GOP Chair put “a little cold water on our parade” during Pueblo recall campaign, newly elected State Sen Says

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Yesterday, I urged reporters to keep an eye on a sub-plot that's emerged in the wake of the Republican recall victories: The "liberty" wing of the state GOP has apparently been re-energized by the election, and this could lead not only to a civil war among Colorado Republicans but also to serious election losses this year and into the future.

I mean, last time the base of the GOP got uppity in a sustained way, Ken Buck took down Jane Norton and Dan Maes fearlessly squeaked by Scott McInnis. (Maybe the insurgent air will inspire Scooter to write Musings Part II: Jaxine Bubis Style.)

Happy and hot after Tuesdays wins, the "liberty" faction isn't being polite about its dissatisfaction with the state GOP establishment, as evidenced by Tom Tancredo's comment yesterday, slamming State GOP Chair Ryan Call and expressing his amazement that the State GOP gets any "credibility whatsoever."

Though he was kinder toward Call than Tancredo was, newly elected State Sen. George Rivera hit the State Chair in a more home-spun way during an appearance on KNUS' Peter Boyles Show this morning: 

Rivera: To be honest with ya, Chairman Call did come down and kind of threw a little cold water on our parade and so on. But, you know, after the meeting and so on, I sat privately with Chairman Call and I told him, I says, 'Chairman, you don't know Pueblo. You've not been here when we've been doing our campaigning and seen the support we've got from the folks.' And I says, 'I believe you're wrong. And I believe the numbers will come out, and you guys will be very surprised.' Hopefully this will get him to kind of take a different look come 2014.

Boyles: I don't believe it.

George Rivera on KNUS Boyles Show 9-12-2013

You don't need to know much about Tea-Party activists to understand that they'll see this type of rain-on-your-parade behavior by Call as patronizing, to put it mildly.

They'll undoubtedly think similarly of Call's advice to Rivera on Tuesday afternoon, reminding him, like a well-intentioned mother might remind her son, to give a "gracious" concession speech, as opposed, presumably, to the hateful, spit-filled Tea-Party variety. (This was first reported by The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels.)

Obviously, no concession speech was needed because Rivera won the election, and Tea-Party activists were snickering about Call's "gracious" advice Thursday while they lambasted the State GOP for getting the Pueblo recall effort wrong every step of the way.

We'll undoubtedly be hearing a lot more about this in the coming months or years or decades. Civil wars, we all know, don't heal very fast, and, to the my real point, they make really good news stories, with intrigue, passion, and late-night stabbings.

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Stay Classy, Pueblo Chieftain

UPDATE: For what it's worth, the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels:

Former Sens. Ken Gordon, Joyce Foster, both Jewish, say Bloomberg ad wasn't anti-Semitic. #copolitics http://t.co/rgr11V3rzY

— Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) September 9, 2013

—–

Media Matters:

A Colorado newspaper has repeatedly run an anti-Semitic ad depicting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is Jewish, as a puppet-master who controls a state senator the ad's sponsor is seeking to recall from office for supporting stronger gun laws.

The September 8 and 9 editions of the Pueblo Chieftain featured the half-page advertisement. The group responsible for the ad, Pueblo Freedom and Rights, is credited with starting the campaign to recall the ad's target, State Sen. Angela Giron, over her support for legislation that expanded background checks on gun purchases and imposed a 15-round limit on firearm magazine size. Early voting is underway with the election concluding on September 10.

The depiction of a Jewish leader as a puppet-master is widely acknowledged as anti-Semitic imagery because of its relation to conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the political process or global economy. [Pols emphasis]

To wit:

Evidently, nobody screening ads at the Pueblo Chieftain knows history. At least that's the charitable explanation.

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BREAKING: “Bo” Ortiz Wins Big For Pueblo Voters

Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz.

Following court action today, a major development in the Senate District 3 recall election against Senator Angela Giron of Pueblo–as a press release this evening from Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert "Bo" Ortiz explains:

Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz announced today that Senate District 3 voters can begin casting their ballots for the recall election beginning tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Pueblo Elections Division, 720 N. Main Street. That decision comes on the heels of a court decision today in Ortiz’s favor on several issues.

Ortiz argued that in order to provide better access, voters should be able to get a no-excuses absentee ballot to vote in the recall election, they could provide a yellow voter postcard as ID at the polls to process voters faster and overturn language that would have required military and students to meet a stricter residency ruling than other voters. Denver District Judge Robert McGahey ruled in Ortiz’s favor on all counts.

“Today is a good day for voters. This will free up access to the polls for voters, apply fair rules on residency requirements to vote and cut down on lines through September 10,” said Ortiz.

