It's never a good sign when a reporter begins an article about your campaign with a joke about your carpetbagging. But that's how a story about state Rep. Joe Miklosi's campaign kick-off begins in the Colorado Statesman, with reporter Ernest Luning joking with Miklosi about the fact that he doesn't know what voters he is seeking to represent.

This is not how you want your campaign kick-off covered by a newspaper read by politicos across the state:

Asked whether the slogan for his congressional campaign might be “Joe Miklosi: No Boundaries,” the Democratic state lawmaker demurred with a chuckle and instead directed his fire at the veteran Republican he hopes to unseat next year in a district whose lines won’t be known for months.  

“I’m running for Congress because I want to restore job growth, restore the economy, restore the American dream for too many Coloradans who have seen it disappear,” said Miklosi, the Denver Democrat who announced last month he plans to move into the new 6th Congressional District — once it exists — and give two-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman a run for his money once a congressional redistricting map is finalized.

Branded with the carpetbagger label, Miklosi goes on to bollix up his announcement coverage even more by claiming he will raise millions of dollars for his campaign:

“I’m going to have to raise multiple millions of dollars,” [Miklosi] said, promising that “you’ll see a good number” when his campaign files its first report with the Federal Election Commission at the end of September.

Way to set expectations, Joe. It’s never going to happen.

Miklosi is a career partisan hack who won a super-safe Denver state House seat and now thinks he can beat a Republican Congressman who captured nearly 2/3 of the vote in 2010. The 6th Congressional district, which Miklosi has announced his intentions to run in, won't be drawn by the courts until the end of the year. Not only is the district not drawn, but Miklosi lives in and currently represents voters in Denver, which is certain to not be in the 6th CD.

Even the Democrats’ lawyer for redistricting, Mark Grueskin, throws a dig at Miklosi's sad attempts at spin. In a recent fundraising email, Miklosi said he was running for the "soon-to-be-formed, competitive, 6th Congressional district" but Grueskin noted to the Statesman that any attempts to call the 6th CD drawn by the courts "competitive" is pure speculation. 

It is not surprising that Miklosi has already become the butt of journalist's jokes. Here is a guy with absolutely no legislative accomplishments, no business experience outside working for a campaign vendor, and yet thinks he will the be the giant slayer to take down a Republican candidate who has never lost a race in one of the most Republican districts in the state. 

No wonder Miklosi is seen as such a joke.