In what appears to be his first non-spokesperson explanation in the media of his comment that “we’ve got almost half the population perfectly happy that somebody else is paying” income tax, Beauprez said on a Colorado Springs radio show Saturday that in his 2010 Rotary-Club speech, he was “lamenting” that more people couldn’t be like Beauprez’s father, who fought his way out of poverty, when he paid no income tax, and later made enough money to achieve “some degree of success and prosperity” and  to pay “part of the load to carry this state and this great nation.”

Beauprez went on to suggest that it would be more fair to throw out the current income tax code and replace it with a consumption tax.

“I think taxing consumption is a whole lot better idea than taxing work, or the income from work,” Beauprez told KVOR host Ed Jones July 5. “And I think it is more equitable and more fair. So yeah, I think we ought to move that direction. I wrote a book, published in 2009, and I said we ought to take the entire tax code –the whole thing– light it on fire and start all over. And if we start over with that kind of a tax system, I think we’d be far better off and really stimulate this economy.

Jones, substituting for regular host Jeff Crank, did not ask Beauprez how his father’s story squares with Beauprez’s comment that almost half the population is “perfectly happy” not to pay tax. Judging from Beauprez’s story, Beauprez’s father didn’t seem happy at all not to pay income tax, much less perfectly happy.

Neither did Jones ask Romney for details on how his proposed consumption tax, typically applied to the sale goods and services.

HOST ED JONES: Let me go back to something, and–Goll–Governor, again, you are so right! Now, the Dems have come out with this ad on this Rotary Club speech you made four years ago about the 47 percent, [chuckles] – and you were right! And you’re still right!
GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BOB BEAUPREZ: Well, I was right. Forty-seven percent of folks don’t pay income tax.
JONES: That’s right.
BEAUPREZ: I want to make sure people understand that – income tax. And what I was lamenting in that, Ed, is not that some do and some don’t.
JONES: Yeah.
BEAUPREZ: What I was harkening back to was a lesson, again, taught to me by my folks
JONES: Yeah.
BEAUPREZ: They went through a period of time when they were so poor that they—not only they didn’t owe any taxes, if they did, they wouldn’t have had any cash to pay it. But what brought it to mind, was I overheard them talking about what their tax bill was going to be, and it seemed like a lot of money at the time, and so I said something, “Wow! That seems like a lot!” My dad took that as an opportunity to point out to me, he said, “Bob, This–we’ve been there before. We were so poor we didn’t—and troubled, during dry years on the farm, we didn’t owe any taxes,“ he said. “I don’t ever want to go there again.”
JONES: Mmm-hmm.
BEAUPREZ: And he took it as a sign that not only they had achieved some degree of success and prosperity, but they were paying a part of the load to carry this state and this great nation. And he was proud of that fact. What I was lamenting in those comments I made, was that more people don’t have that opportunity for something Arthur Brooks at AEI calls ‘earned success’.
JONES: Yes. Uh-huh.
BEAUPREZ: And I think that’s always something that has identified certainly this great state and this great nation, is the opportunity to earn a piece of that American Dream and make your mark.
JONES: Mm-hmm.
BEAUPREZ: That’s my frustration, is we’re now about 250,000 jobs short of where we normally would be in Colorado.
JONES: Right.
BEAUPREZ: A lot of the jobs that have been created are entry level jobs. So we’ve got to get to the point again where we’re really a society, a state, a culture, where big dreams can happen. Not just “a” job, but a real career opportunity and the kind of opportunity that’s always been a part of Colorado.
HOST JIMMY BENSBERG: Well, Bob we’ve got a fellow on the line who is familiar with providing jobs right here in Colorado Springs. Let’s see if we can get him on the line, here, it’s Ed Bircham. Ed, welcome to the show.
ED BIRCHAM: Yeah, good morning! You guys [are] doing a great job and a great get-together at the headquarters the other day [referring to the GOP unity tour passing through El Paso County]. And Mr. Beauprez, as a businessman myself, [a] successful immigrant from England, here’s my problem with people like [“Socialist”] Steve [a regular listener and caller to the Jeff Crank Show] calling in. Steve would have you believe that the only people who have and money is Republicans. But, look, we’ve got Buffett. We’ve got Gates. We’ve got Soros. So, get out off this kick of ‘just the rich people are Republicans’. What Steve doesn’t understand, Governor – and I’m calling you Governor because you will be, and you’ve got a great Lieutenant Governor [Jill Repella], I was very impressed with her the other day. But my point to Steve is corporations hire people. And your question about the forty-three or forty-seven percent, the only way we’re going to get these people, in my opinon, is we’ve got to go to a flat tax, a consumer tax, get rid of the IRS. And if you’re going to live in this great country, you have to pay something, Governor! Wouldn’t you agree that we just can’t have this number of people –we can take care of the poor people. We have a way to do that. But we just can’t have people not paying something. Do you agree with that?
BEAUPREZ: Yeah, in fact, when I was in Congress, I did endorse a –the consumer –the consumption tax, typically called the Fair Tax idea. John Lenders was the sponsor of it. He sat next to me on Ways and Means [Committee], and we had a whole lot of discussions about it, and I think taxing consumption is a whole lot better idea than taxing work, or the income from work. And I think it is more equitable and more fair. So yeah, I think we ought to move that direction. I wrote a book, published in 2009, and I said we ought to take the entire tax code –the whole thing– light it on fire and start all over. And if we start over with that kind of a tax system, I think we’d be far better off and really stimulate this economy.

