Sal “The Fist” Pace is at it again, trying to get his name and picture plastered all over what Speaker McNulty jokingly refers to as the “Sal Pace Newsletter,” aka the Pueblo Chieftain.
In Curtis Hubbard's great morning round-up of political news on local outlets across the state, Hubbard highlights Pace's budget blustering to the Chieftain.
After an epic bipartisan budget battle that has led to such an historic agreement that both Senate President Brandon Shaffer and JBC member and arch-conservative Senator Kent Lambert will vote for the budget, Pace feels a little left out. Shaffer and Lambert are generally as likely to vote for the same spending bill as Barney Frank and Michelle Bachmann.
And when Pace feels left out his preferred MO seems to be public sniping, aimed at aligning himself with the liberal base and AFL-CIO and CEA's marching orders in preparation for his all-but-declared run at the Third Congressional District.
Make no mistake, that is exactly what Pace's comments are — political tactics to aid his own future. There is virtually zero chance that Pace's posturing has any net effect on the budget bill, as the deal struck allows for passage in both the House and Senate, as well as support of the Governor. Pace is just out to score some points for himself.
Pace's typical tropes include mentioning how his work is for “the kids” and “people on feeding tubes.” When a politician uses such imagery it's for one purpose and one purpose only — making sure their quote makes the papers.
How much longer will Senate President Brandon Shaffer and Governor Hickenlooper stand by while their Democrat counterpart in the House snipes at the hard work they did to seal a budget compromise? Shaffer is rumored to be running for CD4, and probably is not appreciative of the fact that while he is working on bipartisan budget deals, his fellow Democrat and future Congressional candidate colleague gets all the air time to appeal to the left wing of the Democrat base.