Station:    KCOL, 600 am

Show:       KCOL Mornings with Jimmy Lakey

Guests:    Carno

Link:       https://600kcol.iheart.com/featured/kcol-morning-s-with-jimmy-lakey/

Date:        November 14, 2017

Topics:

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LAKEY:  Laura Carno, I just talked to George Brauchler. I believe, early on, you thought he was a great candidate for Governor. [What are] your thoughts on his departure from the Governor’s race and jumping into the Attorney General’s race?

CARNO:  Yeah. I not only thought he was a good candidate for Governor, I was serving on his advisory committee.  And so, when talk came up of George going over to the AG race – and I had been hearing it for, I don’t know, months — and my first thought was, “I need to talk him out of that. That’s a terrible idea because I still think, out of that entire field, he would have been the best Governor and had the best chance at beating Jared Polis.” But gosh, by the end of the conversation and looking at the numbers – number one, I think he’s right on what happened when both Tom Tancredo and Cynthia Coffman got into the race.  But the other thing is, and I’m disappointed that a statewide official left an office where she was going to be running for reelection, and that really should be one of the offices that we don’t have to worry about — a popular incumbent running for reelection. But now, with Cynthia Coffman moving over to the Gov.’s race, that puts at significant risk that Atty. Gen. spot. And if we’re going to — if we have the potential of having a Gov. Polis – God forbid! — we have to have somebody with guts in that Atty. Gen.’s office. So, by the end of the conversation, although I started out saying, “I have got to talk George Brauchler out of this,” there was just no other decision.  And I appreciate that he moved over to protect that seat. So, that’s how I’m looking at it, and [I’m] disappointed that he was put in that position.  But, I get it. I’m supportive. And I’m still a huge George Brauchler fan. I think he’s an eminently decent human being.

LAKEY:  I can not let it go that, obviously, you think Cynthia Coffman could have run for reelection. So, I’ve got to ask you: What, in your estimation – I know you’re not in her mind – what was she thinking about, not running, and wanting to go to the Governor’s race?  Any thoughts or analysis on that?
CARNO:  Yeah, you know, I’m not sure –I’m not in that social circle to be privy to that information.  My gut, when I look at generally people getting into races where the rest of us kind of scratch our head, like, “What was he or she thinking?” – um, there is a class of consultants out there that — they’re not bad people, but they do make their living running campaigns. And my gut is that some of these folks have consultants that have done some polling, maybe at their own expense, to say, “Hey, Mister or Missus So-and-So!  You can definitely win this race!” And that definitely happens out there. Um, I’m not sure that was the case in the Attorney General’s situation or not, but I do know that happens. Um, so, no insight on that.  That’s not my social circle, as it turns out.

LAKEY: Uh, you’re not a part of that part of the country club, huh?

CARNO: [laughs] Well, you know, after the third year of going after Mayor John Suthers here in Colorado Springs, my guess is that they are very close friends, having worked in the AG’s office together. Any chance I had at that country club, I’m pretty sure, is all gone.  But I’m good with that, because I have Netflix. So –.

LAKEY:  I still haven’t figured out the statement – and it is not critical, it’s just I haven’t figured it out. There was a headline over the weekend from the CBS4 in Denver: Tancredo’s Entry into the Gov.’s Race was, quote, “a motivating factor for Coffman.”  I can’t figure out what she means by that, because many people say that she’s just another person dividing up the non-Tancredo base, making it harder to beat Tancredo. Can you make sense of that? I can’t figure out what –“a motivating factor for Coffman” — I don’t know what that means.

CARNO:  Yeah, and I don’t understand that either, especially given that her entry into the race has at least been talked about – if not in the papes, in conservative political circles – for months!  Two to three months, maybe? And she’s been doing polling for that long. And so, I’m just not sure what that means. Maybe somebody thought that it would help the ordinary voter – you know, not us to pay attention to conservative politics and talk radio, but it might make sense for the ordinary voter, especially if she is setting herself up as a moderate. She may be – by someof the decisions she has been making lately – she may be setting herself up as the moderate in the year when independent voters or unaffiliated voters may be able to pick which primary they’re going to vote in.