Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund has a new ad out featuring a trifecta of issues they tout in their opposition to Ken Buck–his “high heels” comment made during the primary, his prosecutorial record as Weld County DA and the decision not to pursue an alleged rape case pushed by his opponents, and his position on abortion:

The “high heels” comment, taken out of context initially by left-leaning bloggers and then exploited by Buck’s primary opponent Jane Norton, was a response to Norton’s statements calling out Buck as not “man enough” by allowing third parties to attack her candidacy on his behalf. Norton repeatedly referenced her gender in numerous forums during the primary, and her campaign manager, Josh Penry used the phrase “high heels” in a campaign stop about Norton’s abilities to change DC, saying that Colorado ”needs somebody to kick Harry Reid in the shins, and Jane is going to do that with her high heels.” Norton even used the gender card as an applause line in an appearance on a local TV show after Buck’s comments were made.

As for the charge that Buck failed to prosecute an alleged rape case, the provenance of the “buyer’s remorse” quote began with the coordinated efforts of the Colorado Independent, who published the alleged victim’s audio recording of her meeting with Buck, and the group ProgressNow, who admitted to “shopping” the quote after seizing upon it’s potential and helping to bring the story forward. Kjersten Forseth admitted this to the Denver Post:

Kjersten Forseth, executive director of ProgressNow, said Tuesday that she resented the Buck campaign’s allegation she was politicizing the sexual-assault story.
“I was shopping around the ‘buyer’s remorse’ quote. That’s what mattered to me,” she said. “It’s a 5-year-old story. It’s not new. It’s a case that’s been out there the whole time. The victim decided to speak out last week when she was asked, and that is the story. [emphasis added]

A followup by Chuck Plunkett, also at the Post, highlighted a radically different version of Buck’s handling of rape cases as a district attorney, including his assistance with one victim’s successful efforts to earn a conviction in her case, his efforts to prepare her for the ordeal, and Buck’s own attempts to address victims and better enable successful prosecution in other cases–such as the one alleged in 2005–that could not end up in a conviction. Corroborating Buck’s version of the events was then-Boulder County DA Mary Lacy’s concurring opinion that the case was unwinnable. Buck had referred the case for evaluation, both for a second opinion and also due to the prevalence of date-rape cases in Boulder, home of the 30,000 students of the University of Colorado, to Lacy, known as an “aggressive prosecutor of sex crimes.”

Finally, Buck’s view on abortion has been clear since the primary, but allegations in TV ads forced his campaign to respond:

4. ‘Buck wants to ban common forms of birth control.’
This is a lie. It is difficult to understand where this lie comes from. It may come from Ken’s position that life begins at conception. However, the ‘common forms of birth control’—presumably, condoms for men and oral contraceptive pills for women—do not result in killing a fertilized egg. I am not a doctor, but a Google search brought up this hit about how female oral contraceptives work:
http://womenshealth.about.com/od/thepill/f/howpillworks.htm
5. ‘I am pro-life.’ ‘I don’t believe in the exceptions of rape or incest.’
As a father of two, Ken believes in the value of life and is opposed to abortion except to protect the life of the mother. As U.S. Senator, Ken will oppose federal funding of abortion and will fight to protect the life of the unborn.