August 09, 2007 06:39 PM UTC

Um, You're Not Helping

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: the Polis staffer in question has resigned. An updated story on the Rocky Mountain News website (same link) reports that Polis has personally called every Democrat disparagingly mentioned by the staffer and apologized.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

A staffer for Jared Polis’ congressional campaign trashed Polis’ two rivals in an online posting so ferocious that fellow Democrats are stunned.

The staffer said one of Polis’ opponents has “no deeply held convictions,” and the other is backed by “the same folks who gave us 12 years of Democratic ineptitude.”

Polis, a Boulder entreprenuer, faces environmentalist Will Shafroth and state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary.

The online thrashing was posted Wednesday on the blog My Direct Democracy by Raf Noboa, who handles outreach for Polis…

…Polis’ campaign manager, Wanda James, hadn’t heard of the posting until contacted today by the Rocky Mountain News. The dismay in her voice was obvious.

“That’s not how Jared Polis feels about the people he’s running against. We feel like we have three excellent people running for office,” she said.

Pat Waak, the state Democratic Party chairwoman, said, “Oh my God” when she heard about the postings.

“That’s not very helpful,” she said, mindful that squabbling among Repubicans in their primaries in 2004 and 2006 helped Democrats score huge victories.

Here’s the post in question: Jared Polis is Looking for a Logo.

The logo contest is silly in itself, but this is really damaging. Blog posts like this create an image of Polis supporters as undisciplined and amateur, not to mention whiny and childish, and it reflects back on the candidate.

As Raf writes: “Well, we’re not your mom or dad’s political campaign. We’re different. We think different, we act different.”

Indeed.