Why Governor Polis's Flirtation with Clemency for Tina Peters is a Betrayal of Democracy – And Yet Another Tone-Deaf Blunder by Democrats
Why would anyone pardon this criminal?
In the annals of political self-sabotage, few moves rival the spectacle unfolding in Colorado right now. Democratic Governor Jared Polis, a self-styled progressive with a libertarian streak, is seriously entertaining the idea of granting clemency to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines in a desperate bid to prop up Donald Trump's baseless 2020 election fraud claims. Peters, who showed zero remorse during her trial and was sentenced to nine years in prison, represents everything wrong with the MAGA-fueled assault on American elections. Yet here we are, with Polis extending the clemency application deadline to April 3 and publicly musing about "sentencing disparities" in a way that screams political expediency over principle.
This isn't just a bad idea; it's a dangerous one. And it's a textbook example of how Democrats, even in blue strongholds like Colorado, can be astonishingly tone-deaf when it comes to the optics, and substance, of defending democracy.
The Tina Peters Saga: A Crash Course in Election Sabotage
