November 25, 2009 12:28 AM UTC

"Party Unity," Anyone?

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• by: Colorado Pols

A sampling of opinion in the last 24 hours from the state’s conservative blog aggregator, the “I’m so ironic” People’s Press Collective–while GOP establishment leaders sing praise for Scott McInnis and the “Platform for Prosperity,” is the base picking up the tune?

Image courtesy El Presidente of Slapstick Politics

I learned from yesterday’s front page headline of The Denver Post that my party now stands united behind former Rep. Scott McInnis in the Colorado gubernatorial race. Odd that. I used to think we had primary elections for this sort of thing, but it seems they have fallen out of fashion in Colorado. It is, after all, far more efficient for the Party’s leaders to simply anoint a candidate. I am certain that Mr. Dan Maes would be overjoyed to know that he need not bother with a primary. Afflicted with the woeful ignorance of fashion so typical of Republicans these days, however, he still seems to be campaigning. I am sure someone will point out the faux pas, though.

I also learned that we have a new platform, again curtsey of Atty. McInnis and the GOP leadership, saving the rest of us a great deal of time and consideration. The Post even published a nice ten point summary of it on the front page. In fact, many of my Independent and Democrat friends called to chat about these bullets before I even finished reading the article. Although they are each greatly dissatisfied with Gov. Bill Ritter, and despite the fact that they agree with most of those ten points listed in the article, my honorable friends told me they were going to abstain from voting entirely, or else reluctantly support Mr. Ritter again, due to the fact that two of those bullet points were dedicated, yet again, to social issues…

So some Colorado GOP leaders have crafted a Prosperity Platform and rallied behind Scott McInnis as the gubernatorial candidate.

Meanwhile, some in the grassroots remain thoroughly unconvinced and stand behind hard-working longshot Dan Maes. The issue is not the rhetoric or the substance of the 20 governing principles that has earned skepticism or even ire. It’s some of the cast of characters involved that many understandably still have a hard time trusting. I’m not all the way there yet myself.

What might help make the Prosperity Platform more palatable is an escape clause – and by that I mean not for McInnis, but for us…

We’ll say this much: if a Democrat were saying things like this about Bill Ritter, the papers would be writing about it. What do you think, folks? Irrelevant? More little people in need of a “good talking to?” Or, just maybe, cracks in the wall of “McInnis unity” already appearing?