COLORADO GROUND REPORT: How’s Tancredo doing in the Governor’s race?

COLORADO GROUND REPORT: How’s Tancredo doing in the Governor’s race?

posted by Barb in CO

Dear HillBuzz,

I have been following you since the 2008 election and love what you’ve been doing!  One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most is your spot on assessment of the national and state GOP.

Since I moved to CO, the state has turned from red to blue.  And this year’s election cycle has definitely shown why!  In a time of when the country is telling Washington and their party leaders that they are fed up with the status quo, all the CO GOP is concerned with is not losing their power in the state – even though ALL of their hand-picked candidates lost in the Republican Primary.  The state GOP and the party elite are terrified of the Tea Party.  They don’t like how involved they’ve become in the state and the fact that they won’t fall in line and elect their RHINO candidates.  The CO GOP is willing to give up the Governor’s seat to the Democratic candidate because they didn’t hand-pick the candidate that won the Republican Primary.  In almost all of the races around the state, even in some staunchly Democratic areas, the Republican candidate is ahead or close.  And then there’s the Governor’s race…

COLORADO GOVERNOR’s RACE

If you aren’t from CO, you probably haven’t heard of Dan Maes or how the CO GOP has turned their back on their own candidate.  The current Democratic Governor is so disliked in the state that he announced early on that he would not run again to avoid having a Democratic Primary challenger. Dan Maes started running for Governor 18 months ago – he was the first Republican to announce his candidacy.  He is a conservative businessman from Evergreen (Denver area) who decided it was time for someone with executive experience to get the state back to fiscal responsibility.  The CO GOP never paid much attention to Dan Maes, as they gave him no chance of winning and they were still trying to decide who to appoint as their candidate.  After shifting candidates around, the CO GOP settled on Scott McInnis.  In CO, there is a state Assembly that determines who will be on the Republican Primary ballot.  Dan Maes was given no chance going into the Assembly, but he won both the Assembly and the Republican Primary.  And then, the schoolyard bully drama began…

Just prior to the August CO Primary, ex-Congressman Tom Tancredo issued an ultimatum to both Republican Primary candidates that whoever won the Primary needed to drop out if polls showed they could not win the general election or he would enter the race as a third party candidate.  When Dan Maes won the Primary, the polls initially showed him in a dead heat with the Democratic candidate.  Of course, Dan Maes refused this ultimatum and Tancredo entered the race.  Since then, Tancredo has begun a smear campaign against Dan Maes that revivals anything to come out of Chicago!  His whole campaign has been against Dan Maes – not the Democratic candidate – demanding that he quit being the “Ross Perot” candidate and drop out!?  In doing so, Tancredo has somehow convinced Republican elected officials and candidates to daily denounce the Republican candidate and endorse Tancredo.  In Denver, Tancredo has created a nightmare for county GOP Chairs as many of their committee members (especially in Tancredo’s old Congressional district) have come out in support of the third party candidate when their by-laws require them to support the Republican candidate – or resign.

As a long-time Conservative and Republican, I am appalled and embarrassed by not only Tancredo’s ridiculous ultimatum but also in the CO GOP’s actions in not supporting Dan Maes as their duly elected candidate.  I’ve known Dan Maes for the 18 months he’s been running and have supported him throughout and will continue to support him.  While Tancredo has been able to gain support in his old Congressional district, the rest of the state supports Dan Maes - a message which is not getting out to those in the Denver area.  Since Dan Maes can’t get support from the CO GOP, he is unable to make his case to theDenver metro area.  I urge all those that haven’t voted to rally your support behind Dan Maes and show Mr. Tancredo and the CO GOP that we will not be bullied!  We can select our own candidates regardless of whether they approve or not!

Two Congressional races to watch are Dr. Mike Fallon (R) who is running against 7-term Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D) in District 1 and retired Air Force/business professional Stephen Bailey (R) who is running against 1-term Congressman Jared Polis in District 2.  These are races the Democrats have as being safe seats.  How tight these races become will be a direct reflection on Obama’s popularity with his base in CO.

Overall, CO will pick up seats in Congress and in the State House.  But the fallout from the Governor’s race will definitely be the thing to watch from November 3^rd on.

Barb in Colorado

Hear Dan speak to the Southern CO Tea Party on Th Oct 21. 
http://www.freedomtalknetcast.com/  on the News Flash tab