March 12, 2009 05:23 PM UTC

Stone Barnstorms Colorado Seeking Wadhams Upset

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

As the Vail Daily reports:

Former Eagle County commissioner Tom Stone was not messing around when he decided to make a run at upending Dick Wadhams for the Colorado Republican Party Chair.

Since the former Eagle County Commissioner announced late last month that he was running, he’s stayed busy stumping for votes, which will be cast by some 500 members of the Colorado Central Committee on March 21…

“Every day from about six in the morning ’til about eleven-thirty at night, I’ve been on the phone or on the roads constantly since I announced I was running,” Stone said.

So far, the Gypsum resident has made trips to several Front Range communities to talk to members of the Central Committee, and Stone says the response has been positive so far.

“People are excited that they have a choice finally,” he said. “People appreciate the work Dick (Wadhams) has done. But they’re looking for a positive change for the future and many people are happy I’m offering that to them.”

Stone is basing his campaign on creating change within the party by taking advantage of the Internet and social networking sites, stepping up fundraising efforts and trying to lure in a new generation of voters. The immediate goal, he said, is for the Republican party to start winning in Colorado again.

Stone will continue his tour of the state’s 64 counties until the very end…

While we’re still not sure that Stone has a viable shot at taking out current chairman Dick Wadhams (though discussion we overhear is shifting from “impossible” to “possible but unlikely,” the right direction for Stone), but you have to admire the energetic way he is campaigning for the job. Heck, we don’t even think Wadhams’ charge last year, failed Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, made it to all 64 counties.

We also love the irony here about Stone taking advantage of the Internet and new media sources to get the word out. It was Wadhams who was ahead of the curve in using blogs to his advantage when he took out Sen. Tom Daschle in South Dakota a few years back. How times have changed.

A poll follows: is Stone getting any traction? We know a lot of disgruntled Republicans who not-so-quietly hope so every time Wadhams is out of earshot, but this is about 500 insiders–not the rank and file and their pesky aspirations.

 Loading ...