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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Jane Norton Wants a Pro-Abortion, Tax and Spend Senator as a Mentor

I wonder what Cinamon thinks

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 1st, 2010 at 11:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Jane Norton gave the Colorado Statesman a very eye opening interview.

First, she walked back some of the attacks her campaign has been making on Ken Buck.

Second, she again couldn’t remember key details to questions and had to rely on Cinamon, though not by name this time.

Third, when asked who she wanted as a mentor in the United States Senate, Jane Norton said she wanted a pro-abortion, tax and spend Senator who doesn’t want us to try to repeal Obamacare as her mentor.

That’s right — Jane Norton wants Lisa Murkowski to be her mentor.

Tea party activists nationwide should take note of this. Norton has been angling for tea party support by trying to demonize Ken Buck. Now she’s admitting she wants one of the chief antagonists of the tea party movement to be her mentor.

Lisa Murkowski has even pivoted recently to now be opposed to cap-and-tax legislation, but only because now is not the time. In other words, she’s only opposed to it during her re-election bid.

I bet Cinamon was not happy with this interview.

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COMMENTS

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  • rdelbov

    very articulate interview–Erick–some folks have questioned whether is able to think on her feet. This interview showed a great deal of depth and understanding in my opinion.

    Norton commented a bit on the negative tone of the campaign but she did vow to support Ken Buck if he won the primary.

    You cannot read that interview and not come away with the idea that Jane Norton is a very solid conservative and would make a very solid senator.

    I guess your reference to “cinamon” is some sort of reference to staff people who Norton leans on for help to answer questions. If you read the interview its clear that Norton is a very thoughtful and articulate person who does not staff people to help her answer questions.

    As to the Murkowski reference can we say that your point is stretching a point. At no point did she endorse any of her views except that she is an articulate spokesman for her state. I do not read into her remarks any endorsement of her views but rather as the questioner said a mentor explains some of the arcane ways of the senate.

    This is not a hit on Jim DeMint from Norton. I suspect that since DeMint has endorsed Buck Mrs. Norton would be unlikely to ask him to mentor her?

    I applaud her on selecting Joe Lieberman to be a democratic mentor as who exactly would Buck choose to mentor him from the democratic side?

    I might add that Jane Norton already has a US senator who is her mentor and that is Bill Armstrong. Look in the dictionary -and under the reference to conservative icon–you see the people of Bill Armstrong.

    Erick I love you to pieces but you can choose to place emphasis on Armstrong’s support and her time in DC working for Reagan or you place emphasis on this Murkowski point. The Murkowski question had to do with who will show Jane Norton where the restrooms are-what you do on the floor of the senate-that sort of very trivial stuff. Her time in DC in the Reagan era and winning the support of Bill Armstrong now that’s big time stuff. The fact she wants Murkowski to show around the senate gym is not an indication of how her senate career would be.

  • gekster

    Wouldn’t she allready now where the restrooms and gym are.

  • gekster
  • itsjoanne

    She mentioned Lisa’s knowledge of energy issues. Plus she’s one of the few women senators from the GOP, only others are Collins and Snowe.

    As a woman I might name another female as well.

    Although I hope Ken wins, Jane is not such a bad alternative.

  • Brian_Roastbeef

    But my Facebook feed has an update from Ken Buck from a couple of minutes ago announcing that he has won the “Denver GOP 1st Thursday straw poll” with 64% of the vote. May be meaningless, but it sure isn’t a bad sign.

  • Achance

    There are 57 Democrats we could put some energy into opposing but it is more fun to have these circular firing squads inside the Republican Party. I don’t know or much care about this Buck guy you are hyping but it looks like he’s losing and Murkowski has a good lead on the Miller guy you’re hyping, so I don’t think this is going to turn out so well for you, Erick.

    I don’t know where Buck’s support is coming from in CO, but I know that a lot of Miller’s support in AK is coming from the people that think that the R stands for Redneck rather than Republican. I’ll see Senator Murkowski in Juneau Saturday and I’ll be sure to convey RedState’s best wishes.

  • rightwingmom52

    “As a conservative I might name another conservative as well.” We have for too long overlooked associations with RINO’s.

