Join the Conversation at 303-477-5600 or text to 307-200-8222 Monday – Friday from 3 pm – 6 pm MT. https://RushToReason.com HOUR 1 Is Colorado’s greatest political threat not the opposition, but its own system? In this hour of Rush to Reason, John Rush and Andy Peth dive headfirst into controversy, beginning with bold takes on climate narratives and global conflict. Is the Iran war a dangerous escalation—or a strategic move with long-term benefits most Americans don’t yet understand? And why is a massive Nebraska wildfire being overshadowed in the media? The real firestorm is local. The hosts dig into
SPEAKER 15 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 12 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 15 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 04 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 12 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 11 :
And we are back. Third hour, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Okay, Andy. All right. Let’s talk about messaging.
SPEAKER 06 :
Let’s talk about messaging. But before we do, John, let’s talk about who we’re messaging to. Let’s talk about the Colorado market.
SPEAKER 11 :
Are we talking nationally or locally? Colorado. Colorado for now.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Yeah, look, I want us to first be honest about the Colorado market. This is something that I deal with constantly with Scott Bottoms supporters. I tell them flat out, guys, love you, but Scott Bottoms is nowhere near the center of what Coloradoans believe. Okay. And, oh, oh, you know how I’ve been coming down on the Liberty score and telling people, hey, I don’t care what a candidate’s Liberty score is. I don’t trust it. But I finally got one of the supporters of the Liberty scorecard, and this person actually works with the Liberty scorecard.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I said, okay, we live in a state where – Democrats in statewide races have been winning recent races by an average of 15 points, which means, John, that amongst unaffiliated, they’re winning by about 25 points. Just so you know. I don’t want to explain why.
SPEAKER 11 :
I get it. It’s numbers. I get it.
SPEAKER 06 :
But that’s where the Colorado voters are right now. With that in mind, how would the average Colorado voter score on the Liberty scorecard? Okay, so where’s the market? And she hemmed and hawed and fought against it. Another one just refused to answer and ran away, didn’t want to discuss it. Another one refused and ran away and didn’t want to discuss it. Finally, one did, and she said 30%. I said, I think that’s very fair. Okay, so the average Coloradoan, in terms of the Liberty scorecard, all right, which is the right-wing view, and Scott… bottoms scores 97 on the liberty scorecard okay but if the market is 30 but the state market is 30 how does that work then and he scores 97 does that doesn’t that indicate that he is a long ways away from the market and that they’re not going to like his score they’re not going to like his views yeah means he’s 67 off of his core right and what he needs to try to get over to his side to vote for him and this is coming from somebody who likes scott bottoms mm-hmm and is part of the Liberty Scorecard, and admits that the base of Colorado voters are around 30%. Now, you know, that’s rough. Obviously, you know, 25 to 35, who knows?
SPEAKER 11 :
Even if it’s 40, Andy.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, it isn’t.
SPEAKER 11 :
But I’m just saying, I mean, gracious, what if it’s even 40 and you’re voting 97%? You’re still a long way off, right?
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re nowhere near where they want to be. You are basically, in terms of abortion… You are the person who believes in banning all abortions, even in case of rape, incest, and danger to the mother’s life, in a state where most people believe in the right to choose.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, let me go one step further. Let’s be really gracious, Andy.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
Let’s say that even Colorado is at 55% to 60% and he’s at 97%. You still lose. You still lose, right? Right. You still can’t win.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. And they’re not. I think 30% is… Oh, no, they’re not.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, they’re not even close to being 60%, Andy.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think 30%, if anything, is generous for the average Colorado voter. But, you know, no, no, no. You know what? I think that’s probably around… That’s a pretty good area. I think she was right.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, she’s in that world scoring things. She probably is very right. You have credit where credit’s due.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I just said the average voter. Where are the voters? Because she didn’t want to admit this because her organization is putting out and saying whoever has the highest score is the best candidate, basically. Because they will represent Liberty. Now, that’s not totally true because different people have different views on Liberty. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul both are great warriors for Liberty.
SPEAKER 11 :
But they’re going to score differently.
SPEAKER 06 :
And they have very different views. You know, one person will score one of them 60, the other 90. You see where I’m going with this. Now, that in mind, okay, take a look at our market that we have to win, all right, before we even look at the general messaging. And by the way, folks, I’m going to make it very simple. I’m not going to make it complex. I’m going to make it easier, not harder, easier, okay? But, John, where’s the market in Colorado? What do Coloradans… want. Where would they score in terms of the political issues of the day here in Colorado?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, I think you just said it a moment ago. Number one, very low. Some of the things that even— It’s a pretty liberal state. Oh, it’s very liberal. And for those of you, by the way, that don’t believe that it is, you’re sorely mistaken because it is. And for some of you to say, well, you’re not talking about places like Cortez or Alamo— They’re factored in. Yeah, they’re factored in. But, folks, you can talk to some really good, solid people in some of those small, rural towns, and I love them dearly, but unfortunately, unfortunately, They are far, far, far outnumbered. Oh, yeah. By the likes of Jefferson County and Boulder County.
