September 13, 2011 06:58 PM UTC

Editorial Boards Open Fire on Gessler

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• by: Colorado Pols

After Friday’s disclosure of an upcoming fundraiser for the Larimer County Republican Party featuring Secretary of State Scott Gessler in a dunk tank–coming just weeks after Gessler’s office slashed fines owed by the same Larimer County GOP after years of mismanagement and the impending prosecution of the former chairman–editorial boards in Denver and Grand Junction today blasted Gessler for the conflict of interest the situation plainly smacks of.

After so many ethical blind-spot scandals, such as Gessler’s disastrous moonlighting attempt at his old law firm, the Denver paper flat-out wonders today “if he’ll ever get it.” They suggest if Gessler wishes to “salvage his standing” as the impartial official in charge of Colorado elections, swiftly canceling this fundraiser is the first thing to do.

The conservative Grand Junction Sentinel, whose editorial appears behind a paywall online today, is even less forgiving–comparing Gessler’s fundraiser for Larimer County Republicans to the outrage Gov. John Hickenlooper would face if he hosted a fundraiser to pay an oil company’s fine (unwritten answer: a lot). Says the Sentinel, “elected public officials have a responsibility to avoid such blatant conflict of interest. Gessler, an attorney, shouldn’t need a remedial ethics course to understand what constitutes a conflict.”

Like we said on Friday when we first broke the story, nobody is suggesting that this fundraiser is illegal, even if it’s about the most politically counterproductive and self-injurious thing a Secretary of State could possibly do. But there’s a larger question in all of this, one asked during Gessler’s previous embarrassments but perhaps more earnestly as time goes on.

Does Scott Gessler give a crap what you–or anyone–think about anything? Does he even care about re-election, higher office, any of that? Or is four years of the fox in charge of the henhouse the full sum of Gessler’s career aspirations? A poll follows.

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