In our Weld Democrat office we have a sign that says, “Democratic Party …We’re not perfect but they’re nuts”. Truer words have never been spoken as demonstrated these last few weeks. Maybe you caught Kyle Clark’s interview with GOP Gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx. Marx claims his father forced him to kill a man when he was a child and Kyle asked if he had killed anyone else as an adult. Marx wouldn’t answer except to say, “What does it matter?” In a debate with Barb Kirkmeyer, Scott Bottoms claimed that Colorado was overrun with Venezuelan gangs (no law enforcement office anywhere would confirm this statement). He also contends most of the Colorado congress is full of pedophiles but offered no evidence but said if elected he would produce evidence. Barb Kirkmeyer, the only sane candidate running in the GOP race, jumped on Bottoms every time he made a false statement. I found Bottoms’ claims a bit ironic when the Chair of the Weld GOP was just arrested for being caught in a pedophile sting where he showed up in Larimer County in response to an ad targeting people seeking to exploit children. Republicans have real pedophiles in their midst yet are constantly pointing fingers at Democrats, with no evidence. This theme seems to be pervasive in their party. They have nothing to offer Colorado voters but, well chaos. They are agents of chaos. I may be dating myself here, but maybe we need Maxwell Smart with his shoe phone and agent 99 to help us defeat CHAOS.
On a personal note, I had a face to face conversation with a GOP candidate for CD2 that ran along these same lines. I worked at the Dem booth at the Erie Town Fair. I took a break and walked around the fair and came upon the Republican booth. One of their candidates, Christina Blunt for CD 2, was there. She saw my shirt which had a red and blue donkey on a white background and said, “You look like a Republican because you are wearing red and blue”. I pulled the shirt tight so she could clearly see the red and blue donkey on my shirt. Then she said “Oh”. We then discussed several things…I asked what she thought about the arrest of the Weld GOP chair in a pedophile sting. She said she wasn’t happy about it. Then she said both sides do the same things, just look at Clinton. I said that that about-ism was false. Clinton was never charged with anything and testified for hours before Congress. She then asked if I thought Colorado should continue the way it is. I said well, we have had one of the country’s best economies. It is expensive here, but we have lower taxes than many states and we are not the most expensive state. Slightly annoyed, she then jumped to the craziest topics. She asked if I knew about some weird legislation that involved child mutilation? And this was her most pressing issue she planned to use to win against Joe Neguse. She claimed that children were being taken and mutilated in schools. I told her that is ridiculous and not true. I said as a teacher, I find that that idea was unbelievable. She said she had been to a panel discussion with 20 such mutilated children who were missing genitals. However, she did not elaborate on when or where this panel occurred, or who sponsored this panel. I thought, if this was occurring, and if any medical services were obtained, it would have been reported. Law enforcement would be involved, and a panel of 20 such cases would have made the news. This candidate accused me of not caring about mutilated kids, but was unable to provide any sources for her fear-mongering. In her campaign materials, she also says she plans to “end crime and taxes”. Lofty goals, very naïve and no plan mentioned.
What is concerning to me is, this is what Republicans are so consumed by. That they so readily believe nonsense with no investigation, yet when real pedophiles walk among them, they discount the threat. Is it any wonder, in one of the most educated states, that Republicans here are falling flat and will probably never take office leadership again?
The GOP has demonstrated, time and time again, they hate government, they want government to fail, and they have no idea how to govern. We cannot let them win again in Colorado, (or anywhere for that matter). We pay dearly in so many ways when they are in leadership positions. Their fiscal conservancy position is a joke, a cover for exploiting vulnerable citizens, education, healthcare and the environment for the enhancement of big business, and tax cuts for those who clearly do not need any more help.
To keep Colorado a progressive state, and preserve our democratic values, we need to work together to elect strong Democratic candidates. Primary ballots begin mailing on June 8 for the June 30 election, and it is imperative that you get out and vote. Even if you think all the candidates are the same, or that your vote is moot, or that it is just the primary, you must vote. Each vote strengthens our party and our voice and voting power here in Weld. Weld is now the largest county in northern Colorado, by population and by size. As we grow more blue, our voice will be one of great influence if we succeed in turning Weld blue.
You can help! We need volunteers for upcoming events, like Greeley Pride at the Greeley Aims College Campus on June 13th. The Stampede parade and picnic on July 4th and other events and parades throughout the county. We need office help to cover the office Mondays and Wednesdays. We need help with food for events, and we need donations to pay for our office and outreach expenses. When the primary is over, we will need extensive help with the coordinated campaign. That will involve canvassing, calling, voter registration, and postcard help. If you want to be a part of the solution, sign up at our website today. If you want to help individual candidates, go to their websites.
We Democrats are not perfect. We care deeply about this country, and our neighbors and communities. We don’t have all the answers, but at least we ask the right questions, we listen and can come reason together. Come help us find real solutions to Colorado problems and not give any support to the agents of CHAOS.
Bev Wallace, Vice Chair