After former Democratic Senator Angela Giron’s crushing defeat in a recall election, she made every excuse in the book for her loss in a district that President Obama won by 19 points – the NRA, voter suppression, sexism, racism, and any other conceivable -ism. But, there’s one person she didn’t blame – the person staring back at her in the mirror. Good thing there’s a new focus group study out that showed that Giron’s loss was because of, well, Giron. KDVR reports:
“The report, which FOX31 Denver has obtained, confirms what many political observers have surmised already: that it wasn’t the gun laws alone that cost Giron her seat, but a deep-seated dislike for and mistrust of the lawmaker herself among many Democrats in her hometown.”
The Denver Post reported during the recall that some of those Democrats included the head of local union who should have been her biggest ally:
“Jim Elson Jr. said he has gotten lots of ‘guff’ for trying to take out a fellow Democrat for her support for gun legislation, but the 59-year-old has no regrets because he believes Giron needs to be kicked out of office.
‘Guns isn’t the only issue, but it was the final straw,’ Elson said.”
This focus group study was leaked to Eli Stokols by a pro-gun control group, as part of a larger gun control summit held in Washington, D.C. this week. Perhaps the group is trying to make the case that Coloradans don’t really mind gun control, they just really hated Giron. Nice try, Michael. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that independent voters in Colorado oppose the new gun control laws 61% – 33%.
No, this wasn’t about gun control – it’s just about control. Democrats want to pass laws that restrict their constituents while taking orders from anyone but their constituents. As the study revealed, according to KDVR:
“People in the two focus groups — men and women, all Democrats (the party holds roughly a 15-point advantage in Senate District 3) — explained that they believed that Giron “went Denver” and lost touch with her constituents, taking orders instead from party bosses around the Capitol.”
As we wrote in September:
“….the recall elections are about more than votes cast by two state senators on gun control. We say they’re about Coloradans taking back control of their representation.”
It’s fun to be right.
I hope Giron does run for Secretary of State! I, sadly, couldn't vote against her in Pueblo during her recall but I sure can if she runs for Secretary of State….go girl, I'm ready to vote for anyone but you!
It *is* fun to be right!
Dems need to be careful of using 'national' or 'east coast' concepts here in the west. While Denver may be "New York City' like – or want to be – there is a whole lot of Colorado that isn't in Denver. Colorado is 'the west' – with a lot of mountain folks and 'rural' folks who are more independent minded that 'big city' folks. There are 'liberal' people who still have 'conservative' leanings and vise versa. Independent and unaffiliated political outlook and registration is big and rising all the time. Both parties need to start acting more moderate if they want to retain power here. (Though I'd rather they didn't – the two-party duopoly has usurped our political process and both need to go. Enough people are wising up and starting to realize blind fealty is foolish – the time will come. For goodness sake, even California has recently gone to a 'top two' system and is already moving to a more moderate position politically.)
What works for Bloomberg will not work in Colorado. (But neither will 'the tea party' extreme conservatism pass muster here.)
Thank you thank you thank you for once again stating that the recalls were about representatives ignoring and disrespecting their constituents. Yes, we were unhappy about the way they voted regarding the gun control laws, but they might not have faced recalls had they allowed Colorado citizens to speak instead of an astronaut from Arizona.
That's what you get when you vote Democrat.