Pot, immigration trip up governor, Senate candidates in Denver debates
Source: Denver Post
Colorado voters were "reckless" for legalizing retail marijuana, Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday, during a pair of debates marked by candidates who dealt with uneasy positions and pivots. "I'm not saying it was reckless because I'll get quoted everywhere, but if it was up to me, I wouldn't have done it, right?" he said during the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce debates. "I opposed it from the very beginning. Oh, what the hell, I'll say it was reckless."
The lunchtime debates between Hickenlooper and his gubernatorial challenger Bob Beauprez, and later Sen. Mark Udall and his Senate challenger Rep. Cory Gardner, were meant to focus on economic issues.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/election2014/ci_26675634/pot-immigration-trip-up-governor-senate-candidates-denver
I'll break the four-paragraph limit to show how both Beauprez and Gardner appear to soften their immigration stances. They appear to pander to Latino voters for an election year:
"I don't think that's necessary at all in the era we live in today," he said.
That, however, conflicts with what Beauprez wrote on his blog, A Line of Sight, in 2007, when he called sending immigrants home a "cleansing process."
Gardner said Monday he supports the DREAM Act, federal legislation that would grant permanent residency to qualified children of immigrants here illegally for the purpose of attending college or joining the military, as part of immigration reform.
A quick google search returns a Breitbart News article titled "Cory Gardner Runs Left On Immigration." And there ya go.
Not the first time Gardner has backpedaled on a wedge issue to appear more moderate to a left-leaning voter base. Back in May, he disavowed his support for a fetal personhood law.
I don't need to be a conservative to see what phonies Beauprez and Gardner are.
Cha
(297,626 posts)Dem gov has to call it "reckless"?!
mahalo alp
Ex Lurker
(3,816 posts)Cha
(297,626 posts)bluedigger
(17,087 posts)His money is in alcohol. It's all about self interest for him when it comes to pot.
Cha
(297,626 posts)librechik
(30,676 posts)he is a brewer.
But so is Coors.
Scairp
(2,749 posts)People are still gonna drink, even if they can get pot legally. His product is the one that should be banned. It so often lead to death, destruction and addiction where pot doesn't cause any of those. It's so screwed up that weed is the unacceptable substance while alcohol and it's serious health issues continues to be socially acceptable. One day maybe it will be the reverse.
Colorado is plastered with alcohol ads, beer festivals and the "grand opening" of a new brewery or fun bar almost every week. Part of this is because Hick is a beer man and Coors has so much influence. We also have drunk driving accidents every day but never hear about a "pot" accident. And CU just decided to have alcohol at football games, just what we need, more student binge drinking. As compared to alcohol pot has brought no problems to Colorado.
Exultant Democracy
(6,594 posts)the will of the voters when it came to legalization. Time will tell but it looks like Washington's plan for legalization was done in a far better manner, but I think we need more time to even judge that for sure.
politicat
(9,808 posts)As implementations go, I'm seeing fewer issues than in most software deployments; the only major one being the banking issue, but that's federal and not in the state's control. (A credit union or a financial co-op would have been optimal, but so it goes.)
Colorado was the beta test; Washington had the advantage of a system in place to observe.
world wide wally
(21,754 posts)It has raised tax revenues through the roof at a time when we needed it bad and people are moving here from all over the country. Why won't these idiots own it and see how the voters respond to that since they voted it in to begin with?
mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)by a long shot! Bob Beauprez is fucking nuts.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)sad that that's our endorsement of the guv.
librechik
(30,676 posts)besides, I have it straight from inside sources that Hick is EXTREMELY liberal, altho will never show it publicly. Too bad.
DavidDvorkin
(19,485 posts)For me, most elections are a case of voting for the lesser of two evils.
politicat
(9,808 posts)I want to like Hick, but the silver feet in his mouth detract. Dude: will of the people - 68% is unequivocal. Also, home rule means something here - if cities and counties don't want your oil budz in their backyards, they have the right to say so, and hissies ain't cool.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)my vote is probably more against beauprez than for hickenlooper.
the sky hasn't fallen here and gods know we need the tax revenue. my big complaint with the whole thing is the pricing, that doesn't help with pulling it off the black market when $60 gets me an 1/8th at a store and $65 gets me a quarter from my dude.