Over at RedState.com, the usually decent Erick Erickson is sinking to new lows in his desire to see Ken Buck as the Republican nominee for Colorado’s upcoming senate race.  I’ve spoken with Erickson about this personally and he’s told me that he doesn’t have anything against Jane Norton; he just likes Buck better.  That’s fine and I understand many people feel that way.  Many like Norton better than Buck and many have more negative things to say about Norton than Erickson does.  But Erickson’s going too far in his “support” of Ken, going down the same sewer that he rightly pillories others for in other races around the country.

In response to his petty and harmful-to-conservatives attack on Norton today, I offered the following comment:

It’s disturbing to me to read the accurate criticisms of people calling Nikki Haley a “raghead” and then see Erick Erickson repeatedly come out with these petty, personal, damaging-to-conservatives attacks on Jane Norton, a candidate he said he liked, but it was just that he liked Ken Buck better.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again:  I’ve met with both Buck and Norton individually, i.e. just me and the candidate in a one-on-one meeting.  Actually met with Norton twice.  Norton is just as smart as Buck and just as conservative.

She is not “McCain-picked” just because he has the misfortune of her sister having married a guy who was close to the McCain campaign.  Furthermore, why doesn’t Erick use “McCain-picked” as a slur against Sarah Palin?  If anyone is “McCain-picked", it’s Governor Palin, obviously.  (Anyone hear the crickets?)

I like Ken Buck as well, but I’m sick of this site’s attacks on Norton.  This is not Toomey v Specter of a few years ago where one candidate was a liberal and one a conservative.

To put a finer point on it:  I asked Norton directly “Are you a female John McCain".  Her response was “absolutely not” and she further explained that she’s against:
1) McCain-Feingold
2) Amnesty
3) Cap-and-Trade

Furthermore, there is nothing in her campaign rhetoric or positions which should cause a web site dedicated to promoting the success of conservatism to keep attacking Jane Norton.

If she is the nominee of the GOP, we NEED her to beat Bennet or Romanoff in November. 

Those of you who are in tune with Colorado politics might remember what happened a few years ago in a GOP primary for the governor’s race when Marc Holtzman took on Bob Beauprez.  Holtzman tagged Beauprez as “both ways bob", claiming in an outright lie that Beauprez had taken positions on both sides of a major tax issue in Colorado (called Referendum C.)  Again, it was a LIE but it stuck to Beauprez and did so much damage to him that he then lost the gubernatorial election to Bill Ritter, a man who has done tremendous damage to our state.

Erick, you are this election’s Marc Holtzman and you are doing Colorado conservatives no favors. 

I encourage you to cut it out…now.  Now, before you give us six more years of a Democrat holding that Senate seat. 

I have not endorsed anybody in this race on my web site or on my Sunday evening radio show.  I have to say that Erick’s actions are pushing me toward Norton, however.  She is a solid conservative. She strikes me as a good person.  She is highly intelligent. She would be an excellent senator, in my view.

I feel basically the same way about Ken Buck (except for the “she” part.). But just as Red State is trying to get people to support other candidates like Haley based on their being unfairly attacked, it’s troubling to see Erick play the part of attack dog against someone who I think is one of our nation’s better senate candidates in 2010. Jane Norton deserves the support of many and the consideration of all in this primary process, Erick’s petty and internecine attacks notwithstanding.