LISTEN: https://soundcloud.com/bigmedia-org/clip-47percent-beauprezcrank7514-0001

In wide-ranging thoughts on immigration policy delivered over the weekend on a Denver radio station, Colorado gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said states should enforce federal immigration law themselves, in the absence of federal action, “as Jan Brewer tried to do in Arizona.”

The Arizona law, backed by Brewer, allowing police to detain anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant, was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s widely believed that the law would have led to harassment and discrimination of legal and undocumented immigrants.

Beauprez said that before he’d take immigration matters in his own hands if elected governor, he’d join with other governors and sue the federal government to “secure our borders.”

Beauprez made the comments on KOA 850-AM, a Denver radio station, Saturday in response to a question from guest radio host Doug Kellet, who asked Beauprez about the young undocumented immigrants captured recently along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I was with a group of people the day before yesterday, and several of them were from our southern cities, Pueblo specifically,” said Beauprez on air. “And they said, if buses show up, they will be in the streets to block them. I think you are going to see what happened in California start happening everywhere.”

Beauprez also said: “It’s going to affect all the states out here, and the President is trying to gloss over it and tell us all the wonderful things we’re doing as a nation to accept all these people. He doesn’t tell us the impact on the people who are already here and are going to pay the bill.”

Kellet didn’t ask Beauprez if he’d participate in the street protests himself.

On another radio show Sunday, Beauprez outlined an immigration system he’d back.

“We need to secure the border,” Beauprez told KVOR guest hosts Ed Jones and Jimmy Bensberg Saturday. “We need a modern, 21st century legal immigration system, where folks that want here can apply for it. They can get an answer in short order. We can get the kind of help we need and enforce the rule of law. So employers have a system, that they can live within the rules. And people know that if somebody is here illegally, they’re going to be found and sent home.”

The hosts didn’t ask Beauprez if he’s favor sending all undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. back to their countries of origin.

Partial transcript of Beauprez’s comments on KOA July 5

Kellet: I want to talk to you about immigration, because on this July 4th weekend we have a serious problem on our southwest border, and it certainly could affect Colorado.

Beauprez: It sure can. It’s going to affect all the states out here, and the President is trying to gloss over it and tell us all the wonderful things we’re doing as a nation to accept all these people. He doesn’t tell us the impact on the people who are already here and are going to pay the bill.

Kellet: Well, I keep on wondering what’s going to happen here, sir…

Beauprez: I was with a group of people the day before yesterday, and several of them were from our southern cities, Pueblo specifically, and they said, if buses show up, they will be in the streets to block them. I think you are going to see what happened in California start happening everywhere. Governors on behalf of their states are going to have to be very vocal, very strong, and push back on DC…. You have to face the reality that this is going to be another straw on the back that will fiscally impact states in a big way. It will culturally impact states in a big way. When you don’t enforce the rule of law, and this is the bottom line, Doug, chaos breaks out. And this is an example of chaos breaking out…Governors ought to be telling the federal government, do your job, secure our borders, stop this kind of action, send these people back home… They are not political refugees. This is just wrong. Governors ought to be, first of all, demanding it, and then secondly, if the federal government doesn’t do it, then sue them and get an injunction against the federal government and force them to do their job in court. This is a responsibility of the federal government. And if they won’t do it, states ought to be allowed to do it, as Jan Brewer tried to do in Arizona.

