July 10, 2012 10:07 PM UTC

Coffman continues to sidestep reporters in favor of select talk-radio hosts

• 5 Comments
• by: Jason Salzman

Rep. Mike Coffman is still mostly avoiding reporters, after he went into hiding following his comment at a fundraiser that 1) he’s not sure Obama was born in the U.S. but 2) he does believe Obama is not an American “in his heart.”

But Coffman is creeping into medialand ever so gently, with appearances on some conservative talk shows (though he’s ignoring Steve Kelley on KNUS). He was on Fox 31 as well, the morning of the Obamacare decision, but 9News hasn’t been on his dance card.

Coffman’s brief interview on KLZ 560-AM’s Grassroots Radio Colorado July 5 shows what he gets when he cherry picks his questioners.

At one point in the interview he describes Democrats in the new CD 6 this way:

I feel pretty good about the race because I grew up in really what is the most Democrat part of the district, in original Aurora and northern Aurora. They are not traditional Democrats. They are blue-collar, working-class Democrats. They do not share the radical environmental views of the Democrat Party in Washington D.C. They are very pro-military. I have a military background. Probably, quite frankly, on some of the class warfare rhetoric, they’re probably going to buy on some of that, as well as certainly strong labor support. But they certainly don’t line up on every issue. And so there are some avenues in there.

(Listen to Coffman on Grassroots Radio Colorao 7-5-12.)

Anyone except the most sympathetic questioner would be curious about what aspects of the “class warfare  rhetoric,” as Coffman puts it, appeal to Dems in his district.

Is he referring to the idea that tax breaks shouldn’t be extended for people earning over $250,000?

Is he referring to the notion that Social Security is more than the “ponzi scheme” that Coffman has said it is?

Does Coffman think Democrats in his district go for these types of things? If so, why?

We won’t be hearing answers to these questions as long as Coffman continues to sidestep real reporters, and his fans in the talk-radio world don’t make their shows more interesting by asking a follow-up question or two when Coffman is on the line.