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December 14, 2005 09:00 AM UTC

Salazar vs. Focus on the Family, Again

  • 25 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Senator Ken Salazar is back battling with Focus on the Family. The latest salvo in their ongoing feud came in a speech yesterday in Denver. From the Rocky Mountain News:

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar attacked Focus on the Family at a luncheon in Denver on Tuesday after the nonprofit group took out newspaper ads labeling him a flip-flopper in regard to the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Salazar, in turn, suggested the group go back to the Bible and look at the Eighth Commandment.

“Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” he told a crowd of about 200 at the Brown Palace Hotel. In some religions that’s the Ninth Commandment, but the Catholic Church, of which Salazar is a member, counts it as the eighth.

The ongoing feud between Salazar and the political arm of James Dobson’s Colorado Springs ministry has been simmering for much of the senator’s first year in office. It reached a crescendo earlier this year when Focus on the Family accused Salazar of failing to follow through on a campaign promise to support an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees.

It’s a point made in the new Focus on the Family ad, where Salazar is reported as saying in November 2004 he favored an up-or-down vote and then, in April 2005, the ad reported, his position had changed. It also said he was opposed to hiring quotas at one point, then said he didn’t oppose hiring quotas.

Salazar called the advertisement “a falsehood.”

Why is Focus on the Family so intent on going after Salazar? It may be because the Colorado Senator could hold one of the key votes on the nomination of Justice Alito to the Supreme Court. There are some Democrats, including those in Senator Ted Kennedy’s office, who believe they have a decent shot at stopping the nomination, and Salazar’s vote could be a big one. Salazar is thought to be inclined to vote against Alito, but is reportedly less enthusiastic about a filibuster vote.

Either way, by taking on the junior senator, Focus on the Family isn’t doing much more than raising Salazar’s profile yet again. By picking a fight with Salazar last spring they made an unknown senator into a national figure, and they’re not doing much besides giving him more free press again. Salazar didn’t cave to their pressure before, and he’s not likely to do so again, making this just another in a line of empty threats and attacks from Focus on the Family.

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25 thoughts on “Salazar vs. Focus on the Family, Again”

  1. Who handles Focus on the Family’s political strategy? Attacking Salazar like this only makes sense in a simplistic, linear way. FOTF has come out behind in previous battles, and I have to agree with this post: the current fight helps Salazar much more than it helps Dobson and Co. Maybe rather than focusing so much on (other peoples’) families, they should focus on learning some more sophisticated political tactics.

  2. More power to them. The more Focus goes after Salazar, the less time they have to “focus” on other nefarious activities. As if Salazar cares what FotF says. In fact, this might make him want to vote against Alito to spite them.

    They protested the man’s Dairy Queen!

  5. Sorry, EMROSA, Salazar won’t vote against Alito to spite FOF.  He will vote against him to please his Democratic base, he made that clear by suggesting he will vote against Alito because he’s not a woman.  But because he’s Salazar, he’ll also vote against a filibuster, keeping his prominence in the gang of 14 intact, tossing a bone to conservatives, and keeping, however grudgingly, his pledge of an up or down vote on judicial nominees.

  7. Charge on FOTF!!!! Salazar is just another waffling politican. What a bad choice Colodaro voters made in selecting this man of woeful integrity. And by the way, I’m boycotting his Dairy Queen as well.

  8. I’m not sure I understand what you mean , EMROSA, by “Why can’t he do both?”  He could vote against Alito’s confirmation and also join a filibuster, I’m just saying he won’t, because he always looks for a way to throw a bone to each side.  He could not, however, filibuster and also keep his pledge for an up-and-down vote.  Since he always tries to split the difference, I’m betting he plays to the left by voting against Alito, basically citing diversity reasons, and plays to the right by not filibustering.  Note that FOF didn’t ask him to vote for Alito.  They have the 50 votes (plus Chaney) to confirm.  They don’t have the 60 needed to shut off a filibuster.

  9. Why can’t he spite FotF AND please his Democratic base? It’s possible.

    Who knows about the filibuster, you’re probably right on that part. But wouldn’t it still spite them, knowing that Coors would probably have voted yes? Ah spite. Mmmmmm.

