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A lot of people talk about all the similarities between the three 5th District candidates.  I agree.  There are a lot of similarities.  All three are socially conservative.  All three are fiscally conservative.  All three believe in the 2nd Amendment.  All three would likely make the top of any list ranking conservative voting record.  Is there even a real choice to make in August?  Do we just vote for the person who can out-conservatize the other two?  In 2006 we witnessed an exciting primary as the field of candidates all ran to the right, something that we take for granted in the 5th district as most Republican candidates in other parts of the state and country are having to race to the middle.  2008 will likely be a similar spectacle.  2008 will likely be just as fun to watch, although it is only a three-way race this time.  No matter who wins, Colorado Springs and the rest of the 5th will have a dependable conservative vote.  But is that all we want?  Just send a guy to Congress that will vote how we like?  Of course it is better than sending someone who will not vote the way we want, but I don’t think we need to worry about that.  Jeff Crank, Doug Lamborn and Bentley Rayburn will all give us a consistent conservative vote. 

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CD-5 is abuzz tonight with the possibility that Rep. Doug Lamborn may be forced to prepare ballot petitions as a backup strategy. Sources close to Lamborn say that while his campaign expects to meet the 30% threshold for ballot placement, they may attempt the "Marc Holtzman strategy" of attempting to do both at the same time. 

Lamborn's campaign openly floated the idea of bypassing caucuses all together and solely petitioning onto the ballot during 2007, but after Bentley Rayburn backed out of the caucus all talk of petitioning on stopped until now. Facing an uncertain outcome in El Paso County yesterday and likely steep losses in the other CD5 counties, Lamborn now needs a contingency plan as he may have very little wiggle room between now and the CD5 convention if something goes wrong.

One thing is clear, Lamborn is in a very precarious position for an incumbent Congressman. This is unheard of.

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From The Gazette:

Lamborn’s opponents — business consultant Jeff Crank and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn — questioned the out-of-state fundraiser.

“It strikes me as a little funny because I haven’t seen him do many fundraisers here in Colorado,” Rayburn said. “It’s interesting he’ll go to New Orleans to talk about the issues, but he won’t talk to people in Colorado Springs about the issues.”

Lamborn leads the three in contributions, with $263,681, according to 2007 Federal Election Commission filings. Of that, 60 percent, or $157,563, came from political action committees, most of them from out of state. He’s spent roughly $60,000 on fundraising.

Crank has raised $118,768, of which $4,250 came from PACs. He’s spent $3,230 on fundraising.

Rayburn has raised $90,640, of which $1,000 came from a PAC. He’s spent $6,050 raising money.

Rayburn and Crank also took issue with the wording of the invitation: “Doug Lamborn faces a tough primary this year against two sore-losing moderates whom he defeated last time.”
Crank said the sore-loser tag was insulting.

“Those are the sort of tactics used last time, and it seems as though it’s going to be a repeat,” Crank said.

The 2006 race for the Republican nomination after long-time Congressman Joel Hefley announced he was retiring was marked by accusations of dirty tactics.

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An email has been circulating around that was sent by a surrogate of Rep. Doug Lamborn. The email reads as follows:

Members and Guests of the Council for National Policy
are cordially invited to a reception honoring
US Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-CO5
Friday, March 7, 5-6pm
Crescent View Room
Ritz-Carlton Hotel
New Orleans
Suggested Donation $250
Hosts: US Rep. Michele Bachmann, State Sen. John & Donna Andrews,
State Sen. David & Sandra Schultheis, Amb. Henry & Bobbye Cooper, David Keane, Tom Minnery, Ray & Gail Moore, Rod & Sherri Martin

Congressman Lamborn will discuss terrorism on the CNP Law & Justice panel earlier Friday. He is a co-founder of the House Caucus on Missile Defense. As a freshman in 2007, he topped the Congressional Quarterly rankings for voting against the Democrats more consistently than any other member, and he earned a 100% rating from the Club for Growth.

First elected from Colorado Springs in 2006, Doug Lamborn faces a tough primary this year against two sore-losing moderates whom he defeated last time. We as hosts would like to have you know this outstanding conservative and join us in supporting him.

Say what you will about Jeff Crank and Gen. Rayburn, they are not "sore-losing moderates." To try and impugn up-standing conservatives in this way is a despicable act. Next thing you know, Lamborn and Co. will try to claim they "support the radical homosexual lobby."

Oh, wait...

You would have thought that Lamborn would have learned not to pull stunts like this. As I recall, Jeff Crank was winning overwhelmingly in every county in the 5th CD in the voting that took place after the blowback from Lamborn's slander campaign. You better watch yourself Rep. Lamborn, the early voting won't save you this time.

As for the source of this email, it originated from declaration1776@aol.com. The only place this email is listed in Google is in a post on Backbone America attributed to John Andrews. I sincerely hope that John Andrews wasn't behind this smear, but to make sure you should probably email declaration1776@aol.com to find out and let him (or her) know how you feel about slandering Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn.