Bloomberg remarks on CO recall vote

[carguychris]

Rolling Stone magazine is reportedly set to publish an interview in which Michael Bloomberg downplays the CO Senate recall vote by making the (IMHO) rather bizarre and incongruous claim that...

Originally Posted by Michael Bloomberg

[Recalled legislator Morse and Giron's districts are located in] ...part[s] of Colorado where I don’t think there’s roads. It's as far rural as you can get.

Morse's former district encompasses Colorado Springs (pop. 439,886) while Giron's encompasses Pueblo (pop. 106,595). These cities may be small compared to NYC... but "as far rural as you can get"? Come on.

The magazine was initially reported to be pulling the article completely, but as I write this, the latest update says that the article was accidentally published early and will be reposted as originally scheduled on July 14th.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...3.html?ml=po_r

I personally view the CO recall vote as a BIG loss for the Bloomberg/MAIG/MDA side, as it proved that gun rights advocates will go to the polls for their beliefs, while the same is not necessarily true of gun control supporters.

I think it's interesting that Bloomie has chosen to publicly downplay the results as trivial, but he's (fortunately for our side!) done it in a way that's likely to offend many voters in the West.

[BarryLee]

I’m not sure how much gun control plays into this, but CNN is reporting that Colorado Senator Mark Udall was skipping fundraising events featuring President Obama. Mr. Udall claims this was simply a scheduling issue, but CNN also noted that Mr. Obama’s approval ratings in Colorado are at 38%. Again, not sure how much is motivated by gun control, but it seems the new gun laws have to be a consideration in upcoming Colorado elections.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...er-with-obama/

[Rob228]

Hudak wasn't recalled, she resigned, and her district is nowhere near Pueblo, its in the northern Denver suburbs.

[GJSchulze]

Our best weapon against Bloomers is his mouth. He is self defeating. Let's hope that he never learns to shut up.

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by Rob228

Hudak wasn't recalled, she resigned, and her district is nowhere near Pueblo, its in the northern Denver suburbs.

Well nuts, I got Evie Hudak and Angela Giron mixed up.

My first post has been corrected.

I need a better editor.

[Rob228]

Not a problem, they were essentially interchangeable.

[steve4102]

Originally Posted by carguychris

I personally view the CO recall vote as a BIG loss for the Bloomberg/MAIG/MDA side, as it proved that gun rights advocates will go to the polls for their beliefs, while the same is not necessarily true of gun control supporters.

I think it's interesting that Bloomie has chosen to publicly downplay the results as trivial, but he's (fortunately for our side!) done it in a way that's likely to offend many voters in the West.

The recall vote was a well organized effort by many CO gun owners and the like, but Bloomberg is correct that it was a fluke and the Democrats will retake those seats come the Next General election.

The Only reason the Republicans were victorious in these recall election was because there were only two choices on the ballot. A Republican and a Democrat.

Hudak won her seat in CO with less than 1% margin over the Republican challenger. BUT, the Democrat funded (L) candidate Sweeny, received almost 7% of the votes. If the recall would have included a Spoiler (L) candidate the republicans would have had their butts handed to them.

Make no mistake, the Democrats will not make this mistake come General Election day. They will fund spoiler (L) candidates all across CO and not only regain the lost seats, but pick up a few more more just for good measure.

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by steve4102

The recall vote was a well organized effort by many CO gun owners and the like, but Bloomberg is correct that it was a fluke and the Democrats will retake those seats come the Next General election.

The Only reason the Republicans were victorious in these recall election was because there were only two choices on the ballot. A Republican and a Democrat.

I'm not going to dispute that the seats may prove impossible for the GOP to hold. That may well prove to be the case.

My assertion is that the recall election was a victory for gun rights because it demonstrated that, when a close election is taking place, the RKBA can carry the day when it's the #1 issue on the ballot.

That said, it's disputable to what degree the results were determined by partisan die-hards who were less concerned with the RKBA than with which party would win.

Of course, any outbreak of foot-in-mouth by Bloomers goes in the "Win" column.

[steve4102]

Bloomberg will fund dozens maybe Hundreds of (L) candidates all across America to ensure Democrat victories.

The sad fact is that those that vote for Bloomberg's spoilers won't have a clue until it's too late.

[Tom Servo]

Morse's former district encompasses Colorado Springs (pop. 439,886) while Giron's encompasses Pueblo (pop. 106,595). These cities may be small compared to NYC... but "as far rural as you can get"? Come on.

To someone from New York city, that's rural. Elites (and not just political) from California and New York often dismissively refer to the land between their states as flyover country. I heard it a lot when I was in the music industry.

Bloomberg is making a big mistake with such stereotypes, and it's one I want him to continue to make.

Following Sandy Hook, he promised politicians that he'd make it safe for politicians to vote for gun control. He also stated that he would make a vote for gun control the only safe vote. After all, he has a bunch of money to throw at the whole shebang, right?

Then Colorado happened, and word went out that Bloomberg wasn't really keeping anybody safe. He rubbed salt in the wound with his statement following the recalls of Morse and Giron:

What do you mean we lost? I’m sorry for those two people. But we won in Colorado. On to the next state.

Let him keep doing that, and the math will change.

As far as Hudak, she wasn't directly recalled, but she did step down in the face of one.

[barnbwt]

To someone from New York city, that's rural.

A NY'er might not call Colorado Springs "a big city," but they would at least refer to it as a town. I fully expect Bloomberg truly had no idea there were any significant towns in those districts because "his people" all hail from entrenched urban populations that would never have deposed them the way the country and city folk of Colorado did to those two. Bloomberg is a smart man, but he is blinded by stereotypes as we all are, and I'm sure he thought that the recall victory itself was indicative of the locals being a bunch of gun-totin', bare-foot, cousin-kissin' yahoos. No civilized person can deny his logic, after all

When I traveled internationally, people had heard of: New York, Texas, and California, and in that order. NYC was nothing but rich power-brokers, Texas nothing but oil-rich cowboy ranchers and outlaws (seriously), and California nothing but ridiculously good-looking celebrities (who do that for a career)

---------------------------------------
Fair warning, I'm going on a slight tangent here;
I think we need to keep a close eye on Bloomberg, and make darn sure he never goes unopposed, but I think we'll have exponentially less and less to worry about from him going forward. Every radical group has a window of opportunity to plant their flag of victory, and BB blew his on the post-Newtown debacle. Take an extreme, extreme example; Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the resurgent ISIS movement. Both saw early and rapid gain, and found favor with large swaths of the populace with their anti-status-quo message and promises of better results through all. But they were sufficiently rebuffed (the former, at least) for a long enough time that the people were able to see them in action, and saw them for what they were; they had no interest in governing, they just wanted to kill people --and that's not what their supporting populations wanted, so they lost support during the Sunni Awakening where local leaders turned against them. Similarly (or rather, metaphorically) Bloomberg has been revealed to pretty much anyone paying attention to have no intention of reducing violence, gun or otherwise; he wants all civilian guns gone, forever. Only a tiny fraction of the population supports that goal, so he will be frustrated if he tries to direct public opinion from that area.

What we need to do, is continue to show him for what he is; a would be dictator of peoples' lives, a meddler no one would want as a neighbor, fixating for marketing purposes on a single object that is at best a symbol of the broader problems he claims to seek solutions for. When people see that he has no solutions for gun-violence or violence in general, as more and more are daily, and is not even seeking them while promoting his cause, the charlatan will find fewer and fewer marks willing to donate to his cause. MAIG is already hemorrhaging mayors, which is probably as much the cause for this latest "Everytown" incarnation, as anything.

TCB

[barnbwt]

I'm not going to dispute that the seats may prove impossible for the GOP to hold. That may well prove to be the case.

I would be surprised if they lose out to rapid banners in the fall, though. Me thinks those seats will be 'off limits' to anti-gun advocates for at least a couple cycles before they'll try again. Obviously anyone with a (D) next to their name would willingly collaborate with someone else's hairbrained ideas, but I don't see another poster-child of the anti's getting the nod --again, at least for a cycle or two.

