June 30, 2016 01:13 PM UTC

"Not Like Other Republicans"--Coffman's Most Craven Ad Ever

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• by: Colorado Pols

Here’s the debut ad from perennially embattled incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman, meant to re-introduce himself to the culturally diverse voters of the swing Sixth District. This ad features citizens from a range of ethnicities telling stories about how they met Mike Coffman: at an Ethiopian community fundraising event, as well as him being “very involved” in the Chinese and Korean communities–and a “real leader” on immigration reform.

The whole ad builds up to the key line delivered by a young woman, “he’s not like other Republicans.”

Folks, there’s no way to call this a bad ad, because it’s actually quite good. This is exactly the kind of sanitized, pleasing image that Coffman wants to send to the voters of CD-6. Watching this ad, it’s almost impossible to imagine this being the same Mike Coffman who called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” claimed President Barack Obama “is not an American,” or who tried to limit the availability of multilingual ballots back when he represented Tom Tancredo’s old stomping ground.

If you don’t know about Coffman’s true record, this ad could easily sway a ticket-splitting swing voter, who is repelled by Donald Trump but feels obliged to “compensate” for not voting Republican at the top of the ticket. It’s up to Coffman’s opponent, and also to our local media, to make sure Coffman’s unsanitized history gets told.

If that doesn’t happen, Coffman could well soft-light his way right into another term.