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Colorado Governor’s Race: Endorsing Nobody

by | 6:00 am, July 31, 2010 | 12 Comments

After thinking about the pluses and minuses of Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, and taking no pleasure in my conclusion regarding the Colorado Republican primary for Governor of Colorado, I have decided to endorse Nobody.

Let me be very clear here:  I’m not saying that I’m not endorsing anybody.  Rather, I am actively endorsing Nobody, endorsing the view, also taken by some friends who have created a Facebook page entitled “Undervote Colorado’s GOP Governor Primary” (whose logo I have appropriated not once, but twice, below), that the best course of action for Colorado Republicans in this election is not to cast a vote in this race.  (I encourage you to “like” the Facebook page and send it around to your friends.)

I am, with some sadness but more resignation to a Republican Party that needs reworking inside and out, endorsing Nobody.

The only chance to get the primary winner to drop out of the race is if he can be made to believe, strongly enough to overcome the ego which all candidates do and must have, that he does not have enough support to win the general election and that he should therefore get out.  The GOP would then fill the vacancy.

If that were to happen, it still might not help unless Tom Tancredo then drops out of the race, which he has said he won’t do.  And, given Tom’s gambit here, I take him at his word.

It’s a longshot, but perhaps the GOP wouldn’t fill the vacancy, and just subtly support Tancredo, though I think Tancredo has angered too many to expect that outcome.  Another possibility, as suggested by reader Ken S. is that Tancredo might be offered the Lieutenant Governor slot with specific authority over immigration-related issues.  Seems like an interesting idea, but I wouldn’t bet the ranch on Tancredo accepting such an offer.  It could depend on who the GOP governor nominee is.

At the end of the day, this election is probably lost; John Hickenlooper is probably our next governor.  This thanks to a GOP establishment which pushed the best candidate, Josh Penry, out of the race to leave us with Scott McInnis, a man who offered a partly-plagiarized paper to a foundation – and that’s the good part of that story for McInnis.  And thanks, I continue to believe despite many protestations from Tea Party and other friends, to a Tea Party movement which was so smitten by Dan Maes’ new guy, ordinary guy, fresh face that they forgot that experience matters.  Any really relevant experience.  Dan Maes is a nice enough guy upon a first meeting, which is all most people will have, but my interview with him made it clear to me that he should have run for the state legislature or some other achievable goal, not for governor.  He has a decent basic foundation, but nowhere near a deep enough understanding of issues, politics, or the business of governing to make his first campaign the race for the top elected position in the state.

Arguments that it’s about the “team” he puts around him are not compelling.  A good team is of course important, but the team captain should be a very strong player and Dan Maes is not that, at least not yet.  It’s not meant as an insult to Mr. Maes who seems like a sincere person (as does his wife, Karen).  What he’s doing is like me trying to play for the Denver Nuggets just because I played a little basketball in high school.  (Actually, Maes’ relevant experience to be governor is probably even less than my relevant experience to play in the NBA.)

While I understand Tea Party and 9/12 groups’ desire to elect a true outsider, it can’t be at the expense of competence.  Dan Maes is simply not ready to be governor of a state.  And Scott McInnis is unfit in both temperament and history to be governor of a state.  Let me be clear:  I mean no insult to Dan Maes, and I do mean insult to Scott McInnis who should (1) have handled the “Musings on Water” fiasco much better, including (2) dropping out of the race.

The whole situation reminds me of my blog note of January 5th of this year when Bill Ritter announced he would not seek re-election (I bet he’s regretting that decision now!) in which I predicted that Hickenlooper would be the Dems’ nominee and I said that McInnis (the clear front-runner at the time) “would rather run against anyone but John Hickenlooper.”  And more: “If I were the GOP, I’d hope that John Hickenlooper finds, yet again, a reason not to run for governor.”  We weren’t so lucky.  And at this point, the Republican candidates are so damaged that they might even lose to Ritter if he were running.

