There’s big news on a big name from out of nowhere.
Republican Joe Coors, Jr. is actively exploring the idea of running for Congress in CD-7 against incumbent Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter.
This one surprises us, to be frank, but apparently Coors has been making high-level phone calls about the race since well before yesterday’s redistricting ruling was made final. The allure of a potential Coors, Jr. candidacy is obvious for Republicans: They really need someone who can self-fund a campaign to some degree if they hope to make a serious run at Perlmutter in 2012, because they have too many other national races to worry about than to spend resources going after a popular Democratic incumbent.
While the allure for national Republicans is clear, we really can’t see why Coors, Jr. would be serious about running for Congress. He retired in 2000 as Chairman and CEO of CoorsTek Inc., and he’ll turn 70 in February — is he really interested in being a 70-year-old freshman Congressman? His current elected office is as President of the posh Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden.
It’s no secret that Joe’s brother, Pete Coors, really didn’t like running for the U.S. Senate in 2004, when he lost to Democrat Ken Salazar, and surely they’ve spoken about this on more than one occasion. But at least Pete was seeking a bigger prize in the Senate; we have a hard time understanding why Joe Jr. would be interested in a House seat. Furthermore, the Coors family and business were absolutely hammered during Pete’s 2004 campaign, but the intensity of the attacks on the Coors clan would be exponentially greater in 2012. With all of the talk about the “99%” and Occupy Wall Street, we can’t imagine a worse year to run for public office with such a high-profile last name. Joe Coors isn’t as bad a name as “Joe Citibank,” but it’s not far behind. The guy owns his own helicopter, for crying out loud.
The boundaries of CD-7 changed somewhat in redistricting, but this is still a Democratic-leaning seat with a popular, entrenched and well-funded incumbent in Perlmutter. In 2010 Perlmutter defeated GOP challenger Ryan Frazier by 11 points; Coors is a bigger name than Frazier, of course, but it can’t be overlooked that Perlmutter won a blowout victory in what was a huge wave year for Republicans.
Coors would no doubt try to play off his business experience in a campaign against Perlmutter, but even that comes with problems. He made headlines in 2002 for reportedly being swindled in an investment scheme in which he invested family money in a program that promised a “100% return per week” (seriously, he thought “100% per week” was realistic?) but which turned out to be a “Prime Bank” scheme in which investors are tricked into believing their money is being placed in well-known institutions.
Again, Coors has been making serious inquiries about running in CD-7. We’re surprised that he’s even considering a run, but we’d be even more surprised if he ultimately jumped in the race; there are just too many reasons for him to not run.
Joe Coors, Jr. is the son of Joe Coors, and the great-grandson of brewery founder Adolph Coors. His father, Joe, Sr., was well-known for his conservative political leanings; he was a founding member of the Heritage Foundation and was also involved in the creation of other conservative think tanks.
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but if that’s a recent picture, that guy looks great for 70.
I don’t care who you are or what you’re running for – ditch that lame ass tie.
Frankly, I’m too busy staring at his hair.
now enjoy my shit representation. Silver Bullets all around !
I don’t ever remember anyone ordering Coors when I was a bartender. Literally, ever.
Here, have a Fat Tire and let me know what you think.
and serve me up a double Grey Goose and 7.
in a martini, up, dry.
I could get on board with that. I like a very dry, dirty martini now and again. Skip the olives but generous with the juice.
Coors, no.
Blue Moon, yes.
Plenty of people ordered that. Fat Tire, too. And we have a local brewery so that got a lot of action from out of state folks.
Blue Moon is what I keep in stock for when the neighbors run out of beer and come over to mooch. Undrinkable. (Or were you (I hope) joshing?)
I’ll drink Coors. But that’s at the liquor store. The relative price difference between “cheap” and “good” at the bar is a lot lower, making it a dumb choice there. At least for me. (Also, I don’t go drinking at the bar when I’m budget minded.)
But unless you tended bar a million years ago, you must have moved a lot of Coors Light, no?
Coors products were not popular with the clientele. I tended bar at 3 different places and Coors didn’t sell, mostly because it sucks ass and tastes like shit.
Coors Lights is something like the 3rd best selling beer in America.
I’ve never seen anyone drinking it at a club, but at restaurants I see the bartenders pulling the Coors Light draft almost constantly.
I can’t speak for every bar in Colorado, just the ones I’ve bar tended at and Coors just did not sell. Bud Lite sold great. Coors Light did not. Coors did not. Hell, even restaurants where I waited tables rarely sold Coors products. They just didn’t sell. Maybe it sells better in Denver. From your comments, it certainly sounds like it. But not here.
Coors sells better in Illinois than it does here. I leave it to others to ascertain why that would be.
… you do see a lot of Bud Light sell, too.
only had about 2 more than 40 years ago. Aside from taste I always thought the 11 oz bottles were rather a rip off.
I did try an Avalanche a couple of years ago and found it less objectionable. But, there was no other choice and I haven’t even thought of it since until now.
I am partial to the more expensive beers I guess though I don’t have one favorite.
Rereading my comment, that came off terrible, Ari. Apologies. No offense intended.
