As the Denver Post's Allison Sherry reports:
Gauging from the response to last night’s State of the Union address among Colorado’s Republicans, you wouldn’t think Rep. Mike Coffman is amid a re-election battle in a dramatically changed, bluer district. [Pols emphasis]
Coffman, R-Aurora, skewed sharply partisan after the president’s speech late Tuesday. In his canned statement, he lashed more than Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma or Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez. Both Tipton and Gardner are considered safe at the moment and don’t exactly have independently streaked voting records…
“Unfortunately, the State of the Union address has deteriorated into a sort of partisan pep rally, so I frankly don’t put a whole lot of stock into it one way or the other,” Coffman’s statement said. “The president’s partisan chest thumping over his demands for more government spending and mandates as the panacea to all of our problems rings hollow. If not for Obamacare and the reckless spending of the last ten plus years, this economy wouldn’t be in the sputtering malaise that it is.”
In an apparently separate statement, the Post reports Coffman said it was "positive" that President Barack Obama didn't get into specifics about immigration reform–whatever that means. Looking at Coffman's full official statement, he also gives a small nod to the President (and Sen. Mark Udall) on treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. But Sherry is absolutely right that Coffman's overall angry partisan tone in his response to the State of the Union address last night was way off. Obama's address is getting good reviews and high polling marks, so to be so vocally unhappy with this speech when other, much safer Republican members of Congress are trying to sound conciliatory? It doesn't make sense.
Unless you take it as another sign that Coffman has failed to adapt to the reality of his new situation. This is, after all, the same Rep. Coffman who was caught on tape saying that President Obama "is just not an American" in 2012–while running in this new district. The same Coffman who calls Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," and backed Rick Perry for President in the 2012 Republican primary.
"The impediment to working families right now is the president's own policies, starting with Obamacare and continuing all the way down the line."
Instead of coming across like the moderate he needs to portray himself as in one of America's most competitive districts, Coffman sounds like he's delivering the Tea Party Express response. It stands out in stark contrast against the rest of the Colorado GOP delegation, and even Coffman's own sometimes-conciliatory rhetoric depending on the audience. But it fits very well with extremist "birther" Rick Perry-loving Coffman.
In the end, maybe this is just who Coffman is. New Coffman™ can't hold it back.
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It's better this way. Just cut the shit, teabagger.
If he's talking about the last ten plus years did he mention that he's mainly talking about the reckless Cheney/Bush years? Did he deplore that administration's combo of unnecessary, unfunded war, during which corrupt private contractors over-charged billions for their shoddy services, combined with historically deep tax cuts for the wealthy that did not result in those supposed job creators investing that extra money in ways that created jobs? Did he mention how, instead of doing that they chose to indulge in reckless, risk free for them financial schemes that required massive bail outs, bail outs initiated during the Cheney/Bush years?
Did he mention that it was while his side had control of the WH and, at first close to both, a bit later both Houses of Congress out right that the Clinton era surplus evaporated and stayed gone? Or that higher debt and deficit is in fact common to periods during which Rs, as opposed to Ds, are in the WH?
Did he mention the significant, though not fast enough, recovery on all fronts, especially the spectacular recovery the R's beloved stock market, that has been made during the Obama/Dem years and would no doubt be much farther along without constant R obstruction, endless R filibusters and total R devotion to spending all their time on useless efforts to repeal Obamacare in the face of a Democratic Senate and Obama himself having veto power? How the GOTP promise to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs has been ignored on favor of all out efforts to take away families' rights to make their own healthcare and family planning decisions, obstruct the ability of votes to exercise their right to vote and put the brakes on immigration reform?
Yes it certainly has been a screwed up 10 plus years, all thanks to Coffman's GOTP with assists from Dems, including our ever so cautious centrist President, who only recently seem to be realizing that maybe they should have stopped running scared from the big bad righties a long time ago.
I thought the National Geograpic title about Endangered Species was referring to Republicans who have a brain and aren't complete lunatics.
Yes. Pretty hilarious that they chose Cofffman as an example of the "moderate" Republican as an endangered species. In Congress, I'd make that extinct, not endangered. I guess you could call Sen.Susan Collins a legitimate moderate, though she always goes along with GOTP leadership when push comes to shove, but I'm pretty sure she's too old to reproduce and, besides, that takes more than one.
Actually, based on the campaign letters Coffman sends me, I'm a little surprised he didn't work in some reference to Nancy Pelosi, as in, she probably ghost wrote Obama's speech.
Oh well. Plenty of time left for Coffman to make up for that omission.
On Coffman, I envision along the lines of President Obama going back to Kenya a couple of days before the State of the Union so he can demonstate how much he hates America.
Welcome back, Old Mike.