January 19, 2010 04:06 PM UTC

So Much for Dan Maes

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• by: Colorado Pols

All that “Tea Party” bravado from GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes–you remember, the “gonna get 71% at the assembly and force Scott McInnis to withdraw” stuff–would seem to need some reality-based modification, The Spot reported yesterday evening:

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes raised less than $10,000 in the final three months of 2009 and can’t seem to find his campaign treasurer, the candidate said in an interview this evening.

Maes sent an e-mail late Monday to report he had increased the number of financial supporters for his campaign to 135 in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 37 in the July through September period.

Unable to find a copy of his campaign finance filings with the Secretary of State’s office, I called Maes for additional details. The Evergreen businessman said he had yet to file a report because his campaign treasurer “seems to be missing in action the last 24 hours.”

…Asked to ballpark what he’d report, Maes said: “Something less than $10,000.”

Coupled with the $1,479 the Maes had on hand at the end of the third quarter, that leaves him about $1 million shy of former Congressman Scott McInnis, who raised $479,575 in the fourth quarter.

For all the rage and vows to shake the GOP up from below, laughable efforts like this will not get it done for the “Tea Party”–or convince Republicans that these people are any help beyond their individual votes. These results are embarrassing for Maes, the “Tea Party” movement who turned Maes into their cause celebre, not to mention McInnis and Jane Norton for expending so much effort and credibility trying to gain their support.

On the other hand, there are those polls showing that many more conservatives would support “Tea Party” candidates over institutional GOP candidates than actually attend “Tea Parties,” that’s why McInnis and Norton are pandering to them, why the Fox News Channel tries to speak for them–if movement organizers are serious about holding on to that impression, as opposed to making a joke of it, better get serious about the money.