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March 16, 2018 04:34 PM UTC

Anybody Can Run for Office...Not Everyone Should

  • 21 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Jennifer Diffendal and family

Every election cycle turns out its share of terrible candidates, from out-of-touch hardliners with bizarre policy views, to those who are without a filter or just plain weirdos. It happens all the time, but it is intensified whenever there is a major change in the national political mood like we’re seeing in 2018. In years like this, it is not uncommon to see candidates seeking high-profile public office who really…just shouldn’t.

For example, Jennifer Diffendal.

Diffendal is the newest candidate running for Congress in CD-6. You may not have heard her name because she only entered the race this month as the fourth Democrat seeking to challenge Republican Rep. Mike Coffman. If you are an active Democrat in the Metro Denver area, you may not have heard her name because Diffendal is a former Republican who has only been a registered Democrat in Colorado since March 9, 2017 (which is still considerably longer than her husband, Ed Diffendal, who literally changed his Party affiliation on March 7, 2018).

Diffendal is not going to win the Democratic nomination in CD-6, where Jason Crow is the clear favorite. With petition signatures due at the end of this month and the CD-6 Congressional Assembly on April 12, it’s pretty unlikely that Diffendal will even see her name on the June Primary ballot. The only reason we are even talking about Diffendal is because of a fascinating sidewalk interview someone posted on Facebook (click for Part One and Part Two) that shows why running for a high-profile elected office is a lot more complicated than you might have assumed.

Diffendal recently “campaigned” outside Coffman’s office to talk with a group of women – whom we assume to be Democrats – who have regularly staged demonstrations critical of the Aurora Republican. In the Facebook interviews mentioned earlier, Diffendal uses a lot of words like “community” and “empowerment,” and explains that she is “all about the potluck dinners.” The discussion gets off to a bad start when one woman nearby asks:

“If your thing is supporting women standing on the corner, where have you been? We’ve been out here every single week…for more than a year.”

Diffendal tells these women that she is running for Congress because there needs to be a female candidate in the race, which eventually transitions into this gem of a quote about Crow:

“I just feel like he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a woman. He has no experience with that.”

Jason Crow is not a woman, nor has he been a woman in the past. Duly noted.

Jennifer Diffendal talks public policy…sort of.

But the star of this particular show is Diffendal’s struggle to respond to a half-dozen iterations of a question about her position on school vouchers. In fact, it is not clear that Diffendal could identify a “voucher” if it bit her in the knee. Here’s that exchange:

WOMAN #1: “What’s your position on school vouchers?”

DIFFENDAL: “I think vouchers can help people. [pause] I didn’t understand you, I’m sorry.”

WOMAN #1: “Do you support vouchers? Do you support diverting public funds to private schools?”

DIFFENDAL: “I support women who are trying to raise their kids in a world that’s full of division.”

WOMAN #1: “That’s not an answer.”

DIFFENDAL: “Because I want to help you. I’m not trying to take away your voice. I want to amplify your voice.”

WOMAN #1: “I didn’t get an answer as to whether or not you support vouchers.”

DIFFENDAL: “I support community [sic] and every kid who deserves an education.”

WOMAN #1: “That’s not an answer. Yes or no, do you support vouchers?”

DIFFENDAL: “I’m sorry, that’s what I believe.”

WOMAN #1: “I didn’t get an answer.”

DIFFENDAL: “I didn’t understand your question. I am so sorry.”

WOMAN #1: “Do you support vouchers? Do you, or do you not, support vouchers?”

DIFFENDAL: “I support community, and I support kids…”

WOMAN #1: “Yes or no? Do you support vouchers?”

The voucher discussion ends abruptly here, because nobody – on either side — seems to know what to say anymore.

Diffendal seems like a perfectly nice person from the Facebook videos we watched. Perhaps she will be a strong candidate for public office someday. But not this day. If you are confused by a question about vouchers, then you just aren’t ready to be running for Congress. Or for anything, really.

It is absolutely a good thing to have more people running for public office – but only so long as they have taken the time to truly prepare for what can be an exhausting, all-consuming slog for months and months on end. Anybody can fill out paperwork to become a candidate for office; nobody is ever impressed by that alone.

Comments

21 thoughts on “Anybody Can Run for Office…Not Everyone Should

    1. Nobody, apparently, at least by the last FEC deadline 12/31/17.  Yet all kinds of people see Mike Coffman's vulnerability this election year, and are stepping forward to try to claim the CD6 election. Another Democratic candidate: David Aarestad.

      Then there's our old blog buddy, Roger Edwards, who blew Coffman away at the Adams County caucuses. I'd be interested to know what the Arapahoe County and Douglas County GOP caucus results were, but they're not online.

      1. CO GOP said there were no results to share.
        My understanding is that there were not even preference polling at most caucus locations. 
        Coffman will be the nominee. But it's nice to see challengers. 

  1. Well…
    – she lives in the district. And apparently has for some time.  
    –  she didn't screw up the contracting for the Denver VA Med Center
    – she never promoted payday lenders.

    She's not the first person I've met that misunderstands the importance of an identity or personal experience as part of the joy of identity politics. Hell at my precinct caucus I was told that we need a woman governor.  For some reason not clear to me – we deserve a woman governor.

    I wish more homemade candidates would run with no outside funding or experience. Of course, I wish they were smarter and more accomplished and able to generate the necessary budget.

     

    I sit corrected – thank you.
    How many of the CD6 D candidates live in the district or are even from Colorado?

    1. No – she does not live in the district.  She picked the 6th because it is where she shops. Seriously.  Oh, and goes to the gym.

      And she's only been in Colo less than 2 years.

  2. I'm "someone" and after the video ended, we continued to talk to her.  If she stays in the race, she must be more visible and do her research. 

  3. By law, you don't have to live in the district to run. You just need an address there if you win.  It can be a post office box.

    Go Diffster!  Issues are so last season.

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