Tea Party Victory in Colorado: Amendment 66 Crashes and Burns

[Newsmax] Colorado’s mercurial political nature was on full display Tuesday, with voters overwhelmingly approving taxes on marijuana sales but rejecting an income tax hike for schools.

The results suggest the state is in play for both political parties preparing for bigger races next year.

Democrats pushing a $1 billion income tax increase to overhaul the state’s funding system for schools were dealt a resounding defeat, with about two-thirds of voters rejecting the proposal widely championed by the liberal establishment. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who’s running for re-election in 2014, threw his political weight behind the education measure.

“What’s going to come up immediately is the talk of the next year’s governor’s race,” said Norman Provizer, a professor of political science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “And whenever you’re behind an initiative that fails, everybody starts thinking you’re vulnerable.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo used the proposal’s defeat to attack Hickenlooper.

“The voters of Colorado are once again rejecting John Hickenlooper’s agenda,” the former congressman said.

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