Mike Coffman Embraces Donald Trump

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by: Colorado Pols

Head by Coffman, hair by Trump

President Trump’s re-election campaign is diverting serious cash to 100 Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and House in an effort to stave off a growing Blue Wave.

As McClatchy DC reports, Trump’s campaign cash is even going to Republican candidates who have been critical of the President in words (although loyal in their voting records) — candidates like Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora):

The Trump campaign announced last week that it would donate the maximum amount allowed by law — $2,000 per candidate — to 100 Republicans running for Congress in November, perhaps a sign that the GOP is worried it will lose its majorities in Congress. Democrats need to pick up a net of 23 seats in the House and two in the Senate to gain control of the chambers.

The Trump campaign did not disclose which candidates would receive contributions and did not respond to subsequent questions about how the candidates were selected, but McClatchy obtained a detailed list…

…None of the half-dozen campaigns contacted by McClatchy said they were aware of the donations. Some declined to comment while others, including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who supported the immigration proposal opposed by Trump, did not immediately respond to a message.

Trump Tracker, via 538.com.

Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) is the only other member of Colorado’s delegation receiving financial support from the Trump campaign. Tipton has generally shied away from criticizing Trump, so his inclusion on this list is less of a surprise at first glance. But when you look closer at the data, it shows that Rep. Coffman has turned out to be among the most Trumpian members of Congress in the last 18 months. As 538.com’s Trump Tracker shows, Coffman has voted with Trump’s position 95.6% of the time, placing him fifth among all House members in Congress.

While he has been busy supporting Trump at every turn in Congress, Coffman has tried to maintain some distance with the President in the context of his re-election campaign. Back in 2016, Coffman aired the first “stand up to Trump” television ad from an incumbent Republican Congressman, but after Trump won the Presidency, he quickly came around with a MAGA hat of his own.

Coffman has always rode the fence on virtually every issue, and he’s taking the same approach with his on-again, off-again dalliance with Trump. It might just come back to bite him in the butt in November.

12 thoughts on “Mike Coffman Embraces Donald Trump”

unnamed says:

July 31, 2018 at 3:49 pm

MAGAt-nuttus. What's your real name? I want to make a donation to Jason Crow in your name.

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1. Colorado Pols says:
  
  August 1, 2018 at 11:22 am
  
  Note: a comment purporting to identify another user was deleted. Please don't do that in this space, thanks all.
  
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JohnInDenver says:

July 31, 2018 at 6:03 pm

Coffman's allegiance to Trump is in 5th place ONLY if you are looking at the difference between the votes (95.6% agreement with Trump's position) and the district's "expected" vote. The expected vote is calculated as "Trump's share of the 2016 vote minus Clinton's share" — which in Coffman's district is a -8.9).

His actual voting is someplace down around 100th — or roughly the middle of the Republican pack. Lowest Republican I see in a fast scan is Walter B. Jones (R-NC-3) at 49.3%

3 others still serving (plus Ryan Zinke) show as having 100% agreement with Trump.

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1. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  July 31, 2018 at 9:52 pm
  
  But isn't his actual voting record at 95.6%? I mean freaking 95.6% of the time. How is this not butt-kissing allegiance to all that is unholy and evil in the Republican Party? How the hell is Coffman not rated as an all-time toady for the shit-for-brains gang? He might have been immune to sentiment in the past but his voting record puts him at odds with the majority of his constituents.
  
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  1. mamajama55 says:
    
    July 31, 2018 at 10:39 pm
    
    Coffman has really good staff and PR people. Even now his constituents, like my kids who live in CD6, are being flooded with glossy mailers extolling how much Coffman has “done for vets”.
    
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    1. Gilpin Guy says:
      
      August 1, 2018 at 6:06 am
      
      Which is ironic since Coffman was chairman of the Veterans oversight committee that blew 1.7 BILLION on the new VA hospital. I guess folks should thank him for blindly supporting our new wars which will make this hospital overworked when the cannon fodder in his district starts coming home.
      
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      1. mamajama55 says:
        
        August 1, 2018 at 6:35 am
        
        Both the VA facilities (old and new) will be overloaded with incoming veterans from Trump's latest adventures in the Mideast and Africa. The new hospital only adds 19 beds to the mix. It'll be gorgeous and state of the art and all now that it finally opened this summer. They're transferring vets as we write this.
        
        Yes, Coffman is to blame for using his committee positions to scold and posture, rather than problem-solve, over the years. He has gotten through some good legislation for veterans – help for vets suffering PTSD, male vets dealing with sex assault trauma, etc.
        
        But where it would have really helped to have a credible conservative veteran's voice and leadership, he has been absent. For example, they have a horrendous opioid theft problem at the VA hospitals in general. Yet Coffman is securely in the pocket of pharma interests that don't want any restrictions on being able to sell and market opioids.
        
        Coffman finally came out in support of veterans using CBD or cannabis for PTSD. Cannabis is one of the most effective and low-cost treatments for PTSD. But Colorado had legal marijuana on the books since 2012, and it's taken Coffman this long to start advocating for veteran's usage. He's had his finger in the wind all this time, I guess.
        
        But he has been advocating for bariatric oxygen treatment for PTSD, which necessitates a trip to the VA hospital, expensive equipment, etc.
        
        So he's still just pandering to his donors and to Trump, strutting his stuff, and not being an effective leader.
        
        Crow should zero in on criticizing Coffman for his "Too little, too late, too partisan" approach to the VA hospital, and also on the 95% -with Trump record.
        
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        Gilpin Guy says:
        
        August 1, 2018 at 10:30 am
        
        Wouldn't you love to see Coffman be a casualty of the Trump years. People finally wake up and see who he really supports and it ain't mom and pop.
        
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  2. skeptical citizen says:
    
    August 1, 2018 at 7:21 am
    
    Wonder if this is the New Mike who is receiving all the compliments in the current TV ads about his support for opioid legislation, but is hypocritically at odds with the Old Mike who has voted dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act that would leave many opioid addiction victims unable to afford medical care.
    
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itlduso says:

July 31, 2018 at 7:08 pm

95.6% (let's round it to 96%) agreement with Trump.

i suspect Coffman is the type of Republican that George Will was thinking of when he called on all voters to vote for the Dems.

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