Colorado senators find it’s easy to look silly

DENVER - When Becky Fuller wrote to Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar about her immigration views last month, she expected a response — but not the one she got.

The return e-mail to the Colorado Springs resident began: “Dear Matthew,” noting the name of her husband, who had no part in writing the e-mail to the senator.

Fuller was offended, she said, taking it as a slight to her as a woman and a Republican.

Salazar’s spokesman, Cody Wertz, blamed the gaffe on a computer program that listed Matthew Fuller as owning the e-mail account because he’d sent a previous letter from it. Wertz said the staff is working to fix the problem so that if Becky Fuller writes again, a response will be sent to her.

“We strive to be as responsive as possible to Senator Salazar’s constituents,” Wertz said, noting the senator approves the content of responses but lets the program handle the addressing of e-mails. “Unfortunately, with the volume that we have, some mistakes are going to happen.”

The error illustrates what the offices of both Colorado’s senators have shown: With about 200,000 constituent responses and 350 news releases going out yearly, errors occur.

In a press release about Republican Sen. Wayne Allard’s resolution calling for a National First Responder Day, press secretary Steve Wymer typed in a fake quote while waiting for a real quote to fill the space. Then he accidentally sent the press release with the fake quote, which read: “Since I don’t think first responders have really done anything significant in comparison to their counterparts who have dealt with real natural disasters, I have no idea what else to say here . . . .”

The press secretary apologized profusely, saying: “I’ve deserved the criticism that I got.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com