Colorado Corn

Signs are beginning to pop up in yards like red and blue flowers as the campaigns heat up for the presidency, Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat and the next person to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat from District 4.

Tonight, Morgan County residents have the opportunity to see some of that District 4 campaign in person as Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, R-Fort Morgan, and Democratic challenger Betsy Markey of Fort Collins debate at Fort Morgan High School beginning at 7 p.m.

Lorrie Boyer of local radio station KSIR will moderate the debate, because she covers agriculture, which will be the focus of this debate. It is sponsored by the Colorado Dairy Farmers, the Colorado Corn Growers, the Colorado Livestock Association and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. These groups will forward the candidates several questions.

It is unusual to see a debate for a national-level office in Fort Morgan and those who care about their government ought to take the chance while they have it. It is no big trip even for those who live out in unincorporated Morgan County.

Those who do not want to brave the crowds can still catch the debate live on radio stations KSIR 1010 AM, KUNC 91.5 FM and KPMX 105.7.

However, they will miss out on the chance to see the rough and tumble of a hotly contested seat up close.

While this forum is billed as an agricultural debate, those in the audience can anticipate jabs from both sides on what the other candidate has done wrong. This campaign has seen multiple television ads which accuse each side of corruption of one sort or another. Those accusations have ranged from being in the pocket of big oil to taking advantage of a position to profit unfairly from government contacts.

The airwaves are full of negative advertising, but this is a chance to hear more about the candidates’ real policies and positions, as well as getting a feel for them as people.

This is one of the most closely watched campaigns in the nation. Democrats are hoping to take the seat, giving them a greater representation in the House of Representatives during a year when some believe that the Democrats have the advantage. Polls show a close race.

Those who live in Fort Morgan may have met Musgrave, who has been the Republican congresswoman in the 4th district for almost six years.

While she grew up in rural Weld County and graduated from Eaton High School, she taught school in Fort Morgan and started her political career as a member of the Fort Morgan School District Board of Education. Later she served in both the Colorado State House of Representatives and the Colorado State Senate.

Democratic challenger Markey served as a legislative aide on the House Subcommittee on Post Office and Civil Service after graduating from college. She earned a master’s degree in public administration and was appointed a presidential management fellow, earning assignments with the Treasury Department and the State Department. Later, she served as the director of computer security policy and training in the Office of Information Systems Security.

She and her husband started the Internet business Syscom Services in the late 1980s.

We urge everyone to find some way to hear the debate, since the outcome will not only impact our local area but could affect the entire nation.

See you there!