February 11, 2010 02:39 AM UTC

Jane "Out of Left Field" Norton?

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• by: Colorado Pols

You can say one thing for Republican Jane Norton: She certainly doesn’t shy away from answering questions.

Ever since Norton entered the race for U.S. Senate, she has made her opinion known on all sorts of issues, which has included some answers that are, well, odd.

According to The Fort Morgan Times, Norton was at it again recently while talking with voters at a coffee shop:

Norton said a national sales tax is an option, along with a flat tax, but it would mean overturning the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and she does not trust what Congress might do in that circumstance.

Perhaps a simplified flat tax with exemptions only for mortgages and charity would work, Norton said.

A flat tax? Really? When was the last time you heard a serious candidate for something like U.S. Senate talk about a “flat tax?”

Republicans have a tough problem in Colorado. They have to try to placate the Tea Party and other far-right interests in order to make it through a primary, while also trying to remain somewhat moderate in order to win a general election. Norton faces that same problem, but she’s handling it in a very strange way: By just sort of saying whatever she feels like saying.

Whether it’s abolishing the Department of Education, saying the Federal government “has no role in health care,” or almost casually giving approval to a “flat tax” when someone else brings it up, Norton is creating a quotation trail that makes her look like she’s all over the place on issues. At the rate she’s going, her opponents will be able to create some great ads showing Norton saying out-of-left-field things at every turn.

We haven’t seen anything like this in quite a while in Colorado. You really never know what Norton is going to say next, and we’re starting to wonder if she even really knows what she’s saying. It’s almost as if she just vomits out an opinion on whatever pops into her head.

And the way this is all happening is fascinating to watch; every week or so, Norton shows up in another small town in Colorado and inevitably offers up some completely random opinion on something. This is the kind of thing that you expect no-hope candidates like Cleve Tidwell to do, but not what you expect from the person generally considered to be the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. It really is…weird.

We’re curious, and frankly, a little excited at the prospect of seeing Norton in a live debate. If she can’t keep track of what she’s saying now, a debate is going to make her head explode (or at least her campaign manager’s head).