McInnis welcomed; Stephen Good football tonight! • Montrose (5-0) hosts Rock Canyon at 7 p.m. • Olathe (5-0) hosts Cedaredge at 7. The Daily Press will videocast the OHS game, a live stream over the Internet. Go to www.montrosepress.com and click to the links. Tonight’s Montrose game features the German Club of MHS having their sixth annual Oktoberfest. No need to cook anything at home before the game, come early as the food service starts at 5:30 p.m. Michelle Peelo, the club’s sponsor, has the details, 249-6636. •••••• Notes and quotes from the political Notebook ... • It was good to see former congressman Scott McInnis in town Tuesday speaking to the party (GOP) faithful. No “town hall” type protestations or shouts of “You lie!” at the Holiday Inn Express. More like a preacher speaking to his acolytes with heads nodding. McInnis, 56, was in Congress 12 years before giving up his seat and becoming a partner with the bigtime law firm of Hogan and Hartson in Denver. • McInnis has always had a strong base in Montrose; why, there’s even a park named in his honor. He comes around often and Tuesday evening, he demonstrated again why he’s a good campaigner: —He’s running hard, like he’s never held office. The energy palpable. —He gets to his talking points quickly. —His recall of local supporters is a marvel. (Reminds me of how the late Sen. Jesse Helms seemed to know every single person in a room.) He called out names here and there, praised a few of them to the heavens, and left with wife, Lori, to assorted hoorahs, off to the next campaign destination. • McInnis got after Gov. Bill Ritter pretty good. Calling him a “nice guy, but over his head,” he claimed. Gov. Ritter had a knack for chasing off the natural gas industry with additional regulation and discouraging the military from expanding their operations in the state. McInnis said those natural gas jobs went to Pennsylvania; the military expansion to Texas. He also repeatedly cited his experience in elective government – state house, Congress – and his numerous contacts along the way. • The Daily Press endorsed McInnis three times and the Notebook believes, even with an incumbent governor and a couple of primary challengers, he’s formidable, with his name recognition, experience and energy. • Not many communities can say they have a national park within 20 minutes or so of downtown. We do. This weekend, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park celebrates its 10th anniversary. When McInnis was in Congress, he was a primary sponsor in making this happen, along with Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in the Senate. • One more note. I talked with Scott Tipton Wednesday on another matter and asked, as pesky journalists do, if he’s considering taking on the incumbent congressman, Rep. John Salazar in 2010, in a rematch of 2006 when Salazar defeated Tipton with 60 percent of the vote. “I’ve been getting encouragement to run next year,” he replied, saying the “encouragement” has come from local, state and national level politicos who deem Salazar as “vulnerable.” Tipton also said he was “happy in the state legislature.” •••••• Shop Montrose!
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