When I first got into the race for Colorado's 6th Congressional District against Tom Tancredo, I did an online interview for ePluribus Media that covered a lot of ground. As many of you have come to expect, I was open and honest with my answers, and it gave some on my campaign staff fits.
But my campaign was significantly under the radar when I answered those questions, and I wanted to revisit them now when more people are paying attention, because I think there are some important truths here.
So I am going to post that interview one question at a time with only minor revisions where needed to reflect the passage of eight months. I look forward to your feedback and will try to respond to your comments as much as possible. So here comes number one:
Q: Coloradans gave Democrats the State House and Senate in 2004. In 2005, we passed Referendum C to suspend TABOR budget restrictions, despite opposition from many on the far right. Republican State Representative Joe Stengel recently lamented "Colorado is a blue state now."
But Mr. Stengel exaggerates, and the wealthy suburbs south of Denver where you live remain solid GOP territory. How can you win in CD-6?
A: I don't know whether Mr. Stengel exaggerates or not. I think Colorado is, or is about to become, a dark blue state, and I think the reason is because Democrats offer actual solutions, where elected Republicans in Colorado have offered nothing but hate, division, and fringe issues.
Republicans like to say that Democrats took back the State House and Senate because four millionaires spent a lot of money. That's either a distortion of the facts, or misses the point entirely. The fact is that when Republicans held both houses they spent all their time on things like trying to hang the Ten Commandments in every public building, or forcing prayer into schools, and generally telling Coloradans how to run their lives. And they lost the State House and Senate as a result.
I believe that Democrats stand for people. Democrats stand for the poor and the middle class and small businesses. Democrats stand for the parts of the Bible you don't hear the religious right talk about---the parts where Jesus actually speaks and talks about helping your neighbor. The Gospels say you will be judged by how you treat the least among us. The current Republican Administration and Congress seem to believe that they will be judged by how they treat the wealthiest among us. Democrats are FOR the people, but we need to do a better job of talking TO the people, so that they know it!
We can win in CD-6, and in Colorado, and all across America, by offering solutions to issues that actually impact the people and by offering them REAL representation in Congress and in State Legislatures, and in every other place where people are supposed to represent us.
I don't believe CO-06 is currently represented in Congress. I believe Mr. Tancredo is engaged in his personal crusade to the detriment of our district. He was even running for President earlier this year, visiting places like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He spent much of the last few months campaigning against his own party instead of addressing issues important to us here at hom. He has long since abdicated his role as representative for the people of this district. Our question is "Where's Tom?"
Many people in CO-06, Republicans included, do not identify with Mr. Tancredo and are waiting for a viable alternative. I believe this is true all across America. We have to give them that alternative. We have to focus our campaigns on the things we all have in common, and not on the things used to divide us for the last five years. We have to reach out to all people, and to people who haven't been reached out to before, and we have to build a coalition that recognizes the things we have in common and the value of cooperation. That's how we will win in CO-06 and all across America.
Bill Winter
http://winterforcongress.com/