If you know Dan Caplis, on KHOW's Caplis and Silverman radio show, you know he sticks to GOP talking points like glue. Make that cement.
As such, he's the kind of talk-radio host who might worry a little bit about whether the Republican Party in Colorado can win over independent voters if it cozies up to extremists who say things that don't make common sense.
Because say what you will about the apolitical nature of swing voters, they still look for ideas that aren't dumb-ass stupid and nonsensical. Suburban women are particularly inclined to shy away from such ideas.
So, you tell me if the following statement falls into the dumb-ass and nonsensical category:
"Obama views not Iran, not North Korea, but America as the bad guy."
Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman were mum yesterday as Dinesh D'Souza told them not only that, but also that Obama has a goal to take down America to the level of Somalia, but he needs four more years to do it.
You might think D'Souza is the kind of guy that Republicans like Caplis would want to hide from independent voters in Colorado. Stuff him in black box when he promotes his book in Colorado, and get him out of here asap.
But no. Caplis eagerly promoted D'Souza's appearance yesterday at a GOP fundraiser at Magianno's at the Denver Pavilions, posting a flyer about the event on the show's KHOW web page.
Caplis and Silverman could at least have discussed whether it's intelligent, much less appropriate, for the Colorado GOP to give a microphone to D'Souza who says that the president of the United States thinks our country is worse than Iran or North Korea.
I know the Colorado GOP has to be thick-skinned to hold up its tent, and I'm not saying D'Souza should be censored, but why would Republicans pay $50 to hear him speak and promote him to any voter with a brain?
Asked about his questioning of D'Souza today, Silverman told me:
There are time constraints in that I have a co-host. In an ideal world, I could have spent three hours individually interrogating Dinesh D'Souza because I listened to his book cover-to-cover. I don't agree with his one-size-fits-all theory of Barack Obama, but I do find it interesting...
I didn't have anything to do with putting up that promo for the luncheon, but I don't have a big problem with it either. If I had time, I might go see him today. I don't have to agree with a book to find it interesting...
Dinesh D'Souza is probably far right, and definitely conservative. I think he's entitled to his point of view just as Jason Salzman is entitled to your far-left view. I don't think either of you should be censored. And if the Colorado Democratic Party wants to have a program with you, I have no problem with it. And if we cover it on KHOW, I would have no problem if we decided to post a promotion for your event."
D'Souza's thinking is reminiscent of Tom Tancredo's comment last year at an appearance with U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck:
The greatest threat to the United States today, the greatest threat to our liberty, the greatest threat to the Constitution of the United States, the greatest threat to our way of life, everything we believe in, the greatest threat to the country that was put together by the Founding Fathers is the guy who is in the White House today.
Buck felt the need to put some space between him and Tancredo, saying at the time:
I don't agree. I think there are a lot of threats to the White House and I don't think the man in the White House is the greatest threat to this country at all. I am concerned about the direction of the country, but -- I love Tom, but I don't always agree with him.
But later, you recall, after Jane Norton gently embraced Tancredo's comment, Buck also warmed up to Tancredo's position a bit.
In any case, I think Caplis and Silverman should have called out D'Souza's extremism more forcibly and questioned its place in the political debate here in Colorado. Silverman isn't scared to do this, but he missed an opportunity yesterday.