August 18, 2017 02:03 PM UTC

You Should Probably Stop Saying That

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• by: Colorado Pols

Lieutenant Governor Donna Lynne is totally absolutely probably maybe running for Governor in 2018. Possibly.

Earlier this month we learned that Lynne was “exploring” a bid for Governor, with the self-professed caveat that she wasn’t sure there was enough support for her among Democrats to pursue a campaign in 2018. As the Denver Post quoted Lynne on Aug. 1:

“I want to make sure that I have everything in order. A lot of people urge candidates to run. But you really want to make sure that you can solidify that — that they will be endorsers, that they will be financial supporters and that’s a process.”

As we said at the time: “If you’re not sure that you would have the support to mount a strong statewide campaign, then you don’t have the support to mount a strong statewide campaign.” But as the Summit Daily News reports, Lynne’s proto-campaign is sticking with its message that she still isn’t sure if she should really run, even though she’s already filed to run:

Lynne is scheduled to appear at a Summit County Democrats mixer in Breckenridge on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 20, with gubernatorial candidates Mike Johnston, Cary Kennedy and Rep. Jared Polis. The private party event will include brief introductions followed by a short Q&A.

Reached Thursday afternoon, Curtis Hubbard of OnSight Public Affairs — an advisor to Lynne — said she has received a groundswell of encouragement to run, but is still lining up formal support before making an announcement. [Pols emphasis]

“Donna is using this exploratory phase to identify supporters and to hear from key Democrats across the state,” Hubbard said in a statement. “Sunday’s appearance is part of that ongoing effort. She expects to make a formal announcement in the weeks ahead.”

Thursday’s story in the Summit Daily News was a follow-up on the fact that Lynne had officially filed paperwork to run for governor as of Aug. 11. There is no such thing as an “exploratory committee” in Colorado — you either file paperwork to form a candidate committee or you don’t — but this detail is apparently confusing to some news outlets.

As the Aspen Times Tweeted today, the only step left for Lynne’s pending gubernatorial campaign is to announce that she is really running for Governor. This is partially true; the real next step for Lynne is to STOP SAYING THAT YOU DON’T KNOW IF PEOPLE WILL SUPPORT YOUR CAMPAIGN.

I’m Donna Lynne, and I’m really not sure that anybody wants me to run for governor!  

In politics and in life, cantaloupes can be great metaphors. We’ll leave you with this image from the La Junta Tribune-Democrat on July 30, 2017 (we couldn’t possible make this up):