August 19, 2013 12:00 PM UTC

Jon Caldara's Objective: "A Wave of Fear"

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• by: Colorado Pols

MONDAY UPDATE: Maddow Blog's Laura Conaway:

Between the $54 million "erotic grammy," the accusations of faked signatures and the late-breaking Libertarian candidates, it can sometimes be difficult to follow the Colorado state senate recalls, or even to keep track of who's in which race. Right up until Friday, Colorado was still struggling with when the election would be held and how it would be conducted.

But every so often, even through the muddle, you can see quite clearly what the recalls of Democrats John Morse and Angela Giron are about — namely, stopping gun reform across the states. Senators Morse and Giron voted for Colorado's reform back in March, some of the nation's first after the Newtown massacre. Come September 10, the anti-reform lobby wants to make a cautionary tale of them for legislators everywhere.

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A must-see video clip forwarded to us of Independence Institute President Jon Caldara, speaking in Colorado Springs earlier this month about the upcoming recall special election against Colorado Senate President John Morse. Transcript:

CALDARA: If the President of the Senate of Colorado, who did nothing except pass the laws that Bloomberg wrote, [Pols emphasis] is knocked out, there will be a shudder, a wave of fear that runs across every state legislator across the country, that says, "I ain't doing that ever. That is not happening to me. I will not become a national embarrassment, I will not take on those guys." That's how big this is.

It's remarkable to hear Caldara admit that Morse "did nothing but pass the laws that Bloomberg wrote." That's not something he should be admitting in front of a camera. That's not the public message from recall proponents these days, who have broadened the case against Morse to include everything from renewable energy to civil unions for gays and lesbians. And it's the frankest admission we've seen from anyone involved that the true goal of the recalls is to incite a "wave of fear across the nation" that chills momentum for gun safety legislation in other states.

For ourselves, when we think about a "wave of fear," we don't think of something good. A "wave of fear" swept through a movie theater in Aurora just over one year ago. We doubt that's the image Caldara wants in your mind as you hear those words. But what is the issue we're debating again? And why are we debating it in Colorado?

The hard core supporters of the recall won't be fazed by Caldara's realpolitik, of course. But the swing voters needed to actually recall Sen. Morse may well ask themselves if they want to be part of "a wave of fear" in support of guns–and answer "no, that sounds creepy."