Yesterday the Colorado Springs Independent ran an article noting that electing Gordon Klingenschmitt to a seat in the state House of Representatives is probably not going to help the area’s image, given Klingenschmitt’s long history of insane statements.
So radical is Klingenschmitt that even Republican leaders in the state are working to distance themselves from him and to distance him from the party, largely in response to his recent statement that gay Democratic congressman Jared Polis would soon join ISIS and begin beheading Christians here in America:
The incident has prompted some party leaders to try to put him at arm’s length. “Gordon does not speak on behalf of the Republican Party, and his comments in no way reflect the views of the Party,” state GOP spokesman Owen Loftus said in a statement.
Although El Paso County GOP Chairman Jeff Hays told KOAA that Klingenschmitt is “part of our team,” party executive Daniel Cole says via email that “In parts of the KOAA interview that did not air, Chairman Hays indicated, and now wants to emphasize, that he does not condone Gordon Klingenschmitt’s comments. Klingenschmitt does not speak for the party or for other candidates, and the party does not speak for him.”
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Klingenschmitt declined to be interviewed for this story. In a February interview, he told the Independent he keeps his politics and religion separate. Fornander disputes that, citing his repeated references to religion during his campaign, including a comment that only people who are going to heaven are entitled to equal treatment under the law.
That kind of thing is beyond the pale for retired state Sen. Andy McElhany. “In my opinion, Klingenschmitt has no business in public office,” the Republican says, “because he’s more than extreme.” McElhany added that electing someone like Klingenschmitt doesn’t help the region’s image.
Which brings us back to [El Paso County Democratic Party executive Christy] Le Lait. “At some point, the people in this county are going to have to ask themselves, ‘What do we want?'” she says. “Are we serious about bringing jobs and economic development, or are we OK with being called the capital of crazy?”
The idea that Klingenschmitt will keep his religion and politics separate is laughable considering that we have multiple examples of Klingenschmitt saying exactly the opposite. As a matter of fact, just yesterday he said that America’s foreign policy needs to be based on his interpretation of the Bible.
On top of that, he has defended the Second Amendment on the grounds that the Bible says Christians need to own weapons in order to protect themselves from “left wing crazies.”
He has said that gay marriage can never be legalized because it violates God’s law and defended anti-gay laws on the grounds that recruiting children into homosexuality is “totally illegal in the economy and law of God.”
He has declared that those who cannot enter church are not entitled to use public facilities, said that those who will not enter Heaven are not entitled to equal protection under the law, and asserted that gay people should face discrimination as a matter of public policy.
Nothing better demonstrates the absurdity of Klingenschmitt’s claim that he will separate his religion from his politics than this clip of him openly declaring that “American law needs to reflect God’s law”:
Despite the copious evidence that, as Colorado’s former Republican Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany put it, “Klingenschmitt has no business in public office,” Klingenschmitt has managed to outraise his Democratic opponent nearly 15-1 in the race for the seat representing a heavily Republican district:
Gordon Klingenschmitt, the Republican aiming to win House District 15 on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs, has raised $44,914 to date, while Democratic candidate Lois Fornander has raised $3,312.