  • rdelbov

    worked in HHS as a political appointee–did not check out the US senate gym and restrooms

    I appreciate the bathroom humour but someone did comment on the GOP circular firing squad. Buck may have been asked the same question in his interview and gave some sort of polite answer about what democratic he would want to mentor him. Whatever answer Ken Buck gave could be throw at him in some sort of attack piece–”ken Buck sees Ben Nelson as a possible mentor”.

    My point is that Norton raised all sorts of deep issues in her interview such as Prop C & Tabor-healthcare-abortion and Erick decides to what mentor would she want to be assigned to (one GOP & one democrat) the topic worth discussing.

  • SIConservative
  • Oz

    Erick — A few points.

    1) Why are you going so negative on Norton? Did I miss the redstate memo where any candidate not backed by redstate in the primary should be demonized? Is that good for the party?

    2) ANY GOP female Senator that Norton picks as a mentor is going to be a pro-choice Senator. Who would you like her to pick for a mentor?

    3) I would love to have Ken Buck in the Senate, but I’m not going to cry if we get the first GOP pro-life female Senator in as Senator Norton.

    I would vote for Buck and you are free to support him, but you’ve had a disturbing trend of trashing Republicans lately and it … well … disturbs me.

  • SIConservative

    Perhaps I’m being presumptuous, but I have a feeling Ken Buck would be backing Miller in the primary. It says a lot that she’s assuming Murkowski will still be there if she arrives.

  • Achance
  • Oz

    Art-iculate as always.

    I am all for cleaning out the more moderate Republicans when:

    a) We are in the majority (or at least a solid minority).

    b) It is clear that knocking out said moderate will not endanger winning the seat in the fall.

    Oz

    PS Off topic, when is “Red on Blue” going to hit the bookshelves?
    There are going to be some new Republicans in office in the fall and it would be helpful if they had that guide.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • SirGladiator

    It is bizarre to have someone actually ‘want’ to associate themselves with a liberal Republican like Murkowski, who is only in the senate because her father appointed her. Nepotism, incompetence, liberalism, these arent things I’d actually ‘want’ to associate myself with if I were Jane….or even if I were me, for that matter :) . But like an earlier comment mentioned, theres a pretty good chance that even if Norton were in the Senate next year, Murkowski won’t be, because she’s got a pretty tough primary challenger in Alaska, an actual Conservative, endorsed by Sarah Palin herself, she’s gonna have a really tough time winning that. Certainly she’s got a better chance of winning than Norton does, but that race could definitely go either way. This race, the Colorado race, definitely looks like Buck’s to lose now, and I doubt very much that he’s going to. Unless, of course, he takes a page out of the Norton playbook and says he wants to be mentored by Arlen Specter, or Larry Craig, then I think Norton would be the favorite again :) .

  • winthisone

    Put your upset with Norton. Erick is mild.

    Have you heard her dirty radio ads, seen her dirty windshield notes, and heard her dirty robo calls? Do you read her Facebook page?

    Norton and Josh Penry are the queen and king of dirty and negative.

    While I’d prefer everyone stick to the issues, Norton cannot complain when people strike back.

  • crassus

    Why does she want to be mentored by Murkowski? That is even worse than wanting to be mentored by Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins. At least they were not appointed by their daddies. One need not be a right winger to be upset with the voting record of Lisa Murkowski. She is wrong on so many issues- immigration, bailouts, foreign aid, medicare prescription drugs, (as mentioned) abortion and spending in general. Plus, she is simultaneously poor on civil liberties and national security.

  • aesthete

    on civil liberties, according to conservatives (tbh, I’m not sure what conservatives’ view of civil liberties is, if they have a unified position on them).

  • colawman

    CS: How?s fundraising been going?
    JN: Well, it?s never enough, but we?re working hard on that component. You?ve got kind of two campaigns going, you?ve got the grassroots support and the organization and those kinds of things.

    She blew through 1,9 million to Buck’s $600,000.00 and she is complaining it is not enough. Buck accomplished far more with far less and took a 16 point lead in a Denver Post poll. It is like taxes. More money is not the answer. It is how you use the money you have without going back to the trough. Ken Buck could be her mentor.

  • edintexas

    Kay isn’t as Conservative as I would like, but she sure isn’t pro-abortion, for cap and tax, is also from an “energy state”, etc.

  • rrream

    Erick, you are really reaching in your efforts to portray Jane Norton as a liberal. This interview suggests she is a solid conservative, opposed to big government, high taxes, and abortion. She mentions Murkowski as someone who can mentor her on energy issues, given the similarity of Colo. and Alaska in that regard. She also hopes to get an endorsement from Sarah Palin – does that sound like a RINO?

