January 26, 2010 04:53 PM UTC

Gardner AWOL on "Military Appreciation Day?"

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: More on Gardner’s absence from The Coloradoan, which is particularly notable for the bungling way this was handled by his campaign:

Gardner spokesman Mike Ciletti declined to identify who Gardner met with Monday. The Yuma Republican’s absence was first reported by the Denver Post.

“Cory was meeting with individuals who have an interest in Colorado’s economy and politics,” Ciletti said. “He was meeting with them to introduce himself and let them know there is a fiscally conservative option to Betsy Markey.”…

…Ciletti dismissed criticism from “Democrats who seek to politicize everything to hide their failings.”

He didn’t respond to a question about how many legislative days Gardner would miss for campaign business. [Pols emphasis] Gardner is the minority whip, the No. 4 position in the Republican House leadership.

Gardner’s spokesman didn’t respond to a question about how many days Gardner would miss in the legislature to campaign for Congress instead. Well, here’s a free tip for the Gardner campaign: The answer should be “none.” This isn’t rocket surgery — you don’t go missing a bunch of days in an already short legislative session, when you are in the GOP leadership, because you have something else you’d rather be doing. That doesn’t play well with voters that you’ll need to get elected to Congress, geniuses. And why does Gardner himself have to go to D.C.? Can’t his campaign manager handle it?

The Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels writes for The Spot:

State Rep. Cory Gardner missed Military Appreciation Day at the Capitol because he was in Washington for his congressional campaign, a move Democrats blasted.

Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, a key organizer of Military Appreciation Day, was shocked that Gardner missed the event.

“Today was also 4-H Day and Rep. Gardner represents such a rural district,” she said. “We’re elected to be here. If he wants to run his campaign, he should resign.”

…Michael Huttner, founded of the liberal group ProgressNow Colorado, said if a Democrat had missed Military Appreciation Day for D.C. campaign events, Republicans would be “going nuts.”

“It’s a slap in the face to the men and women in uniform for Gardner to put his personal ambition ahead of his current job of serving his constitutents,” Huttner said.

Said Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party: “Rep. Cory Gardner needs to decide whether he is going to represent the voters on the Eastern Plains of Colorado, including veterans and their families, who elected him, or pursue his own personal interests in a different office to which he has not been elected.”

“His constituents should be outraged,” she said.

It’s not a huge deal by itself, but Cory Gardner really doesn’t want the impression that he’s neglecting his district to run for Congress to become generally held. That’s always the rub as a legislator seeking higher office, of course, but smart candidates find ways to schedule around obvious ‘gotcha’ opportunities like “Military Appreciation Day.” This is another self-inflicted wound from Gardner, opening himself up, needlessly, to an attack that will no doubt resurface in the primary.

And yes, Dick Wadhams would have a field day with this if Gardner’s name ended in (D).