SPEAKER 06 :
Adams.
SPEAKER 11 :
And Adams County.
SPEAKER 06 :
Arapahoe.
SPEAKER 11 :
And Arapahoe County. Denver County. Denver County.
SPEAKER 06 :
These are all deep, deep, deep blue. And here’s the sad thing. They outnumber you guys badly. And by the way, I wish they didn’t. I don’t like having Denver and Boulder control your lives out there. I think it’s awful. But that’s what Andy, that’s where the numbers are. Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
I mean, there’s a lot of things in life I don’t like, but that doesn’t change the outcome.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, it doesn’t. You see, and for people who look, there are a lot of there are people in that group with the Liberty scorecard who basically want to believe that Colorado is actually far more right wing than we think. And it’s all been because of dominion and cheating. And that’s the only reason Colorado’s gone blue. Now, folks, I don’t have time to go into that.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, it’s not, folks.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think, don’t get me wrong, Democrats cheat. I think if we got rid of the cheating, we would do better.
SPEAKER 11 :
We’re still not going to win, though.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, gosh, no.
SPEAKER 11 :
We’re not going to win.
SPEAKER 06 :
We would take that 15% margin at best, at best down to 13. And I’m being generous. Okay, so basically that is where the market, okay, what are their priorities? Go for it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and I just – really quick for all of you listening, I’m cheating because I don’t think this is that far off.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you’re going Democrat. You’re cheating.
SPEAKER 11 :
And it’s not – well, yeah, I’m going Democrat. I plugged into AI, you know, what’s important to – basically what’s important to Colorado voters.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I tried to do it initially by party, and it won’t do that because it’s not going to get into politics. It doesn’t want to.
SPEAKER 06 :
So their top priorities are – Rescue Tina Peters and stop the steal.
SPEAKER 11 :
Unfortunately, no, Andy.
SPEAKER 06 :
No? Are you sure?
SPEAKER 11 :
I’m positive.
SPEAKER 06 :
Because I’m talking about what our party is about to 100% embrace. By the way, folks, I like Tina Peters. I want her out too. I’m just saying. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 11 :
Not a priority. Here’s the sad reality. And I’m sorry, folks. And I’m like Andy. I mean, I love Tina as well. And you don’t hear me talk much about her here because of several factors. But one of them is if you were to go ask the average voter in Colorado, unaffiliated, even Democrat voter, we’re not going to get Democrat voters to our side, but even go ask a regular standard unaffiliated voter and ask them who Tina Peters is. You know who they’re going to say? Tina who?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, let me sum it up. Let me sum up where 80% of Colorado voters are on Tina Peters. Three words. They don’t care.
SPEAKER 11 :
Or know. And even if they knew, they may not care. I would even change that last word, Andy. It’s not even they don’t care. They don’t know. And let me add it this way. It’s not that they don’t care.
SPEAKER 06 :
They don’t want to know.
SPEAKER 11 :
They don’t care to know. Right. Let me change your words around a little bit.
SPEAKER 06 :
They don’t care to know.
SPEAKER 11 :
They just don’t care to know. Fair enough. Okay. They don’t care to know.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. We’re getting a good idea. Here’s the thing, John. I’m looking at the Colorado market.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
And really quick here, before I even go into it, give some of the priorities. What are some of the priorities?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, you know what? Let’s do this. Do it after the break? Yeah, let’s take a break. I’ve got about four things, which it’s interesting that AI, like Andy and I, have the messaging down to just a few things. And Greg Lopez, if you’re listening still, not 19 things, which is on your website, four. Because if you’re going to win a successful campaign, you can’t run on 19 things. I said that on air that day. You can’t. By the way, I’m not just poking at you, Greg, because I told you this publicly on air. You can’t run on 19 things. Neither can any candidate run on 19 things. We’ll come back, though, and I’ll give you the four things that are coming out of AI, which, by the way, I’m not going to disagree with because I think it’s spot on. Flesh Law coming up next. Make sure you’re dialed in when it comes to your attorney and what you need to have out of Kevin Flesh. Criminal, civil, Kevin can do it all, 303-806-8886.
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SPEAKER 15 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, and… Really quick, Dan, before I go to you, I’m going to mention the four things. I did get this text message in that says, Tina Peters, question mark who? This is the Denver Metro voters. Dumber than dumb, hence the reason they vote. Dumb, oh crap. You know, by the way, I’m not disagreeing with you. No. But that’s the problem. That comment and what you just said is… is the problem we have with messaging in Colorado. We’re not messaging to you. You’re already in. You have to message to the people that aren’t in, Mr. Texter. Yeah, and by the way, I actually agree with what the Texter is saying.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m not arguing, but that right there is the problem. The message is this, John. Well, the market’s just dumb. Oh, okay. And it is. Does that message win?
