Coffman Can't Afford to Continue as SOS

what a fortunate coincidence......

...if Coffman should have to drop out of the C.D. 6 race, there's a Republican who knows that district well, and who, as of 1 p.m. today, should have a lot of free time on his hands....Tancredo '08!

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by: One Queer Dude @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 18:37:10 PM UTC

So many races, so little time

Don't tempt Tommy with another chance at CD-6 - he just might take up the challenge!

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:06:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Coffman should fire consultants; their name is mud in CO

The greedy campaign consultants who didn't have the courtesy to resign one of the conflicting accounts have done neither Coffman nor the electronic  voting machine vendor a favor.

Both should demand their money back and fire the consultants. Any politician or firm who hire these consultants in Colorado should have their heads examined and should be written off as incompetents.

Political and PR consultants' first responsibility is to do no harm to their clients and to avoid conflicts of interest. These consultants may cost Coffman a seat in Congress and the voting machine vendor a chance to do business in Colorado.

One question is whether the voting machine company hired the consultants because they were working for Coffman? If so, that firm's reputation will take a hit above and beyond the bad PR it's gotten so far in this state.

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by: Another skeptic @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:20:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, man........

Coffman must really have his head up his ass to follow the Kopelman scandal with this, as he runs for frickin' Congress!

"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." - Nietzsche  

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by: twas brillig @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:04:48 PM UTC

Resigning now won't help his CD-6 race

He'd have a hard time distancing himself from this scandal if he resigned right now.  It would haunt him through the year as a CD-6 candidate - though given recent party history, it's not clear that it would hurt his candidacy among the GOP faithful.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:05:27 PM UTC

Agreed...

Resigning now would only validate the scandal ... he'd be resigning in disgrace.

But at this point, that's all he's got -- he can either stay in office, in disgrace ... or resign in disgrace.

Can't be much fun for Coffman these days.

Why did he run for this crummy job again?

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by: stirling @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:08:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He's screwed either way

But he can't run a decent congressional campaign while spending 12 hours a day trying to fix these problems.

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:13:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree

re-reading my post it sounds like I don't think he should resign, but I do think he should. My point is that, like you say, "he's screwed either way"

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by: stirling @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:33:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Or maybe...

He can't he can't fix these problems while spending 12 hours a day running for Congress...

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by: hayden00 @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:28:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

One or the other

Take your pick.  I don't think there's enough time in the day to make this one go away.

But I thought Giuliani's misuse of city money to support his womanizing habit would have been enough to finish him, and his campaign is only "mostly dead".  I apparently have too much faith in some people.

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:37:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why did he run when he doesn't want it

He just got elected in 2006, and he's making it pretty clear he didn't want it that badly and he's obviously not paying much attention to it. Why did he run for it in the first place?

"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." - Nietzsche  

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by: twas brillig @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:33:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Stepping stone

My initial thought was as a stepping stone to higher office.  But, historically, has anyone gone from SOS to bigger and beter things?

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by: Early Worm @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:23:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No.

Mary Estil Buchannan was the Republican nominee for US Senate in 1980 and lost in the general election after a brusing 4 way primary where she had to petition onto the ballot.  She also ran for Congress once and lost to Mike Norton in a primary. Andy Anderson had been in office forever before her and died in office.  Natalie Meyer came within a hairsbreath of running for Governor in 1986 but backed out at the last minute when Bill Armstrong (whose campaign she saved in 1974 Watergate elections - not that I'm bitter or anything).  Vickie Buckley died in office.  Doneta Davidson resigned to go to the US Election Commission.  Gigi Dennis was run out of office and now we have Coffman.

Treasurers have been more successful and Coffman was a former Treasurer.  So who knows.

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by: Craig @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 23:17:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mary Estil Buchannan was the Republican nominee for US Senate in 1980 and lost in the general election after a brusing 4 way primary where she had to petition onto the ballot

   And didn't Old Man Coors dislike Buchanan so much (since she was a RINO) that he quietly supported Gary Hart's re-election in '80?

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by: One Queer Dude @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 02:27:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not al all - he has an easy put

He can say that fixing this is doable, but that it will require 100% of the attention of the SoS 24/7 and he can't do that and run for CD-6.

So he sets it up that if his replacement as SoS makes any mistake, Coffman can say it's because they weren't working hard enough...

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

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by: DavidThi808 @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:20:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That's bulloney

He ran for this office, and so he should be the one to fix it.

Ironic that the Iraq veteran wants to cut-and-run from the office.

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by: stirling @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 21:37:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I didn't say it was "right"

Just that he has an easy out.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

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by: DavidThi808 @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 01:04:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why did he run for this crummy job again?

   Because the Powers-That-Be in the GOP didn't want him to run for Governor because they had a real winner of a candidate to run instead.
  That, and there was no other elected office open for which he could run.

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by: One Queer Dude @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 02:20:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's an important job

It may not be considered sexy but running the elections well is fundamental to our democracy.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

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by: DavidThi808 @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 03:17:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe

He should drop his bid for Congress and focus on the job he has now

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by: Haners @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:36:06 PM UTC

Staying out of jail?

"We're below sharks and contract killers." -- Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), speaking on Congress's 9% approval rating

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by: Phoenix Rising @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 19:38:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Blah blah blah...

You Pols guys are real morons...this is one of the stupidest things I have ever read on this website. Just because you want Andy Romanoff or Kenny Gordon running the show ASAP, doesn't mean that any self respecting "insider" should listen to this kind of trash.
How does this hurt Coffman in a Republican primary? Last time I checked, R primary voters don't really care all that much about conflicts of interest of this nature. Especially the ones as transparent as this one. Are there any Republican here (in the 6th) who really cares about this? Is this the thing that will really harm Coffman?