As crazy as it sounds, I still think McInnis might be more electable than Dan Maes, even though after one meeting with each I like Dan Maes better than I like Scott McInnis.  But by more electable, I mean maybe McInnis loses by 12 and Maes by 15. And those might be optimistic, which is a remarkable thing to believe in what is shaping up to be the best Republican year since 1994.

With looming redistricting and potential State Supreme Court vacancies, it’s so important to win this seat that I really considered holding my nose and voting for Scott McInnis, not so much based on electability but on the possibility of being convinced to get out of the race. (I don’t think Dan Maes will drop out under any circumstances.) But some smells are too strong to stomach, even holding one’s nose and I just can’t vote for a man who cheated a foundation and whose reputation among people who have known and dealt with him for a long time is “Scott is all about Scott.”  I have to be able to live with myself.  It’s why I didn’t vote for John McCain.  This is a different sort of problem than I had with McCain, but it leads me to the same place.

In short, I can’t vote for Dan Maes for this race at this time, and I can’t vote for Scott McInnis for any race at any time.

In the 2010 Colorado Republican primary for Governor of Colorado, I endorse Nobody and I encourage you to leave blank both governor choices on your Republican primary ballot.

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

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Category: Colorado Politics, Syndicated
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Comments

  1.   Rossputin endorses NOTA for Colorado governor | Gunbarrel Teleprompter | Gunbarrel, Colorado
      July 31st, 2010 @ 8:11 am

    [...] From the People’s Press Collective, Rossputin encourages readers not to vote for either Republican in the gubernatorial primary. Dan Maes, he says, doesn’t have the political knowledge to be governor, and should have run for the legislature; Scott McInnis is now widely known as an intellectual property thief. Ross argues that John Hickenlooper is now practically a shoe-in for governor, but I wouldn’t cede it to Hick just yet. NOTA is much better qualified. No Comments by Mike Niland on July 31, 2010 filed in news tagged colorado, governor [...]

  2.   Donald E. L. Johnson
      July 31st, 2010 @ 9:26 am

    As usual, Ross, a very thoughtful piece and a very rational decision. Early in the campaign, I spent many hours driving to meetings to hear McInnis and Maes and their audiences’ questions. I lost a lot of trust in McInnis during my five-day drive in my car at my expense following his campaign. It took me longer to figure out that Maes doesn’t know much about politics and government and has made as little effort to learn the issues and McInnis has. Maes was “me to” to McInnis’ empty suit.

    McInnis hates the media and won’t talk to reporters in any depth or for more than 20 or 30 minutes. He is very uncomfortable when he can’t control a meeting and keep people from asking hard, difficult questions. The man is very insecure and tries to cover it up with bluster and bullying. He’s dishonest with himself, his staff and voters. From what I can see, his staff culture reflects his values as his administration would if he were elected governor.

    WaPo’s blog, The Fix, says McInnis still leads Maes by 15 points. Who knows. But the way McInnis is running his campaign indicates that’s probably true. He’s not afraid of Maes. McInnis is afraid of himself.

    I haven’t endorsed in this race. I was the first to call on both quys to get lost. The GOP leaders have decided to tough it out and try to save the party. They’re branding the party as unethical and incompetent, and that’s going hurt the down ticket big time.

    At this point, I’m leaning to not voting for either guy for the reasons Ross and Ben DeGrow have given for their undervotes. I have endorsed Tom Tancredo.

  3.   Brian Wilson
      July 31st, 2010 @ 9:43 am

    Good article, but I disagree that Maes doesn’t have enough experience. He has exactly the executive experience building businesses that is needs to create jobs and bolster the economy. And at this point, he’s our best shot to win the governor’s race; he’s a far cry better than Hickenlooper. You’re right about Tancredo, he’s not going to win because the Republican Party won’t go without a nominee.

  4.   Ben
      July 31st, 2010 @ 10:00 am

    Ross is right on this point: a no vote in the GOP governor primary makes most sense. That doesn’t mean Tancredo’s actions and timing were appropriate, despite his stated intentions.

