Earlier this week I noted that Joel Hefley, the Republican Congressman who is retiring after representing Colorado's fifth district for ten terms, was publicly considering a write-in candidacy this fall to block James Dobson favorite Doug Lamborn, the GOP nominee, from being elected. As it turns out, Hefley opted to embrace retirement rather than run again, though he may still have at least one trick left up his sleeve, as Jennifer Talhelm reports for the AP.

Nearly a month later, the hard feelings linger, with Lamborn's opponents trying to draft Hefley to run as a write-in candidate.

Hefley, 71, turned them down this week but criticized Lamborn. In an interview Tuesday with The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Hefley called Lamborn's primary run "the most sleazy, dishonest campaign I've seen in a long, long time."

He even implied that he might endorse the Democrat -- Air Force veteran Jay Fawcett.

Hefley declined requests for an interview. Spokeswoman Jenny Walberg said she didn't know what his plans were.

"I doubt he would throw over the Republican Party and endorse Fawcett at this point -- a straight-out endorsement," she said, "but you never know."

While Hefley's clear opposition to Lamborn will no doubt do at least some harm to Lamborn's candidacy, a Hefley endorsement of Fawcett could turn this race upside-down and give the Democrats yet another potential pick-up opportunity. Make no mistake, even with an endorsement from Hefley, Fawcett would have a difficult time; that said, the race in Colorado's fifth district would be more clearly competitive in November and make the Democratic establishment at least take some notice -- something the Netroots are already doing.

This site, as well as the rest of the Netroots Alliance, has already raised significant funds for Fawcett through ActBlue, and today Fawcett, along with fellow Colorado Democrat Bill Winter, appeared in Howie Klein's Blue America series over at FireDogLake. So if you want to help make a difference in Fawcett's campaign and send a signal to Congressman Hefley that Jay Fawcett is someone he should support, throw him a few dollars today.