In what appears to be an act of leftist self-defense, an unbylined story at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, describes certain Colorado Democratic politicians' crticisms of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg over recent "off-base remarks about two of its cities," but noted no reactions from Republicans — who are genuinely outraged, as opposed to arguably trying to cover their political tracks.
In a story which was apparently prematurely posted at Rolling Stone Magazine's web site (link is to a separately saved Google cache copy), Bloomberg told Simon Vozick-Levinson that in recent recall elections in the Centennial State, "The NRA went after two or three state Senators in a part of Colorado where I don't think there's roads. It's as far rural as you can get." Really.
Two "rural" cities located in districts which had recall elections include Pueblo (population: 107,772) and Colorado Springs (population 431,834, which if located in New York would make it the Empire State's second-largest city by a margin of 70% over runner-up Buffalo.
Here is the full story (presented in full due to its brevity and for fair use and discussion purposes):
Excuse the cynicism, but Senator Udall is up for reelection and very vulnerable. Although Garcia won election comfortably in 2012, he has a challenger this year, and, well, thanks to over-the-top gun legislation passed in Colorado, the electoral landscape is quite different.
And isn't it odd that the AP could only find these two Democrats to criticize Bloomberg?
The Denver Post has penty of Republican criticism:
Colorado Republicans were quick to pounce Thursday on remarks former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave to Rolling Stone magazine that painted Colorado Springs and Pueblo in unflattering and inaccurate terms for recalling state senators over new gun laws.
Moreover, Republicans were just as quick to tie U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and Gov. John Hickenlooper to the remarks.
... Last month, the former New York City mayor was back in the news after Hickenlooper told a meeting of Colorado sheriffs that he never spoke to Bloomberg about the laws. Phone records obtained by Complete Colorado’s Todd Shephered showed the two spoke during the height of the Colorado debates, however.
Hickenlooper tempered his subsequent remarks in an interview with Fox 31: “He didn’t call and lobby me or have any influence on the decision I made about the bill.”
Colorado Republican Party chairman Ryan Call was the first to pounce Thursday morning.
“This is what one of Sen. Udall and Gov. Hickenlooper’s top supporters thinks of Colorado,” Call said in a statement. “It’s astonishing that Gov. Hickenlooper would discuss important legislation with Mayor Bloomberg, who obviously doesn’t respect or understand the people of our great state, but refused to speak to Colorado sheriffs. No wonder the governor lied to our state’s sheriffs, instead of admitting that he spoke to Mayor Bloomberg on multiple occasions.”
Hickenlooper’s spokesman, Eddie Stern, pivoted to the state economy, the central theme of the re-election campaign ...
The Post doesn't note any direct response by Hickenlooper to Bloomberg's insults.
A search at AP's national web site shows no other recent stories on Bloomberg's insults.
So why isn't the AP carrying Republicans' criticism of Bloomberg and Colorado's Democratic politicians? I'd say it's because it's accurate.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
