Editorial: Primary recommendations

7/30/08 - Aurora Sentinel

Like many in Aurora, we find ourselves in a difficult spot in having a say about who will be the next district attorney for Arapahoe County and who will replace outgoing Congressman Tom Tancredo.

Any Aurora resident who lives in the 18th Judicial District or the 6th Congressional District and isn't a registered Republican approved to vote in the Aug. 12 Primary Election finds themselves in the same boat. That's because in both primary races, it is almost certain the winners there will go on to win handily in November. The two districts, which overlap in many areas, are heavily saturated with Republican voters and have historically always elected only Republican candidates. Certainly anything could happen, but if history repeats itself, it won't this year.

Given that, and the importance of the two races, we stray from our policy of leaving primary battles to members of the party and make these recommendations to our readers:

The race for 18th Judicial District Attorney: Carol Chambers
For decades, this office has been controlled by Republican leadership who have had a say only when someone finally decides to retire. Term limits for this office changed all that four years ago, and Chambers upset the status quo in 2004 by first running against the Republican heir apparent to former District Attorney Jim Peters, and winning. She's been a somewhat unorthodox, but effective district attorney since then.

Chambers has certainly had more than her fair share of controversy, having to step aside in her role as the area's top prosecutor to defend her own actions that have sometimes been questionable. Chambers was censured by a state justice panel for how she handled the much more questionable antics of a bad-check collection lawyer in 2006. In phone call made on behalf of a woman, who was victim of identity theft and was being harassed by the collector for something that was clearly not her fault, Chambers crossed ethical guidelines she shouldn't have in her zeal to do the right thing. For her trouble, she found herself in the center of a lot of publicity and having to defend her actions to an ethics court herself.

The way she handled the call was a mistake, but it was a mistake made in passionately trying to defend an innocent victim from the unscrupulous machinations of a professional arm bender. Whereas many politicians busy themselves with unethical dealings that they hope will bring personal or political gains, Chambers had nothing to gain from the phone call she made other than relief for an innocent constituent. Too many government officials are quick to shrug off difficult problems, Chambers clearly isn't one of those officials.

Likewise, Chambers has been attacked for memos she sent to judges in the 18th Judicial District that she says addressed issues making an already unwieldy load unbearable for everyone by participating in host of shenanigans including inappropriate comments from the bench, long lunches, late starts and early ending in the afternoons.

In another controversy, Chambers has come under fire from local police unions for her insistence that area police officers who are deemed unreliable witnesses because of problems with veracity will not be allowed to give testimony.

We would certainly hope not. In all of the cases of her criticism, we applaud what is clearly Chamber's passionate pursuit of fairness and insistence that the rights of victims and the accused be as important as the rights of the system.

Her challenger, former Jefferson County prosecutor George Brauchler is a smart, affable and well-qualified candidate. But there's no compelling reason to remove Chambers from the job, and there's overwhelming reasons to have her stay.

Just after taking office, she quickly became a champion for streamlining the convoluted court system in Arapahoe County, ensuring that crime victims were given deference and attention, working to keep additional victims from losing their money and property in fraud scams and finding a way to make people stop committing criminal acts by sorting crooks from mentally ill people and addicts.

Time and again, Chambers has shown outstanding leadership by creating programs to address real needs and problems, such as ways to keep from clogging jails and prisons with people who don't need to be there and programs to help innocent victims find their way through a confusing and intimidating legal process.

Chambers has made mistakes, and she's shown she has the temerity and leadership skills to learn from them and implement changes in the system to prevent them from happening again. Her actions and her intentions make it clear that not only is her heart in the right place, her head is, too.

Chambers has indicated she will spend the next four years working to install a mental-health court, a proven system that reduces recidivism, the prison bill for taxpayers and wasted lives. She also means to work harder to ensure those victimized by crimes find relief from a system too often overlooks them.

There's no reason to do anything in this race but cheer Chambers on to staying the course.

The race for 6th Congressional District: Mike Coffman
Despite a field crowded with smart and passionate candidates, Mike Coffman is the clear choice to send to Congress.

This race has drawn so many candidates this year as incumbent Republican Tom Tancredo bows out. Republican demographics dictate that as long as the GOP winner wants it, the seat is a safe haven. That makes this choice important because it will likely send a representative to Congress for a long time.

Coffman has distinguished himself as a soldier, business owner, state lawmaker, state treasurer and now secretary of state by striving to understand all the nuances and complexities of an issue before taking a course of action. He approaches every problem with pragmatism, compassion and dedication. While we sometimes don't agree with his stance on issues, we've found we always respect his logic and appreciate that he has similar respect for the contrary opinions of others.

While the other candidates in this race show a great deal of promise as standard bearers for a more frugal government and Republican principals, Coffman understands the myriad complex problems facing the next Congress have no easy answers. He's seen firsthand how difficult the situation is in Iraq, and how any sense of victory there can only be won through political channels and by realizing how very different that society is from ours. He passionately wants to ensure that "supporting our troops" means much more than just sending better equipment. It means finding a resolution to our involvement that will allow our service men and women to safely extricate themselves from this grinding war without causing yet another one.

Coffman has shown true conservative wisdom in how he would handle problems such as immigration reform, health care changes, economic growth and keeping Americans safe from religious extremists of all sorts.

State Sen. Steve Ward shares Coffman's penchant for examining issues from all sides before marching toward an answer. Ward is a bright, experienced lawmaker keen to strike political bargains and willing to compromise. He's an affable politician with a great deal of enthusiasm to win his political battles. In his battle to win the hearts of conservative Republican voters, however, he's made it clear his first allegiance is to doing what it takes to get elected instead of doing the right thing.

Wil Armstrong, too, shows a great deal of promise to be a thoughtful, passionate leader and has made it clear he may share the GOP agenda, but it's one he passionately believes in and enthusiastically pursues. Despite his obvious understanding of issues facing the next Congress, however, he's an unknown quantity wanting a vital job in Congress at a time when it's important for voters to know exactly what to expect from their representatives. Armstrong has been trying to get leverage by painting Coffman and Ward as "career politicians," a label that doesn't stick from two well-honored military veterans who both bring a wealth of private business experience to the table.

Armstrong and Ward both are too close to well-meaning principles on issues like the current mortgage crisis and immigration to see most of their own party including President Bush and Sen. John McCain agree these issues are so complex and affect every single American, that dogmatic partisan policy is not only unattainable, it's unwise. Coffman offers similar perspectives on those issues, but he wields a much more realistic and practical view of how legislation can have unintended and adverse effects. When governing, it's important to work for common goals, not principles.

State Sen. Ted Harvey, also seeking the GOP nomination, has clearly made a close study of issues facing the next Congress, but he consistently offers up the wrong answers. Harvey mistakenly believes that illegal immigrants are chiefly responsible for a wide range of ills, including expensive health care and struggling public schools. His message on issues reaches a level of shrillness that might be acceptable in places like El Paso County, home to Douglas Bruce, but it's not palatable here in the metro area.

While each of these candidates bring a great deal of experience and enthusiasm to the race, Coffman is the clear choice for all voters in the district as the candidate best able to represent the needs and hopes of all his varied constituents as well as offer a dependable, distinctive voice in Washington.