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November 19, 2019 04:17 PM UTC

Cory Gardner Says He Needs Money to Fight “Radical Liberal Hoard [sic]”

  • 16 Comments
  • by: Erik Maulbetsch

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Sen. Cory Gardner’s (R-CO) recent fundraising letter attempts to scare Coloradans into donating to his reelection campaign by using extremely partisan language at odds with his claims of being a moderate, bipartisan dealmaker.

Toward the end of a four-page letter mailed to prospective donors, Gardner explains his need for money in extreme (though poorly copy-edited) language:

“To help me fight back the radical liberal hoard [sic] that is descending on Colorado to try to defeat me, please make a commitment to my campaign today…” writes Gardner.

It’s unclear which Coloradans specifically Gardner is referring to as part of the “radical liberal [horde] descending on Colorado,” but at the very least he includes his potential challengers, the two most prominent of whom (Hickenlooper and Romanoff) have lived in Colorado for decades. His language also invokes a longtime conservative complaint about liberal Coloradans who moved here from other states and shifting the political demographics.

An email to the Gardner campaign requesting clarification of whom he considers to be part of the “radical liberal [horde]” was not immediately returned.

In the postscript, Gardner continues to warn of “radical liberals” and of Democrats’ desire to institute socialism.

“They want to destroy me and elect a radical liberal to work with Schumer and Pelosi in Washington, D.C.,” Gardner writes.

Since joining the Senate in 2014, Gardner has co-sponsored multiple bills with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Gardner has been using the anti-socialism talking point all year long. In January he said on talk radio that the “normalization of socialism was the most dangerous thing to come out of the 2016 election.” His speech at the Western Conservative Summit in July, not only returned to the threat of socialism, but anticipated it being questioned as political rhetoric. As reported by the Denver Post’s Justin Wingerter:

“‘While the left will cry out that Republicans are fear-mongering and using socialism as a scare tactic, that actually couldn’t be further from the truth,’ Gardner said, preemptively criticizing criticisms of him.”

More from the postscript:

“…the future of Colorado and our entire nation depends on stopping the Democrats’ drive to initiate socialism in America.”

“I will take the fight to Democrats by making whoever [sic] they put up against me defend the radical liberal policies, socialist programs, and restrictions to our Constitutional rights…”

The language is distinctly different from the work-across-the-aisle bipartisan image Gardner promotes in his official capacity. His office has issued press releases announcing various awards for working with Democratic colleagues. And while a close look at the criteria for some of those awards sometimes reveals very narrow metrics, the public image of a congenial and cooperative member of Congress is clearly something Gardner values.

Reached for comment, Colorado Democratic Party spokesperson Alyssa Roberts expressed disappointment in the gap between Gardner’s words and action: 

“These Trumpian talking points are just another example of how Senator Gardner has failed to live up to his own promise to be an independent voice for Colorado. He knows his record of working to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions and allowing the president to raid $8 million from Peterson Air Force Base is toxic so has to resort to these ridiculous tactics.”

Gardner’s inflammatory language inspired La Plata County resident Greg Phillips to write a letter to the editor of the Durango Telegraph, in which he lamented the partisan attacks of modern political culture and wondered if it is possible for all Coloradans to “reverse the divisiveness.”

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16 thoughts on “Cory Gardner Says He Needs Money to Fight “Radical Liberal Hoard [sic]””

    1. Lowly intern? His finance director probably wrote this. They're usually a sharp bunch when it comes to fundraising, but my god are they incapable of proper grammar and sentence structure.

      Unless of course he's getting his marching orders from up top, in which case their Russian translator probably had a conniption. 

  3. I will be so glad when we’re finally rid of this pathetic weasel . . .

    . . . I’m saving my all my anti-weasel hoard to donate to the Democratic challenger.

  4. At least, his weekly email updates are getting spell-checked and proofread now. 
     

    He’s still lying and misleading, of course. 
    Cory claims to have brought home some infrastructure bacon through BUILD grants.   Quoting from his constituent email:

    I was proud to help secure and announce that Colorado will be receiving more than $43 million in major infrastructure grants, including $25 million for the City of Aurora to realign Picadilly Road and construct a new bridge over I-70, and an $18.35 million grant for the Colorado Department of Transportation for highway improvements. These BUILD grants will go a long way to help ease congestion and improve access for Colorado’s military installations and safety for the Picadilly Road interchange.

    Question: Would a Senator actually have had anything to do with this? Don’t state DOTs  apply for these grants, which are /are not funded? If a Congressional Rep “helped to secure”,  wouldn’t it properly have been Jason Crow representing Aurora?

    Gardner is also touting an award he got for “leading” on immigration, even though he helped kill comprehensive immigration reform in the House and the Senate, wants to defund DACA, voted for $Rump’s funding the border wall by robbing military projects, and wants to deny basic health care to immigrant children. 

    2. Well, the link between Senators acting and the BUILD grants isn't as clear as it is in Kentucky.  But "help secure" is a pretty weaselly phrase.  If he wrote a letter to the Transportation Dept., if he had staffers help translate the bureaucratic jargon of the application process, if he voted for funding for the BUILD grants — and lots of other potential actions — he can generate a press release.

      Fortunately, the D of Transportation assures us "The BUILD program enables DOT to use a rigorous merit-based process to select projects with exceptional benefits, explore ways to deliver projects faster and save on construction costs, and make needed investments in our Nation's infrastructure."

  7. I've got a radical liberal hoard in my garage in the form of a bunch of old campaign yard signs. It just sort of sits there, though, giving no cause for "fight[ing] back."

  9. Hoard = a large amount of money or objects that someone has collected

    Cory understands the importance of a hoard. Cory voted for Trump's tax law for the wealthy.

    Image result for rich man in money pile

     

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