Has State Representative Don Marostica Wandered Off the Political Cliff?

Update, 3/17: Link added – check out “Keep The Cap Colorado”

Saying state representative Don Marostica is not the future of the Colorado Republican Party was one of the blog understatements of the year. As if latching on to the Democratic caucus to support California-like spendthrift policies wasn’t enough by itself, Marostica had to go and try to explain his position.

From Don Marostica’s hometown, this Loveland Politics report seems to indicate the representative has walked off the political cliff:

If the purpose of Saturday’s “town hall” meeting was to mend fences within his own party, it failed miserably when the Republican legislator Marostica told those assembled “Now, I know Republicans — really get nervous about that because they have been telling that lie for a long time.” Marostica was referring to the concern that a repeal of [Arveschoug-Bird] would lead to higher taxes to cover the extra spending since the state is unable to carry a budget deficit the way the federal government does.

Marostica lectured the audience that Democrats are not runaway taxers and spenders like many in his party believe but instead mostly responsible people who want a balanced budget. He than accused “at least 15%” of his own colleagues in the legislature of not really being Republicans but instead Libertarians who don’t want the government to collect or spend even a single dollar. Many of his comments lent credibility to the rumor Marostica is preparing to change political parties before the next election.

I’m not sure what is more unsettling – the incoherent logic, phony rhetoric, or Democratic talking points (all of which seem to overlap in this account).

Among other things, seems there’s a lesson in here to be reinforced: Blindly trusting party designations is a foolhardy strategy. It looks like Don Marostica used the Republican label as a mere convenience to get himself elected. Will the state GOP have the courage to abstain from providing him support, if necessary, in the coming election? Then again, that seems to be what Marostica wants.