Dethroned Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave vowed revenge on the left in a fundraising letter in which she quotes the Bible and portrays herself as a political victim who stood up for family values.
"I tell everyone I'm recovering," wrote Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican who lost her re-election bid in 2008.
"It's certainly not easy to lose your seat in Congress. And harder still to be true to your values as I have been, but the radical homosexual lobby, abortionists, gun-grabbers and all the rest of the extremists finally spent enough money, spread enough lies and fooled enough voters to defeat me."
Musgrave, who was not available for comment, is raising money for "Votes Have Consequences," a project aimed at exposing "pro-abortion politicians."
"Using everything - the Internet and guerilla-style publicity campaigns along with old-fashioned grassroots organizing methods - we will go on the offensive against a select group of politicians from all over America," Musgrave wrote.
"We'll do to them what the most rapid and relentless left-wing groups did to me over the last six years but with one major difference: 'We'll tell the truth.' "
Musgrave served three terms in Congress before losing to Fort Collins Democrat Betsy Markey 56 percent to 44 percent. The seat had been viewed as safe for Republicans until Musgrave nearly lost in 2006.
As skeptical as many of us are about the "new leadership" offered by young Colorado GOPers like Josh Penry and Ryan Frazier, I think they at least represent a welcome shift away from the tactics of the old guard (Musgrave: "You've always hated gays, so vote for me"; Tancredo: "You've always hated immigrants, so vote for me"). I guess that's a start.
...Musgrave's letter prompted Markey to send out her own appeal for contributions.
"You'd better believe I will be at the top of her target list when it comes to trying to trying to knock Democrats out of Congress," Markey wrote.
She accused Musgrave of "spewing the same hate-filled language we heard during the campaign."
Among the left-wing groups that targeted Musgrave was Progress Now. Director Michael Huttner on Monday disagreed that his organization distorted Musgrave's record.
"That's complete nonsense," Huttner said. "She is as crazy as ever. She's a right-wing nut job, and the voters in her district held her accountable."
