CO-04's Marilyn Musgrave is attempting to distance herself from her reputation as a right-wing religious extremest.
More below the fold:
... what many are calling a "new" Musgrave. After focusing heavily on hot-button social issues during her first two terms, she has since appeared to reach across the aisle more often since Democrats took over the House as a result of the 2006 elections. Musgrave first broke Republican Party lines by calling for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez to resign, and more recently teamed with Colorado Democratic Rep. John Salazar - the brother of the Democratic senator - to oppose government seizure of private farmland in southern Colorado for expansion of U.S. Army grounds.
Also, after strongly supporting the Iraq war, Musgrave recently became more critical of the tactics being used and how they are affecting U.S. troops.
In a comment for CQPolitics.com, Musgrave's spokesman Jason Thielman says
"None of [Musgrave's] votes are about changing ideology whatsoever".
To which I agree -- what she is now saying does not reflect in the way she votes! While Marilyn may publicly voice disagreement with Mr. Bush on the conduct of the war, Musgrave still votes to continue his failed policies.
Musgrave's votes against the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Matthew Sheppard Act (hate crimes) and opposition to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act are further evidence of her continued march in lockstep with Mr. Bush and the extreme religious right-wing of her party.
She has the audacity to attempt to paint Betsy Markey (Democratic candidate for CO-04) as "out in the extreme left" even while she (Musgrave) votes so consistently with her President and party. Compared to Musgrave, Orrin Hatch (Sen-UT) is on the left (Ha!). He is advocating the override of Bush's veto of SCHIP. The latest WaPo-ABC News Poll shows that the public supports the SCHIP bill by 72-25%. Marilyn, you can call yourself a centrist when your voting reflects the wishes of something closer to 50% of your constituents!
If you'd like to see Musgrave defeated next year, please consider donating to Betsy Markey!