It's official: former Colorado state Rep. Jon Keyser's campaign for the U.S. Senate is officially in meltdown mode. Just two days after Denver7 reporter Marshall Zelinger discovered that Keyser submitted multiple forged signatures to get on the June primary ballot, Keyser participated in a Republican debate, where a moderator repeatedly pressed him on the matter. Keyser refused to directly answer any questions, just saying, over and over again, "I'm on the ballot" and accusing liberal billionaire George Soros of trying to "derail my campaign."
Following the debate, Zelinger attempted to interview Keyser on camera and asked the same questions the moderator had. Keyser again tried to evade, but then things took a turn for the bizarre—deeply bizarre:
Keyser: Were you the guy who was creepin' around my house yesterday?
Zelinger: I knocked on your door.
K: You woke up my kids—my baby cried for an hour after that.
Z: I apologize.
K: Did you get to meet my dog?
Z: I met your dog and your nanny—she was very kind. Your dog was kind.
K: My dog is—he's a great dog. He's bigger than you are. He's huge. He's a big, big guy, very protective.
Z: I don't know what that meant, but okay.
K: Oh, he's a great, he's a great, he's a great dog.
Z: His size—what did you mean by his size?
K: Oh, have you seen him? He's a Great Dane—he's 165 pounds. He's a good dog.
Was Keyser quasi-threatening Zelinger with his "big, big" "very protective" "huge" dog who's "bigger than you are"?
How the hell else to interpret those remarks? Zelinger finally managed to re-rail the interview, but Keyser simply wouldn't say anything about the forgeries—because what is there to say? And wait, sorry, we're still not over the dog. What on earth was that?
Anyhow, if Keyser survives this nightmare, he'll be like Gandalf returning from the dead. Somehow, though, we don't think he has any wizardly powers. ProgressNow Colorado, the group that first discovered a forged signature among Keyser's petitions, has asked the Denver and Jefferson County district attorneys to investigate. Even if a criminal inquiry never takes root, you've gotta believe that at least one of Keyser's Republican opponents will take him to court to try to knock him off the ballot—if, that is, Keyser doesn't drop out first … to spend more time with his ginormous dog, of course.