The favorable rulings, turning back arguments from GOP Secretary of State Scott Gessler, mean that early voting in Pueblo will begin tomorrow, continue on Labor Day and all of next week, and–this marking a major development from the prior status quo–absentee ballots may be requested by all voters through September 3rd. FOX 31's Eli Stokols has the reaction from Gessler:

Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office told FOX31 it has no problem with Ortiz’s decision to open early voting centers.

But Gessler was disappointed in Judge Robert McGahey’s rulings Thursday morning throwing out his proposed rules for the recall: one which requires limited access for mail ballots; and another that would have required voters to declare their intent to make the address on their voter registration form their permanent address to prevent so-called gypsy voters.

Gessler may not like it, but Judge Robert McGahey was unequivocal that the rule imposed by Gessler to deal with the chimeral issue of so-called "gypsy voters" was beyond his authority. Much more sinister in our opinion is Gessler's objection to absentee ballots being available on a "no excuses" basis.  El Paso County, where the other recall election is taking place, can't print ballots until a challenge from the Libertarian candidate to the insufficiency ruling on her petitions is resolved. But if Pueblo is able to proceed, there's no good reason why they shouldn't be allowed to deliver a mail ballot to anybody who asks for one. There's no "uniformity" at risk with entirely separate recall elections that just happen to be on the same date.

And again, as good county clerks know, these questions should always be resolved by making voting work.

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Will Republican state chair be scolding Pueblo GOP county chair?

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

A couple years ago, GOP Chair Ryan Call suggested that Sarah Arnold, who was an El Paso County GOP Secretary, resign because Republican office holders are not supposed to publicly criticize Republican policies–or favor one GOP primary candidate over another.

Call wrote that if Arnold "does not feel she can separate her personal opinions from her role as a County Party Secretary than she should consider resigning her position as a Party officer and thereby be free to speak out and be an advocate for whatever issues or causes, or for or against whatever candidates or Republican officeholders, she felt was most appropriate, free of the duty of loyalty and obligatory support that is a necessary corollary to official Party leadership." [BigMedia emphasis]

Pueblo County GOP Chair Becky Mizel should be hearing from Ryan Call soon, if he's consistent, because Mizel showed clear support for Tom Tancredo during an Aug. 16 radio interview.

At least that's what I take away from this discussion among Mizel, KNUS' Peter Boyles, and Jennifer Kearns, who's a spokesperson for the recall effort.

BOYLES: You guys can’t expect somebody with at least a room temperature I.Q. to go, “Boy, that Republican Party in Colorado, those are my guys!”

MIZEL: Yeah, but Peter, look at the people like Tom Tancredo, who are Republicans. You know, we’ve got Tom Tancredo, Cruz, people like that. [BigMedia emphasis]

BOYLES: Huh-uh. Tommy is the red-headed stepson of the Republican party, and all three of us know it. They just wish Tom would go away. I mean, that’s the truth. You know it. I know it. Becky knows it. I think smart people listening to this radio show wish – I mean, they believe,– not believe, they know the Republican Party of Colorado would just as soon Tancredo go soak his head.

KERNS: Well, that’s why –

MIZEL: Well, the same goes for Ted Cruz and Ted Cruz isn’t going to go away.

BOYLES: No. I agree.

MIZEL: So, you know, it’s — I think you do have to take it over from the inside.

You'd think that Mizel, who's found herself in the media spotlight due to the attempted recall of State Sen. Angela Giron, doesn't like Ryan Call much, given that she wants to take over the state GOP "from the inside." And she's certainly not scared of him, as she's violating rules that Call clearly supports. 

I shared Mizel's Boyles' interview with Arnold, and she wrote me that she's not surprised by Call's inconsistency in enforcing the thou-shalt-not- criticize-Republicans rule:

Arnold: Ryan Call is perfectly consistent in his inconsistency. He arbitrarily and capriciously applies the by-laws as it suits him (for example, it's okay if he contributes to a Democrat while a party officer, which is a clear violation of the by-laws, but not okay for someone to have a policy disagreement with the House Majority Leader while a party officer, as in my case–a topic on which the by-laws are silent). In fact, he's happy to change the bylaws so he could endorse Romney for President, an unprecedented act. The irony would be even more incredible since many Party officers (including Ryan) turned a blind eye in 2010 to the numerous endorsements of Tancredo as a third party candidate made by other party officers across the state, if he were to choose to pursue removal for mere comments about a candidate that don't appear, to me at least, to be an endorsement.

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Pueblo Chieftain managing editor falsely writes that recall candidate’s abortion views are “irrelevant”

(Seriously? Is this a joke? – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

You want a columnist to have an opinion but only if the facts supporting it are actual factual facts.

