{"id":64367,"date":"2019-04-29T19:02:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T01:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gop-sen-gardner-hoping-voters-open-to-warnings-of-democrats-socialism\/"},"modified":"2019-04-30T01:02:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T01:02:45","slug":"gop-sen-gardner-hoping-voters-open-to-warnings-of-democrats-socialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gop-sen-gardner-hoping-voters-open-to-warnings-of-democrats-socialism\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP, Sen. Gardner hoping voters open to warnings of Democrats\u2019 socialism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., attends the Alamosa County Republicans Lincoln Day dinner in Alamosa on April 24. Republicans are warning that Democratic proposals aimed at providing universal health care and curbing greenhouse gas emissions show that Democrats want to turn the U.S. toward socialism. Among those making that pitch Gardner, who faces re-election next year. Conversations with more than three dozen Coloradans show that while some harbor concerns about socialism, few volunteer it as a top-flight concern.<\/span>Alan Fram\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

ALAMOSA \u2013 In this scruffy, high-desert town encircled by prairies and potato farms, Sen. Cory Gardner drew shouts of approval last week for his message that Democrats are shoving the country toward socialism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what government is or what it should be,\u201d he told about 200 Alamosa County Republicans at a barbecue fundraiser in a National Guard armory. \u201cWe have to stand up and fight. Are you going to join me in this fight?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gardner and other Republicans making the same pitch, including President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the key question is whether it will attract moderate voters, not just their conservative stalwarts. Based on interviews with over three dozen Coloradans last week from Denver\u2019s suburbs south to this town in the flat San Luis Valley, the argument has yet to take root, though the GOP has 18 months to sell it before Election Day 2020.<\/p>\n

Few volunteered a drift toward socialism as a major worry, with health care and living costs cited far more frequently. Several said capitalism was too embedded in the U.S. to be truly threatened and Republicans were using socialism to stir unease with Democrats by raising the specter of the old, repressive Soviet Union and today\u2019s chaotic Venezuela.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re preying on fear,\u201d said David Kraemer, 67, a financial adviser who\u2019s not registered with a political party and lives in the Denver suburb of Westminster.<\/p>\n

\"Pueblo
Pueblo Mayor Nicholas Gradisar says he doubts the GOP argument that Democrats want to turn the U.S. toward socialism will win over many Democrats but warned, \u201cDemocrats have to be wary of it and they have to respond\u201d by telling voters the party \u201cwill give you a fair shake.\u201d<\/span>Alan Fram\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Yet when asked directly whether socialism was a concern, many expressed a wariness of injecting more government into people\u2019s lives. Rather than naming policies that troubled them, many mentioned two self-proclaimed democratic socialists: Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who\u2019s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination , and freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. The comments suggested that Republicans might be tapping into unease over letting either party go too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cChecks and balances are what make this country so great,\u201d said Steve Lajoie, 46, a self-employed carpenter from Denver and independent voter.<\/p>\n

Gardner, 44, who\u2019s expected to face a tough re-election fight next year, has been repeating his argument for months. He cites liberal Democrats\u2019 \u201cMedicare for All\u201d bills for government-provided health care, and a Green New Deal proposal for aggressively cutting carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

Sanders has sponsored Medicare for All legislation that\u2019s been embraced by many of his Democratic presidential rivals. Ocasio-Cortez is an architect of the Green New Deal, which remains a concept, not proposed legislation. Many Democrats, especially moderates, have kept their distance from both plans, divisions Republicans are happy to exploit.<\/p>\n

Democrats reject the socialism assertion as a distraction from Trump\u2019s unpopularity and the issues they will emphasize, especially improving health care and protecting jobs and income. They say efforts to make health care more available and combat global warming have nothing to do with limiting individuals\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Democrats note that voters gave them total control of Colorado government in November despite GOP attempts to pin the socialism label on former U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, who was elected governor. They say growing numbers of younger, urban and Hispanic residents are steadily making the state more liberal.<\/p>\n

GOP cries of socialism are \u201cCold War stuff\u201d that\u2019s irrelevant to most voters, said Morgan Carroll, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that probably does fire up their base, but you cannot win an election in Colorado with the Republican base alone,\u201d Carroll said.<\/p>\n

Republicans see a powerful argument in telling voters they need a GOP-controlled Senate for protection against Democrats who are coming after their current health insurance, their energy sector jobs and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re running to be the firewall that saves the country from socialism,\u201d McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters recently.<\/p>\n

Republicans say the anti-socialism message will prove powerful in a state that overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative creating single-payer health care and where registered unaffiliated voters, often with libertarian leanings, outnumber both Democrats and Republicans.<\/p>\n

The GOP hopes the appeal will win over suburbanites whose distaste for Trump helped Democrats capture the House in the fall. They note that public opinion polls find socialism is especially unpopular among older voters, Republicans and moderates.<\/p>\n

Avery Jones of Westminster is one potential target.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxes kill,\u201d said Jones, 27. While she\u2019s eager to improve her family\u2019s health coverage, she sees \u201csome merit\u201d to checking Democrats from pushing toward universal health care because \u201cit would just drive up taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for every Jones, there\u2019s a Rhett Lucero.<\/p>\n

Lucero, 40, eating lunch at the Riverwalk park that winds through the city of Pueblo, says Democrats\u2019 efforts to expand health coverage and curb global warming make sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helping each other out,\u201d said the auto body mechanic, who, like Jones, is an unaffiliated voter. \u201cIt\u2019s putting our taxes to a real good use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all Democrats are dismissive of the socialism strategy.<\/p>\n

Eva Henry, a commissioner of Adams County outside Denver, says her community\u2019s blue-collar families might buy the GOP argument if they believe Democrats\u2019 proposals would drive up taxes. \u201cOur Democrats can vote Republican because they vote their pocketbooks,\u201d the Democrat said.<\/p>\n

\"Rhett
Rhett Lucero, 40, an auto body shop mechanic in Pueblo says Democrats\u2019 efforts to expand health coverage and curb global warming make sense. Republicans are warning that Democratic proposals aimed at providing universal health care and curbing greenhouse gas emissions show that Democrats want to turn the U.S. toward socialism.<\/span>Alan Fram\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Pueblo Mayor Nicholas Gradisar said he doubts the argument will sway many Democrats but warned, \u201cDemocrats have to be wary of it and they have to respond\u201d by telling voters the party \u201cwill give you a fair shake.\u201d Pueblo County, south of the economically surging corridor that runs from Boulder to Colorado Springs, leans Democratic but backed Trump in 2016.<\/p>\n

Republicans, who\u2019ve already cast Democrats as socialists this year with digital videos and roadside billboards, tried the theme in several states in November, to little effect. It wasn\u2019t new: Actor Ronald Reagan and GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater castigated Medicare as socialist in the 1960s, yet it\u2019s now a cherished medical lifeline for millions of older Americans.<\/p>\n

Republicans say this time will be different. But one Coloradan\u2019s comments suggest that past GOP warnings about Democrats may haunt Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time a Democrat gets elected, they say, \u2018We\u2019re going to lose our guns,\u2019\u201d said Marc O\u2019Leary, 48, of Westminster. \u201cIt never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

approach attract moderate voters?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-64367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64367"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=64367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}