Secretary of State Scott Gessler says the left has “lost faith in the traditional view of America,” and instead is focusing on ginned up civil-rights issues.

During an address to fellow Republicans, Gessler talked about his lawsuit against Denver over issuing ballots to inactive voters, Occupy Denver protests and President Obama’s policies.

“I think the interesting thing is just the amount of venom and hysteria that the left has poured on over this particular issue,” Gessler said, of the inactive voters brouhaha. “It’s really not the civil rights issue of the year. … But I look at this venom and I think there’s couple of things going on that we need to pay attention to as Republicans and conservatives.”

Gessler this week addressed the state GOP Capitol Club at its monthly luncheon at Maggiano’s. The keynote speaker was U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner of Yuma.

Gessler sued Denver last month, saying clerks in a statewide election can’t mail ballots to inactive voters who haven’t voted since 2010 and haven’t responded to a postcard asking if they want a ballot for the Nov. 1 election. A judge ruled Denver could mail the ballots. At the time, Gessler called the decision “merely the first salvo in a long election year to come.”

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