During an October 17 report about “rancher, farmer, and business owner” Laura Bradford's decision to run against state Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) in Colorado's House District 55, Grand Junction ABC affiliate KJCT News 8 uncritically reported Bradford's criticism of “recent increased spending proposals and tax increases by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate” without including a response from Buescher or other state Democrats.

From the October 17 broadcast of KJCT's News 8 This Morning at 6 a.m.:

JASON RADCLIFFE (anchor): A local woman makes an important political announcement. Yesterday at Hawthorne Park, Laura Bradford, a Republican from Collbran, announced she will run for House District 55 against Bernie Buescher. Bradford is a rancher, farmer, and business owner. She says that recent increased spending proposals and tax increases by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate has prompted competition for the House seat. If elected, Bradford wants to fix this issue she calls unconstitutional.

BRADFORD [video clip]: Because of the tax increases that we're seeing, that are against theTABOR amendment, it's necessary for someone to run and hold the state legislature accountable and try to change these unwanted and unwarranted tax increases.

RADCLIFFE: Bradford says she's been considering running for the position for about three months. And if elected, she says she will better represent the people of House District 55 and voters against tax increases.

Similarly, News 8's website posted an article noting Bradford “feels that recent increased spending proposals and tax increases by the Democrat [sic] controlled house and senate has prompted competition for the house seat”:

If elected, bradford wants to fix this issue she feels is unconstitutional.

Bradford says, “Because of the tax increases we're seeing, that are against that TABOR amendment, it's necessary for someone to run and hold the state legislature accountable and try to change these unwanted and unwarranted tax increases.”

Like the News 8 This Morning at 6 a.m. report, the online article featured no comments from state Democrats regarding Bradford's accusations or their accuracy.

As Colorado Media Matters has pointed out, Bradford's comments are similar to talking points used by conservatives to attack Senate Bill 199. Also known as the Colorado Children's Amendment, the measure freezes property tax, or mill levy, rates as a means of redistributing sources of public education funding in the state. While News 8 reported Bradford's claim that such “tax increases” are “unconstitutional,” Radcliffe failed to note that voters in a majority of school districts in Colorado have already voted to allow the retention of mill levy revenues above limits set in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

Moreover, both Radcliffe and News 8's online article about Bradford's announcement used the word “Democrat” as an adjective to describe the Democratic-controlled state legislature. As Media Matters for America has noted, the ungrammatical conversion of the noun “Democrat” to an adjective was the brainchild of Republican partisans, presumably an attempt to deny the opposing party the claim to being “democratic.” Further, as Colorado Media Matters has documented, several mainstream Colorado media figures have parroted Republican politicians, strategists, and radio hosts by employing the word “Democrat” as an adjective to describe things or people of, or relating to, the Democratic Party.

Newsradio 850 KOA host Mike Rosen, an avowed conservative, explained during his July 18, 2006, broadcast that "[t]he reason why some Republicans -- myself included -- sometimes refer to it as the 'Democrat' Party ... is several-fold." Rosen said that one reason is “just to annoy Democrats, 'cause they hate when we do that,” and that another reason is to ensure “that readers won't be confused into thinking that this is the party that's democratic and the other party is anti-democratic.”