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May 15, 2007 05:33 PM UTC

Brandon Shaffer To Angie Paccione: Step Aside

  • 68 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

As the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports:

Longmont Democrat and state Sen. Brandon Shaffer announced Monday his plans to enter the 2008 race to challenge Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave for the 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Shaffer didn’t waste time Monday trying to clear the field of potential primary contenders, including Fort Collins resident Angie Paccione, who narrowly lost to Marilyn Musgrave in 2006.

“Angie is a friend of mine, but the Democrats may not have an opportunity to win this seat again, and we need to make sure we have the best possible candidate to go up against Marilyn Musgrave,” Shaffer said. “I would hope that Angie would put her personal ambitions aside so the Democrats will have the best shot at the race with the best candidate, and I think that is me.”

Paccione said Monday that Shaffer’s announcement will not change her plans to run again and that she will have more information on her campaign in the coming weeks. Paccione filed paperwork in April with the Federal Election Commission documenting a payment of $6,500 for a political consultant named Gary Chandler.

“Brandon is a good man and a rising star in the state Senate,” Paccione said. “I believe with all my heart in democracy, and I welcome Brandon, Betsy Markey and Eric Eidsness, but I am still in the race as well.”

After watching GOP Senate hopeful Scott McInnis impale himself in the same presumptuous way, this ought to be fun–unless you’re a Democrat, in which case it might be a little painful.

Who will walk away with the “aura of inevitability” prize? Since a covert race to line up key donors usually decides these things without your help, we’ll let you weigh in with a poll (follows).

Who has the best chance of winning the Democrat CD-4 nomination?

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68 thoughts on “Brandon Shaffer To Angie Paccione: Step Aside”

    1. If Brandon Shaffer thinks he can scare Angie Paccione out of anything, then he’s a fool! She’s withstood a heck of a lot more than he can bring to the ring.

      Go Angie!!!!

      1. I love Angie… as a young woman I think she is a strong role model and a very smart woman. But her last attempts at this seat have proven she is just not right for it. She needs to call it quits for now and let someone new in for a go. HOWEVER, Brandon’s comments were incredibly rude and pompous… the 4 district needs someone new. I encourage Betsy Markey to run. I have heard her speak at various events and she is my current favorite candidate. The other people who have been rumored to run have bad agendas… I want a good candidate to take back the seat! Please!

        1. Betsy Markey just isn’t a viable candidate. She’s a very nice person, but all she will do is split the party.

          I think you are wrong about Angie. Her last attempt showed that Musgrave can be beaten. That is the only reason any of these other candidates are appearing now, is because of Angie.

          1. Isn’t it interesting that all these Betsy Markey comments are coming from all of these brand new ID’s.

            This half-baked groundswell feels a half-mile wide and half an inch deep!

            1. isn’t it interesting that people begin to take part in their electoral systems when candidates announce. no not really.

              what i do find interesting is people who insinuate bad intentions.

              2. But brillig is right. Those of us who’ve been around this blog for a while have seen this before. If you’re for real, we’ll all know when you actually stick around and post about other topics. And I welcome you to do so in all sincerity. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

    3. Thank you Mr. Shaffer for starting a Democrat food fight!!! Keep up the good work!!! LOL

      Why even bother? Marilyn Musgrave is going to sail to re-election, and keep up the good fight against the Liberal Democrats and defeatist RINOs who are selling this country down the river.

      GO MARILYN!!!!!

        1. Check out his bio: http://www.brandonsh…

          Navy man who served oversees, graduated from Standford, received a CU Law degree and is raising a beautiful family. He’s an honest, hardworking, and bright leader.

          I wish he would have ran in ’06.

        2. Shaffer represents Boulder County’s L-towns: part of Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette..oh, and Erie.  Of these, only part of Longmont is actually in CD4, and Longmont votes much more like Boulder than it does Greeley.

          Having a nice family is nice, but he just returned to Colorado a few years ago and has one State Senate term to show.  Shaffer is overreaching without humility, and it’s kind of embarrassing to watch.

          1. Angie has put in a lot of hard work to win CD4 and deserves another shot a lot more than some dude who frankly seems a little too mild mannered to take on Musty.  Presuming he is a better candidate than Angie is his first mistake, and doing it in public is his second.  Neither are good moves.

        3. I’m putting my money on him to win the nomination; I wouldn’t yet put my money on him to win the general.  As for the nomination, I do not know of anything in his record that paints him into an “extreme liberal” corner, and he comes across as more pragmatic than ideological.

