranch, features businessman Wil Armstrong, Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman, state Sen. Ted Harvey (R-Highlands Ranch) and state Sen. Steve Ward (R-Littleton) discussing issues from the Iraq War and reinstating the draft to taxes and immigration.

The candidates fielded questions posed by a panel of journalists, including Peter Jones of the Littleton Independent, Chris Rotar of the Highlands Ranch Herald, and Jeremy Pelzer of PolitickerCO.com.

PolitickerCO.com and the Sagebrush Forum sponsored the debate. Former state Sen. John Evans hosted the debate; former state Republican Party finance committee chair Mark Baisley moderated.

The debate is already online at PolitickerCO.com.

You know its Friday because you get the latest comments, emails and threats from Wally's World. In this supersized edition of Feedback, we talk about polls and endorsements. But we promise that because of the use chemical sweeteners in this column, it won't affect your weight loss plan. So read all you want! It's the weekend.     

Congressional candidate Mike CoffmanSecretary of State Mike Coffman has established a strong lead over his opponents in the Republican primary election for the state's 6th Congressional District, according to a post-Memorial Day internal survey.

Coffman now has a 28-point lead over his nearest challenger, businessman Wil Armstrong, in his bid to replace retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, according to the report from the Tarrance Group.

In today's Inside Edge Wally looks at Comcast ads buys in the CO-6 race because frankly he likes when the supporters of Coffman and Armstrong post flaming comments about each other in the comments section.