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January 27, 2014 10:38 AM UTC

Mike Coffman's Straw Lady: "Bring It, Pelosi!"

  • 30 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

coffmanbringitpelosi

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D).
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D).

Politico's Emily Schultheis reports on Rep. Mike Coffman's new adversary on his tough road to re-election in 2014. Hint: it's not his Democratic opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.

SNEAK PEEK—COFFMAN ROBODIALS: ‘BRING IT, PELOSI’: Colorado GOP Rep. Mike Coffman, who represents a key swing district in the Denver suburbs, has already been hit by Democratic ad dollars in his district. He’s fighting back with a new campaign called “Bring It, Pelosi,” arguing that without his district, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi can’t become Speaker of the House again. The campaign is robocalling tens of thousands of households in the district, a Coffman aide said, as well as launching a big social media push to encourage voters in the district to donate and volunteer to the campaign. “Pelosi almost certainly can't become Speaker of the House again unless she beats me… That's why Pelosi's allies have spent a million bucks attacking me,” Coffman says in the robocall. He’s facing former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat.

Setting aside the growing unpopularity of robocalls, it depends on who this was targeted at. Partisan Republicans have been taught to hate former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a fierce intensity, so holding her up as a reason to protect Coffman's perilously swing district makes sense. Insiders on both sides know that the Colorado CD-6 race is one of the most important congressional races in the nation in 2014.

For many voters, though, Coffman's belligerent proxy rhetoric against Pelosi could backfire. Beyond political insiders, the linkage between Coffman and Pelosi doesn't make as much sense, and could come off as gratuitous bullying. The Republican brand isn't doing real well with women voters (see: Todd Akin, the "War on Women"), and Coffman's new slogan of "Bring It, Nancy"–sorry, "Bring It, Pelosi"–may well reinforce their negative view.

Bottom line: "Pelosi loathing" works for a small target audience, but is a liability if it leaks beyond hard-core Republican partisans. You'd think that Mike Coffman, of all people, would get that.

Comments

30 thoughts on “Mike Coffman’s Straw Lady: “Bring It, Pelosi!”

    1. Another example of his cowardice: We got mailers from him talking about his wonderful constituent service.  Franked (i.e., free), of course.  Incumbency has its perks.

  1. He's using 2004 tactics 10 years later, and it shows. A decade ago, conservative Americans were united under a pasty but powerfull misconception that only republican conservative christian politicians could "save" them from the shadowy and sinister Osama Bin Laden.

    The narrative that Democrats were at worst in cahoots and at the least were powerless before Al Qaeda was rampant. A rove red herring, it worked on a predominantly less than informed conservative base, primarily because fox and other conservative media outlets pounded the airwaves 24/7 with "mushroom cloud" connotations.   

    coffman is a from the basement up red. State House, State Senate, State Treasurer, SOS, all before winning CD6 in '08. He's learned at the knee of some of the most corrupt and duplicitous red politicians in Colorado's history, and his playbook replicates the strategy that smeared Coloradored for 12 solid years. 

    Problem is, CD6 isn't your daddy's goober haven like it was back when. Also, he doesn't have the terror card to play, as the Al Qaeda system was compromised at Abbottobad 1May11. Anti-immigrant, anti veterans benifits, rife with birther tendencies, and with a penchant for picking on women, coffman's a train wreck.

    Did I mention he's a phony as well?

    1. You're just jealous that it doesn't work for Rs. Who could have predicted that women who disagreed with all of Sarah Palin's actually positions wouldn't vote for McCain just because he picked a "her" for veep after Dems failed to pick HRC. Why wouldn't any HRC supporter be happy to support a ticket with any woman on it, policies aside? Why are women so darn tough to figure out?  If an anti-choice, anti-healthcare, pro-Rush Limbaugh candidate with a vagina won't please them, what the heck will?

      1. By the same token, why should a Republican be any nicer to Pelosi when she disagrees with everything we stand for? That's what you're saying about Palin, right?

        1. Well sparky, ya opened yerself up fer this one…………………so here's your shot to clarify what if anything you do believe in. 

          When you say  "we", can you name what you "stand for" and how Rep. Pelosi disagrees with whatever that is?

          Seems to me, your side has one mantra, and it shifts constantly. Instead of being "for" anything, your whole schtick is to be "against" anything the President, Rep. Pelosi, or for that matter, any Democra is in favor of.

          Please, enlighten us.

        2. Nancy Pelosi is issue oriented, she articulately represents her values.  She doesn't attack the character of others.  Sarah Palin uses ad hominem attacks and straw man arguments to make snarky sounding comments to garner attention. 

          Nancy Pelosi is a well educated, well spoken lady.  Sarah Palin does not give that impression.  In earlier days she may have been described as a "low person".  Kay Bailey Hutchison and most certainly Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are better examples of peers of Nancy Pelosi.  Sarah Palin is not, and I doubt she speaks for any of them.  

