Colorado is one of a handful of states being targeted by a new campaign to get big money out of national politics. You might have already seen one of the TV commercials on cable that features images scrolling on an iPad in support of the Fair Elections Now Act in Congress.

Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster with Lake Research Partners, asked voters if they would support such a measure that encourages candidates to raise money from small donors in their states rather than from large special-interest and corporate donors.

“Every single demographic group had almost two-thirds support for this measure, whether you’re talking age, whether you’re talking about every region of the country, including more conservative regions.”

She says they found majority support among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Some opponents of the bill say it would likely end up using taxpayer money to support far-left or far-right candidates with potentially offensive ideologies. But, Republican pollster Mark McKinnon says that even after hearing that objection, a majority of Republicans still support the measure.

“Nothing strikes hotter in the values category for Republicans than the idea of accountability, and that’s really what this proposal is all about.”

Under the bill, candidates would be able to run campaigns for office on a blend of Fair Elections Funds and small dollar donations. H.R. 1826: Fair Elections Now Act legislation has 157 co-sponsors in the U.S. House and 21 for the companion bill S. 752 in the Senate. Mountain state Democratic Reps. Martin Heinrich (NM-1), Ben Luján (NM-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4), Walter Minnick (ID-1), Jared Polis (CO-2), Harry Teague (NM-2) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) are co-sponsoring the tandem bills.

Listen to the Colorado News Connection podcast by Eric Mack.

BOOTSTRAP: WHAT CAN YOU DO TODAY
Fair Elections.org offers a grassroots campaign finance reform activists toolkit to bird-dog elected officials and candidates to pledge support for clean, small donor-based elections.

While campaign finance laws may have dampened some of the political world’s Super Bowl frolicking, at least four lawmakers are going to the Super Bowl and most of them are apparently using the event to host fundraisers, where they can collect campaign contributions and party with lobbyists and big donors over mojitos or martinis.

We’re qualifying this information with the word “apparently” because we learned from our Super Bowl Blitz that politicians don’t like to talk about their Super Bowl plans. ProPublica and more than 15 news organizations, local reporters, and a bunch of die-hard constituents contacted almost three-quarters of Congress and got answers from at least half of Congress in little more than a week. We and our readers asked two simple questions: Did you go to the Super Bowl last year? Are you going this year?

After repeated calls from our volunteers and our reporters, we confirmed that Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., Steve Scalise R-La., whose teams are in the game, are going, as is Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., whose team is not. Getting their offices to confirm news reports about the fundraisers several of them are said to be holding was another matter altogether. Although politicians are renowned attention-seekers, with press operations that publicize just about everything they do, their spokespeople disappeared from the radar scope when our questions shifted to parties for lobbyists and big donors.

Other members may also be heading to the game. Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., went last year but his staff was “unsure” about this year and hasn’t returned our recent phone calls. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., a current Senate candidate in whose district the game is being played, “very likely will be going,” according to his press secretary. Current Florida Sen. George LeMieux’s office said several days ago that he had “not decided,” and nobody has not returned our subsequent calls.

So, what’s next? The Super Bowl Blitz was the first of a two-part effort to figure out which members of Congress are going to the Super Bowl and how they got their tickets. Reporters Marcus Stern and Sebastian Jones are flying to Miami today, where they’ll try to see which lobbyists and big donors are rubbing shoulders with the lawmakers at those fundraisers. We’ll let you know what they find on Monday.

Just in case a member of Congress slipped through our survey’s cracks, (we’re still waiting to hear back from about 100 of them) we’ve taken a page out of Deadspin’s playbook. We’re asking readers attending the Super Bowl to be on the lookout for members of Congress and other VIP public officials. If you get one in your sights, snap a pic and send it to us — along with details on where and when the pic was taken and your contact info (in case we need to follow up with you). The wider the shot, the better.

Now, that’s the big project update. Some of you have asked us to discuss other (amusing and interesting) findings of our reader-powered Super Bowl Blitz.

Much to our dismay, several congressional offices refused to answer our volunteers’ questions, saying that office policy forbids participation in “surveys.” Included in this list are Reps. Jane Harman, D-Calif., Baron P. Hill, D-Ind., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore. Other offices—like those of Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.—said they don’t disclose information about the congressperson’s (personal) schedule.

Hotline OnCall’s whip count on Bernanke’s confirmation reports only Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo has formally announced his opposition. While others have signaled their support: Max Baucus (D-MT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mark Udall (D-CO). The region’s remaining Senators have not yet made their perspective known.

While Bernanke hangs on by his fingertips to lead the nation’s central bank, a controversial — though bipartisan — bill to audit the Fed moves forward. Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner is expected to be grilled today by members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform over the secrecy of the Bush Administration’s Sept. 2008 bank bailout which is re-igniting calls to examine backroom deals during the financial crisis.

Co-sponsors of Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s bill include familiar names to Rocky Mountain West voters: Republicans Rob Bishop (UT-01), Jason Chaffetz (UT-03), Mike Coffman (CO-06), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Cynthia Lummis (WY-ALL), Dennis Rehberg (MT-ALL), Michael Simpson (ID-02), and Democrats: Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Ben Luján (NM-03), Betsy Markey (CO-04), Walter Minnick (ID-01), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Jared Polis (CO-02), John Salazar (CO-03), Harry Teague (NM-02).

This American News Project video report on the Federal Reserve explores “one of the most powerful and secretive institutions in Washington, long considered beyond the reach of lawmakers. But now, as details emerge of how the Fed secretly doled out more than a trillion dollars during the financial crisis, a rare bipartisan movement in Congress demands that the Fed be held accountable.”

UPDATE 1/28/10: Idaho Republican Jim Risch told StarkReports.com about how he was leaning on the Bernanke confirmation, “You’ll see at 3:20 when I vote.” The only remaining undecided vote among the Rocky Mountain caucus is New Mexico’s Tom Udall.

UPDATE 1/27/10: After the publication of this story, Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) issued a statement Wednesday morning affirming his support of Bernanke. We’ll update the original Hotline whip count list above by indicating the remaining Western senators’ vote intentions in italics.