TCB

[Tom Servo]

What we need to do, is continue to show him for what he is; a would be dictator of peoples' lives, a meddler no one would want as a neighbor

I was in New York last March, and that seems to be the opinion just about everyone outside the city has of him. This is a guy who spent $102 million to get re-elected in 2009. He's a bully who thinks money buys clout.

To some extent it does, but the national legislature is a more complex arena than New York City, and I think he's already finding that out the hard way. Tom Ridge resigning Everytown within two weeks of signing on is a huge blow that will register with a lot of politicians.

[GJSchulze]

What we need to do, is continue to show him for what he is

No problem, he'll do that for us. Have you ever known anyone who is very arrogant to actually realize it? To actually be able to tone it down or turn it off?

He tried MAIG and failed. Then he bought/funded-in-the-first-place MDAAGV. THEN, he folded both into Everytown (the name itself a show of arrogance). He depends on the ignorance of his audience, but sooner or later more people will catch on to the fact that he keeps creating and abandoning gun control organizations. Then they'll start wondering why he does that instead of sticking with one thing.

Our arguments to them should be to ask: "hmm interesting idea, how exactly will that stop violence of any kind?" "How will stopping internet sales of ammo stop violence? "If the police know people have bought thousands of rounds of ammo, what exactly are they going to do with that information that will stop violence?"

But we need to target the people in the middle. The fence sitters or people that are ignorant about guns and can be swayed by truth and honesty.

[barnbwt]

I was in New York last March, and that seems to be the opinion just about everyone outside the city has of him.

What about people in the city? Do they really and truly appreciate him trying to limit soda sizes and making smoking illegal, or are just so dazzled by the bright lights of busy city life that they pay it no mind and focus on getting through the day?* It seems laughable that anyone who gave most of the Mayor's policy goals more than a passing thought (or feel) would reject them purely out of personal convenience; so what gives?

TCB

*barnbwt's theory on why urban environments breed dependency

[MikeG]

I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Bloomberg may be losing his marbles.

I was tempted to have a picture of myself standing in the middle of our paved road, holding a Mini-14 and a Big Gulp, and sending it to him. But he's not worth it.

[DenverPilot]

Originally Posted by Rob228

Hudak wasn't recalled, she resigned, and her district is nowhere near Pueblo, its in the northern Denver suburbs.

Resigned before her recall was completed knowing that her predecessor would be appointed and a Democrat, since the vote difference was down to one. She would have been recalled otherwise.

[Hiker 1]

I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Bloomberg may be losing his marbles.

I think the same and not just because I don't like him. According to Forbes, he is the 10th wealthiest man in America and the 16th wealthiest in the world. He's been a Democrat, a Republican and is now an Independent.He is a man who is used to getting whatever he wants and his gun-control jihad has certainly not worked out the way he hoped. That can't sit well with an egomaniac like that.

His group claimed victory here in Colorado, but for those of us who live here, the new laws are inconvenient at best, cost 3 Democrats their offices, and sent our governor scrambling for political cover.

[kilimanjaro]

Bloomberg is right about one thing, the Colorado law was passed and is not going to be repealed, so the loss of a couple of his useful fools at election time is not his concern.

I think he's a megalomaniac, too. Money is power. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[GJSchulze]

This is a guy who spent $102 million to get re-elected in 2009

It's worse than that. The NYC mayor is limited to two terms. He served three terms by getting the council to change the rule temporarily for him! What incredible arrogance and hypocrisy!

[doofus47]

As if we needed more proof that Mr. B doesn't know nor care about people outside the world of his mind....
The sad truth is that there is probably no shortage of people in Colorado with their own agendas that would line up all night to take his money to run for a elected position if all they had to do in exchange was throw guns under the bus.

[katokahn99]

Hudak wasn't recalled, she resigned, and her district is nowhere near Pueblo, its in the northern Denver suburbs.

That resignation, I believe, was so that she would not be recalled; which she would have been had she not resigned.

[Rob228]

You are correct about that, she resigned so that her party could hold on to her seat once she realized that the recall was going to happen.