Speaking of Ken Buck …
Krista Kafer calls herself an honorable Republican, but all she has done as a Denver Post columnist is denigrate Donald Trump, the MAGA movement, and the Colorado GOP, and she less frequently is writing about the disastrous policies of the Biden administration or the two-tiered justice system and federal bureaucracy weaponized against conservatives and Donald Trump’s candidacy. She tried to prevent the more than 500,000 Coloradans who voted for Donald Trump in the Republican primary from being able to make that choice.
I will comment on one “honorable” Republican she lists. Rep. Ken Buck used to be a conservative hero. But he inexplicably decided against voting for the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, whose actions to implement Biden’s open border policy have done nothing but undermine our national security. Buck is also walking away from his U.S. House seat, leaving it unfilled for months and making a slim Republican majority in the House even slimmer because he can’t have his way. He is denying representation in Congress to his constituents who elected him.
Kafer claims to support lower taxes, a leaner government, a balanced budget, American world leadership, entrepreneurship, natural rights, the rule of law, personal responsibility, honesty, dignity, and optimism, which conservative Republicans stand for. However, as evidenced by current Biden administration policies, she will not see these things in a second Biden administration, which she is, in effect, endorsing.
— Steve Lloyd, Cheyenne, Wyo.
What about a presidential ticket of Ken Buck and Liz Cheney to reinstate civility in Washington?
— Bill Campbell, Arvada
Re: “Buck to step down,” March 13 news story
The article states that Ken Buck “indicated, without offering specifics, that he hopes to play a role more broadly in improving electoral politics in the U.S.”
U.S. Representative Ken Buck would do well by joining the movement of improving politics through the implementation of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in state and federal elections. In Alaska and Maine, which have implemented RCV statewide, the result is representatives that better represent their constituents, don’t need to cater to the polarized extremes in their parties, and have campaigns that are less cantankerous.
The job of a legislator is to represent all constituent voters and to bring a broad spectrum of ideas to the table. Single-party legislatures, like those in blue Massachusetts or red Wyoming, are known for orthodoxy rather than looking at things from different angles. Most Americans on either side agree on some fundamental principles and solutions that would make our nation work better. However, polarization from extreme elements of a party prevents working together and compromise. Compromise can cause a reasonable legislator to be “primaried” by that extreme element in their party.
The USA is operating on democracy version 1.0. We can improve our democracy through RCV.
— Thomas G. Alley, Broomfield
In suddenly stepping away from Congress, Ken Buck has displayed his utter frustration and anger at the radical turn of the Republican Party, now so deeply enthralled with Donald Trump. Local conservative voices, such as Krista Kafer’s, have also expressed particular dismay at the joining of Colorado Republicans to Trump’s wildest claims. They see the Party as having gone off the rails. This is no guarantee that they will vote Democratic, but it does reveal a sizeable dent in the Republican Party structure.
— Robert Porath, Boulder