Media omission: Who called Bernie? And are they ok with his position on TABOR?
Update 7/24: Self-described “GOP Rabble-Rouser” Dave Williams of Colorado Springs tweeted, in response to the question of who recruited Herpin: @BigMediaBlog Bernie was personally asked by EPCGOP Chair Jeff Hays. Hays told a crowd of about 20 precinct leaders that he made that call.
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In her Facebook post, first reported by ColoradoPols yesterday, explaining why she dropped her campaign to run in a recall election against Sen. John Morse, Jaxine Bubis cited pressure from “high-ranking legislators” and “the Party.” She said she was sorry for caving.
Ironically, just a couple days before Bubis’ apology yesterday, her Republican opponent, Bernie Herpin, was on the Jeff Crank show bragging about how the Republican muckety-mucks were essentially begging him to run against Morse, even after Bubis was in the race.
Herpin was happily in California, he said, with his wife and grandkids. He was slowing down, even took the train out to the Golden State.
Then, Herpin responded to a phone call:
Herpin: “…I get a call from a person I know and respect saying, Bernie, we need you. I came back into town, met with the Republican leadership and some folks. This issue was too important for me to say no and sit on the sidelines.”
Who called Bernie? Crank didn’t ask, but I’m sure a lot of people would like to know.
But the internal party politics here can distract from issues near and dear to the GOP heart, and TABOR is certainly close to the left Republican ventricle, including, you’d think, the left ventricle of GOP stalwart Jeff Crank, who sat down with Bubis “over a glass of iced tea” and pressured her to get out of the Morse race.
So I was surprised that Crank, who told listeners he’s a “long-time friend” of Herpin’s, Crank said nothing when Herpin told him “there are some issues with TABOR that even folks who support TABOR will stand up and say, like the ratchet-down effect, those kinds of things, but TABOR has helped Colorado survive.”
So maybe there’s more that divides Republicans in El Paso County than just gossipy details like the name of the person who phoned Herpin, after he’d “hopped the train” to California, and told him how much the Republican Party needed him back in the Springs.
Herpin on the KVOR Crank Show July 20 2013
Follow Jason Salzman on Twitter @bigmediablog