Face The State Staff Report
As the presumptive Democrat nominee for president, Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, came to Colorado Springs today to court social and fiscal conservatives from the Pikes Peak Region, GOP leaders warned voters not to be fooled by Obama's rhetoric.
ObamaThirty30 Photography/Flickr
In a press conference organized by the Republican National Committee, state GOP chief Dick Wadhams and state Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colo. Springs, accused Obama of tacking to the middle in an effort to gain support from moderates and unaffiliated voters.
“He’s trying to rush to the middle and paint himself as a candidate who would appeal to religious conservatives,” Gardner said.
Gardner, speaking in reference to Obama’s recent pledge to continue President Bush’s faith-based initiative program, cautioned that Colorado voters should not be duped.
Gardner said that Obama is clearly out-of-touch with the people of the intermountain west, people he says have a strong tradition of religious faith, believe in the protection of civil liberties and who are against gun-control laws.
“It’s clear that Sen. Obama’s view of them is that their distorted in their own views,” Gardner said.
Wadhams characterized Obama’s view of rural people as “bitter folks who cling to their religion and guns.”
Last week, Obama said he was in favor of protecting 2nd Amendment rights in reaction to the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Washington, D.C.'s gun ban. However, his campaign website is largely mute on the subject.
Earlier this week, Rep. John Salazar, D-Colorado, told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that in order to win Colorado, Obama must win on the Western Slope and in order to do, he must appeal to gun owners.
Calls to the Obama campaign were not returned.