I wish I was writing today about the best, every-fall option on flavoring, because pumpkin spice is an easy choice for me. It suits my taste to a T. 

And no, I won’t get sucked into an online debate of tacos versus pumpkin spice. This is America for crying out loud! I will defend my right to enjoy the completely different flavorings of the aforementioned treats for my tastebuds.  If only we could say that about our elected representatives. 

To be honest, having both parties in charge together would only make things worse than I could ever imagine — although gridlock is best when it comes to government — because we’d get the worst from both parties working together to achieve their Machiavellian ways. 

That said, the 2022 elections once again offer up the lessers of evils and automatic
re-election for too many feckless incumbents. Still, the are obvious choices between candidates who care about Americans who still stand a chance of losing to folks who only now say they care about Americans. 

Heck, we’ve already had lot of that in party primaries. In Colorado, we even have a group of Republicans running  — some losing and not quitting or screaming voter fraud — who’ve made an art of attacking other Republicans for not thinking, acting and speaking exactly as they demand.

Wow. Republicans running like Democrats. Who knew? 

This brings me to our local race for Congress. We have a candidate who comes out in an ad for lower inflation, local economic growth and jobs, safer and stronger communities, affordable energy and fixing Washington, D.C., because it is broken. Boy, it’s difficult to get Lauren Boebert off message, isn’t it? Problem is, that’s not Lauren’s ad — although it certainly could be for every moment since she announced her candidacy more than two years ago. It’s the new ad for her opponent.  

I realize it would be difficult to imagine for those paying scant, if any, attention to the coming election just what kind of ads Lauren’s opponent has been running. Allow me to help. They’re all attack ads about Lauren’s character, belief system and basically calling her crazy with cult-like support for Donald Trump. The crazy tag is one of the most dismissive things one can say about another because it removes humanity — hat tip to Dave Chappell. Of course, they’re mostly lies. Boebert supports many of Trump’s policies. but I have no idea the level she supports Trump the man. Knowing Lauren, she’d look at each situation as she would policies and make up her mind in doing what’s best for her constituents. 

But that’s not what Democrats want us to do. They’d like to make up our minds for us. That’s why Lauren Boebert’s opponent is trying to sound just like Lauren the closer we get to the election. He knows what the people of Lauren’s district actually want for their lives, and he has to say it to get elected. The problem is, he doesn’t care what anyone wants outside of Democrat leadership. And he doesn’t realize we care. 

If Democrats are against cultural appropriation, they should certainly be against alien-like, persona appropriation. But many will vote for this imposter anyway. His only other beef with Lauren is another YUGE reason to vote for her: She hasn’t passed any legislation. Someone needs to tell this guy most of us don’t vote for lawmakers — we’ve elected too many of them making too many laws already. We want someone to represent us. Frankly, the new ad is proof Lauren is doing just that. Maybe Lauren should do the voiceover and provide a picture for producing the next ad? 

In writing about campaigns for the coming election, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the insanity in the Pennsylvania Senate race where the Democrats are running someone whose public speaking makes Joe Biden seem like he taught Barack Obama everything he knows about eloquent rhetoric that states nothing but lasts for hours.

 I know many are going to say it’s heartless to write about stroke victims in recovery in such a harsh manner. To that, I’d say stroke victims in recovery shouldn’t run for Senate. They should work on recovery. My personal knowledge tells me stroke victims lose many cerebral and physical abilities and need at least moderate, if not full-time, assistance to even attempt to live a normal life let alone run for one of the 100 highest offices in the land. 

I should also mention our governor, whose latest ad promotes highlights that can be boiled down to distributing federal COVID funds to his favorite constituencies and giving back the money from over-taxation he’s required to by law. I mean, that is who he is. But how he says it is complete fabrication. 

That’s the election environment in America today. Vote for who one is pretending to be versus who and whatever that same one says their opponent is. My solution? Pay attention to what candidates say and have said and what they do and have done. Believe your own ears and eyes. 

And go with the pumpkin spice. It’s the real deal.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.