Colby Coash Can't Be Trusted

In his 2008 campaign, State Senator Colby Coash promised Lincoln voters he would be a progressive voice in the Legislature.  He promised to stand up for progressive values and fight for those in need.  As a candidate, he said health care is a basic human right.  He said he’d fight corporate greed and end a culture of corruption dominated by lobbyists and corporate fat cats.  Those are all his words.  His promises.  And Senator Coash failed to deliver on every single one.

The attached images are just a taste of the promises Coash made in his 2008 campaign.  Remember that promise that health care should be a basic human right?  That didn’t stop Coash from cosponsoring an amendment to the state constitution supporting nullification of President Obama’s health care reform bill - even though that would mean tens of thousands of Nebraskans remaining uninsured while hundreds of thousands lose protection against pre-existing conditions.  As for those lobbyists and corporate fat cats, Senator Coash didn’t fight them.  He fought to make their job even easier by voting to eliminate our campaign finance laws.

Are those progressive values?  Is that who District 27 thought it was voting for?  Did they know that Senator Coash would support a Voter ID bill that targets students, seniors, and the poor with new barriers to voting?  Did they know he’d cosponsor extremist “stand your ground” gun legislation pushed by ALEC and the Koch brothers?  Did they know he’d oppose embryonic stem cell research, public funding for family planning services, and even women making their own health choices when they’ve been victims of rape and incest?  Did they know that Pete Ricketts was Coash’s biggest campaign contributor?  Did they know he’d invite Ted Nugent to take a break from threatening the President to help him raise even more money for his campaign?  Did they know that Senator Coash would tell the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce that the state isn’t really looking at a $600 million budget shortfall and that all we have to do is cut our projected funding for public education.

The facts are there.  Senator Coash shouldn’t be able to get away with saying anything he wants to win votes – not when he has a record of so many broken promises and betrayals.  Unfortunately, a lot of people who should know better have been willing to look the other way because Coash presents himself as more moderate than many of his colleagues in the Legislature.  But, those other State Senators didn’t lie to get elected.  They didn’t lie about their values and promise to be a progressive voice.  No matter their ideology, any Senator who's been honest about who they are and what they stand for is more deserving of respect than Coash with his history of shameless deception.

Senator Coash won in 2008 by lying to voters.  District 27 deserves better.  A vote for Kyle Michaelis is a vote for accountability.  It's a vote for integrity.  It's a vote for genuine leadership rather than someone who's only telling people what they want to hear and playing political games.