SPEAKER 11 :
No. In fact, that’s a turnoff. That’s a huge turnoff. Okay, really quick, Dan, before I go to you. Here’s the four things that I came up with as far as what’s important to voters in Colorado, which, by the way, I’m going to agree with every one of these cost of living and affordability. By the way, that’s true for both sides of the aisle. Yeah, that’s true for all Coloradans. Cost of living and affordability, public safety, quality of life. True for all Coloradans. Not red, not not right, left or middle. Water, land, and environment. You know what? Even as conservatives, we care about the water, the land, and the environment. Can’t argue that one either. Last but not least, the economy and the small business climate. As a small business owner myself, yes, I can very much buy into that one. So those are the four things that AI came up with that are important to Colorado voters, which, by the way, those of us on the right need to learn and memorize those four things. Dan, go ahead.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I’m going to… say exactly what you’re saying and what the texter said we have to communicate on those four items that you just talked about why the conservative way is better than the liberal way and we don’t do a good job of doing that we just want to call we we want to call people names calling them dumb voters that doesn’t accomplish anything and you don’t want to call them dumb What you gotta do is sell or market them to let them know why the conservative view helps accomplish those four items that you just mentioned. Correct. And as a party in the state of Colorado, We’re horrible at it.
SPEAKER 11 :
I mean, Dan, I’m going to interrupt just for a second, because for those of you that like me, I do believe that we have some very uninformed and some low education voters. And I get that. And I’m not speaking badly of these people. It just is what it is. But let me let me combat even the text message that came in talking about the voters being dumber than dumb. When your kids were little, I’ve raised kids, Dan, you’ve raised kids, I’m sure. When your kids are really little and they ask dumb questions or they say dumb things, we as parents never say that, do we, Dan? We don’t ever say, that’s a really dumb question. What we say is, you know, honey, or you know, buddy, you know, I don’t really know why that is. That’s a good question, and here’s what I think or why I think. And we go about that with that child in that manner. And I’m not saying we’ve got to treat all these voters like children, Dan, but in a lot of ways, You do, because you can’t just say, well, that was a really dumb question. Why did you ask that? You don’t do that with your kids.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I mean, John, that kid is still inside of each one of us, though, not wanting to be called dumb.
SPEAKER 11 :
Correct. Thank you, Andy. So at the end of the day, Dan and Mr. Texter, you can’t say that.
SPEAKER 16 :
No. No, that doesn’t accomplish anything. And then the liberty thing that you’re talking about, this is part of the problem with the Republican Party. So we want somebody who scores 90% on that Liberty score, but Colorado is at 30%. So, you know, it’s… I don’t know why… Okay, we need to get somebody who’s conservative, but not as far conservative as a 97%. Okay, great! You know, I mean, Jesus would score…
SPEAKER 06 :
you know would score i don’t know maybe in the i’m not saying i’m just being silly if jesus ran he wouldn’t vote for he wouldn’t win the conservatives because they would crucify him you know but dan just so you know everything you’re saying is totally true but um the people who who you know the scott bottoms followers would say that you you’re trying to put through these weak compromising milquetoast candidates who aren’t going to sell either what do you say to them um
SPEAKER 16 :
I’m going to say, so you put somebody who’s strong on there, for example, let’s use the abortion issue. Okay. So you put somebody who’s really strong on abortion, right? Abortion for no reason. No matter what. No matter what. Okay. So they lose, and a person who is totally the other opposites, gets in there, and we’re one of the most liberal states regarding abortion.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, Dan, really quick, Dan, and Andy will remember this. Dan, everything you just said, we had in the last senatorial race that we had against Joe O’Day and Michael Bennett. We had a chance to even eliminate Michael Bennett at that point in time. But because of what you just said, that one topic alone is why half of the—well, not half. That’s why the nut jobs that we’re talking about throughout today’s program would not vote for Joe O’Day. In fact, Ron Hanks even went against him on third party, much like Greg Lopez is doing today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Ron Hanks actually called for his supporters to withhold their votes from Joe O’Day, and they did.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 16 :
And now we got a person who’s totally for abortion. So did we accomplish what we wanted? No.
SPEAKER 11 :
We made it worse.
SPEAKER 16 :
We did. Because we ignored the market. We threw the baby out with the bathwater.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I didn’t mean a pun, but I guess that’s kind of a pun, isn’t it? Well, first of all, it’s a pun. And secondly, Dan, in football terms, and John and I have talked about this before, we threw a Hail Mary, all or nothing. Yeah. I got a score on this play. Why? Why don’t you get some first downs? Why don’t you spend a few election cycles moving the ball on abortion? and convincing more voters in Colorado to agree with you here and then here and then here, rather than try, if you try to get all of it and do the personhood amendment, you’re going to get killed.
