Corruption is one of the top campaign killers in American politics. Not necessarily outright corruption, but the mere appearance of corruption has been enough to topple plenty of politicians' careers.
Just look at 2006, where corruption was the number one issue in national exit polls. A number of powerful and high profile incumbents lost, after Democrats tried to tag them all with the stain of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
People tend to believe corruption allegations leveled against politicians because most people believe that politicians tend to be corrupt.
The allegations harm both Republicans and Democrats, Chairmen and backbenchers alike.
Take Democrat Congressman William Jefferson from Louisiana. After the FBI found $90,000 in cash in Jefferson's freezer, he was tarnished so badly that Republican Joseph Cao defeated him in an overwhelmingly Democrat district in 2008.
No seat is safe enough to protect incumbents seen as corrupt.
That is why a new Jib-Jab-style spot for Eric Weissmann targeting the crooked and corrupt Jared Polis has got us thinking.
If you haven’t seen the spot, check it out here:
Is the unthinkable, well, thinkable?
Could Polis's well documented insider-trading and nest-feathering actually put CD2 in play?
With campaign ads as inventive and effective as the Weissmann spot, could a well funded GOP challenger knock Polis off?
Remember, it was another self-funding Boulder businessman, Bob Greenlee, who nearly defeated Mark Udall back in 1998 for the CD2 seat.
The difference this year is Jared Polis is no Mark Udall when it comes to campaigns — he may have a lot of money, but severely lacks Udall's political savvy. Udall also wasn't confronting allegations of insider trading when Greenlee nearly ended his political career before it began.
Whether it's Senator Kevin Lundberg or Boulder businessman Eric Weissman, the line of attack linking Polis with political corruption will be powerful.
It will take a sustained and smartly orchestrated campaign to damage Jared Polis enough to make him vulernable.
We're not sure Polis is yet beatable, but Weissmann's latest viral video has got us thinking. Maybe CD2 isn't a safe seat for Polis after all.
Not so sure that Weissman will beat Lundberg though. Due to, shall we say, recent events in the last governor’s race, Larimer has all the delegates to CD2. Which means Lundberg will have a lot of support from the caucus process and the top spot on the ballot.
whatever happened to all those “spontaneous” signs you were planting, photographing, and posting here? Did you realize how ridiculous you were being? This attempt to conflate a trumped up charge with, oh, you know, REAL corruption is just as bad.
Well, as paid agents of the GOP, I can’t expect real honesty from you, but this laughable crap’s going to make your funding dry up.
The answer to your question is “No.”