July 25, 2010 07:19 PM UTC

A Tancredo For Cory Gardner?

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Republican Party continues to grapple with the fallout from gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis’ plagiarism implosion, and the resulting threat from Tom Tancredo to upend the race for governor by running on the American Constitution Party ticket, a problem with many similarities to that posed by Tancredo could be awaiting CD-4 candidate Cory Gardner.

Gardner, as you recall, ran afoul of “Tea Party” conservatives earlier this year after canceling a fundraiser starring firebrand Rep. Steve King–this resulted in a week or more of harsh disparagement of Gardner by King, his friend Tancredo, and conservative talk radio generally.

Well, since Tancredo announced his intentions to run for governor as an ACP candidate, CD-4 ACP entry Doug Aden’s candidacy is getting renewed buzz from the robust “Tea Party” organization in CD-4–and prompting Republican strategists to worry about a third-party candidate pulling votes away from Gardner. As everyone learned in 2006 with Reform Party candidate Eric Eidsness, a few thousand votes pulled one way or the other could really be decisive in this district.

The problem is, the GOP has spent the past year alienating the “Tea Party,” Gardner with his own embarrassments to tally right along side McInnis–and just like with Tancredo’s “ultimatum,” Republican kingmakers may not have control over the situation.