Within a note attacking Rob Jesmer, Executive Director of the NRSC, Erick Erickson of the influential conservative blog RedState.com makes some assertions about Jane Norton which I simply can’t let stand unchallenged even though I have not endorsed anybody in the race thus far.

Below is a (very slightly modified) note I left as a comment on the RedState site and e-mailed directly to Mr. Erickson.

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Erick,

You are misrepresenting quite a few things in Colorado. 

First, it’s far from clear that the NRSC “pushed” Jane Norton into the race.

Second, it’s absolutely FALSE that she could not have made it through the assembly.  Both the Norton campaign AND the Buck campaign were confident that Jane already had the delegates in hand to get on the ballot – maybe even the top line – at the assembly.  So the decision was based on other things.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, to even indirectly compare Jane Norton to Arlen Specter or Charlie Crist is ridiculous.  Norton is not a RINO, not a “squish” and would simply never be seen hugging Barack Obama in thanks for a bailout and never be seen switching political parties to try to avoid a primary.  She is, in my view after having spent a couple of hours discussing issues with her face-to-face, a smart, principled, solid conservative.

I like Ken Buck and I understand people supporting him.  I’ve given him time on my radio show and in my blog during my own quest to determine if I will endorse anyone. (I have not yet endorsed anybody.) But it’s something else entirely to write untruths about Jane Norton who is every bit as reliable a conservative (in my view) as Mr. Buck and who deserves serious consideration by Colorado voters, especially if they want to have a conservative Republican win in the general election.

While Colorado would be in good hands with either Norton or Buck as senator, a strong case can be made that Jane Norton is the more electable of the two.  This is not a situation like Crist vs. Rubio (by the way, I donated to Rubio almost as soon as he entered the race).

In recent weeks, Jane Norton has been defined (in the eyes of many of the public who don’t know her) by negative ads, mostly funded by one guy who is the president of a large company that is getting stimulus money and has plenty of gov’t contracts.  Norton and her campaign made a mistake by not fighting back, but I would expect that to change with the hiring of State Senate Minority Leader – and nobody’s shrinking violet or RINO – Josh Penry as the new campaign manager.  It’s been, as one insider told me, something like being in a boxing ring and keeping your hands down.  But no longer.

Erick, I would respectfully suggest that you should speak with Jane Norton before continuing down this path of attacking someone based on false innuendo, much less putting out more such innuendo yourself. If you got to know Jane Norton a little bit, I think you’d change your tune about her – even if you still decided you wanted to support Ken Buck.

Most sincerely,
Ross Kaminsky