August 06, 2018 11:36 AM UTC

George Brauchler Craps On Pueblo

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• by: Colorado Pols

An interview in the Pueblo Chieftain this weekend tries gamely to pump up GOP attorney general candidate George Brauchler, but seems more likely to leave local readers cold:

Brauchler was a GOP candidate for governor last year, but switched after Attorney General Cynthia Coffman signaled she would be leaving the AG’s office to run for governor…

Where Weiser has pledged to have Colorado join Pueblo County in suing big pharmaceutical companies for over-prescribing opioid drugs, Brauchler calls that pledge “reckless” — even though he says he wouldn’t rule out the state joining such a lawsuit eventually.

Pueblo has been hit unusually hard by the opioid crisis compared to other areas of the state, which is what prompted Pueblo County to join a nationwide lawsuit against opioid producers as well as pharmacy chains who distribute the drugs. The pharmaceutical industry is pushing back hard on this lawsuit and flexing its considerable political muscle to keep prosecutors like George Brauchler on the sidelines.

After that uninspiring response on a key local issue, the conversation turned to immigration:

On immigration, Brauchler said he doesn’t want Colorado police being coerced into enforcing federal immigration laws. But he also criticized Boulder and cities that have openly opposed cooperating with immigration arrests and detainment without a federal warrant.

To summarize, Colorado police shouldn’t be forced to help the feds, they should just…want to do it? That’s the best way we can interpret what seems to be a massive contradiction. The truth is that Brauchler is pretty much at liberty as a Republican candidate to engage in all the “sanctuary city” immigrant-bashing he wishes to–everywhere in the state except for Pueblo, where a somewhat more conservative-receptive Latino electorate offers a lucrative prize for Republicans who can nuance their message accordingly without tripping on their own words.

That’s pretty much the opposite of what Brauchler did in this interview. On opioids he’s aloof, and on immigration he’s all over the map. For swing voters in Pueblo, Brauchler did a fine job spelling out why he doesn’t deserve their support.