      2. I met Peggy Lamm and Ed Perlmutter at a Dem function during the ’06 primary; they were entirely collegial, and respected the process.  (I’m one of the few ‘Pubs who will go to such things and openly state that I am a ‘Pub, and one of the fewer ones who will openly back Dems when it seems prudent to do so.)  Shaffer should follow the sterling example of Perlmutter, embracing the process and the larger opportunity it gives him to connect with the people he’ll need to win the election in November.

        Trust me: I have no “Muskrat Love” in me (radical mental-case right-wingnuts do nothing for my Party), and wish nothing but the best to the Dem in that District.  But that kind of open confrontation doesn’t do anyone any good.  Witness the way Bob Beauprez alienated the Holtzman crowd, many of whom said they would rather vote for Ritter (most were alienated from the grand poobahs in the Party who call all the shots).  There were so many reasons why Both-Ways Bob even did worse than marijuana (both are gateway drugs), but that didn’t exactly help. 

  3. Seems like these two should have worked this out in private, not in the media.  Considering that Musgrave is not very popular even among R’s – and still won in the 4th – suggests that the district is strongly conservative.

    Dems needed a united front. R’s – be sure to send Mr. Ego a thank you note.

  4. I knocked on doors with you and Stan Matsunaka a few years ago.  Where were you during Angie’s campaign?  And what’s this bullshit about “personal amibitions?”  Why are you in this?  Free mailing privileges?

    What a petty and misleading way to start a campaign.  Here’s hoping Shaffer tanks early.

    2. Brandon essentially wants to take advantage of an opportunity that Paccione created in 2006, so being condescending to her is a pretty stupid move.

      And mocking Paccione’s “ambitions” doesn’t make sense coming from an obviously ambitious politician. Proof? Schaffer just managed to insult the “ambitions” of the thousands of Angie Paccione donors and volunteers. He also admitted he didn’t even have the courtesy to call her before announcing! Classy.

      Paccione has an huge base already in-place. Even if some DC bigwigs don’t like her, that doesn’t mean squat in a primary.

      This is stupid.

  5. There is a bottom line here to consider and it is the bottom line. If there is a chance at a primary, big donors are more likely to wait until August to give money. This will give Musgrave a financial advantage.

    CD4 is clearly a hard district for Dems. It takes a lot of money and coordination if we are going to be successful. We really cannot afford to be split all the way til August 2008 in this district. Brandon and Angie need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting in the very near future, preferrably with a state and national Dem. leader or two, and decide between them, privately, which of them will continue on. There is no doubt that whichever one does, the whole of the Party will rally around them.

    There are some districts and instances that a Dem primary can be useful, maybe even good, but CD4 is NOT one of them.

    1. I agree that they should work this out, and soon.  IMO, neither candidate should feel entitled to be the nominee, especially not Angie.  Hopefully some grown-ups will step in here and help settle this dispute.

    2. You are right exactly right here:

      There are some districts and instances that a Dem primary can be useful, maybe even good, but CD4 is NOT one of them.

      Brandon Schaffer seems to be reflecting a sense of entitlement after kissing some rings in DC, but that doesn’t rate much on the ground.

      The question is: who is the most viable candidate?

      Paccione has some well-known negatives, but she has name recognition, can raise serious money, has a large following, and still fought Musgrave down to 2.5% after the DCCC threw her under the bus.

      Schaffer is starting from zero in name recognition, supporters, and donors – which means Musgrave has a huge opportunity to define him with a vicious swiftboat attack.

      The party’s best bet is Paccione running again, and replicating McNierney’s or Melissa Bean’s victories in ’06 – after they had weakened their opponent in a previous election.

  7. Brandon should have examined the Larimer County results from the ’06 election before slapping the face of every Paccione supporter.

    Does he really think he’ll garner the support of these rabid Angie supporters?  Is he really so arrogant as to believe he doesn’t need them?

    Brandon is well on his way to being the next Eidsness to cause the Dems harm in CD-4.  The DCCC will dump him just as quickly as they dumped Angie if they see the need.

  8. He won’t win because he lives in Boulder County and will be viewed as a Boulder liberal.  It would be shooting fish in a barrel for Republicans.

    Nice guy?  Brandon is out for Brandon If this guy was concerned with the democratic party and not his own ambition he would stay and head up the Senate when Joan leaves. 