    Don, have you explained somewhere your dramatic change of heart in regards to Tancredo? If you wrote it, I missed it. Please send a link.

  5.   Elliot
      July 31st, 2010 @ 10:28 am

    Ross, would you have the same encouragement for the general too?

  6.   Whitney
      July 31st, 2010 @ 1:06 pm

    OK, all you “big bloggers”……me, I’m an intelligent, small business owner. I’m fed up with politicians, have heard Maes answer some difficult questions, and have been impressed with his intelligence. A friend who knows him better highly regards his ethics and who is as a person. He seems like a great guy and I’ve seen him answer questions prefacing with “you’ll probably not like what I”m going to say, but I’m going to say it anyway.” That’s rare in a politician. He doesn’t back down from what he believes. If obama decides to come to Colorado and take our guns, I want Dan Maes to meet him at the border (or DIA).

  7.   Donald E. L. Johnson
      July 31st, 2010 @ 2:31 pm

    Ben is referring to the blogs I wrote after Penry dropped out of the governor’s race. I strongly opposed Tancredo’s rumored run for the governor at that time even though I was already losing trust in McInnis.

    I haven’t changed my opinions about Tancredo’s electability. I still think he has a tough road ahead of him. But things have changed dramatically. He’s facing Hick instead of Ritter. McInnis and Maes have imploded. The GOP leadership is in a self-preservation mode. Democrats are on the run everywhere but in the Governor’s race.

    I’m backing Tancredo in the general election because he is the only candidate that I even partially agree with on the issues, and he’s the most honest and straight talking candidate running and likely to run this year. We totally agree on most economic and security issues and totally disagree on social issues and the legalization of pot.

    I never vote for outrageously dishonest candidates like McInnis, and I don’t vote for people who’ve effectively embellished and lied on their resumes. I do vote for people like Tancredo and McCain because I agree with them on the issues that are most important to me.

  8.   Rossputin
      July 31st, 2010 @ 4:36 pm

    Whitney,

    I’m an “intelligent, small business owner” as well.

    The things you mention about Maes are positives, but it’s not enough for me to think he’s capable of being governor.

    And it’s CERTAINLY not enough for him to beat John Hickenlooper who can out-nice-guy any other candidate if that’s what this comes down to.

  9.   Rossputin
      July 31st, 2010 @ 4:46 pm

    Elliot,

    Good question.

    The general election will be a very different calculation.

    I will be less interested in demotivating voters because I want people to show up (whatever that means in today’s world of voting) to vote for Republicans down the ballot and to vote out the State Supreme Court justices.

    If all stays the same now as far as who the players are, I’ll probably support Tancredo even though I’m far from an immigration hawk.

    I give him a LOT of credit for coming out for marijuana legalization. And I say that as someone who has never smoked pot and won’t try it if it becomes legal.

    I do realize he’s gonna get smacked by the Republican nominee for his vote for TARP. It was the wrong vote, but a lot of good people voted for that one. It was a hard situation (although back at the time I was advising a political candidate to campaign against it.)

  10.   Elliot
      July 31st, 2010 @ 10:08 pm

    Ross,
    Given Tancredo’s statements on using government intervention in private business for the express purpose of ensuring higher employment, higher wages, and apparent agreement with population control, I’m quite surprised you’d vote for him. Also – he didn’t just vote for TARP – he also had a vote in favor of the GM bailout as well.

  11.   Cindy L.
      August 1st, 2010 @ 11:36 pm

    All these words with a vote for Nobody? How profound. But I’ll tell you guys I don’t want a former politician in the position of governor and since Maes is the only non-politician on the ticket… Maes get’s my vote. Of course, I have more reasons why I would vote for Maes.

  12.   Laura Victoria
      August 2nd, 2010 @ 8:32 am

    My only problem with the piece is the capitalized “Nobody.” It’s confusing. It could appear to be an enorsement of Mr. Cellophane himself, the Mixter.

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