February 02, 2010 04:44 AM UTC

GOP underdogs catch attention by picking fights with ideological foes

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• by: BobMoore

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

From my Coloradoan blog (for links, go to http://bit.ly/benFWs):

When you’re running for office and don’t have a lot of money, you have to try to get as much “free media” as you can. One tried-and-true technique is to pick a fight and try for media coverage. It’s even more helpful if your fighting with someone not terribly popular with the audience you’re trying to reach.

We’re seeing that tactic play out in the Republican race for the 4th Congressional District seat. State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, has a huge fundraising advantage over his three opponents, with six weeks to go before the nominating process begins with precinct caucuses. But that doesn’t mean his opponents are giving up.

First, University of Colorado Regent Tom Lucero aired the first television commercial of the Republican campaign last week. From a paid media perspective, it was the equivalent of firing a blank. Lucero spent $692 to air the spot 55 times over the week on Fox News Channel in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley. That’s well short of the sort of saturation needed for an effective campaign spot. But Lucero’s real value came in the media coverage generated over the ad, including in this blog.

The ad highlighted Lucero’s efforts against controversial CU Professor Ward Churchill. I can’t imagine a better punching bag for a Colorado Republican primary than Churchill. The only way it could get better for Lucero would be for Churchill to take the bait and strike back. Cue Professor Churchill, as quoted in the Colorado Daily:

“Responding to the commercial, Churchill quipped in an e-mail: ‘I can think of no one who better reflects the principles and integrity of Colorado Republicans than Tom Lucero.’ He added: ‘Who knows? He might even have what it takes to be the next Dick Cheney.'”

Needless to say, that quickly made its way into into a campaign news release.

Not to be outdone, former Fort Collins City Council member Diggs Brown has taken aim at a group called Peace Action West. The group sent Brown and other candidates a survey on where they stand on issues of importance to the group. Candidates are inundated with these sorts of surveys, and most go into the trash. I’m guessing that there won’t be a lot of Peace Action West members trekking to Republican precinct caucues March 16.

But Brown, a Special Forces major in the Colorado Army National Guard who’s campaign is built in large part around his national security credentials, took a different approach. He posted his questionnaire answers on his campaign blog. Some of the answers are classic Diggs, especially his answer to the question, “What diplomatic tools or approaches would you use to engage Iran over its nuclear program?”

“As the cornerstone of my negotiations with Iran, I would speed up the development and production of the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, a precision-guided, 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb (the ‘MOP’) capable of destroying their underground nuclear facilities,” he wrote.

Naturally, Peace Action West couldn’t go without a rebuttal, so the group posted a critique of Brown’s commentary on its Web site. The group’s communications director e-mailed me to make sure I was aware of the back and forth. (Brown used Twitter and Facebook to get the word out.) Brown’s blog posting and Peace Action West’s response actually make for some pretty good reading. But I suspect Brown and his supporters are quite giddy that a peace group joined in the fray just as the Republican campaign was moving into the next gear.