    There is a long way to go and I’d bet he doesn’t win the primary.

  9. Angie agreed to do so in lieu of a primary when she first ran for the state house.  She lost the coin toss, but ran anyway.

    Betsy Markey, then party chair in Larimer County, had to grin and bear it. 

    Shaffer may have an ego, but Angie would gladly backstab anyone to win a primary.

    1. Was it Betsy’s idea? If so, then she shouldn’t complain about it, and she wasn’t much of a chair to treat the party like that. If it wasn’t, then she wasn’t much of a chair anyways.

      1. You obviously weren’t involved in the party when Betsy Markey was chair because there was NO organized party at the time she came in and when she left there was a machine.  Committees were organized, she started the business coalition, offices were rented, candidate efforts were coordinated and she got good people involved to build a great GOV system.  Markey is good.

        If the woman runs and past history is any indicator results will follow.

          1. I was with the “other candidate” and was told that the state party told them to work it out. The two decided to toss a coin.  Our candidate won and Angie lost so the deal was done.  Instead of doing as she agreed later Angie said that she had a “change of heart” and she ran.  The party tried to stop it but she barreled ahead. 

             

  10. Who is Gary Chandler? Has anyone ever heard of him?
    What races has he worked on?

    Angie is paying him a lot of money this early to be a General Consultant.

    Will Jason Sorter as rumored run Brandon Schaffer’s campaign?

    1. I checked the reports, because it didn’t make any sense that there had been any expenditure reporting already this quarter. That fee was from months ago and looks like it was 2006 back pay. (The Coloradoan has never been very good at analyzing FEC reports, so it pays to double check.)

  11. I consider myself a moderate voter, and I tend to vote both republican and democrat simply depending on the candidate. As a Fort Collins resident and a Fort Morgan native, I have been disgusted with Mrs. Musgrave’s performance.

    I have loyally voted for Angie in her past attempts. But this is enough. She needs to step down! I don’t think Brandon is right for the job either. He is young, and truthfully just doesn’t know squat about the eastern plains.

    I think Betsy Markey is the best candidate for the district and has a REAL chance at getting Musgrave out. I’ve done my research on her and seen her at work in the community, here in Fort Collins and on the north eastern plains. She is out there all the time and knows her constituents. That’s what’s important in that race… the people of the plains can’t be overlooked.

    I say GO BETSY!

  12. Twas did a good job checking the facts. Thak you for actually checking the FEC filings.

    Who will Angie use to run her campaign this time?

    Will she go down memory lane again with Gary Chandler? Or will she hire someone new?

    Is Jason Sorter’s going to run Brandon Schaffer’s campaign?

  13. If, Brandon Schaffer were the choice of Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emmanuel they would have called Angie and issued a statement calling upon her not to run. Speaker Pelosi may have  been nice to Brandon but will not take sides in a primary nor help him in any way.

    Brandon is trying to bluff when all he is holding is a pair of deuces.

    Angie should stay in the race and whoop his ass.

  14. Shaffer should keep his mouth shut and start shoring up support.

    This is a bad idea for Dems. If the Party was behind recruiting Shaffer, well, nice going bimbos.

    Shaffer is too new and from the Denver/Boulder area which won’t play well with the district.  He’s sponsored some good bills dealing with health and human services, but has sponsored bills that were unfriendly towards CD4 businesses and local governments. He will sponsor some bills next session to show CD4 voters how in touch he is, but it won’t help.

    Paccione and Eidsness are do over candidates. Angie has a better chance than Brandon but the primary will hurt her.

    Best case scenario, another Republican beats Musgrave in a primary and wins the election. Worst case scenario, Brandon wins the Dem primary and Musgrave wins again.

  15. I saw her speak at a Capitol steps rally in 2005. She was amazing. Fire in the belly and the ability to inspire. If she had been a preacher – I would have dropped something in the collection plate. I loved her passion and her spirit. I even loved her bigger-than-life hair.

    And then she ran for Congress…..yikes! So much baggage. So much disorganization. So much less hair. And I realized that as much as I LOVE the woman, she may not be the best candidate for that district. Even if she learned from her mistakes, they’re gonna run the same ads because she has the same weaknesses. She hasn’t done anything new to prove it’s going to be better this time.

