Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I had the opportunity to attend a really wonderful event,
Jewish Colorado's annual fundraiser. They had a fantastic speaker and
I saw a bunch of folks there, saw a bunch
of friends there, and one of the folks slash friends
who I saw was State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer. Has great
to see Barb at an event supporting the Jewish community.
And then Barb said, Hey, I'd love to be on
(00:24):
your show. I'm like, all right, let's do it. I'd
love to have you on the show. So Barb is
the state Senator from Well County. She's also seeking the
Republican nomination for governor. In my opinion at this moment,
based on who's in the race, I think Barb is
by far the best Republican candidate for a governor.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Of the people who are in now.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And so, with that long introduction, good morning, Barb, thanks
for being.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Here, Good morning, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hey, good good. Two things I want to talk to
you about. First, Senator Michael Bennett, who has a decent
chance of being the Democrat technominee for governor, made some
comments about affordability in Colorado and I'm not going to
play the audio, partly in the interesting time and partly
because he swears in the middle of it, and I
didn't want to have to deal with bleeping that out.
But I'm kind of I'm wondering your thoughts as you
(01:16):
have a Democrat in a state that is run by
democrats criticizing affordability in that state.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I just think that it was amazing and I'm like,
what is he doing and what kind of pulling is
he looking at? And why is he cussing at everybody?
But you know, basically what he said was is that
what's been going on here, affordability is the issue. I
think we all know that. I've been talking about it
a lot as well. That he talked about how, you know,
we're one of the most unaffordable states in the nation,
(01:48):
both for housing and for childcare. I did find it
kind of odd that he didn't talk about that we're
the second most dangerous state as well in the nation
that type of thing, and the most regulated, one of
the most regulated in the nation. He didn't mention those,
but he talked about this other stuff and then he
just said that, I mean, essentially, he condemned the Democrats
and the Polish administration for what they've been doing. You know,
(02:10):
our one party control here over the course of the
last seven years, I mean, one party control has led
us to this. And he basically said that they were
a disgrace, that they were a disgrace, and he was
you could tell him, was very upset over it. And
I'm thinking to myself, well, I went through and read
what he put out on his web page and what
he put out as far as his housing plan, and
(02:31):
it sounds a heck of a lot like what this administration,
the police administration, and the one party controlled Democrats in
the Senate and the House have been doing for the
last seven years. So it's his plan of disgrace, because
that's what it sounds like to me.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I do think that the sort of inside baseball political
point that you started that answer with is really fascinating.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I get everything you're saying.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean, I think it's obvious to everybody, right if
you don't like what's happening in a particular state, to
whatever extent that you think it's being caused by politicians
here in Colorado, there's nobody to blame.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Accept Democrat. Now, some of this stuff is.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Out of their control, but still to have a Democrat
complain about a Democrat run state is a bit of
an odd thing. And you said, I wonder what polling
he's looking at. I wonder why he's doing it. Maybe
he's trying to make an argument that he would do
something different. I don't know, but I mean, do you
want to just touch on that sort of in the
(03:28):
weeds political point a little bit more?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I mean, again, you've got a US senator who's set
there for seventeen years and nobody can really point to
what he's accomplished. Come in and I think he's trying
to set himself apart from the rest of his party.
