{"id":1659503,"date":"2022-09-27T06:53:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1659503"},"modified":"2022-09-27T06:55:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:55:56","slug":"what-kind-of-senator-would-colorados-pro-abortion-republican-joe-odea-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-kind-of-senator-would-colorados-pro-abortion-republican-joe-odea-be\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kind Of Senator Would Colorado\u2019s Pro-Abortion Republican Joe O\u2019Dea Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhat-kind-of-senator-would-colorados-pro-abortion-republican-joe-odea-be%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1659503&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>DENVER \u2014 Conservatives have a lot to be skeptical about when it comes to Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O\u2019Dea.<\/p>\n<p>A first-time candidate with no record to run on beyond 30 years in the construction industry, O\u2019Dea is a pro-abortion Republican chasing a blue seat in the upper chamber with the full support of party leadership.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/united-states\/2022\/09\/01\/colorados-senate-race-may-offer-republicans-an-alternative-to-trumpism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Profiled<\/a> in The Economist as \u201can alternative to Trumpism,\u201d O\u2019Dea is a supporter of abortion up to five months of pregnancy, backs granting citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, and just last week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=--Lb7qUc0BI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repeated<\/a> Democrats\u2019 lies that President Donald Trump waited \u201cthree and a half hours to say \u2018enough\u2019s enough&#8217;\u201d as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/12\/16\/j6-committee-fabricates-more-evidence-says-trump-waited-187-minutes-to-call-for-peace-it-was-actually-25\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">It was actually 25 minutes<\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>In July, GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blessed O\u2019Dea as \u201cthe perfect candidate\u201d in a year that McConnell, the top elected Republican in the country, has been <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/19\/come-on-mitch-mcconnell-republicans-need-you-to-step-up-and-lead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complaining<\/a> about \u201ccandidate quality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And despite many reasons to be skeptical of O\u2019Dea, even Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is among the most reliably conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/search?query=cotton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">96 percent<\/a> rating from Heritage Action for America, was in Colorado on Monday to make the case for O\u2019Dea. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that [O\u2019Dea] will not vote for Joe Biden 98 percent of the time, which is what Michael Bennet will do,\u201d Cotton told The Federalist on the sidelines of an event with about two dozen supporters south of Denver. The senator pulled the number from <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/biden-congress-votes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FiveThirtyEight <\/a>when confronted with O\u2019Dea\u2019s platform on immigration and abortion, which are far different from Cotton\u2019s own. \u201cI very much believe in what Reagan said, that my 80 percent ally is my 80 percent friend, he\u2019s not my 20 percent enemy, and I\u2019m confident that Joe O\u2019Dea and I, almost every other Republican, would probably vote together even more than 80 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-1024x768-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-280068\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-1024x768-1.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-300x225-1.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-768x576-1.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-1536x1152-1.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_1050-1-2048x1536-1.jpeg 2048w\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Hours before the pair campaigned together at a business park down the street from the state GOP headquarters, Cotton joined O\u2019Dea for a ride-along with the Jefferson County sheriff to shed light on the fentanyl crisis and slam the administration\u2019s open-borders policy. Colorado saw a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/fentanyl-overdose-deaths-colorado\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">70 percent<\/a> spike in fatal fentanyl overdoses from 2020 to 2021 as lockdowns crippled the state. Encompassing Denver\u2019s western suburbs, Jefferson County is at the center of the drug epidemic as the major interstates that crisscross the state meet at the capital and facilitate the trafficking of illicit substances. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CampfireColo\/status\/1574485586320277527?s=20&amp;t=-N8VTMgcpc4Ceyy2AM2MRg\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Reminiscing on the afternoon tour with law enforcement, to which the press was not invited, O\u2019Dea assured the few voters who had gathered at the end of the workday that shutting down the border is \u201ca primary issue for me.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While O\u2019Dea\u2019s politics and platform make the Colorado construction executive appear more similar to Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, O\u2019Dea\u2019s brief remarks played to the conservative audience. He hammered a lack of border security, rising crime, and excessive wokeness taking over the military.