Interesting article in Politico yesterday, where Republican Senate candidate Tom Wiens makes the case that the only reason Jane Norton has any name ID is because there are no fewer than five other Colorado Nortons who are prominent politicos:
Besides the Senate candidate, there's Jane Norton's husband, Tom, a former U.S. attorney; former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who served as state attorney general; former state Senate President Tom Norton; and University of Northern Colorado President Kay Norton.
They're not all related, but that doesn't mean the many Nortons don't benefit from one another's prominence.
"In Colorado, there's an unbelievable amount of people involved in GOP politics named Norton," Wiens, a former state senator, told POLITICO in an interview. "I would imagine that when they're asked, I think a lot of people would say they'd probably vote for a Norton, no matter who the Norton is."
We agree with Wiens argument that Norton's name ID isn't entirely her own, and it's a subject we've brought up before in discussing her candidacy. We'd be more interested to know, however, if the last name "Norton" is actually more of a hindrance than a help.
For example, Gale Norton, the former Colorado Attorney General and later Interior Secretary being investigated for making side deals with oil companies, is probably not the Norton that Jane's campaign would want voters to recall. We've no doubt that more than one voter thinks Jane is really Gale, but that's probably not a good thing. Or is it, with the thought being that Gale is still well-known and her legal troubles are not?
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