ICYMI: NY Times & Denver Post Deep Dives Expose Coffman’s Trumpian Record & History of Shameless Pandering
This weekend, Congressman Coffman was the subject of two unflattering deep-dives into his own Trump like record and history of political double-speak that would make most politicians blush. Colorado Pols provided a good recap: “The Weekend Mike Coffman’s Luck Ran Out.”
To make matters worse for his sputtering reelection, Coffman appears to be floating the idea that he could support a Libertarian – a move that would come with significant backlash after he said he would “obviously” support the Republican nominee. Influential Colorado conservative activist and former Congressman Tom Tancredo’s op-ed in Breitbart, radio host Dan Caplis’ criticism, and GOP House candidate Casper Stockham’s rebuke of Coffman provide immediate examples.
As Morgan Carroll aptly put it:
“He may realize that Trump is politically unpopular,” Ms. Carroll said, “and he may see that he not only needs to distance himself from Donald Trump, but, here’s the kicker: Mike Coffman has to distance himself from Mike Coffman.”
One thing is clear: Coffman is panicking.
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Morgan Carroll calls Mike Coffman Trump-like, but is it true?
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/14/morgan-carroll-calls-mike-coffman-trump-like-but-is-it-true/
Carroll also is campaigning to associate Coffman with Trump, while the congressman tries to distance himself from the presidential candidate in a campaign ad and by publicly condemning some of Trump’s more controversial statements. Coffman has not endorsed Trump but also has not ruled out voting for him.
Opponents concede the congressman has distanced himself from Trump, the candidate, but contend he cannot credibly deny his history of Trump-like statements and Trump-like positions.
Coffman’s campaign spokeswoman, Kristin Strohm, said the congressman would “obviously” support the Republican nominee over Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
In May 2012 Coffman spoke to Republicans at a fundraiser in Elbert County, where he was recorded saying: “I don’t know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don’t know that. But I do know this, that in his heart, he’s not an American. He’s just not an American.”
In 2010 he opposed the bipartisan DREAM Act to allow conditional citizenship for children brought to the country illegally by their parents, calling it a “nightmare for the American people.”
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A Congressman Slighted Immigrants, Then Embraced Them. Now He Runs From Trump.
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/us/politics/donald-trump-mike-coffman-colorado-congress.html
Mr. Coffman, a retired Marine who co-sponsored a bill to make English the nation’s official language and suggested that Hispanic voters who could not understand their ballots should “pull out a dictionary,” suddenly represented the most diverse district in Colorado.
And now he has to contend with Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who kicked off his campaign by suggesting that many Mexican immigrants were drug dealers and rapists.
And this year he is grappling with another factor: “a very credible and talented opponent,” Mr. Wasserman said.
“He may realize that Trump is politically unpopular,” Ms. Carroll said, “and he may see that he not only needs to distance himself from Donald Trump, but, here’s the kicker: Mike Coffman has to distance himself from Mike Coffman.”
Mr. Coffman’s detractors see him as another pandering politician, willing to do anything to get re-elected.
“He didn’t find religion until he got redistricted,” said Tim Sandos, a former Denver city councilman who is now the chief executive of the National Hispanic Voter Educational Foundation. “And now all of a sudden he’s ‘one of us.’”
“The doors have been closed on me. You have no idea,” Ms. Gonzalez said, her voice raising and breaking as she began to cry. “And so when I hear people like Donald Trump and Mike Coffman — are you serious? You don’t know that I represent so many immigrants of this country.”