DENVER – At least two gubernatorial debates have been confirmed amid repeated requests by Republican challenger Bob Beauprez for Gov. John Hickenlooper to participate.
Hickenlooper’s campaign said it has always planned on participating in the debates. One is scheduled for Pueblo for the first week of October hosted by Action 22 and The Pueblo Chieftain, and another for Grand Junction at the Club 20 Fall Meeting and Candidate Debates on Sept. 5 and 6.
“We reached out to the congressman’s campaign to discuss debates June 25th. Glad they’re interested in debating, and we’ll have a full debate schedule,” said Eddie Stern, spokesman for the Hickenlooper campaign. “We have confirmed that we’ll be participating in debates in Grand Junction and Pueblo, and we plan to book more. We are talking to the same organizations the congressman is talking to, and we’re working with the governor’s schedule.”
Beauprez’s camp issued a news release this week once again challenging the Democratic governor to debate. The campaign announced accepting invitations to seven gubernatorial debates as well as four additional candidate forums.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity presented by media, community leaders and economic development groups across the state to participate in their upcoming gubernatorial debates and forums,” Beauprez said in the news release. “I am hopeful that Governor Hickenlooper agrees to participate in these events as well so that we can have an honest conversation about the future of Colorado.”
After hearing that the governor has, in fact, been working on a debate schedule himself, Beauprez’s campaign spokesman, Allen Fuller, said, “If it’s the job of the governor to make decisions, then why is it so hard for John Hickenlooper to decide whether to participate in more than two debates? Coloradans deserve an honest conversation about the future of our state and they deserve a decision from John Hickenlooper.”
Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party has been a bit louder this week expressing its opposition to Beauprez. Chairman Rick Palacio sent out a news release this week attacking Beauprez over a vote in 2005 when he represented the 7th Congressional District and supported reauthorizing the Patriot Act, extending provisions that allowed for roving wiretaps.
“As a D.C. congressman, Bob Beauprez was too busy towing the party line to care about the interests of Coloradans,” said Palacio. “Here, we take our privacy seriously, and we can’t trust someone who says one thing in Colorado, but does another in D.C. Once again, both ways, Bob Beauprez has shown his willingness to sell out Coloradans for his own personal gain.”
Beauprez’s campaign quickly fired back, saying that 43 Democrats voted for the reauthorization bill in the House. When the measure was later in the Senate, several prominent senators backed the bill, including Colorado’s own former Sen. Ken Salazar and now-President Barack Obama.
“Rick Palacio and other Democrat Party bosses have seen the train wreck that is the Hickenlooper campaign and are desperate to change the subject,” said Fuller. “Their attacks are false, misleading and end up hitting their own candidates.
“Bob Beauprez is focused on issues important to Colorado, like fostering more career opportunities, improving education outcomes and making our communities safer,” he continued “These attacks are nothing more than a desperate attempt to distract Coloradans from the truth about John Hickenlooper’s failed leadership.”
Palacio said his attack holds weight because Beauprez never backed down on his commitment to extend the Patriot Act. Beauprez describes it as a “tool to protect the American people from foreign terrorists.” But Palacio sees it another way.
“Of course, there were a lot of Democrats that voted for the Patriot Act the first time around, but then a lot of them wised up to the ways of spying on American citizens,” said Palacio. “But Bob Beauprez doubled down even after he left office.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
