If you were watching then U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) during his failed re-election campaign last year, you know he took every opportunity, especially toward the end of his campaign, to criticize Trump, trying to convince voters in his Aurora district that he wasn’t a Trump Republican.
Casper Stockham, the newly minted Republican who’s running in Aurora, thinks Coffman made a big mistake, and so he’s planning to carry the Trump flag on the campaign trail as early and often as possible.
The Colorado Times Recorder spoke with Stockham, an uber driver and motivational speaker, about his pro-Trump strategy, and here are a few excerpts from the interview, edited for space considerations.
CTR: How could embracing Trump possibly work in that swing district?
Casper Stockham: Because of Trump’s record. Not his rhetoric but his record. Everyone is focused on Trump’s rhetoric, his tweets and such, and a lot of people are tagging him with being a racist, but that’s so far from being truthful, it’s kind of embarrassing.
CTR: Coffman himself said women in the suburbs in the district were so angry at Trump that they broke for the Democrat, [Congressman] Jason Crow. Do you think you can win them over?
Stockham: I’m positive I can win them over. There’s a lot in Trump’s record that I can point to…. The job market and the economy are doing quite well.
CTR: How do you think suburban women will react to the accusations of rape and sexual harassment against Trump?
Stockham: Until they are proven, they’re just accusations. So I don’t know how they are going to react to it, to be honest. They may see them as just attacks on Trump because people don’t like him. Like the lady who was on CNN, she’s obviously not a fan.
CTR: Are you saying that if Coffman had run a different campaign, he would have won?
Stockham: I’m not sure, with the blue wave that came through. But I’m betting that this time around, supporting Trump is going to be a good idea.
CTR: Polls show unaffiliated voters remain super angry at Trump.
Stockham: I have so little confidence in the polls, because they are the same polls that said Hillary was going to win.