Giving Buck the Boot!
It’s Friday the Thirteenth, April, 2018, a cold, cloudy, windy day at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Democrats from all over the state are converging for the State Assembly tomorrow, where the statewide candidates from Governor on down will be chosen for the Primary ballot. But this evening, delegates from
the twenty-two counties (and bits of three more) of the Fourth Congressional District — an area comprising the eastern third of Colorado — will choose which of four candidates have earned the right to a spot on the June 26th Democratic primary ballot. To earn that spot, a candidate must gain the votes of at least 30% of the ballots cast. At least one of the four candidates, therefore, will be a loser today.
Having four (count’em) candidates to choose from is a new experience for CD4 voters since the reapportionment that took Larimer County out of the District and colored what was left a deep crimson. In 2016, Bob Seay had no opponent in the Democratic primary, nor did Vic Meyers in 2014. They took on a thankless job just to keep Buck from running unopposed. (Thanks again, guys!) But this year is different. Already, much different.
The Year of the Woman?
Karen McCormick came to the podium escorted by her State Representative, Jonathan Singer, a well-known figure in the Longmont area, where Karen makes her home. Singer called Karen “a listener” who would support the people of CD4 regardless of ideology. But when she took over the mic, an upbeat McCormick whipped up the crowd with “Who here is ready to send Mr. Buck home?” as her supporters cheered. “Here we come, Washington!”
Buck has some baggage when it comes to women. When he was District Attorney for Weld County, he infamously refused to prosecute a date-rape case, saying “A jury could very well conclude it was a case of buyer’s remorse.” In the #MeToo era, that won’t get far with voters. A woman may be the one to send Mr. Buck home, indeed. Or maybe…
The Year of the Unicorn?
“This is the Year of the Unicorn,” declared Mike Comvest, who seconded Meg Brown in nominating Chase Kohne. Where, he asked, could you find a candidate who could beat Ken Buck in the Fourth Congressional District? Where, in a heavily rural district, could you find a large animal veterinarian who is also a Bronze Star winner? A man like that could beat Buck, he surmised. But by this time the crowd of supporters on the stage was chanting the answer to Mike’s rhetorical questions. “Chase, Chase, Chase!” they demanded, and Chase came to the lectern to accept his nomination.
First, a Selfie
Kohne’s acceptance speech was focused a lot on his military experience, including time taken away from his campaign on active Reserve training. That interruption, by the way, was a consequence of two things: Donald Trump’s saber-rattling and insult-trading with Kim Jong Un, and the Army’s desire for Korea to know that the US takes Kim seriously and is prepared. But all that didn’t stop Chase from acknowledging his wife’s military service. She’s a veteran herself, now deployed in Germany. So Chase took a selfie of himself, right in the middle of his speech, to let her see what he looked like in that moment. Because she couldn’t be with him. It was a nice touch. A nicer: “Who here is ready to Give Buck the Boot?”
Taking the High Road
At left are the results of the CD4 Congressional Preference Ballot, shown in red ink. Note: No official ballots were harmed or misdirected in the making of this article. One of the delegates took a photo of her ballot, before marking it. Then later we “inked” the vote counts on the digital image.
One of those minor candidates gambled that he might win votes by casting aspersions on the leaders and forcing Chase to talk a lot about his military service. We’re not going to talk about it, because it obviously didn’t do him any good. Get your gossip somewhere else.
What we are going to talk about is the high road taken by Drs. McCormick and Kohne. They’ve both been on the campaign trail for months, and in Eastern Colorado the campaign trail is a long road and a rough one. It means pouring your heart into events that only draw a crowd of six or eight voters, and giving it your all anyway. It means making phone calls to ask for money, when the person on the other end of the connection may not even have heard of you. It means work, work, work.
Taking the high road means honesty and integrity, and we are here to tell you that both of them have it. WTF has followed Chase Kohne and Karen McCormick to a lot of those little events, and we are here to tell you that we have never once heard either of them take even one step off that high road. Not when debating each other. Not when giving speeches. Not at house parties and not in brew pubs. Always civil. Always measured. Always aiming their criticism at Ken Buck and never at each other. Both of them have said, in our presence, that each will endorse the winner of the primary.
Winning on a Budget
One more thing. Take a look at that ballot. Looks like it was designed on a personal computer, printed four-to-a-page on cheap paper with a laser printer, and cut with a hand-operated paper cutter. The Republicans, holding their Assembly the same day, voted with little hand-held electronic devices, and cast their ballots without ever leaving their seats. Pretty slick. Pretty expensive.
Though both primary candidates have already out-raised either of their CD4 predecessors, Ken Buck has the backing of the Oil and Gas industry, NRA, and other big business. Buck has over $454,000 cash on hand. He’s already spent over $200,000 on the 2018 campaign. Less than 3% of his contributions come from small individual donors. Buck doesn’t need the electorate.
Chase and Karen have both out-raised previous Democratic candidates at this point in the race. In fact, they’ve both raised more so far than their predecessors did the whole race. It’s a good sign, but it’s not enough, yet, to beat Buck. Dig deep, friends.
But do more. It’s not all about money. If you are reading this, you’re probably pretty active in politics already. You may think you don’t have time — but you do. You have time to activate your friends and relatives. Just talk. Talk about what good people our candidates are. Talk about how all their money comes from individuals, while all Buck’s comes from corporations. Talk about how Democrats and unaffiliated voters tend to forget about voting in the midterm elections. Tell them how critically important this election is. We’ll help. This time, for sure, we’ve got to Rock the Midterms.