           

    2. Mod- I'd wager you wish it were just as contrary to the rules to pick on the developmentally disabled. If it's "against the rules" what stops Republicans from nominating women? Apparently your rule is observed by Republicans about as well as they observe most others they don't like. I'd point out Wendy Davis, but you'll probably go all ballistic accusingher of lying and fudging the details and generally criticizing her for her gender, her accomplishments and anything but her probable policies.

  2. They've tried this puzzling demonization of Pelosi before. The first time out it was, horrors, San Francisco Liberal Nancy Pelosi, the mere mention of that city meant to strike terror into the hearts of all good real Americans. Since most people couldn't tell you who was then or is now Speaker of the House, this seems to have had a pretty limited effectiveness. And I still haven't figured out what's so sinister about Nancy Pelosi. But then I haven't figured out what's liberal, much less "socialist", about Obama, either.

    1. Blue Cat wrote: And I still haven't figured out what's so sinister about Nancy Pelosi. But then I haven't figured out what's liberal, much less "socialist", about Obama, either.

      The terms "liberal" and "socialist" have specific definitions; however, they've been thrown around so much that they basically mean what you want them to mean, especially as a pejorative. The word fascism is similar in this regard. 

      1. That doesn't mean we should continue to surrender the definition of terms to the right. I rather like words that have, you know, defined meanings. I can call a dog a boat if I want to and you can call a dog a notebook if you want to but we aren't going to be able to communicate very effectively. I know the right doesn't care about all that facty stuff but I do. Which is why you're going to have a tough time finding a comment of mine misusing the word fascist even though I'm one of them evil libruls.

    2. You forget,  . . .

      Adam was once just a happy, old white guy — no taxes, no healthcare mandate, no cares in the world, and free to carry his AR15 anywhere he wanted with god's blessing in the garden of Eden!!  Then Pelosi came along and conspired with some serpent to spoil all his (and his white male descendants) fun-and-happily-ever-after . . .

      . . . the rest is, shall we say, HIStory !!??!!

  3. I could forgive Coffman a lot if he would just once, publicly talk about specific policy and specific votes. What exactly has Pelosi voted for that Coffman didn't? What issues is he taking a stand on?

    Nada, nothing, zero, zippo.

    He seems to think that politics is all about theater. Stand up and DECLAIM that you are against the FORCES of EEEVIL. Wave your shiny sword in the air.  But never, never say what exactly EEVIL consists of , because people might like or need some part of it.

    (aid to veterans, unemployed, poor, for example)

    He's assuming that his consitutents are too freaking unskilled and ignorant to take the time to look up his voting record, so his posturing  aims to convince that that kind of real information is unnecessary. I think that Coffman's drastic underestimation of the voters in his district will bite him hard in November, when Romanoff makes him look like an empty suit.

  4. My reply to the Aurora cinema thread (above), about Fox News viewers being less informed than no-news viewers could just as easily go here. The people Coffman is playing to are those fearful, uber-religious Republicans and the elderly who feel like the world has gone on without them. Unfortunately for him, that is no longer the make up of his district. I doubt he'll figure it out, even after he loses. If anything, he may conclude that he just didn't do it hard enough.  

  5. Which reminds me of an interesting article I ran across which  examines the present state of Fox, the power it does and does not have (one of the ideas posited is that it has more power to rile liberals and the WH than anything else) and the difficulties presented to this Republican arm network by the divide between the establishment and Tea Party wings as well as by demographics:

    http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/fox-news-2014-2/

  6. Coffman's problem is that wants to have it both ways: he wants to demostrate his credibility with the Tea Party without looking like a wingnut and alienating non-Tea Party Republicans (if they're any left) or independents in the process.  

     

    mamajama55

  7. I don't think running against Pelosi does what you think it does. But then I don't think it helps like team Coffman seems to think, either.

    Coffman should just run against the President, two time loser in CD6.

    I know, I know- but 6 is different now, not the same 6 that sent Tancredo and reflected him as long as he wanted. It's not as blue as you think, and wishful memories aside, the Ds are going to need a better candidate. 

    1. I don't know, JB.  A pretty weak candidate lost by less than two points in the first election in the new CD6, quite an improvement over the usual 2 to 1 R win. Andrew is a much stronger candidate than Miklosi was and will get tons more money than Miklosi did much farther out. Guess we'll just have to see. 

      I agree the whole Pelosi thing is a wash.  But also feel confident that there will be many more of the kind of gaffes on Coffman's part that helped Miklosi get so much closer than he had any right to hope for last time. No Dem with sense thinks the defeat of Coffman is a sure thing but we don't have to be overconfident to like our chances. It's now 2014 so we'll see who's right soon enough.

    2. Uh, sorry, no. Obama won the current version of CO6 enough to make the district a D-leaning seat (currently D+1 according to Cook). It's not much of a lean, but it's definitely one of the few seats held by the GOP that leans D by any extent.

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