Screenshot from 2014 ad for Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman (R)
Ever since the most recent round of redistricting, Republican Rep. Mike Coffman has repeatedly shown he's confused about the kind of seat he represents. Rather frequently, Coffman seems to forget that he now serves a very swingy slice of suburban Denver that voted for Barack Obama twice—like the time
he went full birther and declared, "I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America." Good one, bro.
Here's another good one: Coffman, who faces a serious challenge from Democratic state Sen. Morgan Carroll, recently voted to defund Planned Parenthood—again, not exactly the right kind of move for this particular slice of Colorado. What makes this even better is that last year, Coffman ran an ad that featured PP's logo on-screen while a narrator claimed that Coffman "was praised for protecting women from violence." (No, PP didn't endorse him: The group issued a press release in 2013 thanking the 33 House Republicans who supported the Violence Against Women Act.)
The best part, though, is Coffman's response to getting called on this rather obvious contradiction:
"Using Planned Parenthood's expression of support is not the same thing as saying it's a good organization," said Coffman's spokeswoman Cinamon Watson in an email to 9NEWS.
Hey, yeah, candidates totally tout the backing of groups they want to destroy
all the time! The kicker here—and a great illustration of why this particular affliction is known as Coffman's Disease—is Coffman's flack declaration that her boss's "support for women on issues ranging from access to over the counter contraceptives to sexual assault demonstrates his leadership on issues important to women." Some part of Coffman's brain knows he's supposed to be "good on issues important to women" if he wants to get re-elected, but another part—the lizard part—makes him do things like vote to defund Planned Parenthood. A grave condition indeed.