Posted on 09/03/2013 12:14:07 PM PDT by Maelstorm
Voters go to the polls next Tuesday in the first-ever state Senate recalls in Colorado history, and liberals around the country are worried.
Worried enough that New York’s billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has put $350,000 into the state to protect two senators being targeted for recall recall because of their anti-gun views, according to The New York Times.
Worried enough that “billionaire philanthropist” Eli Broad has pumped in a quarter-million to the same cause, according to The Times. (Ever notice only rich liberals are called “philanthropists” in the NYT?)
Worried enough that New York liberal Democrat Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand has joined in with a fundraising email for one of the two imperiled senators (the female one, naturally.)
At issue are the political futures of John Morse, the Democratic president of the state Senate who represents the Colorado Springs area, and Angela Giron, who represents Pueblo.
As the gun rights group Bearing Arms put it, “If John Morse and Angela Giron are defeated despite the massive spending of anti-gun groups, the fate of the gun-control movement may be doomed.”
That’s why the liberal money is pouring in. And it’s why The New York Times is devoting national coverage to state Senate recall races for seats that, together, represent only about a quarter of a million people in a country of more than 300 million. Because there’s no denying a recall of either or both senators would be a major symbolic victory for Second Amendment supporters.
And it could happen. Morse squeaked to re-election last year by only 252 vote and that was in an election where a Libertarian got 1,258 votes, according to the Denver Post. As the Post puts it, “Morse is clearly vulnerable.” Giron’s district, on the other hand, is overwhelmingly Democratic in registration, so if there is a gun-rights victory, it’s more likely to come at the expense of the Colorado Senate president.
The Times says polls show the elections are too close to call (and since this is The Times, that mean’s it’s probably a slam-dunk for the pro-gun side.)
“The peasants have grabbed ahold of their pitchforks and torches,” Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, told The Times.
The National Rifle Association hasn’t been idle either, putting about $110,000 into radio ads and other campaign spending, according to the Times, including a slick, professional pro-recall video that was featured in campaign coverage in the Denver Post.
Still, Bearing Arms puts the spending disparity at 6-1 in favor of the Democrats. And the Democrats have reason to spend so much, with so much on the line:
“If either of these Colorado state senators is defeated, billionaire Mike Bloomberg’s already flailing Mayors Against Illegal Guns will be revealed as having very little actual political clout,” bearingarms.com says. “MAIG’s defeat in Colorado might doom the brief resurgence of the gun control movement that erupted post-Newtown.”
Watch Colorado carefully next Tuesday. The libs will be.
I’m torn on this. If conservatives lose, it will be demoralizing. If they win, they’ll sit on their laurels and lose going forward. It’s a given.
What does it look like there “on the ground”?
I’d assume all the momentum is with our side vs the usual GOTV efforts by the progressives, SEIU busloads, etc.
The ballot box has been corrupted by the left. Don’t look for good news.
Well that is the challenge. It doesn’t always happen that way. Wisconsin turned out good for us overall. We still didn’t win the Presidential race there but of course the re-call race and the state supreme court races were ran far better than Romney ran anything anywhere.
Is a liberaltarian running in this race too, or is it just R +D?
Here’s hoping that Coloradans kick Mikey’s butt so hard that he flies all the way back to the eastern seaboard, sans airplane.
What is at stake is something more than these seats, something more than gun control itself. It is the Left’s control of the narrative. This has been framed as “The Gun Lobby vs The People” since day one. A down vote gives that the lie.
I’m not sure but it looks like the races are too close to call. I saw one statewide poll showing the recall opposed by slight majorities statewide but the local poll which matters show at least one in trouble 34%-29%
There are several advantages in favor of the successful recall. That people actually must show up in person to vote gives an edge to us. My sense of the race now is that think at least one if not both will be recalled.
Thanks! Do you know how big a margin these Dems won by when they got elected previously? Are the districts heavily “blue”?
As I understand it, this is a straight up or down vote on whether these two traitors should be recalled, (IE, fired.), involving only the voters in their home districts.
"Peasants with pitchforks" is a really dangerous metaphor.
Just ask Patrick J. Buchanan.
OK. In some states the recall and the replacement vote are taken at the same time.
Let’s paint the rosy scenario as the outcome of these two recall elections. If both are recalled:
This will be the removal of a sitting State Senator president because of one focused issue (gun control). To my knowledge, that has NEVER happened anywhere in the US.
Then the Dems will go into the 2014 elections with only a one vote majority in the state senate.
Gov Hickenlooper (D) is already running a weak 45% approval rating because of his gun votes along with other votes.
It is very possible almost LIKELY, that the Dems will lose the Senate in 2014. Very possible that they will lose the Gov and it is even possible that the could lose the House.
If that happens, you will have ONE ISSUE that will have caused the Dems to lose both houses and the governorship in one election cycle. That issue being gun control. And the State of Colorado was seen as being the easiest pickup for gun control advocates and the Dems.
Not only will the local Dems be in shock and treat gun control like the third rail in politics. The National Dems will be shocked as well. The candidates WILL take notice and they will know that there is a price for their votes.
All eyes are on Colorado. Will it become the nanny state like Kalifornia or will it remain a free state like Texas?
So you're one of those "the glass is always empty" kind of guys.
That way if you're wrong nobody remembers and you don't remind them, and if you're right you get to say "I told you so."
Meanwhile, everybody around you has a mysterious urge to commit suicide whenever you drop in.
No matter how the recalls turn out it won’t be the end of it. CO gun owners aren’t going to stop until these laws are overturned.
I’m a Colorado resident north of Denver, but I have property down near these two areas. Lots of money moving in. Lots of flyers, radio spots, etc. My feel is that it is a lot but it is too late. Most people made up their minds when the law was signed into place.
The hot under the collar, crawl through broken glass voter is the gun owner and there are a WHOLE lot of them down south. Motivation and mass are on the side of the recall. I see no “burning need” on the side that wants to keep these two in office.
Morse - he is gone defiantly (I’d say 90% that he is out). As for the other one. Possibly, (50 to 60 percent that she is out) Depends on the turn out.
Usually they're spending money trying to convince voters of what they'll do in the future (and usually lying).
They can spend all they want now, but it won't erase what they've done in the past.
No, I'm a realize-that-the-former-party-of-Reagan-is-no-more kind of guy. Of course, I hope that the recalls succeed, but that usually results in the winning "Republican" not capitalizing on it at best, or actually giving concessions to the Left at worst.
I'm a realist. We conservatives are a man without a country/party.
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