UPDATE #2: Colorado Independent:
The Perlmutter campaign responded in the wake of the announcement with a release that underlined Coors’ wealth and his support for strict anti-abortion personhood laws, which would make illegal abortion in all cases and would even outlaw some of the most popular contraception, such as the pill.“Ed looks forward to a spirited debate with Joe Coors. There couldn’t be a more stark contrast. You will have an ultra-wealthy, highly partisan candidate who fights for billionaire tax loopholes and Personhood Amendments against a man who holds meetings in local grocery stores, fights to create and save thousands of jobs in the 7th CD and has the least partisan congressional voting record in Colorado,” Perlmutter spokeswoman Leslie Oliver was quoted to say.
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UPDATE: Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio gives Coors a volley:
“If Mr. Coors thinks he can connect with the mainstream voters of Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, and Thornton, he has a lot of questions to answer. Ultimately, he won’t able to connect to people’s daily concerns when his focus has lately been on country clubs and his helicopter. No working family in Colorado can relate to such a removed existence when they are thinking about this month’s mortgage, groceries, and the bills that never stop coming.“Add that to Mr. Coors’s personal support of the radical anti-abortion ‘Personhood’ movement, and he will have a hard time explaining how he plans to work for the benefit of regular Colorado families. Even a cursory glance at his record shows that Joe Coors is nowhere near the reality that most of us live in. And in the Seventh Congressional District, Colorado voters won’t support someone who has nothing to do with their needs and interests.”
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 Photo via Kirk Siegler, KUNC |
Excerpts from Joe Coors, Jr.’s CD-7 candidacy announcement speech, delivered moments ago at Red Rocks Community College (a campaign, remember, that was first reported here at Colorado Pols):
Most of you know my family name but you may not know me. To start with, I am the oldest of the fourth generation of Coors family members – with deep roots here in Colorado. Throughout my career, I have concentrated on my family, work and community service. This is the first time I have ever run for public office…My wife Gail and I got married as sophomores, when I was twenty and she was eighteen. And this year, we are celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary.
At the time of our marriage, my family – like a lot of other families – had certain unwritten rules, and one of those rules was that Coors children weren’t supposed to get married until they graduated from college – and – frankly my comfortable life style was something I had to consider. Family money versus love. Gourmet meals versus fried bread! But love won out…
Then in 1973, I felt called to come back to the family business so we moved to Golden and started my career at Coors Porcelain Company – now called CoorsTek. This company produces ceramics for high technology purposes and because of my study in ceramic engineering – this was the perfect fit for me. Over the next thirteen years, I rose in management to become the President and CEO…
My Great Grandfather’s story is a classic American story. He came to this country as a stowaway on a ship. Our family still wonders how he heard about the American dream way over there in Germany in the mid-1860′s. My Great Grandfather’s life is similar to millions of immigrants like him. It is with pride and humility that I was allowed to carry on his American dream.
I am running for Congress so these stories are not just from the past, but remain in the present and are part of our future.
I am running for Congress because the American dream is rapidly vanishing as government expands its intrusion in our daily lives…
Wasn’t it John F. Kennedy who said: ”Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country?”
What Obama and the liberals do not understand – but what I believe Kennedy understood – is that business owners do a lot for their country when they make their payrolls – and pay their taxes – month after month – week after week.
We’ll update with coverage and statements as they come in–since we don’t believe that Mr. Coors can or even necessarily intends to win this race, Republicans can at least take comfort knowing Coors can pay his own way through the campaign. And as in 2004, either way you come down, your taste in beer should never dictate your choice in the voting booth. Not to mention the CoorsTek spinoff makes high-tech ceramic products, not the beer.
Beer snobs among us understand we’re trying to help Mr. Coors by clarifying that.
Colorado Democrats React to Joe Coors’s Campaign AnnouncementDenver – As Joe Coors announces his candidacy for Colorado’s Seventh Congressional District today, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio offered the following comments on Mr. Coors and his compatibility with Colorado voters:
“It isn’t exactly easy to point to something at 770,000 people have in common, but in the case of the communities that make up Colorado’s Seventh Congressional District, there’s a common set of characteristics: people work hard and sacrifice so that their children and grandchildren have a better education, more opportunities, and a greater chance at prosperity. They seek to live the American Dream, and they’re willing to put in the effort needed to achieve it.
“It’s no wonder that Congressman Ed Perlmutter has connected with the people who live in CD-7. He tirelessly seeks out each constituent to hear their opinions, concerns, and hopes. Then he boards a plane to Washington to fight to make their lives better. Week after week, year after year, Ed does this for the communities he serves. Colorado is lucky to have such a dedicated public servant.
“If Mr. Coors thinks he can connect with the mainstream voters of Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, and Thornton, he has a lot of questions to answer. Ultimately, he won’t able to connect to people’s daily concerns when his focus has lately been on country clubs and his helicopter. No working family in Colorado can relate to such a removed existence when they are thinking about this month’s mortgage, groceries, and the bills that never stop coming.
“Add that to Mr. Coors’s personal support of the radical anti-abortion ‘Personhood’ movement, and he will have a hard time explaining how he plans to work for the benefit of regular Colorado families. Even a cursory glance at his record shows that Joe Coors is nowhere near the reality that most of us live in. And in the Seventh Congressional District, Colorado voters won’t support someone who has nothing to do with their needs and interests.”
