Democrat Jared Polis Continues To Face Criticism For Ignoring Colorado’s Rural Voters

Out-of-touch Colorado Democrat Jared Polis continues to receive scathing criticism for opting to skip the Club 20 debate, “Western Colorado’s marquee political event.”

In an extraordinary editorial, The Journal, an outlet covering much of Western Colorado expressed “surprise” about Polis’s decision and called on Polis to change his mind and “show up” for the debate.  The article notes that the Polis campaign has “no real defense” for the decision and that many Western Colorado voters feel that if Polis “can ignore us during the campaign…he will find it easy to do the same if elected.”

Polis has made it clear that rural voters are just not a priority for him and his campaign. Coloradans deserve a governor who cares about the entire state.

The Journal editorial:

“A cardinal rule of campaigning for public office, especially as an election draws near, concerns impressions: Generate the positive whenever possible. Avoid the negative like the plague.

Which is why we are as puzzled as every other media outlet in Colorado by Congressman Jared Polis’ decision to skip the Club 20 debates in Grand Junction in September.

Club 20, an influential coalition of businesses and local governments from the state’s 22 Western Slope counties, has held highly publicized and well-attended election-year debates on the first Saturday after Labor Day for 30 years. For a candidate to skip out, especially one running for governor, is a genuine surprise.

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But they have had no real defense for the impressions the decision provoked, which are largely negative and centered on a cynical view that Polis doesn’t need Western Slope votes to win in November because he will have so much support from the Front Range. So why bother with Club 20?

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Attendees of the Club 20 debate and voters on this side of the Continental Divide want to hear from candidate Polis, not his proxy, and some have viewed the substitution as an insult added to injury. If Jared Polis can ignore us during the campaign, the thinking goes, he will find it easy to do the same if elected.

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So we have three suggestion for Polis that can cancel the negative impressions and let him start September on a positive note:

Change your mind. Prepare for the debate. Show up and convince Club 20 and all the state’s voters – on the Western Slope, the Front Range and the Eastern Plains – that you are the best man for the job.”