  10. The Gang of 14 is barely holding it together, with some of the Republicans already threatening to back out even before getting a full read on Alito.  My guess is that it dissolves before the floor vote.  Sen. Reid and others are already beginning to make noise about “what use is the filibuster if it can’t be used”, and I’m guessing that if the Gang of 14 is split, that Reid will be looking to take a stand against the bullying threat of the nuclear option.

    Whether or not Salazar goes along for that ride, I don’t pretend to know, but I’m guessing he will in the end.

  11. Okay, Erin, I see your point now.  Sure, voting against Alito pleases his base and, in theory, spites FOF.  But there is no way that he does that jsut to spite FOF.  He votes no, and they expect him to, they aren’t even asking him to vote yes.  A no vote thus only appears to spite them. If he votes no, but doesn’t filibuster, he “spites” them by doing exactly what they asked him to do.  Thus, you have B’rer Dobson saying to Salazar, “Please don’t throw me into that Briar Patch by voting against Alito but not filibustering” and if Salazar takes that bait…which I’m betting he will … he does it for his own political calculations, not to spite Spongdob. I think Ken calculates the political consequences before deciding whether to floss his teeth!

  12. Probably. But I’m also thinking that Ken’s very existence spites Spongedob everyday. The fact is, the Democrats are so unorganized, I don’t think Salazar’s unwillingness to filibuster is necessarily all his fault. Where?s the leadership here?

    Damn rabbits and their b?rer patches.

  13. I’m lucky enough to have FOF in my town. Oh boy. We also have Compassion International which is huge here but isn’t as vocal and interested in trying to force their views on people. Compassion Intl. just broke ground on a multi million dollar addition to their 5 year old mega building on the far north side of Colo. Spgs.
    I remember a couple years ago going to Compassion to measure for a broken window. The maintenance man there said that they just wanted the glass and they would attempt to install it themselves. He told me they were trying to save money “for the children”.
    As I looked around this behemouth of a building I wondered how many kids they could help if they hadn’t spent so many millions of dollars on this building………And now they are adding on!….

  14. So, is Dobson making the same threat to Salazar that he made to Republicans? “If you don’t do as we want, we won’t vote for you.” Good luck making that stick with Salazar.

    Meet me at DQ, I’ll be the guy with the Blizzard.

  16. Coloradans Still Prefer the Senator that Fights for Us

    SurveyUSA has come out with their nationwide poll of favorability ratings for U.S. Senators.  There is a stark difference between how Coloradans view Senator Salazar and how they view Senator Allard.  In short, Coloradans still prefer a Senator that w…

  17. I guess that it is inconceivable that Salazar judge Alito on his qualifications. 

    Salazar is a typical wishy-washy politician.  Those who voted for this clown get what they deserve.  Unfortunately those of us who didn’t are also stuck with him.

    FOF criticism of Salazar is well deserved. Critism of FOF is expected in a left-leaning site like CP.

  18. Oh, whine whine whine. Poor baby. I am so sorry for you. You’re obviously the victim in this situation. That evil Ken Salazar just doesn’t know how to do anything right. Curse him. Curse him and his liberal pinko cult.

  19. Plumber, I too didn’t vote for him and like you am stuck with it. Hopefully with time he will just fade away like a bad cold.
    And whatever you do, don’t answer to EMRosa. You will be in for a 60 or 70 post arguement.

  20. “And whatever you do, don’t answer to EMRosa. You will be in for a 60 or 70 post arguement.”
    What, Gecko, is Our Lady of Perpetual Liberalism slowing down?  On a good day, she can insult conservatives in 100 different posts before breakfast.  All the while, of course, insisting that we don’t have rational arguments.

  21. When have I personally insulted someone on this site? (Albeit my last post was a little snarky.)

    Last time I had an argument, I was called many different things for no reason. It wasn’t rational, it was logical fallacy. If you can’t argue your position either A) admit your opinion is not based on logic, B) don’t argue.

    Last time, despite three commenters taking me on, the initial question that started the whole thing was never answered. Then, after 60 or so posts, some of them finally admitted they had no logical basis for their opinion. Read it for yourself.

    “Because I feel that way” and “everybody has done it for a long time” are not valid arguments, and never will be. At least I TRY and incorporate some kind of scientific or historical/factual basis for my claims. When I?m not being a sarcastic twit that is.

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