Our colleague, Alvina Vasquez who directs Colorado’s Voice, wrote a post at Huffington Post titled, What Colorado Voters Should Know:
This November, Colorado Latino voters will face a large field of candidates all vying for their votes, trying to persuade them with their platforms. Each office has the power to alter the lives the Colorado Latino families.
Televisions and mailboxes will be full of confusing, and often contradictory, messages leaving voters feeling helpless and stuck. However, now more than ever, you need to make the decision to educate yourselves and get out to vote.
She then identified several key races for the fall including several important battles in the State House (District 11) and State Senate (Districts 19, 21 and 25).
In addition, there’s a competitive House race in Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District where incumbent Republican Mike Coffman launched an ad this week trying to create distance from his party’s presidential nominee Donald Trump. Shortly after the ad launched, Coffman undermined his own message by refusing to disavow a vote for Trump as Colorado Pols reported:
1. Mike Coffman, in a preview of his new TV ad released to the press:
“People ask me, ‘What do you think about Trump? Honestly, I don’t care for him much.”
2. A bit later, Coffman’s spokesperson, Cinamon Watson, had this to say about Coffman’s thoughts on the Presidential election:
Watson said Thursday that “Hillary Clinton is not an option” and that Coffman will not vote for her. She did not directly answer whether he has ruled out voting for Trump. He “is considering his options — like a lot of Americans,” she said in an email.
3. And here’s what Coffman apparently just told Brandon Rittiman at 9News:
Rittiman: Would you rule out supporting Donald Trump for President?
Coffman: No.
There you have it, folks. This is how an incumbent member of Congress loses his re-election campaign.
Talk about trying to have it both ways.
Rep. Coffman makes a habit of this kind of obfuscation. He does it on immigration. But, running an ad trying to create distance from Trump while not promising to vote against him seems particularly egregious. What Coffman knows it that disavowing Trump means he’ll lose Trump’s voters who make up a sizable contingent in the GOP base.
America’s Voice launched a petition on MoveOn asking Coffman to step up and disavow Trump.
As Alvina concluded:
While the television will be flooded with both positive and negative ads, it is important for all Coloradans to become educated on races up and down the ballot. Come November, Coloradans need to motivate each other to vote, get registered, come up with a voting plan, and make time to research candidates that respect the values of the community they represent.