SPEAKER 11 :
And let’s go back to, and this is my theory on all of this in the first place. That is a topic. As much as I am, you know, pro-life and I talk about things on the round table and so on, very much love babies. You guys all know my feeling on that. I don’t have to go any further. You guys already know my thoughts on that. I also am not judgmental about anybody that’s ever had one. That’s also me, Dan. I know people personally where they’ve had these things. Things have come up and those decisions were made. And I will never hold that against somebody because I wasn’t there, wasn’t my decision, and I’m never going to judge somebody for making that. And by the way, I think that’s the proper answer that we as candidates even should have at times. What I just said is what every candidate should be saying. And I would shift gears immediately and say, you know what, let’s talk about things that really matter. You know, I care about the unborn. But you know what? I care about everybody. I care about the cost of living and affordability in Colorado, which I know every single Coloradan cares about. You pivot quickly, move into something that really matters to everybody else. But Dan, our candidates don’t know how to do what I just said.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, and this is the thing. If people are so are the conservative side is so concerned about abortion. Don’t get me wrong. I agree with you. I think it’s I think it’s wrong. But that’s between them and God, not between me and them. And the thing is, if you’re so convinced on the abortion, then you need to get out and you need to talk to people about abortion. And one at a time, work with them, not politically, but individually, to help them understand the gravity of abortion. But trying to do it politically… We’re in a state that you’re so against abortion, but yet it’s so easily accessible that you’re not accomplishing what you are. And then you as an individual need to – and I’m not saying you, John. I’m just saying this in general. I get it. Individuals have to – if they feel this staunchly about abortion, then you need to go out there and you need to – But you want to have a conversation with them. You want to friend them and make them understand your point of view without trying to convince them to change their point of view. And that’s the problem. We’re trying to tell people how they should live their lives.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, on abortion, I would approach it like this. I’d say, oh, abortion, well, first of all, I want to control my own life, not yours. And I’m here to serve you, not control you. I’m running for the right to serve you, not control you. And so, obviously, I am pro-life, strongly pro-life, but not all of my personal beliefs are going to be your laws. We just had that for eight years with Governor Polis. All his personal beliefs became your laws. I don’t want that for you. Now, what do most Coloradans want? They want access to abortion, but not late term or tax funded. I agree. I think, you know, I don’t agree with, you know, I oppose abortion, but I understand that’s what Coloradans want. And I’m here to serve most Coloradans, not the extremes. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 16 :
But that’s where we start. That’s where we start. Right. That’s where we start. If most Coloradans don’t believe in late-term abortion, then okay. And this is the problem, is the people who think abortion, that know abortion, they’re going to persecute that person who’s like, okay, no late-term abortions. I’m with the majority of the states. I agree.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I’m not saying I agree with abortion access at all. I’m pro-life. I think abortion is murder. But I’m saying that my belief shouldn’t be everybody’s loss.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and what I’m going to say, Dan, is even… Even the statements that we’re making right now, you, I, and Andy, there are those out there listening right now that are so hardcore in that rhino watch Davidian end of things that they would basically call all three of us heretics for even the way we’re talking right now, that we are not protecting the life of the unborn and so on and so forth because of our conversation. I look at it differently, saying, listen, I want to start looking at abortion, any other topic that we as conservatives want to start tackling, much like the Democrats did with gun control. Oh, you know what? We just want a background check. You know what? We think everybody should be able to buy and sell guns and have guns and so on. We don’t want to infringe on the Second Amendment. We just think people should have a background check. You see where I’m going here, Dan? I mean, what they did is they just sort of chipped away a little bit here, a little bit there. They got first downs. A little bit here, a little bit there. They got first downs here, first downs there. We don’t get any, ever, because we want it all.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah. Right. And…
SPEAKER 06 :
anyways you know and really quick here Dan also one last thing I’d be honest about who I am I’d say yeah I personally am pro-life and I will speak to persuade people privately personally you want to talk to me about abortion let’s do it we’ll have dinner we’ll talk you know I’m happy to do that but in the meantime I’m running for the right to serve all Republicans I don’t believe the Democrats have been doing that why Because they’ve been supporting late-term and tax-funded abortions, which most Republicans oppose. I’m sorry, which most Coloradans oppose. They’re not serving you.
SPEAKER 16 :
It’s pride, it’s whatever. We’re judgmental. I hate to say that, but we are very judgmental.
SPEAKER 11 :
We are.
SPEAKER 16 :
You’re right. In a… in general as a party, and we’re looked at as being judgmental.