I’ve recently discovered that Schlitz has been brewing their old classic recipe again, so – again, when I have to think about money – that’s what I go for these days.
All told, I’d much rather drink Alaskan Amber than anything else.
our local pub was on the skids and running down the stock. The last beer left was Coors and they were selling it for $1.00 a pitcher. The person I was with brought one back to the table, poured her glass, took a sip and said “I can taste the hatred of gay people”
not holiday oriented at all. Blow it up & you’ll see. It celebrates his blueblood candy-assed 1% heritage. He’s damn proud that he’s different from you & me.
WTF is this silver-spooned fool gonna bring to the People’s House other than give Polis a run for richest Congressman position. Otherwise what does Coors have to offer?
Bring it on Joe Jr. — you don’t fit into the TeaBagger contigent, you’ve never held elected office, and in the year of OWS you certainly got your ass firmly planted in the upper echelon of the 1%-ers. Not sure who is advising him but this surely looks like an easy mark for some political hack to drain of $$s
But I bet you are right since the pic is from the linked Rolling Hills page.
Makes sense since he’s posing for a picture for a Golf Course as their current President; the tie sort of meets the theme.
but if that picture hasn’t been very heavily photoshopped, I’m John Boehner.
or working on your tan instead of wasting time blogging here? Lazy bum.
and the fact that I seem to have misplaced my bright orange balls.
even though they haven’t been used for a long time
I can’t prove it for certain, but I think my wife may have moved them a few months back.
to the orange guy’s game and balls. 😉
To oust Perlmutter.
No long-term commitment required. If ousting the incumbent is your goal, a guy with a recognizable name spending a ton of cash in a newly re-arranged district is probably not a bad way to do so.
But I think Ed can take him.
hard-working incumbent Congressman and a born with a silver spoon in his mouth country club type, my money is on the hard-working incumbent Congressman.
Will have enough money to go after the “well-liked” part.
Expect much mudslinging.
Perlmutter has been a hard-working Congressman who shows his face in his district and is responsive to constituents.
Of course, this is a slightly different district; Perlmutter will have to win some new constituents over to his side. But he’s been consistently one of the best on the D side of the aisle; he’ll have no problems with the base, and I think Independents who are just now getting him as a Representative will be pleasantly surprised.
Coors has at best an uphill battle against Perlmutter. As I write above, though, now is the time to try whatever it is the GOP is going to try.
so automatically repulsed by this country’s job creators?
Joe Jr. has created in the last few years? AS a result of various mergers, IIRC, he has been a job destroyer.
😉
you’d understand that job creatoring is 99% hereditary.
That’s why we had to get rid of the
inheritancedeath tax.I like that.
A good get for the GOP if he runs. According to the linked article, I think he’ll only be 60 next year, about the same age as Perlmutter. I don’t think owning a helicopter is any more damning than that he is part of the 1%. He was after all a helicopter pilot.
Lives within a block of Perlmutter. Both respected by the swing “Rolling Hills Neighborhood.” When I went to the Republican Convention with him in 1992, he was pro-choice and considered the moderate of the Coors family. Don’t suppose he’ll fess up to those positions today. If he does, problem in the primary, if he doesn’t, problem in the general.\
I think Ed can beat him as Ed always runs scared and takes no one lightly. Reality is that the District still leans Democrat. But, a interesting get if it happens.
According to the linked article he retired in October 2000 at age 58 which would make him 69 years old now.
Why would a 70 year old guy want to run for Congress after being retired for 11 years, other than needing a hobby (and I can think of better ones than being a US Rep?)
If I were Joe, I’d stick with golf.
some people I guess feel an overwhelming urge to tell everyone else what to do?
I’m glad I don’t live in his district and be subject to this circus
Is eleven years old.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/…
“I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again”
That’s what the hair reminds me of.
C’mon Pols:
Where’d you get this, or did you pull it out of your asses? To whom has he made “serious inquiries”? To whom has he “apparently” been making these high-level phone calls? When? This such breathless gossip there’s actually nothing to respond to unless you let us in on a particular or two, or the joke. I guess the temptation to rush this out, totally without any supporting indicators, was just too great. You got an “Exclusive“, alright. But no story.
I guess they need someone new to talk about. That said, if there is truth to this there are two interesting points that have been brought up — self financing, and the idea of him going in for one or two terms just to take out Perlmutter and then retiring (again).
Kevin Lundberg says he is running in CD-2 against Jared Polis: http://www.kevinlundberg.com/
There was something in the brownies at the last GOP leadership meeting. I knew medical marijuana was a bad idea…
Even SNL can’t top this. I assume Polis will be the first contributor to the Lundberg campaign?
This could be the most entertaining race in the country.
http://coloradopeakpolitics.co…
and your inability to discern opinion from fact. Try it out sometime. I’ll spring for the asprin.
about Ed? How Ryan Frazier was going to win that seat because Perlmutter’s votes on healthcare reform, the stimulus, bailouts, et al? (In a year where Republicans swept the House, your guy still got his ass kicked, I might add.)
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
See you next year when we kick your ass…again.
Reported on Daily Kos and now shows up under local news on the Xfinity web-site. All citing Colorado Pols.