Pueblo Chieftain Managing Editor Steve Henson got the opinion part of the columnist's job right on Sunday, but he dropped the ball when it came to the facts.

In his column, Henson asked if it should matter to Pueblo voters that Republican George Rivera, who's running to replace Democrat Angela Giron in a recall election, opposes all abortion, even after rape or incest.

In explaining why abortion shouldn't matter, Henson wrote:

First and foremost, the entire issue of where a candidate stands on abortion is irrelevant. The courts have controlled this issue for more than 40 years and that’s where the debate will end up in the future. Plus, no one state-elected official will have any control over what is a national issue.

Anyone who follows abortion issues knows that it's actually factually false to say that no state lawmaker has any influence on abortion issues.

States across the country have passed a volume of laws restricting a women's right to obtain an abortion. I mean, did Henson miss the drama in Texas just last month? The Guttmacher Institute has a handy dandy chart that Hansen might want to take a look at, summarizing the 9 categories of laws passed in each state. 

One category, for example, is "state-mandated counseling." The Guttmacher Institute chart states:

17 states mandate that women be given counseling before an abortion that includes information on at least one of the following: the purported link between abortion and breast cancer (5 states), the ability of a fetus to feel pain (12 states) or long-term mental health consequences for the woman (8 states).

Waiting periods in nine states effectively require women to make two trips to a clinic prior to having an abortion. Some states mandate abortions to be performed by a licensed doctor at a hospital; states prohibit abortion at various stages; state laws restrict public funding and private insurance coverage of abortion; and states require different types of parental notification.

Whatever you think of these state laws, you'd have to agree that abortion is not irrelevant to voters anywhere, even in the far corners of Pueblo. (It's relevant at the federal level, too.)

A phone message to Henson at the Chieftain was not immediately returned.

You can see on the Guttmacher chart that Colorado is less restrictive than many states when it comes to abortion laws, and the state Leg is controlled by pro-choice Democrats.

Still, the makeup of CO state government could easily change. So stuff like the five bills introduced during the last legislative session (HB-1032, 1033, 1131 and SB-55, 56), which would have restricted access to abortion services or banned all abortion, could become law in Colorado–as well as other restrictions passed in other states. (See Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado's legislative scorecared for more on this.)

Henson concluded his Sunday column with a pledge that the Chieftain would be cover the recall election fairly:

For our part, we are working very hard to present our coverage of this recall issue in a fair, balanced fashion.

I predict that will become much more difficult in the days ahead, but we want you to know that every story we do will be done with fairness to all candidates and all sides of the issues foremost in our planning, our writing and our published reports.

Henson could put substance behind this airy promise by explaining in a future column why abortion issues are, in fact, relevant to state lawmakers.

And why it matters that recall candidate Rivera is opposed to giving a girl, raped by her father, the option of having an abortion.

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Pueblo Chieftain’s Reporting Bias Getting National Attention

?Media Matters for America picks up our criticism of a recent Pueblo Chieftain story, regarding an "ethics compliant" filed against Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo by an out-of-district Republican detractor ahead of her recall election next month:

Colorado newspaper The Pueblo Chieftain is credulously reporting on an alleged "ethics complaint" by Democratic State Sen. Angela Giron, which, according to a Colorado ethics watchdog group, will be "almost certainly dismissed as frivolous."

The Chieftain's reporting on the complaint — that Giron posted her state email address and phone number on her campaign website — is latest piece of questionable Chieftain coverage of the recall campaign targeting Giron over her support for stronger gun violence prevention laws…

According the top local news story in the August 3 edition of the Chieftain, "An Avondale man sent an ethics complaint in an email to the Colorado Secretary of State's office Friday" alleging that Giron "is using her state-provided email address and phone number on her campaign website." The complainant reportedly does not live in Giron's district, but contacted the Secretary of State because "he is not a fan of her politics, especially her votes on the state's gun control laws." The story also quoted Becky Mizel, chairwoman of the Pueblo County Republican Party, who falsely claimed that "Angela Giron has chosen to use state resources and taxpayer money for her own political gain," and added that she was "disgusted" by Giron's actions.