SPEAKER 11 :
And really quick, Dan, and I’m sorry, I’m just going to say this because it’s true. And Lord forgive me for saying this, but it’s true. A lot of that judgmentalism, unfortunately… comes out of the church itself, and I’m sorry to say, Dan, but it does, because the church can be very judgmental. The church is, you know, there’s only one way to the cross, which, by the way, there is only one way. I get that. That is absolutely 1,000% true. Although, if you look at Christ and what he did to explain the message of the cross, he did it according to the people that he was with at that time and used many parables and things along those lines to actually get people to understand what all of that was about. He didn’t just say, if you don’t do this, you’re going to hell. He didn’t approach it that way.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right, and just to say it’s three L’s. It’s either law, license, or liberty. And when you’re in liberty, you have the liberty to do what you want, but that liberty doesn’t give you license to do what you want to do. And we want to live in the law where all the law is to do is to point out what’s wrong with us. That doesn’t mean we’re going to be saved through the law, but there’s so many people that are… that are under the license. They’ll do what they want to do, and they don’t care what it is, and they don’t want to follow the example that Christ left for us to follow.
SPEAKER 11 :
Really quick, bring that back into the political side. We do the exact same thing on the political side, Dan. It’s either our way or no way, and this is the way it’s going to be, period. And if you don’t have a 97% Liberty scorecard, then you’re not our candidate.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, that’s ridiculous. So that’s Everything you’re saying is just, I don’t know how we individuals that have our point of view can convince the majority of Republicans that we need to change our methods.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, all we can do is like today’s program, continue to talk about this, bring up real world examples, talk about the things that we really need to. And we’re going to spend even the next half hour talking about some of these other things that even AI says are important to the majority of Colorado voters. And as I rattled those off a few minutes ago, Dan, I can’t disagree with any of those. They’re spot on. It’s exactly what Colorado voters care about.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yep. And we need to market it. And convince them that the conservative way is a much better way than the liberal way.
SPEAKER 11 :
Dan, appreciate it, man. As always, let’s do this. Roof Savers of Colorado coming up next. You can extend the life of your roof up to 15 years with the RoofMax product, saving money on insurance in most cases, and ultimately saving money out of your pocket. Talk to Dave today. He’s got ways also of financing not only a full roof replacement, but the RoofMax treatment as well. 303-710-6916.
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Okay, running down through this, I’ll just say it, AI’s list of important things to voters in Colorado. And it didn’t say whether it was right, left, middle, whatever. It just said these are things that are important to Colorado voters. Number one, cost of living and affordability. Housing costs, especially along the front range, property taxes and insurance, everyday affordability, fuel, groceries, utilities. Yeah. In fact, it says here, the note is this is one of the most underlying concerns across political lines. So why are we not talking about this, Andy?
SPEAKER 06 :
Not enough. Most of our candidates don’t talk about it at all. Well, yeah. Really quick, should we start with the messaging or no? Yeah, go for it. Okay, here’s the big thing. All four of those things that you bring up, and I agree with them, those are priorities. And notice those are not the chief priorities of those who are about to take over the Colorado Republican Party.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, Andy, they’re not even on their list. Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, let’s be honest.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, they’re not there at all.
SPEAKER 06 :
But here’s the big issue. You talked about how all four of those things are things that appeal to both sides. But Colorado voters are in a fog of Democrat acceptance. They believe they are comfortable with Democrat leadership. They are comfortable with Democrats in charge. They believe Democrats will address those good enough.
SPEAKER 11 :
OK, and part of our message needs to be you voters are very conservative on a lot of the amendments and things that we try to get on the ballot and so on. You’re very good at voting that way and eliminating some of the extra costs that would come without those. And yet at the same time, you’ll vote for the very same people. Right. That will go that will go directly against the things you just voted.
SPEAKER 06 :
OK, but that’s the fog. That’s exactly what I’m saying. That’s what we got. When people are in a fog, they will.
SPEAKER 11 :
They don’t see it.
SPEAKER 06 :
They won’t see it. John, when people are in a fog, they don’t see, period. This is why we have these things called lighthouses out at sea. Because people are in a fog, they can’t see. They can’t see forward. And so even though they wanted oil and gas development in Colorado, they voted for people who shot it down. I mean, they literally voted to keep oil and gas development, and then they voted for people who literally took it away.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And they do it over and over and over.
SPEAKER 11 :
Same thing with property taxes and so on. We can go down the list.
SPEAKER 06 :
They don’t want their property taxes going up, but they voted for people who put their property taxes up. Right. Okay. This is where we are with Colorado voters. I’m telling you, folks, listen close. Those Colorado voters around you right now are in a fog. They’re walking around in a fog, a fog of contentment with liberal leadership. Okay. And here’s what I’m saying. The only way to break through a fog is with big messaging, big clarity. You cannot come at them with your 10 points, your 19 points, your 15 points. Okay. You can’t come to them with your 10 talking points on one issue. Now have your talking points, but you got to lead with something big on every single one. Let’s really quick talk about affordability in the, because what we’re really talking about is the economy. Okay. I want, I want all Colorado Republican candidates to remember two words. Is that asking so much, John? Two. Here they are. To. From. Can you remember those? To. From. From. Now, what does that mean? OK, it’s very simple. I want you to have an you deserve an economy. People run to not from. OK, you want affordability. Great. You want affordability. You deserve affordability that people run to. Not from. Okay. Now, where are they running from? Where are things too expensive? Oh, let’s see here. California, New York, Illinois. See where I’m going with this? Where do they run to? Florida, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina. Boom. Okay. Now, we have right now in front of us, John, the greatest marketing opportunity of our lives. Literally millions of Americans running from their states to our states. And here are Colorado candidates who, by the way, are wonderful people. Okay. But they’re not using this. You should, every single one of our Colorado candidates, and this is how you cut through the fog. Okay. I’m not going to go into all the little ways that I would fix the economy and the things that I would do to spur business growth, to do this, to do that.