  • rrream

    Erick, you fail to mention who each candidate suggested they would go to for a mentor among the Democrats in the Senate. Norton suggested Joe Lieberman. Your man Ken Buck picked the pro-abortion, anti-gun, pro-Obamacare, socialist Bernie Sanders, because he has “some traits that are worth learning about.”

    Hmmm……..

  • GenEarly

    How do Murkowski and Palin get along? Wasn’t Lisa’s Daddy defeated by Palin ?
    Murkowski, Snowe, and Collins just brings tears to your eyes of Republicanism Triumphant. If that’s your Republican party, along with McCain and Lindsay Grahmnesty, count me out. No tent is big enough to air out that stench.

  • GenEarly

    The Estab.Repubs are Entrenched Elitists who after their re-elections gladly form a ruling oligarchy with the demoncats in DC.
    to split the PORK. If you win you get more Pork to your supporters.
    Vote for Conservative Citizen Patriots in the Primaries to End All Pork and have a chance at Repeal of Obamacare. Estab. Repubs. will only “tinker’ with Obamacare as they have tinkered and compromised the past 50 years.

  • Achance
  • SIConservative

    While Hutchison supports some restrictions on abortion, she voted in favor of the Harkin Amendment endorsing Roe.

  • betsyred

    Jane says this campaign is all about integrity and which candidate voters can trust. We trust, then, that she’ll understand why many are lining up behind Ken Buck. Integrity means telling the truth, having manners, focusing on your own positives and saving the mud for the other team. She has said far worse things about Ken Buck than she’s ever said about Michael Bennet or Andrew Romanoff. Somewhere from the deep she’s now dragging out smear ads and taking swipes at a decent man that is quick to note he and Jane have been friends for years and that he respects her and will support her if she wins the primary. He has not swung back. He wants to win on merit; not which candidate slung the mud in the most convincing way. It’s not his style. He’s composed, the consumate gentleman and he is unnerved by the pathetic reasons the Norton camp is using to discredit him. The dirtier they get, the more people shake their heads in disgust and walk away. In the CO Springs debate, Jane would nearly stomp her foot in a tantrum when she continued attacks long after Buck had successfully defended himself and the audience let her know it was time to get back to the issues that matter. When the crowd had enough and she heard groans and boo’s, she was furious–rather Hillary-esque in her shouts of, “It’s true! It’s true!” Shrill. How dare they doubt me?
    Jane’s biggest frustration right now is that she wants desperately to claim the banner of being the tea party/grassroots candidate. Yet, her attacks and petty behavior is exactly the antithesis of what the tea party patriots stand for–dirty tricks, not being able to get off of rehearsed GOP talking points, elite fundraisers and backing of life time GOP establishment senators. In many CO counties, the GOP is trying to hitch their wagon to these organizations and not having alot of success—the tea party activists don’t want the GOP insider candidates rammed down their throats. They have found and intend to support the true grassroots candidates for U.S. Senator and Governor. The failure of Ms. Norton to connect with the tea party types is of her own doing–she has resorted to politics as usual rather than being confident about her own qualifications and unique abilities. It’s apparently easier to just rip the other guy up than to stay on message. When a candidate tries to come from behind in the final stretch by using a smear campaign, and their supporters leave distasteful phone messages, destroy and steal yard signs and other old tricks of the political machines, it usually does not work. In about 6 weeks we’ll know if the CO GOP will run a man that is steady, focused, confident in his convictions and ready to go to work or a woman that when things don’t go well, she attacks because she can’t believe she’s questioned. Rocky Mountain types are wondering if she can’t take a little heat from a debate audience that soon tired of her petty antics, how will she respond to those same people that call and email her in protest of a vote or a position on an issue?

  • Achance

    And very few Republicans in Alaska get along with Sarah Palin, the Un-Republican.

  • crassus

    Hutchison is more conservative on economic issues than Murkowski, Collins, or Snowe. Still, I wouldn’t want her as a mentor either. Norton could have at least said some non-controversial conservative like Mike Crapo or Jon Kyl.

    In 2010, the situation will be much better with Sharron Angle, Carly Fiorina, and Ayotte- and with out Jane Norton.