{"id":18554,"date":"2026-05-23T17:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/buchanans-consideration-by-white-house-for-ftc-causes-gop-ruckus-a-look-back-colorado-politics\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T17:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:14:55","slug":"buchanans-consideration-by-white-house-for-ftc-causes-gop-ruckus-a-look-back-colorado-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/buchanans-consideration-by-white-house-for-ftc-causes-gop-ruckus-a-look-back-colorado-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Buchanan\u2019s consideration by White House for FTC causes GOP ruckus | A LOOK BACK – Colorado Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print Edition<\/a>
Forty-five years ago this week: <\/strong>While Republicans back in Colorado were fuming over the fact that Mary Estill Buchanan\u2019s divisive campaign had impeded them from defeating Democrat U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, the former Colorado secretary of state was nonetheless certain she was still in the running for chairman of the Federal Trade Commission as she attended meetings in Washington, D.C.
\u201cThe FTC would be a fun and appropriate role for me,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cI could be tremendously impactful.\u201d
Buchanan said she wasn\u2019t worried about her critics and didn\u2019t agree with the rumors that she\u2019d been all but eliminated from further consideration for the post.
\u201cI know I\u2019m am,\u201d Buchanan said, \u201cI\u2019ve been told by the White House that I\u2019m still being considered and the FBI is pursuing their security check on me.\u201d
Buchanan attended meetings with a slew of Reagan advisers including Richard Wirthlin, head of personnel Pendleton James and key senators and congressional representatives at a Maryland conference. But she noted that she wouldn\u2019t be speaking with Sen. Bill Armstrong or Phil Winn, assistant secretary at HUD. 
\u201cI talked with Bill the day I heard about my possible FTC commission nomination.\u201d Buchanan said, \u201cWe conferred and checked bases. But he told me that he thinks its inappropriate for him to get involved.\u201d
Winn had only reluctantly endorsed Buchanan after she won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and Buchanan said she had no plans to stop by his office. 
\u201cAlthough I believe that Phil Winn and others might have told the White House that my campaign was divisive and hurt Republican chances of defeating Gary Hart,\u201d Buchanan said, \u201cmy version of the story is also being told in the White House.\u201d
Buchanan\u2019s supporters included three former Republican state chairs: Marion Carter, Carl Williams, and Dwight Hamilton.
\u201cIt still amazes me that a few people with big mouths will, when amplified in the press, seems as a chorus with many voices. All these undisclosed sources with unspecified things \u2014 why don\u2019t they put their names to their words?\u201d
But member of the White House personnel office said that when Buchanan\u2019s name was mentioned as a possible candidate for the FTC, the office was flooded with calls from furious Coloradans, angry that Buchanan was being considered for such a prominent posting.
Buchanan said she didn\u2019t understand the violent reaction but knows the sentiment exists. And, she countered, she didn\u2019t subvert party officials and go straight to the White House.
\u201cI was recruited for this job,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cI have solicited advice and discussed the possibility with some people \u2026 but I haven\u2019t been beating the pavement looking for a job in Washington. 
Twenty-six years ago: <\/strong>\u201cThis is a life or death issue,\u201d said Laurie Bernstein, a metabolic specialist at Children\u2019s Hospital in Denver, speaking before the Committee on Health, Education, Children and Families about House Bill 00-1156.
The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Rob Hernandez, D-Denver, and sought to compel insurance companies to cover \u201cmedical foods,\u201d special pharmaceutical formulas that help people with inherited metabolic diseases process proteins and perform other life-sustaining functions. Medical foods can cost families up to $7,000 per year.
But insurance companies balked at the mandate. Susan Cox, executive director for the Colorado HMO Association, said the bill would hurt businesses. 
\u201cBut the numbers are so small,\u201d said committee member Sen. John Evans, R-Parker. \u201cWhy can\u2019t your organization support this? Why are you neutral, other than the mandate?\u201d
Cox replied, \u201cEvery mandate costs money.\u201d
Bernstein said that when adults are taken off medication, there is neurological damage, and without special medical foods, patients would die.\u00a0
\u201cMost won\u2019t let that happen,\u201d Bernstein said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen them lose their homes, go bankrupt. One family sued their insurance company, which said it would not cover the formula but would be happy to pay for the institutionalization of the children.\u201d
Jerry McElroy, a representative for Kaiser Permanente Healthcare, said he felt the care of people with inherited metabolic disorders should be \u201cthe social responsibility of the state.\u201d
Rachael Wright is the author of several novels, including The Twins of Strathnaver, with degrees in political science and history from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing columnist to Colorado Politics, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Denver Gazette.<\/i>
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It seemed an itch that Gov. Jared Polis just had to scratch. After months of hints and speculation, Polis put his signature on a commutation of the prison sentence of Colorado\u2019s election-denying queen, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. True, Peters\u2019s break was one of 44 commutations and pardons announced en masse by Polis late […]
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