September 30, 2010 08:17 PM UTC

Frank McNulty. Not Helping.

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• by: Colorado Pols

The further response of Rep. Frank McNulty to revelations this week of numerous legislative candidates with criminal and legal problems in their background, as reported by FOX 31’s Eli Stokols, really needs to be seen by every voter in the state of Colorado.

“Certainly there are some offenses that are more serious than others, but, speaking broadly, I believe that most Coloradans are forgiving as long as you’re up front with them,” said Rep. Frank McNulty, the Highlands Ranch Republican overseeing the GOP’s effort to win back a majority in the statehouse…

“You’re seeing normal people [Pols emphasis] stepping up and running for office,” McNulty said. “You see folks who are ordinary people, who face the real challenges that families in Colorado face and that have the real problems that people in Colorado have.”

…Now that he has the fuller story, McNulty doesn’t think it will be devastating to Webster’s campaign. “Even though you have folks with blemishes on their record, some more serious than others, this is something people should recognize as being a slice of Colorado,” McNulty said. “These are honest, everyday folks who want to go out and serve their neighbors in the state legislature.” [Pols emphasis]

In the case of Clint Webster, the Republican nominee for Rep. Sue Schafer’s HD-24 seat, it’s now been established that he wasn’t “honest” about what happened at all. Webster, contrary to what he told two reporters, actually fired two shots at his ex-wife–not merely threats, folks.

But that’s just a sideshow to the real problem here.

Reporter Lynn Bartels of the Denver paper, as well as our own post on the research into these candidates, very clearly establish that Republicans recruited numerous candidates with violent criminal backgrounds, including confirmed cases of battering women, assaulting police officers, and child abuse. There are very few voters out there who will, with the full facts of these cases in view, agree with McNulty that a guy who takes shots at his ex-wife, or records Youtube videos wearing a wrestling mask and posing with assault rifles, represents “a slice of Colorado.”

In fact, it could be the most self-destructive rejoinder since “it’s all Rolly Fischer’s fault.”