November 03, 2017 04:07 PM UTC

The Crippling Indecisiveness of Cynthia Coffman

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• by: Colorado Pols

Nobody trolls Colorado Republicans quite like Cynthia Coffman.

Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear a new rumor about the Republican Attorney General’s interest in joining the crowded field of candidates running for Governor in 2018. For more than a year, Coffman’s name has been bandied about for the top job in the state. Sure, it’s fun to have your name mentioned as a candidate for higher office, but there’s a limit to its usefulness. Equivocate for too long, and you start to come across as more silly than sought-after.

Will Coffman run for Governor? Will she seek re-election as Attorney General? Will she throw her name in the hat to be the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos? Colorado Republicans would very much appreciate it if she would just make a decision already. As Ernest Luning writes for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, people have stuff to do:

Cole Wist, Colorado’s assistant House Republican leader, says he’s “thinking seriously” about running for state attorney general in next year’s election if GOP incumbent Cynthia Coffman decides to run for governor, and he expects to announce his plans within weeks, he told Colorado Politics.

Coffman said months ago she was weighing a bid for governor rather than run for a second term but has yet to declare her intentions.

“That job is occupied with a Republican incumbent at this point,” Wist said in a telephone interview. “I’ll be watching closely to see what Attorney General Coffman decides to do. Should she decide to run for governor, I’m thinking seriously about running for that spot.”

Noting that the holidays were fast approaching — with the legislative session starting soon after — the Centennial lawmaker said he hopes to be able to launch a campaign before Thanksgiving if Coffman shifts to the gubernatorial race.

“I’d like to be in a position to announce over the next couple of weeks. If I’m going to start raising some money and getting ready to run, I’ll need December for that,” Wist said. “I’m trying to be respectful of her process and her timeframe,” he added. [Pols emphasis]

If this story sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you saw something similar in July when Congressman Ken Buck (R-Greeley) made it known that he might run for Attorney General if Coffman ever makes up her damn mind about the office. Buck came close to just announcing a campaign for Attorney General in September before ultimately backing off.

Coffman’s charade has gone on for so long that gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler is even being floated as a potential AG contender.

By most accounts, Coffman really doesn’t like her job as Attorney General and would prefer to run for Governor in 2018. Her latest campaign finance report indicates that she (and her donors) are not particularly interested in re-election; of course, it does not appear that there are a lot of people who are especially excited about Coffman running for Governor, either.

While Coffman dithers about 2018, several Democratic candidates for Attorney General are passing her in the left lane, and it’s making Republicans nervous. There’s plenty of reason for potential Republican AG candidates like Buck and Wist to be impatiently checking their wristwatches.

Coffman is not the GOP’s best potential candidate for Governor, and if she keeps this up for much longer, she might not be the best Republican choice for Attorney General, either. Sometimes the only thing worse than making the wrong decision is failing to make any decision at all.