SPEAKER 11 :
They won’t even know what that means.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. You know, and here’s what’s wrong with raising the minimum wage and how that’s going to suppress job creation. Everything I’m talking about, does any of that cut through the fog?
SPEAKER 05 :
No.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Okay. To, from. I want you, okay, you want more affordable? I do, too. I want you to have a more affordable lifestyle. I want, you deserve affordability that people run to. Not unaffordability that they run from.
SPEAKER 11 :
And one of the things you could say along those lines, folks, is use some of the larger corporations that have moved from Colorado recently. You literally could say, listen, this is what makes us a economy that people are running from and not to. We need to figure out ways to keep those employers, keep those businesses here. We do that by giving them reasons to stay in Colorado, help them out with their affordability as businesses and so on. Those are the messages that you have to give out.
SPEAKER 06 :
Everything John Rush said, you know what you were saying? We’re becoming a from. I don’t want to be a from. I want to be a to. Okay, here’s the beauty of it, John. Every single candidate, if you’re listening to me right now and you’re a candidate or if you know one, okay, every single one of you is opposing a Democrat. And that Democrat has a list of things that they believe on their website. All you got to do is go to them, and you can line them right up with California. Several of them, okay? And all you do is go and say, okay, Michael Bennett, I want you to have an economy people run to, not from. Michael Bennett supports this. Boom, boom, boom. Three things. All of these are things they use in California and they use in New York. He is advocating for from. I’m advocating for two. And the beauty of it is, John, you can use that on every single Democrat candidate. You are breaking through the fog with simplicity. And then you are reframing the entire debate, and you can use it on issue after issue after issue, but especially the economy and affordability, which is their number one thing. What do you think?
SPEAKER 11 :
You’re 100% correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. This is not hard.
SPEAKER 11 :
These are not hard things to do. And as I look at some of the Democrat candidates and what Andy just said, it’s not hard to go through each one of their points, point by point, I should say,
SPEAKER 06 :
and and literally tear them apart it’s not that hard to do no it isn’t at all you see this is so simple and we can do this on issue after issue after issue okay um what’s another one property taxes that’s pretty big right yeah one of the biggest things here in colorado okay how about this your property shouldn’t be a punishment nope why are you being punished for having a property That should be the reward of your hard work. You earned that property. Why did they turn it into a punishment? See, I’m not leading into all you see, and this is the history of this, and we got to cut them. Here’s where the numbers went too high. No one cares about that. You’re not cutting through the fog. Guys, your market is in a fog of democratic acceptance. Right. They’re accepting Democrat rule. They’re accepting of it. That’s a fog. You have to cut through it. If you do not cut through it, you’re going to lose.
SPEAKER 11 :
And one of the ways, by the way, to talk about affordability, when I mentioned this the other day with another candidate I was interviewing, which even his idea of how to handle housing costs and lower them was way off base. The biggest way. to lower affordability in Colorado isn’t by having more Section 8 housing, isn’t by having government build more homes, isn’t by doing all the things that they talk about along those lines. Number one thing you need to do as government here in Colorado, cap property taxes. That’s the easiest thing to to do, cap them. They can’t go over a certain rate. They can’t go over a certain mill levy. You cap everything across the board. That makes it really easy. How do you help everyday affordability come down? Get rid of regulations on businesses. Make it easier for them to do business and less costly.
