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April 22, 2010 01:36 AM UTC

So...What's Going on With Norton's Campaign?

  • 38 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

It’s taken us a few hours to sit back and digest the strange news that Republican Senate candidate Jane Norton has dropped her former campaign manager, Norm Cummings, and replaced him with Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry. As we think more about this move, there are a few things that become pretty obvious:

1. Norton’s campaign is clearly very worried about something. You just don’t make this move unless you have serious concerns about the direction of your campaign. Activist Republicans were not happy that Norton decided to petition onto the ballot and forego the caucus process, so that could be a reason. Or perhaps it’s the “anti-establishment” momentum of fellow Republican Ken Buck. Or maybe the growing financial disparity between Sen. Michael Bennet and, well, everyone else has the campaign nervous about its chances at winning in November.

Most likely, it’s a combination of things, but all point to the same conclusion: Norton and her advisors think a major change is needed NOW. If this isn’t a panic move, it’s damn close to one.

2. Josh Penry is not really going to be managing the campaign. This is no disrespect to Penry, but overseeing a massive statewide campaign is a particular skill; you can’t just pluck some well-known legislator out of the Capitol and hand them the wheel to a multi-million dollar effort. Being a candidate and being a manager are distinctly different skills, and it’s more likely that someone else is still going to be calling all the shots for Norton while Penry’s role is really as more of a spokesman/message consultant/PR stunt.

In fact, it was a different announcement, buried in The Denver Post blog entry, that is probably more important than the Penry news:

Also helping the campaign is Rich Beeson, who is coming on board as a general consultant. Beeson worked on U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s win in Massachussetts earlier this year.

3. So who is really calling the shots for Norton? Well-traveled GOP consultant Shari Williams had originally been chosen to shepherd Norton through the caucus process, but that obviously isn’t happening any longer. From what we understand, the true “manager” of the campaign remains husband Mike Norton, who will no doubt still have the final word, no matter what Beeson or Penry have to say.

The bottom line here is that the Norton campaign is most definitely in some form of disarray, and the Beeson-Penry changes signal something closer to a “panic” than just a general malaise. These are significant changes to make to a campaign that was long considered to be the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.

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38 thoughts on “So…What’s Going on With Norton’s Campaign?”

  1. Until three weeks before she announced, there wasn’t any indication Ms. Norton was interested in running for the U.S. Senate. She was recruited to run and never showed any previous inclination she really wanted to run. The question remains: Does she have the fire in the belly it takes to run a successful statewide campaign. I doubt it.

    Because of that doubt, today’s announcement seems to be an attempt to prop up a candidate and her campaign who don’t really want to run this race. If that is true, she should withdraw.

    1. For all that she seems to have been dragged into the campaign, she has done the real work necessary to run a successful campaign since she’s gotten in.  (Well, “successful” in that she’s raised the money and attended lots of events and gotten her name out in front of the voters – you know, campaigning…)

      1. fact she isn’t running a disciplined campaign. Her messaging has been inconcsistent. She appears to be reciting talking points without any passion. Candidates who want to run have that fire from start to finish. They’ve thought through their message and they are absolutely committed to winning. When a candidate is in that frame of mind it rubs off on the staff and the volunteers. Admittedly, I’m looking at this from the outside without any inside information, but she just doesn’t seem to have the fire in the belly for this.

  2. This does look like a “panic” move.  It’s not that the campaign appeared to be in disarray.  And, as you note, Penry isn’t someone you’d chose as campaign manager of a major campaign – he’s more of a stunt spokesman appointment.

    On the other hand, putting Penry up as the new face of the campaign is almost certainly a better panic move than adding Sarah Palin to your Presidential ticket.

  3. Pols has got this one right with #2.  Beeson is a more than capable of running the show, and will be doing so.  Adding Penry as a title-holder just gets a little more press. I actually think this was a pretty slick move.  

    1. Using Penry as political cover for firing a campaign manager is pretty damn smooth. Not one of the stories I saw (here being the exception) pointed out that Penry couldn’t possibly run her campaign.

  4. That confidence in Norton among GOP insiders is rapidly deteriorating, and that Wadhams’ anger over the situation is real and growing.

    These are friends, reliable sources IMO, but it’s secondhand. Take it for what it’s worth.

        1. Here’s the thing. You may not want to admit to your young, hip, cool friends that you do have sensible conversations with people who actually take a concerned and informed approach to life and the world around them.

          But then when you hang out with your Dem friends, you have to take that STD med again.

          Sorry, couldn’t resist. Too easy a target!

    2. Does this announcement help bolster Nortons support amongst GOP insiders because Penry is on board,

      OR

      does this announcement create anger among GOP insiders with Penry because he’s selling out to Norton ?

      Maybe a little of both. Just curious.

  5. A campaign can only have elbow room for one prima donna, which would be the candidate. It can’t survive two.

    What is strange about this is that they seem to have deliberately brought on Josh to be a paid showboat. This will not end well for them.  

  7. GOP consultant Rich Beeson looks like a super hire.

    In 1994, Beeson got in a spat with a man in a duck suit working for incumbent Gov. Roy Romer. Beeson, who was working for Romer’s challenger, Bruce Benson, “grabbed the duck’s bill, spat into it, poked its feathered chest and yelled obscenities”

    Right on. Why should we Dems be having all the fun? Looks like it is on for the Republicans, too.

    The Buck campaign asserted that the hiring of Penry and Beeson signals that Norton is about to go negative.

    “They’re going on the attack. I think that’s probably what they’re going to do,” said Buck adviser Walt Klein. “That’s the Washington, D.C. move. Go on the attack, get the rusty knife out,” he added.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s…

    But the Norton campaign said it was Buck that had taken the low road.

    “The Washington ‘thing to do’ is let shady 527s do your dirty work for you, a strategy Ken has embraced from the beginning,” said Norton spokesman Nate Strauch.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s…

      1. I mean, he’s on record on about just about every issue, which is quite different than a hired campaign manager or spokesperson.  

        Wasn’t he shaking hands with Governor Ritter when he announced the signing of the natural gas bill this week ?

        1. And that bill had broad bipartisan support.

          But I don’t think it will be that hard for Penry to be the pit bull. He’s unnaturally good at making Democrats look bad, and getting the press to say whatever he wants them to say.

          Besides, Penry hasn’t shied away from either completely contradicting himself (or his record) to score political points or just distorting the facts to create the necessary spin. I still think hiring him was a good move.

            2. Forgetting what Penry has to say never gets run through the bullshitometer by gee golly gosh stenographer Bartels, and also that complete falsehoods have been the rule rather than the exception the past few years.

              Reality sucks.

              Is it so hard to say ” But Josh, (insert time frame here) you said … ”  ?

    1. Now if she loses, she can blame Penry. “He was very enthused but just didn’t know how to run a campaign.” Until now she’s had only herself to blame.

  11. I get it.  

    The NRSC has taken over and decided Penry is the next Sarah Palin.  They are rerunning the McCain campaign that went so well.

    Run away Jane Norton needs to be perceived as a fiscal conservative.  She appoints as her spokesman someone who was opposed to Ref C,when she was in favor of it, so he can talk about how Jane is a fiscal conservative.

    I was also trying to figure out how as a fiscal conservative she is going to become Senator Reid’s worst nightmare.  Her campaign spent over $700 in the last quarter at the Venetian Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. They must be doing some serious research on Senator Reid.:)

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