Republican Cory Gardner, who is seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Betsy Markey in CD-4, recently received the endorsement of former CD-4 Rep. Marilyn Musgrave in a fundraising letter sent out to supporters that also included the endorsements of former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer and former GOP Senators Hank Brown and Wayne Allard.
The support of Brown and Allard, and to a much lesser extent, Schaffer, is nice for Gardner to have. But does he really gain anything from getting the vocal support of Marilyn Musgrave? After all, the two-term Republican Musgrave was so unpopular that she barely survived her 2006 re-election before getting pummeled by Markey to the tune of 12 points in 2008 (and then being named the "Sorest Loser in America").
We don't see the benefit of Musgrave's endorsement, but what do you think? Vote in the poll after the jump.
On another note, we did get a good chuckle out of the fundraising letter containing Musgrave's endorsement. The prose is gooey-thick and maybe a tad overboard on the hyperbole with lines like this:
When we see the "Gardner for Congress" campaign, it's like something right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
We weren't sure which Norman Rockwell painting Musgrave and friends was referencing, but after a quick search online, we found it:
Now that 2010 is here (and most of you are back to work after the holidays), it's time to take our look back on the decade that was.
We asked your opinions on what the Oughts Brought, and now it's time to start revealing the winners. We'll be here with this all week, folks, so check back for more categories every day.
Best/Worst Politician and Best/Worst Campaign awards after the jump.
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."
In her first public comments on her re-election loss - made in a mass phone call to Georgia voters - Rep. Marilyn Musgrave blames her defeat on "leftist special interests" who "smothered the truth with vicious attacks and lies."
Musgrave's remarks came in a so-called "robocall" that went out to 200,000 Georgia voters Monday and today on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican who was forced into a runoff with Democratic challenger Jim Martin. The election is today.
"Hello, I'm Marilyn Musgrave. Until last month I was the congresswoman from Colorado," Musgrave said in the call, which was paid for by the Susan B. Anthony List, a political committee that supports anti-abortion candidates.
"Leftist special interests from around the country poured money into my district to defeat me. They overwhelmed us with money. And they smothered the truth with vicious attacks and lies.
"We are seeing the same pattern in Georgia. Pro-abortion radicals and liberal activists won't stop until they have a chokehold on our government. You can stop them with your vote. It's too late to change the results in Colorado, but on Tuesday you can cast your vote for Saxby Chambliss."
Musgrave has made no other public comments since shortly after vote totals started coming in the evening of Nov. 4...
The incumbent didn't make the traditional post-election appearance to thank supporters, and never conceded defeat or called Markey to congratulate her. Musgrave has declined all interview requests since the election.
We're, pardon the pun, speechless. Original post follows.
--
While she still has yet to concede her defeat in CD4 or even thank her volunteers, Musty is back on the campaign trail....in Georgia.
The NRCC has apparently decided to pull out of CD-4, leaving Rep. Marilyn Musgrave to fight Democrat Betsy Markey on her own.
Both the DCCC and the NRCC have done extensive polling recently, and from what we understand, the numbers aren't good for Musgrave. So today the NRCC sent a letter to local television stations pulling their advertising buy after this week. In other words, the NRCC is going dark for the last week or so of the election.
Could this finally be the year that Musgrave runs out of her game-winning drives? It's beginning to look that way.
Put aside, for a moment, whatever you think of the race in CD-4 between Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and Democratic challenger Betsy Markey. The ads being produced this year by the organization "Vote Vets" are some of the best political spots on television (which isn't all that difficult considering the crap we've seen in Colorado from both sides, but nevertheless...)
Take a look at "Vote Vets" most recent ad in Colorado:
Those of you with better memories than ours may remember better, but if we're not mistaken this is the furthest behind Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave has ever been heading into an election. As Roll Call reports:
Democrats descended on Denver this week for their nominating convention as a way of signaling their commitment to making the Centennial State - and the Mountain West as a whole - competitive in the presidential race. The poll done for Roll Call seemed to bear that out, as McCain led Obama by just 2 points, 48 percent to 46 percent.
Meanwhile, Musgrave trailed Democratic challenger Betsy Markey 50 percent to 43 percent in the poll conducted by SurveyUSA for Roll Call [Pols emphasis]. Seven percent remained undecided. In an equally troubling sign for Musgrave, 51 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable view of the three-term Congresswoman, while 31 percent viewed her favorably.
The poll of 618 likely voters was taken Aug. 22-24. It had a 4-point margin of error.
The survey found that Markey had a big lead among female voters, 53 percent to 38 percent. The two women were essentially tied among male voters.
More importantly, Markey had a huge lead in two voter groups that will be essential in deciding the election: independents and moderates. She led by 30 points among independent voters, 59 percent to 29 percent, and by 41 points among self-described moderates, 67 percent to 26 percent. Musgrave will have to close the gap in those two groups in order to have a chance at making the race competitive heading into Election Day.
Democrat Betsy Markey, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Marilyn Musgrave in CD-4, is featured prominently in an article in today's New York Times:
The fierce tactical positioning of candidates here and elsewhere - some call it pandering and waffling - is producing a convergence of sorts around the idea that more is better, that an expansion of energy production from all sources and places will somehow fix things, lower prices and restore stability to the economy.
"It's a very fine line to walk," said Betsy Markey, a Democrat who is challenging Representative Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican, here in the Fourth District.
Ms. Markey opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for example; Ms. Musgrave heads there this week to decide for herself. Both candidates support expansion of renewable energy like wind, but Ms. Markey says that Ms. Musgrave's long record on the issue - voting against renewable energy standards in Congress as recently as last August and against tax credits for the wind industry this year - tells a different story.
Markey also is running her first TV ad of the campaign (after the jump):
