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November 01, 2014 09:00 AM UTC

The Colorado Republicans' 'People-Like-Me' Problem

  • 24 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

“Both Ways” Bob Beauprez (right).

In exit polling after the 2012 election, voters said they backed President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney because they thought Obama cared more about "people like me."

Republicans in Colorado apparently didn't learn anything, because they've made the same mistake again this year, failing to show that they care for regular people.

The proof goes beyond nominating a gubernatorial candidate, Bob Beauprez, who once said that 47 percent of Americans are "perfectly happy" to be dependent on government.

In August, Beauprez said Colorado is too far "inland" to house destitute child migrants, fleeing from gangs and other horrors in Central American countries, as they wait for their deportation hearings here in America. In effect, Beauprez said, let other states worry about these poor children.

How can someone with so little compassion for these kids, on our midst, possibly care about regular people? It's mean, period. Voters say they want their leaders to care. Beauprez made the comments on a conservative talk-radio show, where they were received with loud praise. No one was there, of course, to represent the children.

Respect for young immigrants doesn't rank high on senatorial candidate Cory Gardner's compassion meter either. He now says he favors offering work visas for undocumented immigrants, but he opposes offering in-state tuition for undocumented students who know only Colorado as their home, having been brought here illegally as children.

This type of heartlessness spells doom for the GOP at the ballot box, as Republicans have warned themselves about.

Rep. Cory Gardner (R).
Rep. Cory Gardner (R).

Days after the last election, writing in The Denver Post, big-wig Republicans Josh Penry and Rob Witwer offered this advice to fellow Republicans in Colorado:

"We've forgotten that politics is a game of addition, not subtraction. And here's some more math: 50,000 Latino kids turn 18 every month in this country," Penry and Witwer wrote. "These kids grow up in households where parents work hard and attend church on Sunday. These are American values. But yes, some of these kids — through no fault of their own — were not born American citizens."

Yet, Gardner says the border must be secured to an unspecified degree before tiny steps, like in-state tuition for undocumented students, are implemented for immigrants.

What's more, Gardner continues to co-sponsor a federal abortion-ban bill that would prevent rape victims from having the choice of abortion.  Gardner says the bill simply states that life begins at conception and would have no impact, but fact checkers conclude otherwise.

No matter how strongly you oppose abortion, even for respectable and honorable religious reasons, a hard-line stance like this is disconnected dominant cultural norms and, in a political context, from common-sense compassion.

It understandably creates the perception for most people that a politician like Gardner doesn't support "people like me," especially if you're a woman.

With Beauprez and Gardner at the top of the Republican ticket, you're witnessing a repeat of the 2012 election, where voters came around to thinking that Obama cared more about them than Romney did.

That's obviously a huge problem for Republicans, and given their actual factual positions on these issues, I don't have much compassion for them. Who would?

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24 thoughts on “The Colorado Republicans’ ‘People-Like-Me’ Problem”

    2. Gardner has presented himself as likable and down to earth. You can tell how much he has succeeded by how much his smile infuriates the left. I love what Gardner has done in this election. He deserves victory because he wants it more than Udall.

      2. Mod, I thought when Udall lost there would be less whining.

        Dems outspend the Republicans and got killed.

        Maybe it has something to do with the last six years.

        This election was a referendum on competence and is a rejection of the fruitcakes that have been running the place the last six years.

        The Dem senators have enabled the whack job in the White House and can't run away far enough.  When you vote for the clown 99% of the time it is tough to do.

        1. The Udall campaign outspent the Gardner campaign. That is true, but you are not counting the 'Dark Money' from shadowy PACs like Karl Rove's Crossroads and the numerous Koch brothers groups. The Udall/Cardner race has had the most Dark Money injected into it of all races in the country. Gardner is more owned than a Colfax prostitute. He won't vote for Colorado, he'll vote for Koch. Intelligent voters understand this.

           

    3. Gardner is not kicking Udall's ass. Anybody who picks the race either way by as much as %5 much less %10 must be smoking the pot we legalized. I'm talking to you Q'Pac. Go to fivethirtyeight.com for your Senate predictions. It is the most accurate source you can find. Today's number is Gardner by %2. That is a virtual tie. I won't guarantee a win for Udall but no one is going to run away with it

    1.  

       

       

      a gold plated seat on the Koch's private jet

      That is exactly right.

      Cory has succeeded in doing what he has always wanted to do….be a star. Cory languished for years in the shadow of his two running buddies, Penry and McNulty. Both discredited by their inability to handle the job of Speaker of the House, they are now seen mostly on page 8. He is now the king of that hill.

      Cory is ubiquitous at this point. In fact, he is right here on the side of my page as I write this. Always about the money, Cory is in "Cory heaven"…his ship has come in. His employers, Charles and David Koch, will reward him with a fortune and his old buddies are watching from the sidelines. Why do you think he smiles so much?

      Cory is not concerned with the worries of the world, he is not pre-occupied with the plight of anyone… anyone who isn't Cory. He is the Happy Warrior…the Christian Soldier…and he is laughing all the way to the bank.

      1. If that's true, win or lose, then Ben Franklin was smarter than I thought. and I thought he was pretty smart.

        Because if it's true, we get a semipermanent hereditary plutocracy. Sort of what king George wanted for us all along.

              2. Fundraising beefcake calendar to follow in 2015 (to cover campaign debts.)

                Klingenschmitt will be Mr. December. (posing with a Demon of Lust).  Jodi Ernst is on track for Ms. May – to be photographed in front of the hog slaugher pen a' la Palin.

  3. Did anyone besides me hear Norm Ornstein just pick Udall to win in Colorado? He is a guest on Up w/ Steve Kornacki. I am not sure I heard him right….

    1. Yes, Norm Ornstein picked Udall to win and so did the Daily Show Writer.  I also heard Casie Hunt say that there didn't seem to be much enthusiasm when Christie and Bush showed up at Colorado Springs to support Cory boy.  They probably had to bring them to Colorado Springs to avoid massive protests.

  4. I have heard at least 3 pundits state that Cory Gardner has done an outstanding job at running his campaign.  If lying your way through everything you once stood for is great, our politics have reached a new low level.  No wonder, the general electorate is turned off politics.

    1. What they mean is that he hasn't said anything memorable (e.g., legitimate rape, buyer's remorse, or "I'm not a witch").  And he's done a nice job of rewriting his history on reproductive choice.  That doesn't mean he has been honest with voters.

        1. I agree Michael.  Didn't he try to change the definition of rape?  I was just looking at the latest turnout results.  If they are correct the percentages are: 40.5 Republican, 32.5 Democrat and 27.0 Unafilliated.  If these percentages are correct, we are gaining ground.  I would expect to see some changes on our side tomorrow.  The wild card is where the unafilliated voters split.

          1. Yes he did, and I could be mistaken (I tried to find it on a Google search) but I think he also proposed something similar as a Colorado State House Representative.  According to Eli news piece today, we've wiped out 25% of their advantage since mid-last week, and that's without the ballots that were mailed late last week but won't be counted until Monday (and reported Tuesday). We've got out work cut out for us, but as Eli mentioned, those pundits buying in to the Washington, DC-bubble-rhetoric are doing so at their own peril. 
             

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