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we want to get the wokeism, the liberals out of power and start putting some policies in that are good for working Americans, I need to get across the finish line in November,\u201d O\u2019Dea said. <\/p>\n<p>Even after he tossed red meat to the crowd, however, O\u2019Dea touted the Murkowski-Collins abortion bill claiming to codify <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> into law as opposed to the bill that would ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. If passed, Graham\u2019s bill would shift U.S. abortion policy to better align with <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/13\/make-democrats-defend-their-abortion-extremism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the rest<\/a> of the developed world. Earlier this month, however, O\u2019Dea <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2022\/09\/13\/joe-odea-lindsey-graham-abortion-bennet-senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> 15 weeks went too far and pushed the Murkowski-Collins legislation that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.murkowski.senate.gov\/press\/release\/kaine-murkowski-sinema-and-collins-introduce-legislation-to-codify-roe-v-wade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">would<\/a> \u201censhrine in federal law the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a few other things I\u2019d add to that bill,\u201d O\u2019Dea told The Federalist of the proposal put forward by Collins and Murkowski. For example, O\u2019Dea cited the need for parental notification when their children get abortions. \u201cWe got that here in Colorado, but that would be an important part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The political newcomer would no doubt govern as a relative moderate, contrary to Democrat attacks of extremism after they boosted O\u2019Dea\u2019s Trump-supporting primary challenger with more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/colorados-race-to-the-rhetorical-middle-joe-odea-michael-bennet-abortion-energy-senate-midterm-election-extreme-red-blue-purple-11664198934\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$4 million<\/a> in the primary. How moderate O\u2019Dea might actually govern is still to be determined. After all, he\u2019s running in a state that hasn\u2019t elected a Republican for president since George W. Bush in 2004. So by presidential standards, Colorado is a deeper shade of blue than Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Thus it\u2019s conceivable O\u2019Dea is merely playing to constituents where active Democrat voters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/elections\/VoterRegNumbers\/2022\/August\/VotersByPartyStatus.pdf\">outnumber<\/a> Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>When asked who he molded his political philosophy around, O\u2019Dea cited Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like the way Tim Scott\u2019s able to work with both sides on occasion, which is important,\u201d O\u2019Dea told The Federalist before going on to admire the legacy of Ronald Reagan. \u201cI come from the Reagan years. \u2026 Peace through strength \u2014 I liked a lot of his foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On more funding for Ukraine, which may get an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/government-funding-bill-include-over-12-billion-new-ukraine-aid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">additional $12 billion<\/a> pending passage of the latest spending bill, O\u2019Dea called for more oversight of taxpayer dollars but refused to shut the door to more aid. An additional $12 billion would bring total U.S. assistance to Ukraine up to $65 billion.<\/p>\n<p>A moderate Republican could still do far more for the country reining in the Biden administration than the rubber-stamp Democrat incumbent. Biden\u2019s first two years in office have offered a painful lesson in the difference that even a one-seat majority can make in the upper chamber. One vote, for example, made the difference between the success and failure of the wrongly named \u201cInflation Reduction Act\u201d and the \u201cAmerican Rescue Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Considering the arithmetic of the evenly split Senate, where this year\u2019s election map looks tricky for Republicans, Bennet\u2019s seat could be the dark-horse pick-up to reclaim the GOP majority in the upper chamber. Colorado could be especially important if McConnell\u2019s efforts to forfeit Republicans\u2019 golden opportunity in Arizona succeed. Eyeing a Senate minority he can control, as opposed to a majority that threatens to elect new leadership, McConnell <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/21\/mcconnell-abandons-arizona-senate-race-to-maintain-a-gop-he-can-control\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropped<\/a> nearly $20 million from the race between venture capitalist Blake Masters and incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DENVER \u2014 Conservatives have a lot to be skeptical about when it comes to Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O\u2019Dea. A first-time candidate with no record to run on beyond<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":1659507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1659503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1659507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}