Colo. Rep. Schaffer Known for Sidesteps

news.yahoo.com ^ | 03/20/04 | STEVEN K. PAULSON

[KQQL]

DENVER - Colleagues remember Bob Schaffer as the state legislator who snatched up pamphlets on condoms during an AIDS (news - web sites) exhibit at the Capitol rotunda to keep them away from children.

Constituents remember him as the congressman who voted against a transportation bill because it included pork-barrel funding — for his own district.

Schaffer once again rejected conventional political wisdom when he jumped into the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell after several top party leaders, including Gov. Bill Owens, decided against running.

Schaffer faces an Aug. 10 primary challenge from a relative unknown, and could end up running against Democratic heavy-hitter Attorney General Ken Salazar in November, a race that political experts have called a toss-up despite Colorado's GOP-leaning electorate.

"The balance of the Senate is at stake. I think Colorado is going to be ground zero in the senatorial political races around the country," Schaffer said.

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said Democrats will use Schaffer's conservative record against him to appeal to Colorado voters, who tend to favor moderate candidates.

"Obviously, if there is going to be this matchup between Salazar and Schaffer, this will be the best chance Democrats have to capture a Senate seat in November," Sabato said Thursday.

Republicans have a 51-48 advantage in the U.S. Senate with one independent who leans Democratic.

A 43-year-old political gadfly with a congressional record as a strong conservative who opposed abortion and gun control, Schaffer has long been an enigma to Democrats and Republicans alike, known for his strong views and sometimes abrasive manner.

As a Colorado state senator, he opposed sex education in the schools and personally removed a display on the subject set up by the state Health Department in the Capitol rotunda.

Elected to the U.S. House in 1996 and re-elected in 1998 and 2000, he gained national attention as a member of the GOP Theme Team, the "one-minute conservative debate squad" that aired on the cable television network, C-Span.

In 1998, Schaffer was recognized by the National Taxpayers Union as the most frugal member of Congress after he returned more than $360,000 of his allotted office budget.

In 2001, Schaffer retired from the House, making good on a promise to limit himself to three terms. He later said it was a mistake, costing him House leadership positions and plum committee assignments.

Schaffer will face retired Air Force Academy law professor Dan O'Bryant in the primary. Salazar faces primary challenges from El Paso County educator Mike Miles and Boulder attorney Larry Johnson.

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[Kuksool]

Schaffer must define himself to the Denver suburb voters before Salazar defines him. I like Schaffer. He practices what he preaches in regards to fiscal conservatism. Too many politicians, both RAT & GOP, claim to be govt shrinkers but are not. Whenever a politician says he/she is a fiscal conservative, what that really means is "I will cut govt programs from other communities and redistribute the funds to my community".

[Torie]

Apparently the message is that he is at once a religious nutter, and too dumb to vote for pork his own district.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

I've been checking for a Shaffer campaign website but nothing yet. I'm going to volunteer the minute I see one.

Your wish is granted.

http://www.schafferforsenate.com/

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said Democrats will use Schaffer's conservative record against him to appeal to Colorado voters, who tend to favor moderate candidates.

Moderate, huh? Guess that explains Bill Owens, Marilyn Musgrave, Hank Brown, Wayne Allard, Tom Tancredo, Scott Mcinnis, Bob Beauprez, Bob Schaffer, etc.

[Columbine]

Thanks!

I've signed up.