Back when I was working for our U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, I remember being briefed by the VA about how hard it is to get medical professionals to agree to move to some of our state’s most rural areas to staff VA clinics for the salaries the VA was able to pay. At that time, roughly 2011, the VA just couldn’t pay enough to attract the doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other medical professionals needed in those far less populated regions of our state.

I thought of that challenge when I read a Colorado Politics article about GOP congressional candidate Jeff Hurd, running in the massive (bigger than Connecticut or Delaware) 3rd Congressional District, where formally the carpetbagger U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert lived before decamping for the greener GOP pastures of CD4.

Hurd is running against a very well financed Adam Frisch, who likely would have defeated Boebert had she stuck around. Given CD3 is fairly red as districts go, Hurd would seem to be headed for an easy victory, unless Frisch’s campaign bank account can run enough ads to sway the good people of CD3.

These days, you see most GOPers trying to tie themselves to the Trump campaign, as Jeff Crank recently did when he accepted a Trump endorsement, a “blessing” he previously seemed to avoid. But Hurd might just be a different type of GOP candidate, if his recent health care advertisement is indicative of his overall world view.

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Hurd is now running a TV spot wherein he talks about the need to, and his promise to, increase health care for the folks living in CD3, which is basically the western third of the state and wrapping around the bottom as far east as Pueblo. That is quite a gerrymander, but I’ll leave that for another column.

Hurd, from the front seat of a pickup truck (of course), talks about his own mom’s cancer battle and her having to leave Colorado to find care. He goes on, as the visual from the air shows him driving across the wide-open space of CD3, to promise to expand health care access.

He does not, of course, explain how he is going to do this. Perhaps he is like Trump, who, after nine years of promising his own health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, admitted in his recent failed debate he only has “concepts of a plan” to replace the ACA. You’d think, after — let me say it again — nine years of claiming he had a wonderful plan, he would have more than just a concept or two. But I guess he was too busy helping the GOPers in Congress try to repeal the ACA more than 60 times, losing every time, to actually come up with an actual alternative.

But I digress…

I find Hurd’s TV spot fascinating, in that if you didn’t know he was a Republican, you’d be hard pressed to know which party he is from. In fact, I bet you might well think he is the Democratic nominee.

Hurd cites a very legitimate need — more medical care in CD3 — and promises to fix it, without, of course, saying how. And if you go to his campaign website, you’ll notice there is no header to click on to learn his issue positions. But if you click on “About Jeff”, you see where they hid the Issues button, under that header. Click on that for his health care proposal and you will find… zip.

He hits the GOP talking points, such as falsely claiming the border is open, for example. He talks about jobs and “empowering working families,” energy independence (I’m sure somewhere he applauds President Joe Biden for the huge job growth and the fact that we are pumping more oil in the U.S. than ever before, to avoid being a hypocrite?), and he talks about water and agriculture. But health care? Not mentioned — so no plan, apparently.

I’m quite serious, this TV spot could easily be a Democrat’s advertisement. Heck, he even promises to fight to protect Social Security and Medicare. And the ad never notes he is a Republican, only that he is “Jeff for Colorado.”

So, does Hurd have an actual plan, or an idea on how he will get new hospitals, new doctors and physical therapists, and all the medical professionals to head out to the Western Slope? He never actually says what his plans are. When it comes to “empowering families” he states, “Jeff is open to balanced and thoughtful solutions that enable parents to work and raise their children. Pushing for jobs that let working families support themselves is key. But Jeff will also explore ways to find savings for families across rural Colorado. This includes the Child Tax Credit as well as tax credits and investments that assist parents struggling with child care.” Tell me what actual policy that word salad is proposing, eh?

Hurd seems like a nice guy. But he is apparently idea-free when it comes to specific legislation or programs he would propose if elected. If you compare the Hurd campaign website with the Frisch website, you might find it hard to pick the GOPer, absent looking at the endorsement page.

The voters of CD3 are presented with an interesting challenge in that Frisch is far more specific. His health care plan mentions prioritizing mental health, increasing hospital funding for existing medical facilities and creating a scholarship program for health care students who would agree to practice in CD3.

Hurd may well think — and he likely is correct — CD3 is red enough he doesn’t really have to mention any specifics, and if he just comes off as a nice (and not scary like Boebert) candidate, he will just cruise to victory. Still, it’s a pity a candidate can tug at your heartstrings with an advertisement while never actually saying anything, or at least anything that could not have been plausibly said by his opponent.

Can Frisch overcome the inherent redness of CD3? Will Hurd’s effort to appear as a moderate, perhaps even a liberal, bear fruit?

Stay tuned…

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.