It looked like to me and complaining about all of
them that they haven't done anything. And he didn't even
(03:52):
just say that they hadn't done anything.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
What he said they.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Had done is just disgraceful, like you've gotten this to
this place of unaffordability. And You're right, he wants to
try and make himself look like he's being different or
doing something different. But I heard his housing plan and
it's already all been done in this state, and that's
what got us to the fifth most unaffordable state. In
(04:14):
the nation as he was ranting and raving about. So
he's complaining about trying to set himself apart, but he's
just liked them. So where's his you know, I don't
see where he's going to.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Make any changes.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I mean, if we were to elect a Michael Bennett
to governor, for example, I think we would just have
four more years of what we just had. And that's
what he's complaining about. It is kind of amazing that
he's going after this administration as hard as he did,
and he went after him really hard. This administration and
the one party controlled Democrats that we have in the House,
(04:48):
in the Senate, he went after them all.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Very interesting.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
All right, I've got about two minutes left with you,
and I want to switch gears for a minute. Yesterday,
at least in the Denver metro area and even a
little beyond that, this was an absolute wipeout of Republicans
and conservative candidates, and then also on the ballot measure side,
the vast, vast majority of ballot measures that increased taxes
and spending and borrowing all past like this was as
(05:14):
bad a day as Republicans could have had. Some of
it I think was a rebuke against Donald Trump, which
is not new in Colorado. This is not a trumpy
state by any stretch. But as you who are seeking
to win an election as a Republican next year, look
at what happened yesterday in Colorado. What lessons do you
(05:36):
take from that that might impact how you think about
your own campaign.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Sure, and first of all, you know, I obviously I
am looking at what happened yesterday, but I was not
surprised about healthy mills either of L or MM. I mean,
people have essentially voted now twice for healthy males for
kids and all they've been hearing about. And I think
what we saw some yesterday was just frustration with the inactivity,
(06:03):
frustration with what's going on. But who is who would
vote against It's like they're not getting taxed. These people
aren't getting additional tax.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
It's a fact.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I'm the wealthy to feed.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Kids, right, I get that. I get that.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's fact when they when they've already voted for it twice. No,
for sure, at the top of the ticket.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But also then you look at things like all of
the you know conservatives, well i'll call them loosely losing
in the Douglas County school Board race, all of them right,
and and Danielle Jerinsky losing her seat uh in in
the Aurora City Council is a blood bath for Republicans.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
So what lessons are you taking from this?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'm taking the lesson that unaffiliates have spoken. They've said,
and we've seen it in the polling even as recently
as just a few weeks ago, that they're tired of
the social issues.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
They're tired.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I think they are tired of the ranting and rating
by both sides. And when they when in napolling, when
they're saying that they're not just talking about Democrats, they're
talking about Republicans, They're talking about everybody. When they say
the legislature is going the wrong way because it's focused
too much on social issues, they're saying the legislature. They
didn't say the Democrats and the legislature. Are the Republicans
in the legislature. I think they mean everybody. So that's
(07:16):
why for me and I have continued to do this,
I'm focusing on the affordability issue because that's what is
the most concerned. I think it doesn't matter if you're
an affiliated Republican or Democrat. Everybody's like, it costs too
much to live in Colorado. We're concerned that our kids
aren't going to be able to afford to buy a house.
Maybe we're concerned that we can't afford to buy a house, right,
(07:37):
And it's the affordability issue. So, you know, yesterday it
was local governments. I don't know what's going on in
those local governments. It was about school boards. I think
they're just saying, look, we're you know, I think the
voters were saying, we're tired of the ranting and rabe. Okay,
give me just right too far left, and bring it
right back home and be reasonable and be thoughtful. And
(07:58):
I think that's the kind of person I am and
able to bring people together. I've been able to get
a lot done even being in the minority, as far
as you know, the affordability question, about cutting taxes, you know,
and proving that up. I mean, so I think there's
a lot there. It's for me to work on. But
I think I'm still in a pretty good position.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So I will just say, I hope you're right that
that's what the voters were saying. But I think in
this state they're they're still as long as Donald Trump
is in office, I think there is a huge bias
against Republicans that are going to be difficult to overcome.
All that said, a lot of people in Colorado really
feel like this state is going in the wrong direction
(08:40):
and there's nobody to buy them for it except the
Democrats who run absolutely everything. So I do think it's
it's possible that a Republican could have a chance, but
it's not going to be easy because at this point
Donald Trump is a headwind and not a tailwind for
you and other Republican candidates. Senator Barb kirkmi is I
(09:01):
think the likely Republican nominee for governor. We'll see who
she ends up running against, currently a state senator from
Weald County.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Thanks for your time. As always, Barb, thank you appreciate it.
