Tom Tancredo says Dan Maes is 3rd party candidate and should quit

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 7:39 am, August 12, 2010

Colorado gubernatorial candidate, Tom Tancredo, is quoted in the Grand Junction Sentinel as saying (apparently on 850 KHOW) that Republican candidate, Dan Maes, is the third party candidate and should consider quitting. This would let a GOP vacancy committee select another Republican to run against Tancredo and Obama Democrat John Hickenlooper. Or it would let Tancredo and Hickenlooper fight it out in a two-way race. Maes is not expected to quit even though very few Republicans are rallying to support him, according to the Denver Post. In an editorial, the Post reiterated its opinion that Maes is unfit to be governor.
GOP state chairman Dick Wadhams told the Sentinel that the 19,000, or 4.8% of the 407,000 Republicans who voted in the Senate primary but not in the gubernatorial primary was “a significant” undervote. Tancredo agreed and told the Sentinel:
“Four hundred thousand people were asking themselves, ‘Who’s the worst one?’” Tancredo said with a hearty laugh. “I’ve never seen a race like this in my life. I wonder how many people were holding their nose and voting. The 20,000 were holding it, but still the smell came through, and the stink was so bad they thought, ‘I can’t do it.’ “
LINKs: 
GOP voter desertion fuels Tancredo. By Charles Ashby.
GOP faces historic upset. By Joe Hanel.
Maes treated to silence from GOP after gubernatorial primary win. By Karen E. Crummy and Christopher N. Osher.
Maes, Buck victories raise questions about GOP unity. By Tom Roeder.
Maes seeks Republican solidarity. By Patrick Malone.
Despite win, Maes not a worthy pick. While Democrats rejected an insurgency in Senate primary, Republicans inexplicably chose Dan Maes in the governor’s race. Denver Post editorial.
Former Arapahoe GOP chair, Nathan Chambrs: Dan Maes unqualified to be governor, in over his head. The Business Word, 8.11.10.
Primary results; voters mostly opt for moderation, good sense. Editorial, The Durango Herald.
What the primary results mean. By Aaron Harber.

Michael Bennet Wrong for Colorado site launched

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 12:04 pm, August 11, 2010

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has launced a new web site: Michael Bennet: Wrong for Colorado. Link is here.
Sen. Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund, which helped fund Ken Buck’s primary run, has posted its endorsement of Buck here.
Buck for Colorado is here.

Ken Buck will run against Obama Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 10:35 pm, August 10, 2010

Coloradans are in for an entertaining and nasty Senate contest between Ken Buck and appointed Obama Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet. This will be as much of a contest between conservative and liberal 527 groups that the candidates can’t legally communicate with or control as between Buck and Bennet. While Buck never raised anywhere close to as much money for the primary as Bennet did, the senator had to pour everything he raised into the primary, including a personal loan of about $300,000. So apparently both campaigns will enter the general election pretty broke and highly dependent on secretive outside groups to fund their campaigns.
Although Buck showed in the primary that he’s pretty well organized around the state, Bennet undoubtedly is better organized and staffed and is better prepared for the general election campaign. Buck will have to hustle to get reorganized and ready to take on Bennet.

GOP voters can’t decide who they detest the most, Dan Maes or Scott McInnis

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 10:19 pm, August 10, 2010

Colorado’s Republican voters apparently had a hard time deciding which primary candidate they detested the most, Scott “McPlagiarist” McInnis or “Driving” Dan Maes. At the moment, Maes leads by about a half of a percentage point, or a little over 1,800 votes out of almost 358,000 votes with 78% of the state’s precincts reporting. It’s hard to see how McInnis will catch up, and the final result may not be known until tomorrow, if then. There may be a recount.
Regardless of who wins, it is clear that Republicans had a hard time choosing between Maes and McInnis. The Denver Post and other papers and conservative bloggers say both men are unfit to be governor.
If, as seems likely, Maes becomes the GOP nominee, he is very unlikely to quit and make way for a more electable Republican. This means he will lose big to Governor-elect John Hickenlooper and former Republican and Congressman Tom Tancredo. If Maes gets more than 5% of the votes in the general election, he’ll be doing well.

Tom Tancredo radio ad attacks John Hickenlooper’s sanctuary city, sanctuary state

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 12:09 pm, August 9, 2010

Tom Tancredo is running against John Hickenlooper’s sanctuary city. He says that if he has anything to do about it, Hick won’t make Colorado a sanctuary state. LINK: Sanctuary State.
Federalism, states rights and the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution will be a major focus of Tancredo’s campaign. He makes his pitch in this radio ad. LINK: 10th Amendment.
Ads are at
http://tancredoforgovernor2010.org/EmailMessage.mp3 and
http://tancredoforgovernor2010.org/Sanctuary%20City%20Spot%208_5_10_Master_Mix.mp3

Arapahoe County Republican Mens Club president, Cliff Dodge , will run Tom Tancredo’s campaign

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 8:59 am, August 9, 2010

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo this morning announced that his old friend, Cliff Dodge, will run his campaign. Dodge served in the state legislature with Tancredo back in the 1970s and 1980s and was known as one of the four “crazies” along with Tancredo. Bay Buchanan is Tancredo’s campaign manager. She managed his 2008 presidential campaign.
Dodge is the president of the Arapahoe County Republican Mens [and womens] Club. His decision to work for Tancredo is a major defection from the GOP, which is intent on electing the ethically challenged Scott McInnis or Dan Maes governor, depending on which one wins tomorrow’s primary election. The Denver Post and several other papers in Colorado have joined several conservative bloggers in calling both McInnis and Maes unfit to serve as governor.

