I beg to differ.
The 2010 governors race was a blowout win for the democrats, that is on the people of Colorado. It is the people who failed to elect a liberty minded citizen to the governor's mansion.
Howdy Amigo!
I beg to differ back at ya. Precisely who was the liberty minded citizen running for the governor's mansion in Colorado?
Was it Dan Maes? Or Scott McInnes? Tom Tancredo? The primary put Maes on the ballot, and he was a weak candidate at best.
While I ain't here to judge the man, the facts are that he paid fines for campaign finance violations, claimed he worked undercover with Kansas Bureau of Investigation (a claim Kansas denied) and was dismissed from service with the Liberal Kansas police department. As a candidate, Maes only took 11% of the vote.
The Republican party ran such a weak candidate they were in no doubt Hickenlooper would win the election. What they worried about was whether Maes would get at least 10% of the vote. If he did not, under Colorado law, the Republican party would have been dropped to a legally defined "minor party" status. They also did not support him with funding from the the Republican National Committee, the Republican Governor's Association, nor the Colorado GOP. The Republican party in Colorado cut their own throats with a little help.
Meanwhile, the tea party managed to run behind Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo, who finished with 36.7% of the vote. Despite being a late entry into the race, he more than tripled the number of votes received by Maes. Had he gotten in earlier, had he won the Republican primary, had he the support of the party he served as a U.S. Representative in Congress, he might have won the election.
Just as the Colorado Republican party ran a weak (possibly hopeless) candidate for governor, they didn't put up an impressive group of state legislative candidates for people to rally behind.
Which leads me back to the people of Colorado didn't flock to the Democratic party so much as the Republican party self-destructed.
I have spoken much, and written prolifically, about how we need cohesion and the ability to put aside petty squabbles and other differences to band together to fight what's happening now. Unless we present a united front, we suffer defeat after defeat. Just as Custer split his forces, so the Republican party of Colorado split their voters into warring camps and lost the race. The Dems, however, had no such problems organizing and keeping their focus on the objective. I do not believe Hickenlooper was a strong candidate. I do not believe the majority of folks would have chosen him had a viable candidate been put forward by the Colorado Republican party. When Tancredo did enter the race, the hour was far too late to gain the majority support.
So I say again; blaming the people of Colorado for the outcome is errant.
Just as blaming the people of the United States for the present losses on the Federal level, leading to the President and Senate being under Democratic control. (i.e. That jerk in Indiana Mourdock who infuriated voters of his own party by claiming rape was a gift from God! Now there's a winning proposition!!!!) He singlehandedly was responsible for that senate seat going to the Democrats.
As for alienating Missouri, I worry more about alienating all of America by blaming the people of America when the situation clearly reflects a Republican party that hasn't put foward a compelling ticket that folks get behind with sufficient numbers to carry the day. That was true in Colorado, and is also true on the federal level.
The Republican party needs to understand the need for cohesiveness, and band together if they are going to turn things around.
Personally, I do not feel the Democrats won because they were better, but they were certainly unified.
That single advantage carried the day while the Republicans split their forces.
Regardless of how we may feel about the situation in Colorado,
You can't win when choosing weak candidates.
Then again, we see people right on this forum who seem to thrive on attacking one another.
That is a symptom of the problem, and so long as it keeps us at odds with one another, we can look forward to one defeat after another.
Either we unite, or we get picked off one after another.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
