Post should have given recall spokeswoman the chance to respond to State GOP Chair Call
In an interesting Spot Blog Post Sunday by The Denver Post’s Kurtis Lee, Republican State Chairman Ryan Call defends himself against recent accusations from Republican activists that he did not support the recall campaigns of Democratic State Senators Angela Giron and John Morse.
Call told The Post that the State GOP, in fact, supported Republican recall candidates with cash, legal backing, get-out-the-vote activities, and other ways.
The Post also reported:
“In an e-mail exchange, Call offered to attend a news conference in support of the recalls, but he was turned down by a spokeswoman for the recall organizers.”
The spokeswoman for the recall organizers was Jennifer Kerns, and she was apparently not given the chance respond to Call’s allegation. Either that or she deferred to Victor Head, the Pueblo activist, who was quoted in the article, slamming Call.
But, in any case, on KLZ radio Friday afternoon, Kerns said:
Kerns: “This is my first time speaking out as the spokesperson for the recalls, and I’m doing it right here first on Grassroots Radio to say that the [Republican] Party blocked us every step of the way, whether it was phone calls into Pueblo from Ryan Call to suggest that they shut down those recalls, and they not aid and assist the guys from Pueblo Freedom and Rights, or if it was our chairman calling into Pueblo again the night of the elections telling George Rivera that he ought to prepare a gracious concession speech before the polls even closed….”
“I’ve often said to my colleagues, and I’ll say it first here publicly. As much as we fought John Morse and Angela Giron, the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and OFA, I have to say I actually fought my own Republican Party more, and I’m so sad and disgusted that I actually have to say that. But it’s the truth.” [BigMedia emphasis.]
Partial transcript of comments by Jennifer Kerns and KLZ host Ken Clark on KLZ’s Grassroots Radio Colorado, Friday, Sept. 20:
Jennifer Kerns: This is actually my first time publicly peaking out about this, in regards to the [Republican] Party. But the fact that Ken is taking his vacation time to call in about this. One person inspires another. Ken is exactly right. We just came off a very historic recall. Both of those recalls were driven by the grassroots and people who had never been involved in politics. And I have to say this. This is my first time speaking out as the spokesperson for the recalls, and I’m doing it right here first on Grassroots Radio to say that the Party blocked us every step of the way, whether it was phone calls into Pueblo from Ryan Call to suggest that they shut down those recalls, and they not aid and assist the guys from Pueblo Freedom and Rights, or if it was our chairman calling into Pueblo again the night of the elections telling George Rivera that he ought to prepare a gracious concession speech before the polls even closed…. I encourage everyone who’s listening to get involved or else there will be no Party…. I’ve often said to my colleagues, and I’ll say it first here publicly. As much as we fought John Morse and Angela Giron, the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and OFA, I have to say I actually fought my own Republican Party more, and I’m so sad and disgusted that I actually have to say that. But it’s the truth. We have to stay involved in the fight. And, again, it’s the Party that has to make peace with us…. They need us more than we need them, and we just proved it in two different races.
Ken Clark: We are all Andrew Breitbart. And we understand one thing that I don’t think the Republican Party understands at all: We are at war. And we will not back down. We understand what’s at stake in the United States of America. We understand what’s at stake in Colorado…. Republicans are supposed to stand for something. When I was a kid, they did. It was called the Reagan revolution. And Ronald Reagan was able to articulate his principles in such a manner that the entire country wanted to follow him. And follow him they did…. As a Republican, I stand for principles. What the Hell do you stand for? I really want to know. Do you stand for the Party itself? Is it the Party that you’re trying to protect. Is it your own power that you’re trying protect? Or is it principle? Is it fighting for the very life of this country? Because that is what is at stake, ladies and gentlemen, that is what is at stake.