October 18, 2018 11:20 AM UTC

Brauchler Throws Walker Stapleton Under The Bus

• 9 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Under three weeks until what’s shaping up to be an historically bad night for Colorado Republicans, and the Colorado Sun’s John Frank and Jesse Paul see a novel argument emerging from Republican Colorado Attorney General candidate George Brauchler–and by novel, we mean desperate as hell:

The dimming Republican prospects at the top of the ticket in Colorado are prompting a renewed focus on the attorney general’s race as a potential backstop to a Democratic win in the election for governor…

Brauchler, the chief prosecutor in a Denver-area judicial district, is the first to acknowledge that Democrats are poised to make major strides in November. He supports Stapleton, but in campaign appearances he talks about the potential for a Polis victory as one reason for voters to support his candidacy.

“I’m not going to come out there and say, ‘All the polls are wrong and I think Walker is going to run away with this thing,’ ” Brauchler told The Colorado Sun in an interview. [Pols emphasis]

And with that, the Republican candidate for attorney general just conceded that the Republican candidate for governor is probably going to lose. Now, you might look at Brauchler’s frank admission to a reporter that Walker Stapleton is losing and conclude that’s a smart thing for him to do–positioning himself as the compensatory choice in what’s shaping up to be a night full of Democratic victories.

But you know who we guarantee 100% does not think this is helpful? Walker Stapleton.

In terms of Brauchler’s own survival odds, we’re not sure he’s the right Republican to even be jumping ship to at this point. There’s even more bad press for Brauchler today in the Colorado Springs Gazette, stemming from his office’s complete failure to obtain justice in the case of former El Paso County Sheriff “Shirtless” Terry Maketa, compounding the checkered prosecutorial record that Brauchler is already contending with from the Aurora theater shooting to the case of child porn-loving Deputy Donald Fair.

Assuming we’re at the point in the election where Republicans start looking for consolation prizes, there are plenty of reasons why Brauchler is just not deserving of the honor. That was true before he tossed the party’s gubernatorial nominee under the bus, and it’s even more true now.