    I have met Brandon Shaffer and he’s a great guy. Ok, so no fire and brimstone speeches, but a solid work ethic, a great background and a desire to go beat the tar out of Musgrave. And he knows that district and what it needs. Look at his bills, many of them were bi-partisan spansors. Last year, he teamed up with Cory Gardner on the ethanol bill. He’s also easy on the eyes, especially in his uniform. But I digress. In short, this isn’t some ego driven rising star. This guy wants to win because he knows the 4th deserves better.

    Angie, you tried. I was rooting for you. I even donated cash. But it’s not going to work. If you need a primary to prove it, then that says a lot about you.

    1. Many bills are sponsored with bipartisan support. Also, his ethanol bill with C. Gardner died, only to be resurrected in the form of another bill, and then that died.

      Wanting to win and being able to win are two different things.  Neither Brandon nor Angie were looking for a primary, but with Brandon’s comments, they just got one.

      Stupid.

      1. Nasty primary on the horizon in CD-2, one shaping up for CD-4.  Hopefully one in CD-5.  This is going to be one nasty year, but Dems stand to lose more this time around.  A fractured Dem party means another two years for Musgrave.  A fractured CD-2 means more resources for that seat that could/should go to Udall….like CD-5 in 2006.  A CD-5 primary would be likewise costly, and likewise runs the risk of fracturing the party and draining resources that should go to Schaffer, but Dems run a greater risk

  17. It is one thing to go to Washington and come back with a desire to run.

    It is another to assemble a team that can organize a winning campaign.

    Are the rumors about Schaffer turning to Jason Sorter true?

    Who will Paccione hire?

    SIB is probably right and Musgrave will get the 20 point win that will scare the Democrats off once and for all. A shame as Angie came so close. But so did Stan.

  18. In 2002 Mark Udall posed for pictures with Wayne Allard that turned up in campaign ads for the Senator.

    In 2007 Mark Udall and Ken Salazar posed for pictures with Marilyn Musgrave that will certainly be used by her in 2008.

    Welcome to the big leagues Brandon. You are running against the new Marilyn who knows how to play nice when it suits her purposes

      1. When Schaffer realizes his DC friends are fair weather at best, he is going to get a painful lesson.

        Mark Udall did the same thing last year, holding a pointless photo op with Musgrave just when Paccione was establishing her viability. Musgrave turned around and flooded CD-4 with a franking piece. Lots of Larimer County Dems are still irritated with Udall about that one.

        In fact, Udall did the same thing to Tom Strickland years ago, giving Wayne Allard “bipartisan” cover.

  19. Not that I know a lot about him.  I don’t know this Brandon fella from a mannikin at the mall either.  I DO think Angie is a fantastic human being and would have been about a gazillion times better a Representative than that empty-headed pink suit supposedly seeing to our interests now.

    Here’s my impression, as a resident of SE Colorado (Prowers) for almost 27 years.  With a very different campaign, Angie could win.  Someone had had a genius idea for her to come around to rural towns and host free basketball clinics, then do a Q & A for voters in the evenings.  That would have guaranteed face time with the conservative sports-loving family types which would have, in my opinion, made the difference. Instead, those attack ads made people who didn’t really know anything about MM feel, well, attacked themselves. That was what I kept hearing, anyway.

    Eric Eidsness would have an advantage in our rural counties just because he wouldn’t have to overcome the standing prejudice against being some kind of different.  I don’t think having switched to the Dems will hurt him much, or not as much as being in one of the “regular” parties (rather than Reform and so on) will help him.

    Too bad the party can’t just send out a nice packet to the registered Dem voters, with all the candidates’ pros and cons, and let that suffice as a run up to the primary.

    1. Did you see the reply to your question about Political Chess?  It was posted to the previous comment on that day’s open thread.

  20. Anyone But Angie. She ran a terrible campaign. Most of her TV ads were defending herself against the MM attacks which kept the discussion right on her weak points.

    I think Angie gets defensive easily and therefore wants to refut MM’s attacks rather than concentrating on attacking MM.

    I’m in favor of primaries – they’re a great way to find the best candidate. But I think it’s a mistake for Angie to run – she doesn’t have what is needed to win in that district.

    – dave

    1. To quote a figure near and dear to Jerry Fallwell’s heart. I mean to say, I’m with you David. Even if you’re going to give money to Al White.

  21. With all these folks in the running I think special notice should go to any candidate that is able to run a positive campaign.  I hope someone rises above the fray and ends up standing out.

    That doesn’t seem to be done often but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this year can be different!

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