CORRECTION: This post incorrectly states that most journalists consider themselves Democrats. Over half of journalists in a recent survey self-identify as having no party affiliation. About 7 percent said they were Republicans, and 28 percent Democrats. My point about Rosen is unchanged.

From: Jason Salzman
To: [KOA Radio Host] Mike Rosen
Subject: question for my blog

Hi Mike – I hope all’s well.

I noticed you told Bob Beauprez the other day that you’re hoping to moderate a debate between him and Hick.

You said, “By the way, even though I’m a partisan Republican, I’ve moderated these debates before, and I can set that aside and be fair in a head-to-head debate.”

How does this square with your belief that journalism is biased toward the Democrats because more reporters are registered Dems? Thanks for considering a response.

From: Mike Rosen
To: Jason Subject:
RE: question for my blog

Moderating a debate is different from reporting. I’m not a reporter. I admit my bias when doing commentary and set it aside when I moderate a debate. Too many liberal “reporters” don’t admit their bias (some may not even recognize it) but infuse it either intentionally or unintentionally in their news stories or so-called analysis.

From: Jason Salzman
To: Mike Rosen Subject:
RE: question for my blog

Thanks. A moderator of a debate tries to be fair, just like a reporter does. Why can’t a reporter, who is a registered Democrat, also set aside his or her bias, like a moderator of a debate?

Are you saying that if reporters were to state party affiliation in public, like you do, then they would be more likely to be fair?

From: Mike Rosen
To: Jason Salzman Subject:
RE: question for my blog

No, I’m not saying that stating one’s party affiliation would make them more likely to be fair. Certainly, a reporter can be fair in a news story. Some are. Too many aren’t. They either don’t try or do try and fail. We’re all subject to our perspectives formed by our perceptions, our values, our ideology, our knowledge or our ignorance.

The dominant liberal culture in newspapers like the NY Times, magazines like Time or broadcast media like NBC CBS, CNN, NPR, or PBS cultivates liberal bias in their editing and reporting. Some of those liberals don’t think of themselves as liberals, others are consciously engaged in advocacy journalism in order to affect policy as they see it. (That’s OK for opinion journalists but not for reporters claiming fairness). There’s a conservative culture at FOX, but its audience is a small fraction of the others.

I’m not opposed to civil unions or same-sex marriage but I can observe that The Denver Post doesn’t just report on it but cheerleads for it on its news pages. The theory that human activity is a dominant cause of global warming is another widespread example of liberal advocacy journalism from news organs. The science isn’t “settled.” Science never is.

That’s an actual exchange from last week between me and Rosen, in case you were wondering if it were real. Bottom line for Rosen seems to be that newsrooms need more Mike Rosens, or at least more conservatives. But this might not do the trick either.

Rosen has Hick and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on his show every month, and he’s reasonable with them, as he’s been with other Dems over the years. Hence, they keep coming back on his show.

But a lot is at stake in a debate, an you wonder, given what Rosen wrote above, would Rosen-the-Moderator ask about same-sex marriage at all?

If Rosen-the-Moderator were in charge, and Beauprez said, as he wrote in his book, that climate change is “at best a grossly overhyped issue and at worst a complete hoax foisted on most of the world,” would Rosen challenge him, like an professional-journalist moderator, and ask for his evidence that climate change could possibly be a complete hoax?

I don’t think so.

Undocumented children are literally dying along the U.S. border, in the desert, and radio-host Mike Rosen and gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez are accusing Obama of dumping undocumented kids in Arizona, as a form of political revenge against Arizona governor Jan Brewer:

ROSEN: You suppose that there could be any spiteful motivations on President Obama’s part for dumping a lot of those unaccompanied—

BEAUPREZ: (sarcastically) Surely not. You’re not that cynical, are you?

ROSEN: — teenage immigrants into the state of Arizona because he doesn’t like [Republican Governor] Jan Brewer?

BEAUPREZ: [laughing loudly] Yeah, it’s perhaps more than coincidental.

ROSEN: Hmmmm. Hmmm

It’s moments like this when you wish SuperTalker from above would float into the KOA studios, bop Rosen on the head, and say, “Shut up, Mike. And you, Bob, want to be governor? What kind of governor makes ugly and bizarre accusations, like this, based on no evidence at all. And you’re laughing about it, at the expense of the poorest, most vulnerable kids? It doesn’t get much worse.”

Then SuperTalker would tell KOA listeners that he’s placed Rosen in timeout for a few days and asked him to think about whether it would be right, on any planet, to say such things, as kids are caught in the immigration nightmare that we’ve created.