Have a great day you too,
I had the opportunity to attend a really wonderful event,
Jewish Colorado's annual fundraiser. They had a fantastic speaker and
I saw a bunch of folks there, saw a bunch
of friends there, and one of the folks slash friends
who I saw was State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer. Has great
to see Barb at an event supporting the Jewish community.
And then Barb said, Hey, I'd love to be on
(00:24):
your show. I'm like, all right, let's do it. I'd
love to have you on the show. So Barb is
the state Senator from Well County. She's also seeking the
Republican nomination for governor. In my opinion at this moment,
based on who's in the race, I think Barb is
by far the best Republican candidate for a governor.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Of the people who are in now.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And so, with that long introduction, good morning, Barb, thanks
for being.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Here, Good morning, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hey, good good. Two things I want to talk to
you about. First, Senator Michael Bennett, who has a decent
chance of being the Democrat technominee for governor, made some
comments about affordability in Colorado and I'm not going to
play the audio, partly in the interesting time and partly
because he swears in the middle of it, and I
didn't want to have to deal with bleeping that out.
But I'm kind of I'm wondering your thoughts as you
(01:16):
have a Democrat in a state that is run by
democrats criticizing affordability in that state.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I just think that it was amazing and I'm like,
what is he doing and what kind of pulling is
he looking at? And why is he cussing at everybody?
But you know, basically what he said was is that
what's been going on here, affordability is the issue. I
think we all know that. I've been talking about it
a lot as well. That he talked about how, you know,
we're one of the most unaffordable states in the nation,
(01:48):
both for housing and for childcare. I did find it
kind of odd that he didn't talk about that we're
the second most dangerous state as well in the nation
that type of thing, and the most regulated, one of
the most regulated in the nation. He didn't mention those,
but he talked about this other stuff and then he
just said that, I mean, essentially, he condemned the Democrats
and the Polish administration for what they've been doing. You know,
(02:10):
our one party control here over the course of the
last seven years, I mean, one party control has led
us to this. And he basically said that they were
a disgrace, that they were a disgrace, and he was
you could tell him, was very upset over it. And
I'm thinking to myself, well, I went through and read
what he put out on his web page and what
he put out as far as his housing plan, and
(02:31):
it sounds a heck of a lot like what this administration,
the police administration, and the one party controlled Democrats in
the Senate and the House have been doing for the
last seven years. So it's his plan of disgrace, because
that's what it sounds like to me.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I do think that the sort of inside baseball political
point that you started that answer with is really fascinating.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I get everything you're saying.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean, I think it's obvious to everybody, right if
you don't like what's happening in a particular state, to
whatever extent that you think it's being caused by politicians
here in Colorado, there's nobody to blame.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Accept Democrat. Now, some of this stuff is.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Out of their control, but still to have a Democrat
complain about a Democrat run state is a bit of
an odd thing. And you said, I wonder what polling
he's looking at. I wonder why he's doing it. Maybe
he's trying to make an argument that he would do
something different. I don't know, but I mean, do you
want to just touch on that sort of in the
(03:28):
weeds political point a little bit more?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I mean, again, you've got a US senator who's set
there for seventeen years and nobody can really point to
what he's accomplished. Come in and I think he's trying
to set himself apart from the rest of his party.
