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July 22, 2019 01:39 PM UTC

Ghosted! Gardner Skips Fundraiser with Vice President Pence

  • 17 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Vice President Mike Pence is in Colorado today to raise money for the re-election campaigns of Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) and President Trump.

The bigger news is about who is NOT here: Sen. Gardner himself.

Yup, this happened.

Pence is scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Aspen for the Trump/Pence re-election campaign later on Monday, but his first Colorado stop was at a mansion in Windsor, Colorado to raise money for Gardner’s 2020 re-election effort. Even though the event was located about two hours West of Gardner’s home in Yuma, Colorado’s junior Senator left town before Pence could shake his hand.

Joe St. George of Fox 31 conducted a very brief interview with Pence upon his arrival in Colorado today but was unable to get an answer to his question about why Pence wasn’t hosting any sort of public event for Gardner. Perhaps Cardboard Cory wasn’t available, either.

We speculated on Friday that Gardner might not attend his own event with the Vice President, but we’re still surprised that Gardner bolted on Pence:

We’ll be interested to see if Pence’s Windsor visit attracts more than just a few crickets — and whether this fundraiser for Gardner will be worthy of the Yuma Senator’s own attendance. Gardner kicked off his 2020 re-election effort in Washington D.C. earlier this year but has yet to hold a major campaign event inside the borders of Colorado.

Invisible Cory Gardner
Ghosted

Anyone who has followed Colorado politics in recent years will recognize the ridiculous irony here. In July 2014, Gardner blasted then-Sen. Mark Udall when he didn’t attend a fundraiser on his behalf hosted by President Obama. Here’s what the Los Angeles Times wrote on July 9, 2014:

Gardner’s campaign mocked Udall for skipping Obama’s Colorado events. “The only difference between President Obama’s campaign speech today and every other one he has given was that Sen. Udall wasn’t standing by his side,” campaign spokesman Alex Siciliano said. “Sen. Udall has been more than willing to follow the president on everything from healthcare and gun control to energy and out-of-control government spending. Make no mistake about it, a vote for Sen. Udall is a vote to reinforce President Obama’s old and tired policies.”

You could literally just replace “Udall” with “Gardner” and “Obama” with “Trump,” and that quote would still make sense.

Comments

17 thoughts on “Ghosted! Gardner Skips Fundraiser with Vice President Pence

  1. I saw "cardboard Cory" last month at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Denver. He put in a special appearance for Conservation Colorado.

  2. I don't mind trolling Gardner on things like this, but isn't he in DC today helping the cannabis industry get banking rights? Seems like that's a good thing for Colorado.

    1. Given McConnell’s general stance on marijuana legalization (“Not on my watch”) let’s hope the adults prevail and we get mmj banking.  I’m not in the policy weeds on that side of the “Cannabis fence”; Cory was good on the hemp issue and generally all of those battles, including banking, will be behind us by 2020.  

    2. It may be a good thing for Colorado — but it hints at Gardner's clout with his Republican majority members in the Senate Banking Committee, that they would not find a way to have a hearing where Cory could testify WITHOUT interfering with a Pence appearance for fundraising.

      I'm not certain if the responsibility lies with

       * the Banking Committee chair and staff, for pulling things together without checking the availability (and possible conflicts) of their witnesses.

       * the Pence staff, for setting a fundraising visit for Gardner when Gardner would not be available.

       * the Gardner Senate staff, for not speaking up.

       * the Gardner campaign, for its lack of coordination with the "real job" of the junior Senator. 

      I forget — do FEC records of donations provide the date of the donation? I'm wondering just how much a Pence stop for Gardner added to the Gardner effort.

          1. I was wondering about the status of Native tribes with legal cannabis. Are they still jailing people for possession? Can they have cannabis businesses on the Rez? 

            With high unemployment , hemp would be a huge economic boost. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I was curious about legal status in states where tribes are still under Federal jurisdiction.

            Where would Cory come down on that?

            1. I don't quickly recall the details, but Wyoming tribes won at the SCOTUS earlier this year in a case regarding hunting out of season on tribal land. So, maybe there is a carryover into other areas.

              I think it was a 5-4 decision, with the decision being written by Neil Gorsuch.

              Where Cory would come down is a good question, considering how Trump cares nothing for Native American issues, as witnessed by his attempt to downsize Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. 

              1. Thanks, Genghis and CHB. Since the tribes (these donors, anyway), donating to Gardner are in CA and CT, it has to be a Federal, not a state matter. The Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma donated to Gardner, too, but none of the Colorado tribes like Ute, Arapahoe, or Apache.

                Curious….

                 

            2. The tribal issues have been complicated.  The 2014 language didn't specifically name the tribes as eligible for research (even though that was the intention) so DOJ took a generally hard-line approach to their activities.  The 2018 language specifically empowers them and they, like every state, will propose a plan to USDA for approval under the new law.  

              They are generally lean towards hemp. Because many of them have ownership in casino's there can be no link between casino ownership and cultivating a Schedule 1 substance.  Until the feds deschedule marijuana that's just going to be their reality. 

              Hemp can be/will be a huge boost to the reservations – and starting in 2020 that will be a reality! 

    3. What are the odds that he is going to get anything substantial done?  He is appealing to the libertarian dope smokers promising something that his fundy base won't tolerate.  Another tease with no progress.  Cory is a con man to his conniving core.

  3. Pence came and Gardner didn't? I couldn't care less myself. I wouldn't walk across the street to piss on either of them if their hearts were on fire. But it demonstrates a complete lack of grace on Cory's part. There goes his strategy of cuddling up to The Screaming Yam to get reelected. Yammie-pie holds grudges and I'd say Cory just earned himself one.  

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