Here’s the story, as told by the Associated Press, of an 11-year-old Guatemalan boy, Gilberto Ramos, whose decomposing body was found in Texas.

He was born and grew up in San Jose Las Flores in a modest wood and sheet-metal home in the Cuchumatanes mountains of Huehuetenango province along the Mexico border. At 6,600 feet above sea level, the exuberant beauty of peaks and canyons are in stark contrast to the extreme poverty. There is no running or potable water and only a latrine. There is food, tortillas or wheat atole, an oatmeal-like drink, but never enough.

The cluster of homes where Gilberto lived is accessible only by foot along a rocky and often muddy mile-long path, which took 45 minutes in the canyons and mud to traverse on Tuesday. Gilberto walked that path each way to school, where he went as far as third grade before dropping out…

Short, quiet and humble, he stayed close to home. But he grew despairing and bored, Esbin Ramos said. Their mother grew sicker. The older brother suggested Gilberto come to Chicago, where he could return to school and work at night and on weekends.

So while children like Gilberto (but who survive) are being caught along the border, the Obama Administration is trying to deal with the situation humanely, by sending them to immigration courts different states, obviously not just Jan Brewer’s Arizona. Obama is trying to work with Congress, because doing nothing isn’t an option.

And this is what we get on talk radio?

Let’s hope Rosen, who’s actually more thoughtful than some of his talk-radio colleagues, didn’t think through just how sad it all is.

Last month, The Denver Post ran a strange quote from GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez:

“I’ve never been accused of switching positions on a vote or an issue. But that happens in politics.”

I wondered about the wisdom of running such a quote, given that it was almost certainly a slip of the tongue by Beauprez, who’s been called Both Ways Bob countless times by Democrats and Republicans alike.

But then last week, on KOA’s Mike Rosen show, Beauprez repeated essentially the same thing. Rosen asked Beauprez how he’d respond to the Both-Ways-Bob moniker, and here’s how he replied:

Beauprez: Well, you know, Mike, one thing that the record is actually pretty clear about is that I’ve never been called unprincipled, or wavering, or with a flimsy spine. Quite the opposite. I think most people understand that I know who I am.

Listen to Beauprez deny Both Ways Bob accusation–on KOA radio 06-26-2014

You have to be thick-skinned to survive in politics but to completely deny the existence of a common accusation against you is so weird that it merits further investigation by reporters.

Here’s a transcript of the exchange between Rosen and Beauprez:

Rosen: In an earlier race…during the campaign for the Republican nomination, Marc Holtzman, or his campaign geniuses had crafted the slogan ‘Both Ways Bob”  and in so doing, they were trying to paint you as somebody who had flip flopped on some issues. I hate that kind of tactic in any kind of Republican primary because it can come back to haunt us. Well, guess what? Some progressive sites right now, and progressive is the fashionable word for radically left wing, even to the left of liberals, are using Both Ways Bob to attack you in this campaign against Gov. Hickenlooper. How are you going to answer that?

Beauprez: Well, Mike, one thing that the record is pretty clear about is that I’ve never been called unprincipled, or wavering, or with a flimsy spine. Quite the opposite. I think most people understand that I know who I am.

Listen to Beauprez deny Both Ways Bob accusation–on KOA radio 06-26-2014

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez doubled down on his total and complete opposition to Obamacare last week, saying the law’s core plan to expand healthcare coverage under Medicaid is a path to “ruin.”

But on KOA’s Mike Rosen Show June 26, Beauprez didn’t answer a caller’s question about whether he’d turn down federal Medicaid funding, a move that could deprive over 150,000 Coloradans of health-care coverage.

During the initial years of Obamacare, the federal government is picking up most or all of the costs of expanding Medicaid to cover the uninsured, and state economists say Colorado will likely not bear additional costs as federal funds recede.

Beauprez’s radio outrage at Obamacare’s  Medicaid expansion, makes me think he’d reject the federal funds if he were elected, as other Republican governors have done. Earlier this year, you recall, on KVOR’s Jeff Crank Show, he promised to “repeal” and “replace” Obmacare, adding, “What we can do, and what I look forward to doing, is everything within a governor’s power and the state’s power to push back, especially on this Medicaid bomb that is coming our way.”

“The Medicaid expansion as part of the Obamacare mandate is going to bury the states.” Beauprez told a caller on Rosen’s show last week, who said he had health insurance thanks to Medicaid expansion. “It may personally benefit you, but that’s part of the challenge in front of this country, is that the cost of the Medicaid expansion is absolutely unsustainable. I wish we had 45 minutes to explain it, but trust me, this is a path to nowhere – to ruin. I guess it is a path to somewhere – to financial ruin.”