It looked like to me and complaining about all of
them that they haven't done anything. And he didn't even
(03:52):
just say that they hadn't done anything.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
What he said they.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Had done is just disgraceful, like you've gotten this to
this place of unaffordability. And You're right, he wants to
try and make himself look like he's being different or
doing something different. But I heard his housing plan and
it's already all been done in this state, and that's
what got us to the fifth most unaffordable state. In
(04:14):
the nation as he was ranting and raving about. So
he's complaining about trying to set himself apart, but he's
just liked them. So where's his you know, I don't
see where he's going to.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Make any changes.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I mean, if we were to elect a Michael Bennett
to governor, for example, I think we would just have
four more years of what we just had. And that's
what he's complaining about. It is kind of amazing that
he's going after this administration as hard as he did,
and he went after him really hard. This administration and
the one party controlled Democrats that we have in the House,
(04:48):
in the Senate, he went after them all.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Very interesting.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
All right, I've got about two minutes left with you,
and I want to switch gears for a minute. Yesterday,
at least in the Denver metro area and even a
little beyond that, this was an absolute wipeout of Republicans
and conservative candidates, and then also on the ballot measure side,
the vast, vast majority of ballot measures that increased taxes
and spending and borrowing all past like this was as
(05:14):
bad a day as Republicans could have had. Some of
it I think was a rebuke against Donald Trump, which
is not new in Colorado. This is not a trumpy
state by any stretch. But as you who are seeking
to win an election as a Republican next year, look
at what happened yesterday in Colorado. What lessons do you
(05:36):
take from that that might impact how you think about
your own campaign.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Sure, and first of all, you know, I obviously I
am looking at what happened yesterday, but I was not
surprised about healthy mills either of L or MM. I mean,
people have essentially voted now twice for healthy males for
kids and all they've been hearing about. And I think
what we saw some yesterday was just frustration with the inactivity,
(06:03):
frustration with what's going on. But who is who would
vote against It's like they're not getting taxed. These people
aren't getting additional tax.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
It's a fact.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I'm the wealthy to feed.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Kids, right, I get that. I get that.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's fact when they when they've already voted for it twice. No,
for sure, at the top of the ticket.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But also then you look at things like all of
the you know conservatives, well i'll call them loosely losing
in the Douglas County school Board race, all of them right,
and and Danielle Jerinsky losing her seat uh in in
the Aurora City Council is a blood bath for Republicans.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
So what lessons are you taking from this?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'm taking the lesson that unaffiliates have spoken. They've said,
and we've seen it in the polling even as recently
as just a few weeks ago, that they're tired of
the social issues.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
They're tired.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I think they are tired of the ranting and rating
by both sides. And when they when in napolling, when
they're saying that they're not just talking about Democrats, they're
talking about Republicans, They're talking about everybody. When they say
the legislature is going the wrong way because it's focused
too much on social issues, they're saying the legislature. They
didn't say the Democrats and the legislature. Are the Republicans
in the legislature. I think they mean everybody. So that's
(07:16):
why for me and I have continued to do this,
I'm focusing on the affordability issue because that's what is
the most concerned. I think it doesn't matter if you're
an affiliated Republican or Democrat. Everybody's like, it costs too
much to live in Colorado. We're concerned that our kids
aren't going to be able to afford to buy a house.
Maybe we're concerned that we can't afford to buy a house, right,
(07:37):
And it's the affordability issue. So, you know, yesterday it
was local governments. I don't know what's going on in
those local governments. It was about school boards. I think
they're just saying, look, we're you know, I think the
voters were saying, we're tired of the ranting and rabe. Okay,
give me just right too far left, and bring it
right back home and be reasonable and be thoughtful. And
(07:58):
I think that's the kind of person I am and
able to bring people together. I've been able to get
a lot done even being in the minority, as far
as you know, the affordability question, about cutting taxes, you know,
and proving that up. I mean, so I think there's
a lot there. It's for me to work on. But
I think I'm still in a pretty good position.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So I will just say, I hope you're right that
that's what the voters were saying. But I think in
this state they're they're still as long as Donald Trump
is in office, I think there is a huge bias
against Republicans that are going to be difficult to overcome.
All that said, a lot of people in Colorado really
feel like this state is going in the wrong direction
(08:40):
and there's nobody to buy them for it except the
Democrats who run absolutely everything. So I do think it's
it's possible that a Republican could have a chance, but
it's not going to be easy because at this point
Donald Trump is a headwind and not a tailwind for
you and other Republican candidates. Senator Barb kirkmi is I
(09:01):
think the likely Republican nominee for governor. We'll see who
she ends up running against, currently a state senator from
Weald County.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Thanks for your time. As always, Barb, thank you appreciate it.
Have a great day you too,
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com