October 15, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Referenda C&D Campaign Takes Nasty Turn

by: Colorado Pols

According to the Loveland Herald, the campaign against Referenda C&D has taken a nasty turn.

On Thursday night, Larimer County Clerk Scott Doyle and Colorado State University professor John Straayer received the same phone call. A recorded message said if they didnt immediately vote no on Referendums C and D, they wouldnt receive a tax refund, and the money would be spent by politicians to encourage illegal immigration.

It was a vicious and dishonest attack, Doyle said.

Doyle said hes received a number of complaints about the calls, which target people who have requested absentee ballots. It made me angry. Its very purposely designed to mislead the voter, said Straayer. Theres a very xenophobic and racist twist to this thing.

Straayer said the calls wording was unclear. The call said voters would not receive their tax refunds. There are two types of refunds in Colorado, he said: one for overpaying income taxes, and then the excess-tax rebates mandated by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Theyre playing off this concern that people have over illegal immigration. I dont know where they get that, Straayer said.

Doyle said hes not sure who called him, but his caller ID said Boomerang, with a Seattle-area area code. Honest to goodness, it was unbelievable, he said. I dont care if its to support C or against C, that type of tactic doesnt help democracy, and its uncalled for.

Politics is a dirty game, but there are limits to what should and should not be acceptable. It’s one thing to spin a message that C&D is a tax increase; while that isn’t an accurate statement because the tax rate won’t literally rise, you can at least make an argument for it. But it’s another thing entirely when campaigns resort to flat-out lying, and doing it with an anonymous recorded message is pretty low.

Referenda C&D Campaign Takes Nasty Turn

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