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December 16, 2013 09:56 AM UTC

Conservative talk-radio host gets all excited about critique of Republican Senate candidate

  • 19 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

KFKA talk-radio host Amy Oliver urged Republicans last week to read a Facebook post by former State Senator Shawn Mitchell, in which Mitchell wrote that he's "somewhere between distressed and appalled that GOP luminaries think it's a good idea for [Rep. Amy Stephens] to bear the party's standard into a campaign for federal office in 2014."

Stephens is one of six GOP candidates vying to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Udall next year.  Also running are Tea Party favorite and recycled Senate candidate Ken Buck, mustachioed state Senator Randy Baumgardner from northwestern Colorado's District 8, state Senator from El Paso County Owen Hill, as well as Jamie McMillan and Tom Janich.

Oliver, who doubles as a staffer for the libertarian Independence Institute, was really excited about Mitchell's Dec. 9 Facebook post, telling listeners that "the entry of Amy Stephens in the race, and some of the subsequent endorsements that she has received, have got conservatives saying privately what Shawn Mitchell put out publicly."

Oliver dedicated two segments of Tuesday's show to the Facebook post, pouring over Mitchell's writing, like you might read a religious text, slowly and respectfully analyzing it in loving detail, re-reading portions of it, pausing, and building up to what she called on of Mitchell's "most important lessons:"

Mitchell: "Pushing Amy Stephens to the nomination will guarantee bitter debate and resentment that demoralizes the base, escalates recrimination, and urging toward party fracture, and accelerates the GOP's recent death wish to impersonate the Whigs.

And that speaks only of the primary. If the elders and donors can carry her across the line to the nomination, what exactly do you think the Media Democrat team will do to the former employee of Focus on the Family, the co-architect of the infamous end-of session civil-buster, that killed dozens of bills on the calendar, in order to block a vote on civil unions? Whatever the merits of that move, it will be blood in the water come October. And it will be just about the only thing that unpolitical, tv-watching Coloradans ever hear about Amy Stephens."

Oliver accurately provided context, pointing out that Mitchell's post, which has amassed 264 comments on Facebook, states that Stephens is not a "bad Republican," but she agreed with Mitchell's view:

Mitchell: "In sponsoring SB-200, the Obamacare exchange, Amy Stephens bet wrong in a big way on a defining, existential battle, perhaps the biggest of the decade, maybe in our lifetime. She sided with party appeasers and corporate accomodationists against a vital, surging grass roots movement for liberty and smaller government. Even at the time she made her bet, the picture was murky, and ambitious politicians could be forgiven for being uncertain. (Once upon a time, it took me days to sort out right from wrong when Referendum C's assault on TABOR was put before the people.)."

"I highly recommend that Republicans read it," Oliver told listeners, even after she's already said Mitchell's post is a "must read" and "a great read."

Oliver should obviously have Stephens on the show to get her side of the story.

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19 thoughts on “Conservative talk-radio host gets all excited about critique of Republican Senate candidate”

  1. I think journalists should be very careful, if not reluctant, to apply the self-described adjective of "libertarian" to the so-called Independence Institute . . .  

  2. I attended a recent meeting hosted by the local 2nd Amendment group, Mesa County Patriots. This was the first visit by Owen Hill to the Grand Junction Area. He is a smooth operator! When asked about impeaching Obama, he pivoted away to a diatribe about how our Constitution is under attack. When asked about Ken Buck, he used an apt football analogy–John Elway was a great quarterback, but we wouldn't want him quarterbacking our team these days. His Obamacare comments were also an interesting pivot–don't spend money on health care, spend money on finding cures for chronic diseases (as if nobody thought of that before!) From my encounters with locals in their 30's I think his message might resonate well with them. He mentioned working for a not-for-profit in Kenya and didn't make even one birther comment–although this crowd (by my count 25 people were there, including me and the Sentinel reporter, Charles Ashby) would have been supportive of anything bashing Obama.

    Sorry to hijack this post about Amy, but it is tangentially related, and my campaign team won't let me blog anymore!

      1. Probably not and I am not. I just believe that the Big LIne should have EVERY candidate in the party primary.

        Come the general election, I will be complaining about the non-inclusion of the Wobbly candidate.
         

        1. Don't you think a little judgement should come in to play in terms of who gets listed on the big line ?  If some goober with no chance announces they are running for office, who the hell really cares, Pols included. 

            2. Its not prejudicial to give the appropriate amount of attention to a candidate with no chance at all.  Its just common sense.  Stunt campaigns for the sole purpose of publicity whoring are a dime a dozen, and they should rightfully be ignored.

  5. If anyone is going to relegate the GOTP to Whig party status it will be the  

     ….vital, surging grass roots movement for liberty and smaller government .

     

  6. Jason, Jason. When will you learn? You say Oliver should have Stephens on her show. Why in the world should she? She's a radio talker, not in the slightest bit interested in letting the other side have a say.

    What color is the snow on your planet?

     

        1. Honesty and character do not mean the same things to Republicans that they mean to the rest of us.

          Honesty involves the truth…character involves honor.

          These are not found in the rhetorical septic tank that is Republican politics today…in my opinion.

      4. A self-professed shyster talks about estimating anyone's character and honesty. Near the height  of irony there,but I forgot cons don't do irony very well.

  7. Jason's simply keeping us abreast of the latest in Rightieland.  I'm sure he's not  laboring under the delusion that these talkers are engaged in anything to do with journalism.

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