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Could Ken Buck be Colorado’s Sharron Angle?

by Rossputin | 9:43 am, July 29, 2010 | 7 Comments

Since Sharron Angle won the Republican Senate primary in Nevada on the back of strong Tea Party support, her campaign has been imploding under the weight of her verbal gaffes.

In political betting on Intrade.com, during the two weeks before Angle’s victory, Harry Reid was trading between 30 and 40% to win re-election.  Angle’s victory alone caused those odds to jump to about 50%, and that was before she started doing a lot of talking.

In the past two weeks, Reid’s betting chances of re-election have jumped to 62%, based on a combination of Angle foot-in-mouth episodes followed by a full retreat from answering any questions of the media and then a return to her gaffe-prone ways.

Some of Angle’s unforced errors included:

  • Threatening to sue Harry Reid for re-posting a prior version of Angle’s campaign web site, an odd position for someone who presumably favors the First Amendment over almost all campaign finance and communication restrictions
  • Saying that the DISCLOSE Act, which has recently failed to pass the Senate, is existing law
  • Suggesting that the US might be, and possibly should be, moving towards armed revolution.
  • Saying that “Thomas Jefferson has been misquoted – like I’ve been misquoted – out of context” regarding the issue of separation of church and state.  Essentially, Angle seems to be arguing that separation of church and state is unconstitutional even though it is not only comes directly from the Constitution but is also strongly supported by Jefferson’s own words in private writings (and Madison’s as well.)
  • Saying, or at least appearing to be saying, (and then somewhat retracting) that unemployed people are spoiled.  (Presumably she meant to say that over-generous or over-lengthy unemployment benefits have negative incentives for seeking employment…)

Many people said, going into the primary, that the opponent Reid would most like to have is Sharron Angle.  They’re being proven right. Let me be clear about something here: While some of Angle’s views may be wacky, they’re not all wacky. Some of these errors are mistakes in rhetoric rather than in policy position, but they’re still politically very damaging.  The ability to muzzle onesself is an important characteristic of a candidate. This is not to say a candidate should lie, but he or she should be able to explain a position in a way that can appeal to voters without being hyperbolic or being easily demonized by the media whose favorite game to play with Republicans is “gotcha.”

I’d also add that Harry Reid is so unpopular that with some decent coaching and a bit of common sense, it’s still possible for Angle to win this thing.  I hope she does, although under most circumstances I probably wouldn’t vote for her for dog catcher.

While Ken Buck is smarter than Sharron Angle and not nearly the fringe figure or boneheaded rookie that she seems more to be with every passing day (in part because the media loves to help boost both of those unflattering portrayals in order to help Harry Reid), I can’t help but wonder whether Mr. Buck’s string of bonheaded remarks makes him the candidate that Michael “Who?” Bennet or Andrew Romanoff would most like to run against.

Some of Ken Buck’s recent unforced errors:

  • Walking away from, then around, then toward Tom Tancredo’s statement made at a Buck fundraising picnic that Barack Obama is the greatest threat facing America
  • Calling Tea Party members who question President Obama’s place of birth “dumbasses” in a moment when he didn’t realize he was being recorded.
  • And a foot-in-mouth moment which may perhaps be more important than I first expected when Buck said that people should vote for him because he doesn’t wear high heels, an obvious jab at Jane Norton, and one of the most boneheaded things I’ve heard in some time.  Indeed, Time Magazine (no friend of Republicans generally) is calling it Buck’s “Macaca” moment.

The primary reason for my endorsement of Jane Norton was, all else being equal – since I think she and Buck are remarkably similar on policy positions – that she is more electable.

While some argue that Buck’s primary campaign experience will serve him well in a general election, the past couple weeks have increased my fear that a Buck win will leave not just the Senate seat more vulnerable to Democratic retention but that when combined with the horrendous GOP Governor situation, it could damage the Republican’s chances to take back one or both chambers of the state legislature.

Demotivating Republican voters is the last thing we need. Demotivating women voters, when conservatives desperately need to narrow the “gender gap” is especially damaging. There’s already a move afoot on Facebook to “Undervote Colorado’s GOP Governor Primary“, a position I understand and might end up agreeing with (after further digesting my meeting with Dan Maes last night.)  If we get a Senate candidate who is also unmotivating to a substantial segment of CO Republican and independent voters, that could spell the difference in turn-out needed to keep the GOP from taking back one or both chambers of the General Assembly.

Again, Ken Buck is smarter than Sharron Angle, but I wonder if we might be having a peek into our potential future if Ken Buck wins the nomination and keeps stepping on his own tongue as we watch Sharron Angle take the GOP from a huge favorite to a big underdog to unseat Harry Reid.

I hope Buck starts getting a little better rhetorical self-control, whether he wins or loses the primary.  In the meantime, I continue to believe that Buck and Norton are nearly identical on policy matters but that Norton has a better probability of beating the Democrat canddiate in the general election.

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

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Comments

  1.   Harry
      July 29th, 2010 @ 12:14 pm

    Could Jane Norton be Colorado’s next Trey Grayson?
    The reason Buck is beating Norton is precisely what you fault him for. He is genuine, she is scripted. Chuck Plunkett put it well in this morning’s Denver Post:
    http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2010/07/29/spotted-this-morning-ken-buck-and-the-gut-instinct-factor/12587/

  2.   Harry
      July 29th, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

    Ross:
    What was the name of the Democratic legislator who made changes to the probation laws and it was later determined her brother-in-law was on probation? Gov. Ritter vetoed the bill.
    Could this be the United States Senate’s next contribution from Colorado?

    I learned a couple things from reading the Post article on Norton this morning that I thought were significant.

    Did you know that Jane Norton was a phys. ed. major in college?
    I think that sheds some light on the lack of depth in many of the issues where she says one thing, eg no amnesy, then suggest something contradictory like 30 days of community service and you are good to go, as if they are not inconsistent. Maybe she just doesn’t get it.

    I also learned for the first time that her son seems a first hand knowledge of the workings of the criminal justice system, from the inside. In as much as PPC is claiming that Norton has stolen their work, without attribution, the thought about apples not falling too far from the tree comes to mind.

  3.   Rossputin
      July 29th, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

    Harry,

    I have to say that was an excellent response comparison.

    RGK

  4.   Rossputin
      July 29th, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

    Harry,

    The legislator you’re talking about is Joyce Foster:
    http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/23587565/detail.html

    Didn’t know about Jane’s college degree.

    All I can tell you on that is that speaking with her, one does not get the impression that she is a stupid person. Nor does one get that impression of Ken, obviously. If I were just betting on which had the higher IQ, I’d bet on Ken, but Jane is no dummy.

    I think if people have to start attacking her based on her college degree, it would sound a little desperate. (I’m not saying you’re doing that…but I’m not saying you’re not!)

  5.   Brian Wilson
      July 29th, 2010 @ 5:27 pm

    You can be sure of one thing, when it comes to demotivating Republican voters no one does it better than Jane. The Tea Party will probably walk out if she wins.

  6.   Rossputin
      July 29th, 2010 @ 5:30 pm

    Brian,

    The possible permutations with this race and the gov’s race are too many to fit in my brain.

    It’s a fun time to be a blogger and to do some radio.

    RGK

  7.   Elliot
      July 30th, 2010 @ 12:06 am

    Ross,
    Mountains from Molehills my friend.

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