November 01, 2010 09:58 PM UTC

Really? Peruvian Sheepherder Edition

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• by: Colorado Pols

Republican Christine Mastin has been getting some press lately in her bid to unseat Daniel Kagan in the traditionally Democratic HD3. Reporter Lynn Bartels of the Denver newspaper has penned a series of positive pieces on Mastin, including Mastin’s serving as the mouthpiece of the GOP’s cosmetic outreach to Latino voters. Such efforts, we continue to believe, are not going to be viewed as successful in the larger context of of the de facto GOP ticket (Tom Tancredo), but Mastin easily makes a better spokesperson than the other candidates in the Bartels article, such as Edgar “Juan-a-be-the-Luchador” Antillon.

But we were taken aback by this bit we were forwarded from Mastin’s answer to the standard candidate questionnaire in the Denver paper:

I care about the issues facing HD 3; my opponent cares about sheepherders on the Western Slope.

Here’s the thing: Mastin is referencing a bill Kagan ran this year to address labor abuses against Peruvian sheepherders brought to Colorado on guest worker visas. News reports showed how the workers were paid minimal wages, lived in shabby conditions without running water, and were kept without access to food–while their employers held their passports.

You’d think Mastin would get this since she’s an immigration lawyer of Chilean descent. At the very least, she should exhibit a fraction of the sympathy for those guest workers as she does for her clients, for whom she files appeals against deportation by the billable hour? You think?

Mastin is one of the favored candidates recruited by Frank McNulty, who as you’ve read has an awesome moral compass. At least that’s a part of this that makes sense.