I am the ghost of Colorado conservatives’ future, a warning to those who choose not to listen to those of us who have seen a party collapse from its own political shortsightedness.
Colorado is California 25 years ago.
Twenty-five years ago, California had exported its brand of conservatism through Ronald Reagan, a former two-term governor and twice-elected president. Those values destroyed international communism and resulted, by 1994, in every statewide office in California, save one, held by Republicans. The GOP even controlled one house of the Legislature (unthinkable today).
As the Golden State lost its presidential battleground status, Republicans collapsed into oblivion. The policies that followed destroyed California.
Now that [ inn my opinion] Colorado has lost its battleground status, conservatives in the Centennial State are on the same road that the California conservatives have already tread.
I believe Proposition 113, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, is the best course for the conservatives, both nationally and in Colorado.
It allows conservatives in Colorado to join up with conservatives in Utah, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona and the five million of us that live in California to elect a conservative president. Right now, Colorado’s conservative vote is canceled out by Denver and its environs. More simply put, Proposition 113 makes Colorado relevant again.
Some opponents claim that the framers of the U.S. Constitution intended the present winner-take-all method in which the winner of a state gets all of that state’s Electoral College votes — a method in effect in most, but not all states.
There is just one problem: James Madison, aka the father of the country’s most seminal document, favored a national popular vote. In fact, the 1787 convention took 30 votes over 22 days on how to elect the president. Not one of them was for winner-take-all, the method presently used by Colorado.
The framers would be turning over in their graves if they saw the states with laws that [ inn my estimation] 80 percent of the states irrelevant in presidential elections.
Others wrongly say Hillary Clinton would be president. Tell that to now-President Donald Trump, who says he favors a national popular vote and would have campaigned differently in 2016 were that the way presidents are elected. Trump campaigned to win battleground states, which was great for those states, but not for Colorado conservatives.
Colorado conservatives are being ignored this November, which only furthers the slide toward the irrelevancy that California conservatives now experience. We all know what ensues when conservatives are losers.
Proposition 113, if passed, would require the GOP to pay attention to what Colorado conservatives think, at least if Republicans want to win. This will lead to a stronger conservative movement in Colorado.
If opponents believe their position is better for Colorado conservatives then I challenge them to debate me at any forum of their choosing. Voters deserve an open and honest discussion, not the disinformation and fake news.
I can tell you, as a California conservative, that Colorado’s current path is the path toward destruction and irrelevancy. Don’t do what we did, change course now by voting ‘yes’ on Proposition 113.
Ray Hayes
Sacramento, CA
Former Republican state legislator, having served in both houses of the California State Legislature.
For more visit, https://www.conservativesforyesonnationalpopularvote.com/.
Well said in 25 words or less Dan! The problem is with the internet we have “NO TRUTH” except what each individual wants to believe is true! You can pick and choose any belief you want to support with “facts” that are nothing but “feelings, beliefs, wishes, hopes, and bald faced lies!
The only solution I see is a return to professional standards of performance which served us pretty well if you read a little more broadly and only trusted long standing sources of news and editorial material.
I only listen to NPR, CPR, the Denver Post, Atlantic, and very few other sources. They have never lied to me!
So, we must as a society, country, democracy (whats left) eliminate unfettered sources of private and corporate self interest to post anything and everything they can think of to influence our democratic institutions.
there is a reason no other country on earth allows such insane practices. As if the less educated and less discriminating can tell the difference between fact and fiction and are even aware of the psychological warfare they are subjected to which preys on their fears, emotional reactionism, and downright appeals to their greed, corruption, and white privilege!
Well clearly, “Southern Man” you are also reading Ark Valley Voice, or you wouldn’t be posting comments! A better approach to deal with the waves of disinformation coming at us from both domestic and foreign active measures is to recognize them as what they are – marketing messages intended to sway those subject to fears and emotional responses. The dilemma we face, flamed by those actors, is that for some, including ARk Valley Voice, truth is factual. For others, truth is what they choose to believe — from sincere, but erroneous belief — to purposeful disinformation, to nonsense such as Qanon.
As long as that divide is there, then the divides in this country will remain. But limiting free speech, other than hate speech and threat speech which is NOT protected by the First Amendment, isn’t necessarily the solution.
This is actually an opportunity for Colorado conservatives. But not because this is a good idea. In the 2020 State Ballot Information Booklet, it states, “Proposition 113 consists of the text of Senate Bill 19-042, and if it passes, the bill remains state law.” In other words, we can vote it down, which we should, and nullify 19-042. This is the biggest move to disenfranchise voters ever put forth. For example, if the entire state of Colorado voted for the democratic candidate, and the popular vote nationally favored a republican, all electoral college votes would go to the republican… and vice versa. This effectively nullifies the voices of an entire state!
And, most importantly, Roy Hayes is a trojan horse. His organization is being funded by the left. you’ll see names of the usual suspects in this article. https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/03/25/exclusive-heres-whos-bankrolling-the-national-popular-vote-movement/
Don’t see how giving Colorado’s votes to the presidential candidate winning the most votes nationwide disenfranchises any voter. It simply means it will prevent the runner-up in votes from getting in office because of the electoral college.
That’s why it’s called “representative government” and not a pure Democracy. It was designed this way for a reason. Without it, the entire country would be beholden to the densely populated urban cities that generally vote one way. Representation would be lopsided. As it is, we generally swap between Democrat and Republican every 8 years. That seems far more balanced to me. That way one particular agenda can’t dominate the discourse.