Rosen didn’t ask Beauprez to answer the caller’s blunt question (“Would you turn down the Medicaid dollars?”), but Rosen couldn’t resist doing some Medicaid bashing of his own.

“I’d throw this in, too,” Rosen said on air, following up on Beauprez’s statement above. “If you’re also concerned about the general interest, and not just with benefits, keep in mind, that this Medicaid expansion is bait. That is, states that sign up for this will get some money at the front end, but then that money disappears and the states have to come up with those massive expenditures to cover those promises.”

“That’s the fiscal ruin I was talking about, Mike,” Beauprez told Rosen. “It’s simply unsustainable and they know it! It was the prototypical bait and switch.”

Unfortunately, we don’t know what Beauprez would do about it. Would he reject the federal funding? Would he chip away at it? What’s his plan?

And, FYI, here’s the original question put to Beauprez on Rosen’s show.

Caller Chris: How’s it going, Bob and Mike. I would consider myself to be, I guess, a moderate Democrat. Right now, you know, I’m a 24 years old, and under Obamacare Medicaid expansion, the Medicaid program has been able to extend to me, a young male. As governor, are you going to follow in the footsteps of, you know, like Rick Snod and Rick Snyder and all these guys that are turning down, you know, these Medicaid expansions? Because I’ve got to tell you, I mean, Medicaid is not for people that are, you know, sitting on their bums all day. You know? I work full time. Um, my wages, we just don’t — they don’t provide healthcare for me. And it has become a real help for me and a lot of Colorado residents. Would you turn down the Medicaid dollars?

On 9News’ “Balance of Power” show Saturday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez confirmed his continued support for a federal personhood law but said he doesn’t support a state personhood amendment.

In so doing, Beauprez aligned himself with U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner, who’s withdrawn his support for a personhood amendment in Colorado but is still a co-sponsor of federal personhood legislation.

The simple question reporters should ask both these candidates is, “What’s the difference?” The simple fact is, there is no difference.

If either were passed, the impact in Colorado would be identical: a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, as well as an end to the legal sale of some forms of contraception. That’s what happens, among other things, when you give fertilized eggs (otherwise known as zygotes) legal rights.

But this fact didn’t stop Beauprez from telling 9News’ Political Reporter Brandon Rittiman Saturday that “we have to draw the line” at a state personhood “amendment.”

Rittiman: Early on in the primary, Democrats pushed back on you for supporting, while you were in Congress, a federal version of personhood. And you’re admittedly a pro-life guy. How do you reach out to a middle-ground female voter who feels that this is her rights that you’re messing with?

Beauprez: “Well, let’s be very clear. I am a pro-life Catholic. I voted that way. I’ve got a pro-life voting record. I believe that life begins at conception. But I also believe, as does my good friend and my Archbishop, who used to be in Denver, Archbishop Charles Chaput… [who said] a “The personhood amendment, and that’s where we have to draw the line, the personhood amendment might have identified the right issue, but the very wrong solution”

Back in March, Rittiman asked Beauprez if he ever supported personhood, which would ban all abortion in Colorado.

Beauprez: “No. I got a hundred percent pro-life voting record, as you probably know, so I’m very much pro-life. But personhood as my dear friend and my Archbishop Charles Chaput, our previous archbishop here in Denver, said ‘that’s not the way to do it.”

After critics pointed out that Beauprez supported federal personhood legislation in 2005, Rittiman followed up by asking the Beauprez campaign about it. Beauprez’s spokesman told Rittiman that Beauprez stood behind his answer.

As Rittiman reported, “[Beauprez’s spokesman Dustin Olson] says [Beauprez’s] answer to 9NEWS was meant to convey that he has not supported it at the state level.”

The question left hanging is, why would Beauprez (and Gardner) support personhood at the federal level but oppose it in Colorado when the results here would be the same?

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Super PAC has launched a radio ad calling GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez “Both Ways Bob” for voting both ways on gun legislation.

