Sixty Years Ago This Week: In a inter-party skirmish over a centrist politician perhaps less common for the time period, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Fred Betz Jr. told reporters that across the Western Slope he was finding community members who were shocked and outraged at Colorado Republican Party Chairman Jean Tool’s plans to pour money into the 1962 campaign to defeat incumbent U.S. Rep. Wayne Aspinall of Congressional District 4.

“Everywhere I went on the Western Slope … this is the reaction I got from voters of all shades of political belief,” Betz said. “Western Slope voters resent the outside interference in this matter and they are amazed at the cynicism expressed in Mr. Tool’s apparent belief that he can pour in enough money to defeat Congressman Aspinall.”

Betz argued that, not only was Aspinall the senior member of the Colorado delegation, but through years of long service and dedication to his work, the congressman had attained a high rank in the House membership. It would take a new congressman years to cultivate and achieve Aspinall’s level of influence, Betz said, and in the meantime the constituency would suffer.

“Wherever you go on the Western Slope you see activity that is the result of the years which Aspinall has devoted to his district,” Betz said.

Betz spoke at several locations across the district and said that he hoped that Democrats would return Aspinall to Congress by “the biggest majority in the history of his service to the district.”

“It is important that you make the margin as big as possible …” Betz told the Montrose County Democrats at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. “We must not only re-elect Congressman Aspinall … but we must also give strong support to U.S. Sen. John Carroll, who understands and supports the Kennedy programs for the development of Colorado and the West.”

Republican Mesa County farmer Leo Sommerville was chosen at the GOP assembly to challenge Aspinall and was later defeated in the general election by Aspinall by a margin of 58.6% to 41.4% of the vote.

Thirty-Five Years Ago: U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong spoke at the Douglas County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner, predicting a strong outcome in the 1988 election and a disappointing one for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, who also happened to be a fellow Coloradoan.

“The next President of the United States is not going to be Gary Hart,” Armstrong said to prolonged applause.

Armstrong swiftly turned from the election to foreign policy, speaking on the precipitous state of Central American countries. Lauding President Reagan’s strong leadership and the his role in the 52-48 decision by the U.S. Senate not to terminate aid to the democratic resistance in Central America, Armstrong said, “The Senate vote is a sign that our country still cares about freedom in Central America.”

Armstrong had recently returned from a strip to Nicaragua and Managua and added, “You could not help but feel a sense of tragedy about the countries.”

He related a story about a man who had been taken to jail by the Nicaraguan authorities for carrying two bags of beans, breaking a law which allowed for carrying only one bag of beans. The man’s wife told Armstrong that she didn’t know where her husband had been taken or when he would be freed.

“They asked for help,” Armstrong said in his emotional retelling. “We had to say honestly that we couldn’t promise to do so. We also visited a refugee camp, and it gives you a perspective on the conditions of life and political causes we debate. I found it very meaningful.”

Armstrong said that while Congress didn’t want to get overwhelmed by fully digging into the Central American issues, “That is exactly what we must be prepared to do … unless we are prepared to see Nicaragua become a communist state. The Central America issue will be the major foreign policy issues of this year.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.