Get a life Pols!

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by: 5 minutes alone @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:07:19 PM UTC

You heard it here first, folks!

Republicans don't care about conflicts of interest.

Today, you're either going to get better or you're going to get worse, but you're never going to be the same.  Which one will it be?  --Joseph V. Paterno

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by: Ralphie @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:18:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Liberals and their context problems...

I said that R primary voters don't care about trasparent conflicts like this because (unlike you crazy liberals or sketchy U's) when our candidates defend themselves, we tend to listen to what they have to say. After reading the Rocky article, it looks to me like Coffman has gone above and beyond by handing everything (including the article) over to be reviewed by us all on a silver platter. And he can difuse this in the coming week or two by continuing to let the facts come out.

It isn't a great situation for him to be in, but it isn't gonna kill him like Pols would like everyone to believe. Get a life!

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by: 5 minutes alone @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:46:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

ah, that's what I love about pols

Mature talking points like "get a life!" Yeah, well you stink! How about that?

"Thank you for putting your rank political motives on display." - ArapaGOP

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by: Aristotle @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:53:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

you may be right

primary voters may not care, but Coffman's opponents (R) do.  They'll be sure to let the primary voters know the results, no matter how it turns out for Coffman.

Regarding Coffman's handling of the problem, IMO, that is the problem.  In addition to the alleged conflict of interest, his 'solutions' or 'patches' are poor attempts to find easy answers to a difficult problem. He continues to perform poorly and should focus his energies on preventing CO from becoming a FLA next year, or get out and let the professionals take over.

Final caveat, I'm not sure Gordon would be the one to fix this problem either.  I respect the man, but am not convinced that having him step in at this moment would be the best for the state.

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by: Car 31 @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:55:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

sketchy U's

hey, I resemble that remark!

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by: mr science @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 21:18:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Our points have more to do with practicality

The voting problems have become a major issue, which will require a lot of time to fix. Coffman can't take that time if he is going to be a serious candidate in CD-6. He's screwed either way on the perception of the conflict of interest, so there's no reason for him not to resign. He cannot run a serious race for congress AND seriously try to fix these problems because that's just too tall a task.

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 21:23:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Seriously?

You are so naive to think that he will be handling this himself?? I'm pretty sure that the 10+ staff members that he has working in that office specifically dedicated to solving this problem (and has been for months) will continue to handle it just fine. That is a VERY weak argument, come on Pols, you're not that naive! And to think your readers are is just an insult to us all!

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by: 5 minutes alone @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:00:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So he doesn't do anything at all?

He just comes into the office and says, "Hey guys, fix this problem," and then goes to lunch?

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:12:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

not that naive

From what I've heard about Coffman's managerial style, his staff are hoping he will concentrate on his congressional race.

Furthermore, his handling of this problem has not been fine nor timely.

To understand the impacts of his 'fixes' listen to the county clerks testify tomorrow in front of the JBC. Should be an educational and entertaining conversation.

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by: Car 31 @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:15:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

"continue to handle it just fine"

Welcome to the show 5 mins... here's a quick overview for you:

In March Coffman announced the beginning of the recertification process, saying at the time that the process would be complete within 90 days of submission.

That deadline came and went, and in August it was announced that it would be compete in October.

Then, Coffman decided to start blaming the vendors for delays (the first public complaints of this came 6 months after the process began).

Meanwhile, county clerks are going bonkers trying to figure out how they're going to run elections, while Coffman keeps brushing them off and yapping on about a lame "watch list."

Finally, the decision to decertify many of the machines is announced on Monday, and on the Tuesday he's talking about "patches" and quick fixes.

Yep... "just fine" indeed.  

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by: stirling @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:26:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

5 minutes:

Would you please go back to bed and get out on the other side?  Or find your meds?

Wow, such anger for what is just an opinion.  Hey, you aren't.....

"Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth." Paul Krugman, 9/2010

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by: parsingreality @ Fri Dec 21, 2007 at 04:31:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It hurts because...

...he is the front runner in a very competitive primary and so his opponents will hammer him with this non-stop. It doesn't kill him in CD-6 but it makes him very beatable.

Where all the cool kids will be on Saturday - Code War!

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by: DavidThi808 @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 20:19:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Conflicts of Interest

I'm not sure voters care at all about conflicts of interest or selling one's elected office.

The Dems receive a couple million in campaign contributions from unions and then pass HB 1072 and the latest executive order to pay back these contributors.  Ditto Harry Ried taking beaucoup bucks from mining companies and then blocking reform of federak mining laws.

Nobody (except me, apparently) thinks that's a conflict of interest or care about such things.

From where I sit, Coffman's entanglements with voting machine lobbyists pales by comparison.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.  Thomas Jefferson

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by: bpilgram @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 21:34:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think it's worse when it happens in the executive

And while I'm not one to care much about unions one way or the other (this state is still a far cry from being a NY, MI, CA or even WA and Ritter and the Dems aren't going to make it so) I will say that the Reid shenanigans are troubling.

But this is about the elections themselves. That's much more sacrosanct than the policies enacted and laws passed because even if that process is corrupt, it's impact on the state of democracy is definitely less than the potential disenfranchisement caused by faulty voting machines.

Coffman appears to be letting the foxes certify the condition of the henhouse because they're helping him out, and while that's not unique in American politics it is egregious because of its setting in the polling place.

"Thank you for putting your rank political motives on display." - ArapaGOP

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by: Aristotle @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 22:20:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Coal in your stocking?

It's usually liberals who resort to angry name calling (morons) ... what's the matter, just realized Santa's as much of a hoax as WMD's in Iraq?

Yes, this will hurt Coffman because he's too stupid to handle it properly and his opponents will use it against him.

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by: stirling @ Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 21:41:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]