July 26, 2010 06:03 PM UTC

High Noon Has Come - Tancredo will seek ACP nomination for Governor

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• by: LemonLyman

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

POLS UPDATE #4: What follows, from the Peter Boyles show on KHOW this morning, is possibly the most disastrous media appearance of Dick Wadhams’ political career–and as the man who handled the response to George Allen’s “Macaca” moment, that’s no small statement.

Can’t see the audio player? Click here.

Wow, what a stupid thing to lie about. In front of people who know better.

POLS UPDATE #3: Nicole Allan of The Atlantic writes:

What’s unique about Tancredo’s bid is neither his one-issue stance (on immigration) nor his dramatic shift to a third party — it’s his intent to hand the governorship to the Democrats because of his dissatisfaction with the Republican options. True, these options leave something to be desired: Scott McInnis is battling plagiarism allegations and Dan Maes has been fined for reimbursing himself $44,837 for a year’s worth of mileage costs. But Tancredo is well aware that if he enters the race, siphoning votes from McInnis and Maes, Colorado voters will most likely elect Hickenlooper…

Tancredo clashed with Dick Wadhams, the head of the Colorado Republican Party, on a local radio station this morning. “What’s your agenda?” Wadhams asked him. “What are you going to talk about? Impeach Obama and bomb Mecca?”

In some ways, Tancredo is riding the wave of the nation’s mood. Voters are leaning toward insurgent, anti-establishment figures, with newcomers Sharron Angle and Rand Paul emerging through the Republican primary process. But rather than pushing the existing party structure to the right, Tancredo is looking to take it down — a bolder version of the Ralph Nader approach. [Pols emphasis]

POLS UPDATE #2: Today’s heated conversation on the Peter Boyles show between Tancredo and Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams is up at Talking Points Memo:

On Peter Boyles KHOW radio show, Tancredo and Wadhams got into a shouting match over Tancredo’s decision to run, with Wadhams arguing that Tancredo is “ensuring” that the Democratic candidate, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, will win.

Tancredo had threatened to enter the race if the GOP’s scandal-ridden candidates, Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, didn’t agree to drop out after the August 10 primary so that the party could appoint another nominee. When neither agreed to do so, Tancredo announced today that he’ll run as a third-party candidate.

Tancredo claimed this morning that Wadhams had said he “liked the idea” of a Tancredo bid, to which Wadhams shot back that he did not like the idea, and “was stunned that you would even bring it up.”

POLS UPDATE: From The Hill, awaiting today’s official announcement at noon:

Tancredo’s announcement comes after he warned GOP candidates, former Rep. Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, that he would run if the winner of the primary was trailing behind Democratic front-runner John Hickenlooper, who is mayor of Denver. Both candidates refused to comply.

GOP operatives believe that Tancredo’s candidacy could ruin their chances of winning the open-seat race. Republicans viewed the seat as a pick-up opportunity after Gov. Bill Ritter (D) decided not to run for reelection early this year.

Well folks, you gotta give Tommy the Tanc style points for keeping his word on this one, and ensuring the final nail is hammered deep into the coffin of the GOP’s Gubernatorial efforts this cycle.  The question now becomes: with the Governor’s race a foregone conclusion, where will GOP donors be redirecting their funds?  

Some believe they’ll just dump their money into the US Senate race, but others believe their bloodthirst for at least one chamber of the legislature (for redistricting purposes) will force them to put their money into the Republican 527s, or State House & Senate races.

The confirmation of this story comes from the blog from the still-kicking newspaper of record in Denver