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Full story: Joe Coors, Jr. Launches CD-7 Challenge To Rep. Ed Perlmutter
as the top beer. But it’s fine taste aside, I lean to Papst Blue Ribbon because there is nothing like a union label to smooth the palate.
but have a place for it in my heart as it’s the beer I learned to drink beer with. Much better than the other big choice at illinois campus bars at the time, Bud. Imports were too expensive for regular student drinking. When I moved out here in my 20s I found Coors quite tasteless by comparison. All that clear Rocky Mountain water, maybe? Stuck with PBR during the Carbondale years, back when Carbondale was a great town with great eclectic saloons.
I believe Coors has a plant in Virginia, so that might just be Shenandoah water too. It either is an awfully big dist facility or a full blown plant.
Rocky Mountain Spring water fortified with Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep Shit!
with Central City sewer water.
Clear Creek water loaded with heavy metals from the mines upstream.
to a red wine with dinner. I prefer the taste of beer, but red wine is supposedly healthier.
per month we put away between the two of us isn’t going to affect anybody’s marketing strategies. I, too do the red wine thing these days.
I’d always heard good things about it, but every time I’ve actually used it, they recommend crappy stuff that gets awful reviews everywhere else. I know they have a methodology, but it seems flawed to me.
Of course, the last time I read Consumer Reports was in 1999 so things may have changed since then.
That’s a new one. Small business owners, perhaps, but the largest corporations are busy doing just the opposite — sitting on huge cash reserves, but laying off employees and paying little or no taxes.
doesn’t count. We didn’t have immigration rules back then unless you were Chinese. But, yeah, “a stowaway.” What’s up with that? Maybe the family should pay that debt now.
How can the family live with the fact that knowing their very first act getting here was breaking the law?
Not so sure. If memory serves, immigration was governed by individual states during the 1800′s, not the federal government. Researching that state’s immigration laws, if any, at the time should certainly give you something to do. If you are not all that busy.
Fascinating story, nonetheless.
Take that, you commie, liberal atheists.
In public school they made us repeat it every damn day for twelve years.
you’d probably remember that there wasn’t any mention of invisibility.
MOTR quoted the text on Coors’ website.
Either Coors has an illiterate speechwriter, or he has an illiterate worker transcribing the speech.
I wonder what Coors’ position on education will be?
what he actually said when he gave the speech.
So, how much is this gonna dent Rep. Ed’s war chest? And forgive my naivite, but isn’t that the point of Joe’s run?
…and spend some Coors money?
Yeah, that seems to be the point, but I don’t see the value of it for Republicans… He already showed that what they consider a “rising star” is just dirt off the shoulder in Perlmutter’s CD7. They can’t just let him run unopposed, so I suppose a self-funder is the ideal, but it’s not going to “deplete” anything. If it has any impact on Ed’s budget, it’ll just give him a stronger fundraising ask than “Hey, I never lose, but give me money anyway.” The campaign can point out that it’s facing a wealthy opponent.
I just got a call for Ed $$ as I was typing. Perlmutter signs on every corner in my neighborhood as of last night. Can’t imagine Joe with any traction outside of JeffCo. Thanks.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s the best a party can do in CDs they can’t win and it serves a purpose. Nice of a rich guy like Joe Coors to oblige.
and many other illustrious American families like mine, have a long and proud history of running for public office. I mean, where’s the fun in a family merely renting politicians? The proud dreams of our hearty immigrant forefathers . . . my family wants this for me in exactly the same way that Vito wanted it for Michael.
in Central America alarms too many people
Rick Palacio is late to the “volley.”
Progress Now Colorado has been banging on Joe Coors for weeks:
Call For Joe Coors, Jr. To Explain “Foolish” Involvement In Bond Trading Scam
Call For Joe Coors, Jr. To Kick Off Campaign With Transparency
Call for Joe Coors, Jr. To Apologize and Disclose
Coloradans in CD-7 Give Joe Coors “Thumbs Down”
between dismissing “Obama and the liberals” and the aligning himself with the Kennedys.
And does he really want to go the “pay your taxes” route? Betting there’s more than a %13.9 chance he’s paying a pretty low rate.
to self-identify with an exciting Kennedy . . . (Hey, Joe’s my fathers name, too) . . . than to identify with a bla . . ., er, . . . blah Kenyan.
Coors actually has income from a “real” business, which will be taxed at full rates.
All the liquor stores were handing them out – paid for by the National Beer Wholesalers Assn. PAC.
Looking forward to adding some Joe Coors coasters to my collection.
…and the Colorado Dems press people need to know that most people are “anti-abortion” but they are not “anti-choice” or “anti-woman.” Labeling the eggmendment as anti-abortion makes it sound like a half decent idea not a radical attack on an individual’s right to keep the government’s hands off their body. Have we learned nothing about the language wars in the last 30 years?
Would it kill a Republican to call President Obama by his actual title now and then?
I’m a middle-aged white male, and to me it seems disrespectful and motivated by some sort of deep-seated psychological feelings that our President is always referred to simply as “Obama” by these angry right-wingers.
Meanwhile, we keep hearing about “Speaker Gingrich” and even “Governor Palin.”
But our President? Just “Obama.” Or “Barack HUSSEIN Obama.”
It is Frank Lutz, godfather of the focus group and master wordsmith…..This is a brilliant way to continue to “delegitimatize” the President.
The President can choose to ignore the insult of be on the defensive all the time…. No win for him.
it would be helpful if the dems had a plan, or consistently defended the president…or even planted moles to sabotage repub focus groups….but the dems are too busy congratulating themselves on being too good to fight back.
I had a hard time calling GWB “President”.
But it was an intuitive reaction, not a programmed response.
“fucking Bush” just rolls off the tongue so much easier . . .
It’s better than “Barry” or “Obozo” or “that monkey.”
You should take the year off and celebrate.