In response to the Chieftain article, left-leaning political blog Colorado Pols noted that a number of Colorado state legislators — both Republicans and Democrats — feature state contact information on their campaign websites. In fact, a Media Matters review of Colorado's 100 General Assembly members' campaign websites found that 53 members listed a state phone number, e-mail address and/or mailing address. [Pols emphasis]

After reading about this complaint, it was a simple matter for us to find plenty of Republican legislators who commit the same "infraction" on their own websites. Media Matters found more than half the Colorado legislature lists their official contact information on their campaign websites. The Chieftain reported the original complaint, and a silly, over-the-top response from Pueblo GOP chair Becky Mizel–never bothering to check if this is actually an uncontroversial standard practice. Which, big surprise here folks, it is:

In an interview with Media Matters, Colorado Ethics Watch Director Luis Toro called the allegations against Giron "extremely thin" and predicted that the complaint would "almost certainly [be] dismissed as frivolous." Toro noted that his assessment of the complaint was based on the contents of the Chieftain article as the complaint has not yet appeared on the Colorado Secretary of State website.

Toro told Media Matters that the allegations in the Chieftain article are not properly described as an ethics complaint, but would instead be correctly termed a campaign finance complaint as the complaint concerns Giron's conduct as a candidate, not as a legislator. He added, "The paper would do well to understand the difference between an ethics complaint and a campaign finance complaint" and that it "would be helpful for them to understand the underlying law" so that its readers could be informed as well.

Asked about the permissibility of using state contact information on a campaign website, Toro explained that "the reason everybody does it is because it's legal," and — noting that no money is involved in the allegation against Giron — added that "what's illegal is using state funds to contribute to a campaign."

Bottom line: of course, factuality was not what this Chieftain story was about. The sole purpose of this was to provide a headline for a completely frivolous complaint, ignoring or downplaying all the reasons it is frivolous. It's virtually certain that this "news" story about nothing will find its way into a mailer against Sen. Giron in the coming weeks, with the Chieftain's masthead, the headline and scandalous selective quotes.

That's why credible newspapers check to see if a story is worth writing. But it seems the Pueblo Chieftain is no longer interested in such basic journalistic best practices where the story concerns Angela Giron.

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Attention Pueblo Chieftain: You’re Not Helping Anybody

Colorado Senate District 3.

We've been talking for the last week (and longer) about ethics problems at the Pueblo Chieftain, whose news reporting has shown a troubling bias against Democratic Sen. Angela Giron as she faces a recall election next month. These concerns were underscored by disclosure that several top employees of the Chieftain had in fact signed the recall petition against Giron. Media Matters for America summed up the situation last week:

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, the Chieftain dismissed the charges of unethical behavior in an editorial titled "Unethical? Nope," which claimed that despite writing politically conservative editorials, it has endorsed Democrats and Republicans and even supported a number of Giron's legislations. It further dismissed the conflict of interest inherent in its executives signing the recall petition of a legislator it covers as "another freedom guaranteed ALL Americans in the Bill of Rights."

Further evidence of the Chieftain's partiality came Friday in an absolutely ridiculous story about an "ethics complaint" filed against Sen. Giron–breathlessly reporting on the presence of Giron's capitol phone number and state email on her personal website. A brief tour of legislator's websites reveals the same "infraction" on the websites of Senators Bill Cadman, Randy Baumgardner, Kent Lambert, Scott Renfroe, Ellen Roberts, Kevin Grantham, and probably most of the rest of the GOP caucus, but that doesn't stop the Chieftain's Anthony Mestas from letting Pueblo County GOP chair Becky Mizel prattle on unchallenged about how "disgusted" she is. If you understand the facts, which likely most readers of the Chieftain do not, the story was simply laughable–but the headline arguably was the whole purpose.

Today, the Chieftain's editorial board weighed in with a strongly and unabashedly pro-recall message to its readers. To be clear, the editorial board is the right place for opinions, as opposed to news coverage. But there's another, much more basic problem with today's editorial:

The immediate cause of those who signed the petitions was Sen. Giron’s support of a package of gun control statutes which caused many gun owners to seek a redress of their grievances. We agree with most of the opposition to those statutes and we stated that stance when the Legislature was debating the bills…

We urge voters living in Senate District 3, which includes all of the city of Pueblo, Pueblo West, Beulah, Colorado City and Rye, [Pols emphasis] to study the issues — and not all are gun-related — beginning now, because mail ballots will be sent out by Mr. Ortiz’s office on Aug. 19. Please become informed.

We'll do our part by "informing" the Chieftain that fully three out of the five cities they mentioned in the above editorial are not located in Senate District 3. Senate District 3 includes the urban area of Pueblo and Pueblo West. Beulah, Rye, and Colorado City are in fact part of Larry Crowder's Senate District 35. We have no doubt that the pro-recall Chieftain would like for those redder locales to take part in this recall, but they can't. In a special election already fraught with misinformation, piling on with more really does no one any favors.

Above all: if you're going to proudly go in the tank, make sure you have basic facts straight.

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