Let your opinion be known at The Daily Camera Online Forums . With two third-party candidates in the picture, the issues in this year's 2nd Congressional District touch on everything from global warming to legalizing drugs. The Rotary Club held a forum Tuesday attended by all four candidates running for the congressional seat that represents Boulder County as well as Gilpin and Clear Creek counties and parts of Jefferson and Adams counties. In the Nov. 7 general election, Green Party candidate Ron Forthofer, Libertarian candidate David Baker and Republican candidate Carolyn Cox are attempting to unseat Democrat Mark Udall, first elected to Congress in 1998. Two years after a new law passed allowing minor parties in Colorado easier ballot access, campaign debate has broadened to encompass issues not always addressed by Republicans and Democrats.
Candidates say the law has made a difference, bringing new issues into the public discourse.
Democratic Chairman Tim Knaus said Colorado has the second largest number of third-party candidates running for office. That doesn't happen anymore. Baker, a Boulder health care professional, calls for personal freedom with less government interference, free trade, doing away with the federal income tax system and legalizing drugs. The same thing we do with spoiled, rotten fruit. Throw it out, and the sooner the better.