Tom Tancredo

A second attempt at a financial bailout package finally passed the U.S. House on Friday -- but not because any members of the Colorado delegation switched their votes.

The four U.S. House members from Colorado who voted against the initial bailout package on Monday also voted against the revised bill Friday: U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs), Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), John Salazar (D-Manassa), and Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs).

U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Denver), Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden), and Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) voted for the revised bill, just as they supported the initial bailout package on Monday.

"I think what we should have done is kept working together to get a better bill," Udall said to reporters Friday, minutes after the legislation passed. "That was the point of my vote on Monday; it's the point of my vote today."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) bucked his constituents Monday by voting for a $700 billion economic bailout plan,saying in a statement that he was worried many people "would pay the price for the excesses of others."

Tancredo was the only one among Colorado's three Republican members of Congress to vote for the bill. Democrats Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) and Diana DeGette (D-Denver) also voted "aye."

Colorado's congressional delegation was split on supporting a $700 billion emergency bailout of the nation's financial industries Monday.

The split wasn't on party lines, either: supporters of the bailout included U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Denver), Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) and Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton).

U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs), Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) and John Salazar (D-Manassa) voted "no" on the bill.

The bill, H.R. 3997, failed 225-208.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) feels Charlie Rangel's pain for being lost in translation.

On Wednesday, as reported in the Colorado Independent, Tancredo invited the embattled New York Congressman to co-sponsor his legislation to make English the official language of the United States.

Rangel is in trouble for failing to report $75,000 worth of rental income he received from a luxury villa in the Dominican Republic. Last week, Rangel said he hadn't been aware of the problem because he had trouble getting financial statements from his managers in the Caribbean nation.

"Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they'd start speaking Spanish," Rangel said.  

Well, they didn't actually say that explicitly. He's retiring, so nobody pays that much attention to Tancredo any more anyway. But in an ad poking fun at U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) for supporting a Department of Peace, they also say that "Udall voted against funding for our troops."

The early reaction in Colorado to GOP presidential hopeful John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate has been impromptu excitement by Republicans and dismissal by Democrats as a bad choice that won't affect the presidential race in the state.

Palin was universally lauded by Colorado conservatives, though for different reasons - the lack of an early common theme was likely because McCain's selection of Palin came as a surprise to most.

UPDATED 

A new survey from a Democratic polling firm released Monday provides further evidence that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall's once-substantial lead is continuing to slip.

The Public Policy Polling survey still showed Udall leading by 6 points. But  Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer gained three percentage points over July's PPP survey; Udall remained at 47 percent.

Monday's poll also showed Democrat Barack Obama with a 4-point lead over Republican John McCain in the U.S. presidential race in Colorado. That's the same lead Obama had in July's PPP survey.

Looking forward to the 2010 U.S. Senate race, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Denver) leads U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) and Secretary of State Mike Coffman 49-37 and 46-38, respectively.

The survey, conducted among 933 likely voters between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent.

With traditionally Republican Colorado now in contention, the ever-increasing Latino population may prove decisive in the 2008 election cycle, with both parties striving to add Hispanic votes to their column.

Recent waves of immigration have made Hispanic-Americans the state's fastest-growing demographic as well as its largest -- and most politically powerful -- minority group.

Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak also expects Hispanic voters to vote on "pocketbook issues."

"Hispanic voters are not that much different from other voters," Waak said, adding: "Those bread-and-butter issues that concern the average voter are down-the-line represented by us this year."

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams, while agreeing that Hispanics differ little from other voters, believes that the Republicans better represent the interests of most Latinos - particularly U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, whose campaign Wadhams heads.

"[Latino voters] are concerned about national security, they're concerned about energy prices, and they're concerned about taxes. Many Hispanics are small business owners, and want lower taxes on small businesses," Wadhams said.

Several Republicans from the 6th Congressional District announced their support for Wil Armstrong today, according to a press release from the Armstrong campaign.

Armstrong is one of four Republicans running to fill the seat U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) is vacating.