SPEAKER 06 :
And notice, John, all of those details you just gave work under what? From two. Everything I’m talking about, they do in the twos. Okay? They do that all in the places people are running to. Don’t you want a lifestyle like they have in the twos? I’m telling you what, people in Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, they’re living the dream. You deserve that.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s sad that, well, it’s sad because we don’t have the right leadership in the party right now to do this, but the reality is we… We don’t have the right messaging among our own candidates here in Colorado to message the things that I’m talking about. And unfortunately, and some of you say, well, John, how do you know that? Because, guys, I interview these people on a routine basis. As we get closer to November, I’ll have a lot more because they’ll come out of the woodworks. They want to be on air. They want to talk about their campaign and this, that and the other. And it’s not that I don’t want to have them on. You know, I do and I’ll have them. But it’s amazing to me how many of them or how few of them, I should say, have a unified message. They just don’t have it. No. And we should, Andy.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. I’m telling you what. What if every single Republican candidate was talking to, from, to, from, to, from? You deserve an economy people run to, not from. You deserve affordability they run to, not from. You deserve property taxes like capping them that they run to, not from. Why? Why cap them? Why? Because then developers have a solid cap they can work with. They don’t have to worry, gee, if I come in here, are you going to jack them up on the people I’m selling to? Right. Homebuyers don’t have to worry about that. Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
uh what about education okay education is a big one with a lot of people my answer is very simple it is a big one although it’s not on this list i find that fun i find that funny because it because it would actually be a subcategory of one of them it probably would be it’s i mean it’s a it’s a big thing for some although i will say this i think there’s a lot of people like andy and i whereby either all your kids are grown or you didn’t have kids in the first place you You pay property taxes your entire life. You’re funding everybody else’s kid to go to school. And you’re tired of your property taxes continuing to escalate and yet looking at education scores drop. That’s a conversation in and of itself of what I just said.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
I’m not against education, but you know what? For the money we’re spending, we’re not getting a good return. How do we fix that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. And my answer would be very simply this. Once again, folks, they are in a fog of Democrat acceptance. Here’s how you cut through it. Your child success, and you’ve heard me say this before, your child success will be my only agenda in public schools. Period. End of story. Done. I’ve got a lot of personal beliefs. Now let me expand on that, okay? I’m talking to a voter. Hey, man, I got a lot of personal beliefs, okay? Guess what? None of them are going to be pushed on your kid in the school, and nor will the other side. You’ve had eight years of a governor who wanted all his personal beliefs to be in your kid’s curriculum. I want… Only one thing for your kid’s curriculum. I want to help your kid kick ass in the free market and succeed and win. That’s all I care about. Well, is that going to be public school? I don’t care which school. Okay? I believe in more choice. Why? Because I believe that no one is more invested in your kid than you. So I think you would make the best choices for your kid. Not me. Not them. You. Okay? That’s why I want you to have choice. Not so you can be more like me. If I wanted that, I would take control of the schools and make you more like me. That’s what they do. I want you to decide. So your child’s success should be the only agenda in schools. Right. Okay. See how that cuts through? That’s not a 20-point lecture on education. It’s a quick line. And here’s what I’m saying. Republican candidates on every single issue, and then we’ll go to break. You’ve got to have one quick line lead-in that shines the light through the fog of Democrat acceptance, okay, that reaches them quickly. You’ve only got a couple seconds to reach them and capture their interest. Then you can expand on it. But don’t start with your talking points. Start with that. What do you think?
SPEAKER 1 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
It’s time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Just for grins, and this isn’t because I’m endorsing anybody or I like anybody. He was top of mind, and I don’t know if he’s even made the ballot yet. I don’t know if all of his petitions have been successful, if he’s petitioned on yet or not. I don’t know. Victor Marks, I don’t know.
SPEAKER 06 :
I believe he got on.
SPEAKER 11 :
You think you got it? Okay. So according to Andy, he has. Now, I went to his website just for grins. I guess I could do this with every single candidate. But I went to his just for grins. And he’s done better. Websites changed, by the way, since the last time I mentioned this. So somebody’s listening. I don’t know who, but one of you out there is listening or some of you are out there listening because Victor’s got it down to four things, four key things he has on his website. Which, by the way, aren’t too different than what we’ve already been talking about. One’s a little bit different. Government accountability and transparency. Okay, that one’s easy. And the corruption, blah, blah, blah. Most people can relate to that. I get that. Housing, cost of living, we’ve just got done talking about. Law and order, public safety, that was next on our list anyways, which we haven’t gotten to yet. And then job taxes, economic growth, which was the other thing that we were going to mention.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
Really, the only thing out of the four things that we looked at that Victor doesn’t have that AI has is water, land, and environment. You could probably dovetail that into some other things. So realistically, Victor is covering the four things AI feels are important to Colorado.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
He probably used it. Yeah. By the way, good job.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. You know, crime. There’s another one.
SPEAKER 11 :
Law and order.
SPEAKER 06 :
You should feel much safer on your streets, period. You are not safe enough on the streets in Colorado.
SPEAKER 11 :
Correct. You should be able to walk down your street any time, day or night, 3 a.m. if you want, and not have any issues whatsoever.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. You need to be safer. You need to be safer. It’s not acceptable the way it is right now. And I’m telling you what, a lot of Coloradans will agree with that.