On her morning show this morning, KHOW’s Mandy Connell was apparently the first media figure to question Beauprez about the ad’s allegation that he supported Amendment 22, which required background checks at gun shows, Beauprez said:

Beauprez: 12:20: “Mandy, this attack from [RMGO President] Dudley [Brown] is far too familiar. And let me emphasize Dudley… Dudley is in it for Dudley. What’s going on right now is Dudley is sending out an ad attacking me. This is Saul-Alinsky-like. You gotta have an enemy in a political fight. Dudley likes to name me as the enemy. He’ll throw in a little bit of money. And I’ll emphasize a little bit, because this is not a very big ad buy. He’ll throw a little bit of money at me, and then he’ll wave it as a red flag to his members and say, ‘Hey look! I went and got the bad guy, and send me your dough.” Dudley will get a big net profit out of this, as he always does off of the kinds of projects he does. It’s all about Dudley and lining his pocket.”

Beauprez went on to acknowledge his support of Amendment 22, “in the post-Columbine era,” but said his endorsements and subsequent actions show he is  pro-gun through and through.

Connell also asked Beauprez about about RMGO’s allegation that Beauprez “voted for mandatory trigger locks and a ban on traditional ammunition in Congress.”

Beauprez: “That is a brand new call to me. I can’t deny that because I don’t know what piece of legislation something might have been wrapped into that was rotten legislation to begin with.”

Connell’s questions were direct and substantive, covering not only guns but pot, immigration, and other topics.

After House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s crash, you naturally wonder which Republicans in Colorado’s gubernatorial primary are out-of-the-closet tea partiers. Arguably, they’re all closeted tea party types, at a minimum, but who lets his tea-party flag fly?

Colorado’s gubernatorial race has been spotlighted nationally as the next big test of tea-party strength, post Eric Cantor. So Republican voters may want to know which of the leading candidates self-identify as tea party.

Local talk-radio hosts have been out in front on this story.

In the past, despite his tea-party record, Bob Beauprez has ducked the question in different ways. In one instance, on KOA’s Mike Rosen show, he said:

Caller Doug: My question for Rep Beauprez: Is he more aligned with the traditional Republican Party or more aligned with the tea p?

Beauprez: I’m more aligned with, some people would call them, conservative values, traditional values. I think both of the groups that you highlight, in general, adhere to the same.

On the other hand, Tom Tancredo told KNUS’ Steve Kelley Wednesday:

Tancredo: I love the tea party. I believe they have been a very healthy force inside this body politic, especially for Republicans. I believe it has helped move the party to the right, although it’s been done begrudgingly on the part the party itself. A lot of people resent it and resist it. No, I think they’ve been helpful.

Listen to Tancredo discusses the tea party on KNUS Kelley and Company 06-11-14

I’ve been too busy listening to talk radio to notice news reports that talk radio anchored the defeat of GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Politico reported Wednesday:

Brat’s surprise victory is a powerful reminder, as if any were needed, of the immense influence talk radio has over conservative politics — it was not only [Laura Ingraham] boosting [Cantor slayer David Brat] but also Glenn Beck and Mark Levin bringing their considerable influence with the right to bear as well. Since well before the rise of the tea party, establishment Republicans have feared the medium’s command over the conservative base.

National talk-radio hosts not only endorsed Brat, but had him on their radio shows, broadcast in Virginia, numerous times leading up to his primary victory, according to Politico.

Will these national yappers now take aim at Colorado, possibly boosting Tom Tancredo over his more establishment rivals? So far I haven’t seen Laura Ingraham, broadcast locally on KLZ 560-AM, or Mark Levin, on KNUS 710-AM, getting involved in our gubernatorial primary, and I have no idea of their GOP audience compares to Virginia’s. Closest thing was Michelle Malkin’s battle-cry tweet after Cantor’s loss, saying Colorado is next.

But if anyone hears anything about Tanc from Ingraham, Levin, et al. please let me know.

In Virginia, it looks like Ingraham in particular took a high profile stance for Brat, as reported by Politico.

“She wasn’t just a talk radio host who simply used her program to promote Brat. She took it to another level,” said Chuck Todd, the NBC News political director and senior White House correspondent. “I think she does deserve credit in giving credibility to Brat.”

Of the local radio hosts, KNUS’ Peter Boyles is certainly doing his best for his buddy Tancredo, but god knows if Boyles does anything in the real world but excite electrons.

Colorado Springs talker Jimmy Lakey, who was once a Republican congressional candidate for CD 7 and doubles as Tancredo’s press secretary, posted his ballot on his Facebook page, with “Tancredo” bubble filled in. See below.

So maybe a groundswell of hot air will lift Tancredo over the top?

This post was updated to reflect that fact that KVOR’s Jimmy Lakey is also Tancredo’s press secretary.