Dick Wadhams and GOP reportedly won’t ask Scott McInnis or Dan Maes to quit

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 8:41 am, August 9, 2010

Sherry Collins, a member of the Colorado Republican Party central committee and of the vacancy committee, this morning told the Jefferson County Republican Men’s club that “It is my understanding that Dick Wadhams will not ask [Dan Maes or Scott McInnis] to step down.” She said that the vacancy committee will not need to appoint a replacement candidate, because it is unlikely that either McInnis or Maes will quit. I haven’t had a chance to call Wadhams, the chairman of the state GOP party, to confirm this because I’m still at the breakfast. Collins told me that Wadhams announced to the committee two weeks ago that he won’t ask the candidates to quit.
Of course, Wadhams hardly on the best of terms with McInnis. Months ago, Wadhams predicted that McInnis never could win a personality contest in his run for governor. He’s also called McInnis “untrustworthy,” according to Tom Tancredo and talk show host, Peter Boyles.
Wadhams has called Maes a “joke.” And that was before Maes became the laughingstock of Colorado. 
If McInnis or Maes quit, others will convince them to face reality. Wadhams has no clout with these guys.

Tom Tancredo says he could never support Tom Wiens for governor

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 8:26 am, August 9, 2010

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo told me this morning that he never could support former state Senator Tom Wiens for governor.
After he spoke to the Jefferson County Republican Men’s club, I asked Tancredo, “Could you ever support Tom Wiens for governor?” He replied, “No.”
That means that if the winner of tomorrow’s GOP gubernatorial primary quits under pressure from the party and its vacancy committee selects Wiens as a replacement candidate, Tancredo won’t drop out to let Wiens go up against Hickenlooper in a two-way race. As a result, Wiens probably wouldn’t run in a hopeless race. He has been mentioned as a possible replacement candidate if either Scott McInnis or Dan Maes wins the the GOP gubernatorial primary and then quits the race because of widespread concerns about their ethical challenges and competency.

Colorado’s caucus and state assembly scheme has created tremendous problems for both parties

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 5:37 pm, August 8, 2010

The Grand Junction Sentinel has got this one right. It is time to do away with Colorado’s undemocratic caucuses and state assemblies.
Impact graphs:
For one thing — and tea party types are right in this respect — the process allows party leaders and their favored candidates to elbow most other candidates out of the game. Many people believe Josh Penry would have stayed in the race for governor if key figures in the Republican Party hadn’t made it clear Scott McInnis was their annointed candidate.
Second, the precinct caucus system allows small groups of very committed voters — often far from the mainstream of Coloradans in general — to control caucuses and push little-known or fringe candidates. This isn’t new in 2010. It has occurred for decades, often producing candidates who are unappealing to independents and moderates in both parties.
Finally, the requirement that candidates for party nomination receive at least 30 percent of the delegate vote at state or district conventions means that it’s unlikely voters will see more than two primary candidates in a single party for any given office.
LINKs:
Primary predicament. Grand Junction Sentinel editorial.
Ken Buck, Andrew Romanoff look strong in tonight’s caucuses, but so what? The Business Word, 3.16.2010.

Ken Buck or Jane Norton will beat Andrew Romanoff or Michael Bennet

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 7:44 am, August 8, 2010

A Republican, Ken Buck or Jane Norton, will beat an Obama Democrat, Andrew Romanoff or appointed Senator Michael Bennet, in the Nov. 2 general election.
Buck and Romanoff were leading in the latest polls, which were published more than a week ago. But Norton has been gaining on Buck, and Romanoff has turned so cynically dishonest in his TV ads that Bennet and the Democratic Party’s establishment still may sneak by him in Tuesday’s primary election.
The Republicans’ sometimes snarky primary has allowed Weld County District Attorney Buck to show that he’s a classy, smart politician who is good at thinking through complex issues like the war in Afghanistan, illegal immigration, taxes and spending, the climate and environment and what it’s like to be a real Republican.
And the GOP primary has showcased former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton’s skills as a campaigner, communicator and experienced elected official and private sector executive. She is proving that she would be a smart problem solver in the Senate. She’s very good at analyzing tough problems and figuring out politically doable political solutions that satisfy all kinds of conservatives. Democrats will find it hard to demonize Norton. And she hires talented staff to help her get the job done.
Romanoff impressed his Democrat friends while he was speaker of the Colorado House. And he has run an aggressive, tough and even scorched earth campaign against Bennet. In the process, he has shown himself to be a left-wing extremist. He wants to imprison Americans in a single-payer health insurance system that would  dumb down health care and patients’ access to specialists and expensive services. He obviously thinks the young should be served and the old should go away. Romanoff thinks he has all of the answers and obviously looks down on Coloradans who disagree with him. His sharp elbows won’t go over well if he wins the primary. After the GOP gets done with Romanoff, few Coloradans will like him or trust him.
In only 19 months as the appointed Obama Democrat in the Senate, Bennet has confounded everyone who thought that he was a financial wiz, problem solver and independent thinker. Instead, he’s been a rubber stamp for everything that President Obama wants to do. Bennet supports Obama’s drive to bankrupt America, make the U.S. the world’s door mat, raise taxes, kill jobs and ensure that—as in Europe—20% to 25% of our young people will be unemployed forever. Bennet will have to run on his record, and nobody in his right mind wants to run on Bennet’s record.
The primary has shown that all of the Senate candidates will use negative advertising, which is what you need to learn about the candidates. Whoever the candidates are, they will have all the money they need to trash their opponents.
The Republicans’ negative advertising will be more effective in 2010 than the Democrats’.
Look for the Republican Senate candidate, Buck or Norton, to win 53% to 60% of the votes in November. 

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