Phil Weiser and John Kellner
Readers of Colorado Pols have traditionally been pretty good at predicting the outcome of key races in a given election (although readers didn’t so so well in the Primary Election last month).
It’s time to start our General Election polling to get a sense of how perceptions of various races might shift over time as November 8 draws closer. For our first 2022 General Election poll, we want to know what you think about the race for Attorney General between incumbent Democrat Phil Weiser and Republican Arapahoe County-ish District Attorney John Kellner.
*As always in our completely non-scientific polls, we want to know what you THINK will happen — not what you want to happen or which candidate you personally support. If you were placing a sizable wager on the outcome of this race, which candidate would you choose?
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Has John Kellner done any campaigning yet? He seems to be MIA.
At a time when 6/10 Americans believe our courts have become thoroughly partisan, I think Weiser's no-nonsense, pragmatic approach is likely to carry the day.
The sole reason Kellner is running, I suspect, is because he can't win re-election in the 18th JD in 2024, since it'll no longer contain Douglas, Lincoln, or Elbert. I hope he disappears better than Broccoli-man
Does it matter?
Aside from a few lawsuits, including other states' litigation, that related to Trump environmental policies, Weiser hasn't done anything that Coffman didn't or wouldn't do.
Weiser has made no perceptible change in the way the AG handles police brutality cases. He recently failed to discipline the San Juan Valley DA (who, admittedly, resigned today) or any of that office's deputy DAs for a pattern of violating the state's victim rights law. The settlement he entered did nothing but extract a promise to do better.
Weiser has missed opportunities, especially in climate-related litigation, to join other states in challenging harmful federal policies or administration neglect of that issue.
His office is so secretive that we know little about how the much-ballyhooed case against the tech giants is going.
In all, Weiser is a placeholder. A disappointment. A guy who is probably aiming to use the AG position as a stepping stone.
As such, I don't see how Colorado is better off with him than his Republican opponent. At least with Kellner, you know what you're going to get, as opposed to Weiser's fake promise to be at least something of a progressive AG.
Nothopeful is also Notlogical. Are you just shilling for Kellner?
Why is it that, whenever someone criticizes a Democrat here, they are assumed to be insincere or somehow working for the Republicans?
The Democratic Party has problems. To deny that is foolish. One of those problems is careerist elected officials who make progressive promises and then blow them off once in office.
Another is intolerance of diversity regarding opinions among Democrats. You can criticize Phil Weiser and Jared Polis and still identify with the Democratic Party and even support many, if not most, Democratic candidates.
Purity is not a good objective for a political party. A reliable, enduring coalition should be. And that requires understanding of and tolerance for dissent.
In climate-related litigation, the taller Coffman entered our fair state into a multi-state action against Obama's Clean Power Plan. I'll bet far more than my typical nickel that Weiser would not have done that.
You may well be right about that, but your statement misses the point. What has Weiser done to promote an effective, meaningful, and urgent response to the growing climate crisis?
Weiser and Salazar were 4803 votes apart at the end. You have to wonder if Pols would be backing Salazar if those votes had gone the other way. As you note, Pols and Polsters tend to disparage progressives and progressive policies.
Weiser has made some strong public stances on climate; but he certainly hasn’t been the advocate Joe would have been. On abortion rights, though Phil Weiser is taking the correct stand.
Obviously, I wasn’t a supporter of Weiser in the primary, though of course he was better than Broccoli in the general. On the whole, though, I’ve been happy with Weiser’s stances against Trumpian overreach. https://www.cpr.org/2020/06/02/colorado-ag-weiser-ill-sue-if-president-trump-sends-in-the-military/