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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2010-07-20

An Opportunity To Be Candid 

There is a lot of speculation about Scott McInnis' future. It would seem it's mostly propogated on the Caplis and Silverman Show, and the speculation goes something like this: McInnis will stay in the race through the primary, which he will likely win, and the "for the good of the party" step down and let the "committee" pick a more viable candidate.

I'm not sure that he's so damaged that he needs to step aside; on the other hand, he does seem to have a penchant for the unforced error. In short, I think he's starting to come across--certainly to me--as too steeped in the political culture and something of a political hack.

So if he was going to go through with the plan laid out above, I wish he would obey my Step #2 and JUST BE CANDID about his plan. Imagine the good will he could garner with a statement like this:

The events of the past week have changed the dynamics of this race, and I believe that I am now damaged goods as a candidate, and I have given my well-financed and slick opponent and his allies endless opportunities to batter me in the general election. I also recognize that my good friend and opponent for the Republican nomination is not as strong a candidate as we can and need to field against as well-financed a candidate as John Hickenlooper.

Therefore, I am announcing today that I am staying in the race for the Republican nomination; when the primary is concluded, I will evaluate the state of the race going forward and how much I believe I can beat John Hickenlooper. While I still believe that I would be the best person to be the next governor of Colorado, I recognize that, at this point, I may not be the strongest person to win that position in November. And my love of this state is such that I would rather put my personal ambitions aside and make room for a more viable candidate than stay in the race and have to make a concession call to Governor Hick in November. So, at the same time, I am elevating the role in my campaign of Josh Penry, and hoping to groom him to be the person who faces John Hickenlooper, if it comes to that.

The challenges Colorado faces are too serious and too immediate to be bogged down in a three-month campaign over the typical minutiae of a political campaign. The people of Colorado deserve a spirited and high-level debate over issues that matter to them and over the ideas that conflict to shape those issues; and if it turns out that I am unable to have that debate because of things I have done in the past, then I will make room for another person to carry that fight to Mayor Hickenlooper. Thank you.

Candor can be a wonderful thing.
Posted by: Michael / 7/20/2010 07:20:00 AM

2010-07-13

Never Relax 

Despite the spate of recent polls showing that the Democrats are in trouble around the country, I'm not buying it. There is still plenty of time for Republicans to blow this one! Exhibit A: Scott McInnis. Exhibit B: Dan Maes.

The folks over at Hot Air had a link today to an article which contained an analysis that said as many as 20 current Democrat-controlled state legislatures could be in serious play this Fall. Now, the article didn't mention Colorado specifically, but you have to believe that Colorado is part of that mix. Certainly, the lucid analysis by Ben would indicate that. If we manage not to implode on this one, that could be the real victory, because then our side would get to do redistricting in a year in which it is reasonable to assume Colorado will pick up one more Congressional seat.

Unfortunately, that would require that our side have a gameplan to counteract the Big Three (Gill/Polis/Stryker) and their millions. And so far, I haven't seen any indication that we're ready for that.

Like I said, there's still plenty of time to lose this one.
Posted by: Michael / 7/13/2010 10:44:00 PM

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