UPDATE 2: Tim Hoover of The Denver Post and Eli Stokols of Fox31 report that Rep. Ramirez is not pleased, either. From Hoover’s write up:
The picture itself is from a printed campaign brochure, but the volley of sniping it caused between conservatives and liberals today was all online.
…”That attractive blonde woman posing with Ramirez in the upper left-hand corner? That’s not his wife,” Coloradopols noted in the blog piece this morning.
It’s not Ramirez’s wife. It is his 14-year-old daughter, a fact that conservative blog ColoradoPeakPolitics.com quickly tweeted out.
“@coloradopols Y’all don’t even try anymore, do u? You attack Ramirez for including a pic w his daughter b/c…she’s not his wife,” ColoradoPeakPolitics tweeted.
The Coloradopols post was soon changed, adding, “The woman in the picture may be a family member, but Ramirez should probably point that out in a caption.”
…Ramirez, though, found no humor in the situation and said he took the Coloradopols post to mean he was having an inappropriate relationship with the young woman in the photo.
“That is a straight insinuation that that is somebody other than my wife,” he said. “It bothers me.”
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UPDATE: Mrs. Ramirez is NOT pleased:
They crossed the Mommy Line. Seriously, JeffcoPols! What is wrong with you? Our daughter is mortified! She is a 14 YEAR OLD GIRL! #COpols
— Suzie Ramirez (@mrsramirez2002) July 9, 2012
Will Rep. Ramirez’s opponent, lawyer-lobbyist Tracy Kraft-Tharp, disavow this attack?
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Any father of a teenage daughter cringes when someone insinuates that his child is attractive. And, when a blog tags a photo of a male and female with “she’s not his wife!”, it implies he’s up to no good. But, when they both happen in the same caption, it’s just creepy. That’s what happened to State Rep. Robert Ramirez today on liberal blog ColoradoPols as they critiqued his walk piece.
We'll have to go to a screenshot to see what was originally published, as Pols edited their piece quietly after we taunted them for it on Twitter.
No, Pols, that’s not his wife. That’s his high school age daughter, you sick perverts.
(Note: Jason Salzman — nowhere does Pols acknowledge making the factual change in their piece. Deserving of a blog post from you?)
Anyone who reads Colorado Pols these days realizes it has become a shadow of its former self. The writing is weak, the analysis flawed and they generally lack the hard hitting oppo research and snark that used to define the site.
Beyond the fact that Pols insinuated that Ramirez’s photo with his teenage daughter was inappropriate, the post reads like one of those crazy emails campaign staff get when they check the email account listed on the campaign site — basically a long list of someone's pet peeves that ultimately amounts to nothing. And like many crazy people emails, it contains serious factual errors.
It's sad, really. Partisans on both sides of the aisle used to have at least grudging respect for ColoradoPols. Either the left liked them because of the dirt they dug up on Republicans, or the right admired them for their humor and snark.
Now they don't seem to possess either – just a lustful eye for a teenage girl. Chris Hansen of Dateline NBC – are you reading?