May 21, 2012 09:42 PM UTC

Robert Ramirez Sets Bar For Legislative Flakiness

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• by: Colorado Pols

Freshman Rep. Robert Ramirez of Westminster has been represented in a number of stories about the failure of civil unions legislation this year as an example of a Republican who would have voted for the bill had it reached the House floor. As just one example, before the end of the regular legislative session from the Catholic News Network:

The bill has already passed the Colorado Senate. The Republicans control the State House by a one-vote margin, but civil unions supporters believe they have enough Republican votes to pass the bill.

Along with Nikkel, Republican Reps. Robert Ramirez of Westminster and Kevin Priola of Henderson have said they will vote in favour of the bill if it reaches the House floor…

And here’s Rep. Ramirez on the radio in late April:

RAMIREZ: I am looking at voting for it if I get the opportunity.

But as you know, Rep. Robert Ramirez never got the opportunity. The civil unions bill, both the regular-session Senate Bill 2 and the special session House Bill 12s-1006 were killed by Republican leadership. And judging by this report from the Colorado Statesman Friday, we really wonder if Ramirez is relieved to have avoided being asked to keep or break his word:

One day after House Republican leadership killed a bill that would have recognized same-sex civil unions in Colorado, supporters of traditional marriage lined up on the west steps of the Capitol to articulate their message that same-sex marriage and civil unions are wrong, and that the only way to halt the “breakdown of marriage” is to elect leaders who support protecting marriage as being between one man and one woman…

Also in attendance at the rally were Reps. Robert Ramirez, R-Westminster, [Pols emphasis] Libby Szabo, R-Arvada, and Carole Murray, R-Castle Rock, as well as Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs.

Ramirez attempted to shift the focus back to jobs and the economy, saying that the mission of the legislature was lost during the session to wedge social issues.

So much for that, eh?

This is the same Rep. Robert Ramirez who was quoted in the New York Times last fall lamenting his party’s poor relations with Hispanics, yet who faithlessly pledged to work with proponents of the ASSET legislation for better tuition rates for undocumented students.

Is such unusually shameless double dealing just how Robert Ramirez rolls? This isn’t an entirely sarcastic question. We’re starting to wonder if Ramirez just doesn’t think being consistent on the issues matters. Too far down the ticket, nobody cares, we know consultants who really say this.

For a guy who won his seat by 197 votes, we would be very nervous giving that advice.