The Herald’s endorsement of Brauchler over Weiser for AG (Sept. 26) missed the point.
First, it mischaracterizes the office of attorney general. It is not a functionary “nuts and bolts” job. Instead it is a policy position to protect Colorado’s air, land, water, justice system, consumer rights, safety and liberties. It requires an AG that can see the forest and not get lost in the trees. Nothing about Brauchler, but everything about Weiser, qualifies him for that job.
Second, while the Herald acknowledges Weiser’s unique and substantial qualifications – judicial clerk for Supreme Court justices Byron White and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Justice Department attorney in the Clinton and Obama administrations, dean of the University of Colorado School of Law – it then dismisses them as not relating to the “nuts and bolts.”
In fact, Weiser’s qualifications probably make him the most qualified person ever to seek this office in Colorado.
Third, and perhaps most important, the Herald chides Weiser for running an advertisement focused on how to protect Colorado from Donald Trump, which, the Herald claims, should not be the Colorado AG’s primary concern. That is dangerously wrong.
Trump now owns the federal government – all three branches, executive, legislative and judicial. There are no checks and balances at the federal level. Therefore, protection of Colorado’s air, land,water and civil rights against Trump’s autocracy must come from the state’s AG.
We need the most intelligent, talented and principled attorney general we can get. That is Phil Weiser.
Jeffrey Chase
Durango
