October 05, 2015 03:24 PM UTC

Clinton's Colorado Campaign Ramps Up, Tackles Big Issues

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Stateman’s Vic Vela reports:

Volunteers for Hillary Clinton’s Colorado campaign this week received an education in “how to win a caucus 101,” laying the team’s groundwork for winning votes that won’t be cast for another five months.

“If we win Colorado, that puts Hillary in the best possible position to win the Democratic nomination,” Brad Komar, Clinton’s Colorado campaign lead, said in a call to volunteers Tuesday evening. Komar invited the press to listen in during the call…

In an interview with The Colorado Statesman following the call, Komar said many Colorado Democrats who have lived in the state for a long time know the caucus system “like the back of their hand.” But others might not have lived here or been eligible to vote in 2008, the last time a competitive Democratic caucus was held here — the same year then-candidate Barack Obama defeated Clinton for the nomination.

Komar, who ran Gov. John Hickenlooper’s successful re-election bid last year, said the organizing effort is just getting started but adds that Clinton has built-in advantages here.

“Hillary has a lot of institutional support in Colorado,” he said. “We have a lot of elected endorsers, just a lot of folks who want to help her. And that’s important in a caucus.”

Sources tell us that Colorado is taking a major role in Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s caucus and general election campaign strategy. Despite a summer of Republicans throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at her, Clinton remains the broadly-anticipated Democratic nominee for president, and her campaign views the caucus in Colorado as an opportunity to organize rather than any kind of political make-or-break. A press release from Clinton campaign chair Brad Komar today announced Hillary’s campaign leadership team in Colorado, headed by a face you’ll recognize:

“Coloradans are pioneers who collaborate from instinct,” said Governor Hickenlooper. “We were the first state where the people gave women the right to vote. That is why we are excited to finally crack that glass ceiling by electing Hillary Clinton as the first woman president of the United States.  From fighting for the rights of women and children across the world as Secretary of State to helping create SCHIP as First Lady which now provides health insurance to 8 million children, Hillary Clinton is a champion that has delivered results.”

That’s right–the same Gov. John Hickenlooper who made headlines last week after tossing out some throwaway speculation about the extremely well-publicized private email server Clinton used while serving as Secretary of State. Hick pulling his foot out of his mouth long enough to sign on to Clinton’s leadership council should help put that gaffe in its proper perspective. That’s Hick for you.

Clinton’s campaign also isn’t shying away from the hard issues that make headlines in Colorado. In the wake of last week’s mass shooting at a community college in Oregon, Clinton’s campaign is out today with a platform on gun violence prevention that Colorado Democrats should approve of strongly. After all, a lot of it is right out of Colorado law from 2000 to 2013:

To increase the number of gun sales subject to background checks, Clinton will:

 Advocate for comprehensive federal background check legislation. Laws prohibiting dangerous individuals from buying guns are only as effective as our background check system is comprehensive. Background checks reduce gun trafficking, reduce the lethality of domestic violence, and reduce unlawful gun transfers to dangerous individuals. It is reprehensible that bipartisan legislation supporting background checks failed in Congress after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But Clinton is not giving up – she will continue to fight for legislation to build on the Brady bill’s success.

 Close the “Charleston Loophole.” Clinton will push Congress to close the “Charleston Loophole” that allows a gun sale to proceed without a completed background check if that check is not complete within three days. The alleged Charleston shooter had a federal criminal record but was able to purchase a gun precisely because of this loophole. This same loophole allowed over 2,500 prohibited gun purchases in 2014. Clinton will support congressional efforts to close the “Charleston Loophole” and provide sufficient time and resources to complete a background check before a sale is approved.

 Tighten the gun show and Internet sales loophole if Congress won’t. If Congress refuses to act, Clinton will take administrative action to require that any person attempting to sell a significant number of guns be deemed “in the business” of selling firearms. This would ensure that high-volume gun sellers are covered by the same common sense rules that apply to gun stores—including requiring background checks on gun sales.

In Colorado, as our readers know, background checks on private gun sales have been the law since 2013. In 2000, Colorado passed a constitutional amendment mandating background checks at gun shows–a law that might have prevented the Columbine shooters from obtaining the weapons they used. Clinton also supports repeal of the 2005 federal “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” which was invoked along with similar Colorado statutes to order the parents of an Aurora shooting victim to pay online weapons dealers who sold ammunition and body armor to the shooter over $200,000.

Since the gun safety debate in 2013, there has been a significant degree of trepidation among local Democrats about engaging on the issue–even against defending the legislation that was passed in the aftermath of the Aurora shooting. This has always puzzled us politically, since polling shows the issue to be stronger for Democrats than generally assumed–and a lack of defense from Democrats for their own actions helped fulfill the GOP’s prophecy that gun control would be politically disastrous. It’s also an issue where Clinton’s primary opponent Bernie Sanders is significantly at odds with mainstream Democrats.

Because we have never believed that hiding from this issue was a good idea for Democrats, Clinton standing strong on guns might help local Dems come out of their shells and stand up for what they did in 2013. Since it’s an unfortunate fact that these shooting events are likely to continue, this issue isn’t going away. Whether we like to admit it or not, Colorado is a leader in responding to these tragedies with common-sense laws to reduce gun violence without taking away gun rights.

And it looks like that’s what Hillary Clinton wants to be too.