| If you haven't seen the Westword cover story on Republican Muhammad Ali Hasan, who is running in HD-56, you need to take a few minutes to read it. This article is quite possibly the single most damaging piece of press that we have ever seen for a politician. Ever.
The Westword story isn't damaging because it is a hatchet job by the reporter. The story is damaging because of Hasan, his family and advisors, who seem completely oblivious to the fact that a reporter is in their midst. Hasan comes off as a complete and utter (we won't say it, but it rhymes with "goose tag") in the story, which includes these gems: |
Hasan lives with his millionaire parents in a Beaver Creek mansion, and his bedroom is decorated with "black, outer-space-themed wallpaper." In the article, his mother repeatedly threatens to sue other Republicans over perceived slights.
After a campaign event, Hasan and his publicist/girlfriend Alison Miller disappear "for what Ali later admitted was a brief interlude in a hotel bathroom." Of their relationship, the story notes:
At first they'd kept things quiet and casual. "If there is one elected office I have held, it is 'Mayor of Commitment-Phobia-Ville,'" he says. "I told her, 'I'm a bad guy. I'm this womanizing mean guy who wants to be a politician.'"
While speaking at a Republican event on the Western Slope, there is this scene:
"I am a warrior for TABOR. I am very young and kind of reckless," Ali said, oblivious to the waitress who had crept up behind him and was now trying to get his attention. "Can I get your order?" she interrupted, as the party members looked on. "Chicken fingers, please," he said, turning back to the audience to finish his point. "You have a choice between shrimp, schnitzel and the salad bar," the waitress said. "What would make me look tough?" Ali asked, laughing. After a long pause, he said, "I'll take the shrimp."
Afterwards, Hasan says: "I hate those fucking kingmakers. I am not going to listen to those fuckers. I am not going to listen to guys that don't mean well for Colorado."
After one campaign event, someone in Hasan's traveling entourage loses the keys to their vehicle, leading to this ditty:
After a few minutes, Ali dialed a roadside assistance company to ask about having a new key made. "If I don't have OnStar, I'll buy it," he said into his iPhone. "It doesn't matter how much it costs." Ali later decided to have the car towed to a dealership.
In early December, Miller sat on a couch outside of Ali's bedroom while the candidate picked out clothes for the afternoon. The town hall meetings were scheduled to begin in just two hours, and the couple still had to drive to Breckenridge and set up the microphones and chairs for the Front Range representatives.
Miller waited, furiously buffing her nails. Things had been tense between the pair ever since Ali's dachshund, Deelya, attacked Miller's guinea pig, Pepsi. But today the two were simply excited. Ali came out of the bedroom wearing a silvery shirt unbuttoned to show his chest hair and a black belt with a winged skull on the buckle.
"I'm the Western Slope warrior, and I'm tough," he said. Plus, the belt matched his shoes, black cowboy boots with red uppers - the color of Miller's hair, he cooed.
After the New Year, Ali planned to kick of the campaign in style by knocking on doors throughout the district. He also promised to fund what he called a "War on Pine Beetles" study. But for now, he had a second town hall meeting to conduct. Ali and Miller held hands as they walked back to the Lexus SUV. She made a U-turn out of her spot, heading the wrong direction on the one-way street. A man drove past her in another SUV and mouthed "One way," lifting his pointer finger into the air.
"Don't you point at my girlfriend," Ali joked as Miller turned the car around. "I'm the next fucking state representative."
There's really nothing else that needs to be said about this. It really is that terrible. |
