DENVER — Until late last year, Colorado’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, seemed invincible heading into his reelection campaign this year.
Being a sensible man, the governor supported background checks for gun purchases in the wake of the Aurora theater massacre of July 2012. The background checks and limitations on the number of magazines in guns made it through the Democratic-controlled legislature, and Hickenlooper proudly signed the legislation, which became effective in July 2013. But the gun nuts, led by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Head Gunslinger Dudley Brown and the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre, who is feared by every Member of Congress, succeeded in derailing the careers of three Democratic State Senators through two recalls and one forced resignation, leaving the Democrats in the Colorado State Senate with an insecure 18-17 majority. Not only that, 54 of Colorado’s 64 sheriffs filed suit last year, seeking to declare the legislation unconstitutional, and the case is pending in federal court.
This past week, Hickenlooper, for reasons unknown to a solitary reporter and his many other fans, accepted a speaking invitation at the sheriffs’ biennial convention in Aspen, and, in Fox News' totally objective headline, “trie[d] to apologize for gun control measures [and] blames [his] staff.” The governor told the sheriffs that he was unaware that they had wanted to meet with him in 2013 to discuss their concerns over the proposed gun laws. He also told the sheriffs that he had no idea that the measures would be so controversial.
But moments ago, in a news conference attended only by the solitary reporter, Hickenlooper, tieless as usual, announced that he is quitting the governor’s race, much to the consternation of State Democratic Party Chair Rick Palacio and legendary Democratic activist Frank Sullivan.
In next Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary, there are four GOP bozos in the race: former Congressman and GOP presidential candidate Tom Tancredo; Secretary of State Scott Gessler; former Congressman Bob Beauprez; and Former Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp.
Within two nanoseconds of hearing Hickenlooper’s announcement, Tancredo, who lost to Hickenlooper in 2010 as the candidate of the American Constitution Party, announced that he has changed his party registration from Republican to Democratic. In the 2010 election, Hickenlooper garnered 51% of the vote to Tancredo’s 36%, with 11% of the vote going to Republican Dan Maes.
Tancredo, a perpetual opponent of any meaningful immigration reform, is being targeted by his Republican opponents in blistering TV ads for, among other things, flip-flopping on gun control legislation. He told the solitary reporter, “I’m a chameleon, and a damn cute one at that. I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
Write a comment