SPEAKER 11 :
Now, and again, I’m going to give whoever’s helping Victor, I’m going to give him credit because going back to the housing cost of living, if you click on any of his boxes and read more, you can actually look at some of the things that he’s got as to, for example, housing cost of living. So he’s got a few things underneath that that we’ve been talking about, Andy and I just have, slash red tape on home building. Yep. What did Andy and I just talk about earlier?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
Roll back cost-inflating mandates. Yep, same thing I just talked about a few minutes ago as well. Protect homeowners from backdoor tax hikes. Same thing Andy and I just got done talking about. Targeted tax relief for families and seniors. Yep, that one’s easy. And then reduce property insurance premiums. That one, by the way, is harder to talk about as a governor. There are things that government can do to help with that, but that one really has to do with risk and claims in Colorado. There’s not a lot government can do other than set up government funds, which I am not a fan of.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, the only thing that he’s really missing, though, once again, he’s not cutting through the fog of Democrat acceptance. He is putting out good generalizations. No details. That’s okay. I understand.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, each one of these, by the way, has details underneath.
SPEAKER 06 :
Probably underneath. Yeah, I didn’t read those. Which is great. You can walk through those. What it’s missing, though, is to from. Or something like that. Something big that says, you deserve a state people run to, not from. OK, and my look, the Democrats want they are. He could even say Michael Bennett. He is proposing this, this and this. Those are just like the states people are running from. I’m proposing this, this and this. That’s just like the states people are running to to from to from to from. You need to get all of the Colorado voters thinking in terms of to from. We need to get them thinking of those. They’re not going to think in terms of those five things that you just read, even though, by the way, I like them. Okay? But what they don’t have is a cover message that breaks through the fog.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, and again, point being, and I wasn’t – Good stuff. Yeah, I’m not trying to endorse – I get that question all the time. Who do you endorse? No one. Who am I for? No one. What do you think of so-and-so? I don’t know. I mean, and I know you guys think I’m dodging when you guys ask me those questions, but the reality is those are all true statements. I don’t know. There’s a lot of things that will shake out between now and our primary that happens, what, first part of – is it end of July, first of July? Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and by the way, we’re not even down on Scott Bottoms. We like him. Our only concern is he’s a 97% Liberty score in a 30% market.
SPEAKER 11 :
He is not electable, period. Period. End of discussion, folks. Period. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to cut Andy off, but there is no sense for those of you that are Scott Bottom supporters. I mean, he’s going to be in a town hall thing near my house here this evening, by the way. No, I’m not going because at the end of the day, Scott has zero chance of winning. Even if he wins the primary, he has zero chance of winning, period. None. Nada. Yeah, I don’t know how a 97%er sells to a 30% mark. He doesn’t, and that’s the problem. And I like Scott, but he will not sell to Coloradans. He has no ability to win. So no offense, even though his thing is only going to be a few blocks from my house tonight, why would I bother wasting my evening even going to that event knowing there’s not a snowball’s chance of him winning?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, there’s just no point.
SPEAKER 11 :
I’m sorry. It’s a waste of my time to go. It’s not that I don’t want to support him. It’s not that I don’t care. The reality is he’s not going to win. So why waste my time? Who could? Boy, right now, I hate to say this. I think it’s down to two people. It’s down to either Victor or Barb.
SPEAKER 06 :
Barb Kirkmeyer.
SPEAKER 11 :
I’m sorry. It’s down to one of those two. In my opinion, right now, currently, on today, March the 24th of 2026, we’re a long way from the primary. I don’t know who’s even going to win. But as far as our candidates go, I believe it’s down to those two.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and my big concern with both of them is that neither of them, in my opinion, cuts through the fog.
SPEAKER 11 :
I agree.
SPEAKER 06 :
OK, they don’t cut through the fog. And if you don’t cut through the fog, you’re not going to win. If you don’t get all Colorado voters talking in terms that you have, which you have used to frame the debate. Right. You’re not going to win them over because guess what? They are comfortable being governed by the other side.
SPEAKER 11 :
You are correct, Andy. And again, it’s not that I dislike or like or endorse either one of them. Frankly, I’ve met Barb one time. I’ve actually had a face-to-face conversation with her on air even, so I’ve seen her one time. Victor, I know absolutely zero about, never talked to him, never talked to anybody from his campaign. I know the least about him probably of any of the candidates that are there. Me too. So at the end of the day, I really have nothing to say, good, bad, or otherwise, because I just don’t know the man.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
He has an opportunity to introduce himself to us and my audience and so on, but that hasn’t happened yet. So I have nothing to say because there is nothing to say.
SPEAKER 06 :
He hasn’t called.
SPEAKER 11 :
He hasn’t called me. He hasn’t been on air, so I have nothing to say. I have no opinion.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. Well, let’s close with this.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Folks. The voters around you are in a fog of Democrat acceptance. They have accepted Democrat rule. You must cut through that fog. You can’t do it by leading with your lecture.
SPEAKER 11 :
Nope, they will not listen to that. They don’t care at the end of the day. Think about this, too. What Andy said is very true, but think about this. I’ll add one more thing. Every voter has WIFM written across their forehead. What’s in it for me? Just remember that as a candidate. We’ll be back tomorrow. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
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