Meet Josh Penry! (And Jane Norton)

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by: Colorado Pols

Jane Norton moved to fire up her U.S. Senate campaign under cloudy skies and spitting rain Friday at Lincoln Park.

Norton, who is battling with Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Michael Bennet, told about 50 supporters that her new campaign manager, state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, would help her capture the nomination.

“I wasn’t satisfied with the direction and energy of the campaign,” Norton said in an interview…

Penry, who arrived late to the campaign event after navigating a treacherous Interstate 70 in a spring snowstorm, said Norton would make more campaign appearances than she has of late.

“We’re going to let Jane be Jane,” Penry said. “She’s her own best advocate.”

“Letting Jane be Jane” hasn’t been a very good idea so far, of course, in fact a good deal of Jane Norton’s problems of late stem from all those unsteady personal appearances that get leaked into larger media exposure–beyond the small groups and controlled forums she has been focusing on. We’re inclined to cut newly-minted defensive tackle Josh Penry a little slack for a few throwaway lines, as our friends at Hotline reported last week, he’s got a lot on his plate:

Norton surprised members of her party last week by announcing that she will forgo the May 22 state convention and instead petition her way onto the Aug. 10 primary ballot. That decision will likely give Norton’s rival, Weld Co. DA Ken Buck (R), a greater opening among party activists.

Norton cited Buck and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) — who is also gathering petitions — as the reason for her decision, an explanation left many observers scratching their heads. CO GOP chair Dick Wadhams called Norton’s move a “mistake” and barred her from having any presence at the 3.5K-delegate convo…

State GOPers have increasingly seen Norton — once the uncontested front runner — as en route to disaster. She raised $815K in the first quarter, but has been burning through it quickly. And getting on the ballot will prove a costly operation.

Buck, meanwhile, has been gaining ground on Norton…

We’ve been hard on Sen. Penry when he’s proven veracity-challenged, but there’s no denying that his early campaign for governor last year generated lots of excitement among Republicans, significantly increasing his profile in the long term even as he left the race under pressure. After his new job as Norton’s campaign manager became public, Penry garnered more press in 48 hours than Norton got in the preceding week or more. Leading to the question posed by the Denver Post’s Mike Littwin on Friday–who’s the star of this show now?

[H]e clearly won’t be Marc Holtzman. But it looks like he might be Dick Wadhams, and you can take that any way you like.

Let’s just say Penry isn’t taking the anticipated career path. It is rare to make the move from being a would- be star candidate only to become someone else’s campaign manager and then expect to resume the starring role someday.

We know why Norton wanted him. She is in desperate need of help. Somehow, no matter what she says, whether it’s about adopting a flat tax or dumping the Department of Education, she is accused of not being conservative enough. She has issues. She did, of course, support Ref C when she was Bill Owens’ lieutenant governor. She has John McCain connections, which are the wrong connections for any Republican in 2010…

You would think if Penry were getting into the race at this stage, he would be itching to get into the race himself.

With Norton’s languid stage presence inspiring neither the conservative base nor squishy moderates, and her vacuity-cum-wacky sloganeering and hiding from the media emerging as a serious problem in what used to be considered an unstoppable campaign, Penry’s job is to get between Norton and the critics with his youth and pugnacious energy. Like we said before, Penry’s not going to be running the day to day operations of Norton’s campaign, he doesn’t have the right experience. At best, Penry can be useful to run interference for Norton with the media, putting a more articulate face on Norton’s campaign than Norton herself seems capable of.

And at worst? This is a stunt that the pundits will someday rate alongside Bob Beauprez choosing Janet Rowland, or John McCain and Sarah Palin: never cast co-stars who upstage you.

We don’t doubt that Penry is every bit as intelligent and ruthless as Dick Wadhams, but Wadhams is also one of the most experienced managers at the level of a U.S. Senate race in the country. Forget about all the real work that usually accompanies the title “campaign manager.” Can Penry cajole and bludgeon the press into doing his bidding like Wadhams? Will reporters accept Penry as a proxy for Norton, or find him an annoying obstruction to their stories? The answer may help determine whether Penry gets to play John Thune’s Dick Wadhams…or Bob Schaffer’s.

14 thoughts on “Meet Josh Penry! (And Jane Norton)”

Ralphie says:

April 26, 2010 at 5:35 am

well, God bless them.

I can’t help but see the parallel between Josh Penry and Josh McDaniels.

Each is driven by ego, neither has really run shit.

While growing up professionally, I have had the (mis)fortune to be around several managers who had the talent, or bullshitting ability, to “fail upward.”

I can sort of see it happening again.

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1. harrydoby says:
  
  April 26, 2010 at 7:00 am
  
  I can see how Penry would accept this offer — the immediate boost in visibility would appeal to his QB-hero ego.
  
  But I fail to see how this ends well. Either he overshadows Jane and voters get confused when they go to vote and don’t see his name on the ballot. Or he truly does “Let Jane be Jane” and spends his time “explaining” what she really meant.
  
  I guess that’s where his highly-refined ability to make stuff up will be an asset.
  
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ScottLewis says:

April 26, 2010 at 8:59 am

Penry coming in is a great thing. He brings obvious name recognition and a strong personal relationship with each local reporter. He knows which to talk to and which to not worry about.

Penry replaces a Manager who isn’t for here. Whose family and personal connections are NOT here. Penry has personal and professional ties to the Rs across the state and the experience of dealing with each of the area residents.

Josh is an awesome choice who I fully expect will help Norton crush Buck AND Bennet.

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1. Republican 36 says:
  
  April 26, 2010 at 4:04 pm
  
  Whether he knows which reporters to talk to or not won’t matter in the end because he isn’t the candidate. Ms. Norton is going to have to carry this on her own shoulders. The choice is between her and Mr. Buck, not Mr. Penry.
  
  If Ms. Norton is perceived as leaning too heavily on Mr. Penry, she will look even weaker and her support will continue to decline.
  
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2. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  April 26, 2010 at 7:13 pm
  
  Who wouldn’t get excited to have a big up and comer like Josh Penry to get on top of Jane’s campaign. Whoa baby it sounds like there is a lot of real magic between Josh and Jane. Scott must be ecstatic over Josh’s new position.
  
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bluemountains says:

April 26, 2010 at 1:44 pm

Its great to see her campaign flail around to try to make things work. This is all a publicity stunt to mask the fact that she has fired her campaign manager.

Awesome.

Add that Ken Buck is making the race competitive and Romanoff is on his way out; this race is looking better and better for Democrats.

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H-man says:

April 26, 2010 at 5:05 pm

The problem with Norton’s campaign has not been that she has not had enough visability, a problem which Penry might help address.

Her problem is that she has had no consistent message. Changing horses in mid stream does not help that perception.

Penry will prove to be a mixed blessing to her as there are a lot of contributors to his failed campaign for governor who he promised would be paid back by last Christmas who are still waiting for their money.

She has gone from leading Buck 45-15, six months ago to trailing 38-37 a month ago without Penry. This will not end well for her and Penry only assures she will go out with a bang.

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DavidThi808 says:

April 26, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Does it solve all her problems? Hell no. But it’s a step in the right direction. Penry knows how to campaign – how to sell oneself to the base and how to get them fired up. If he can teach Norton some of that, then this will turn out to be a very strong move.

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1. RedGreen says:
  
  April 26, 2010 at 6:39 pm
  
  Wait, does this mean Norton is going to withdraw from the race after six months because it’s just not her time, since that’s how well Penry sold himself to the base and got them fired up?
  
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BlueCat says:

April 26, 2010 at 5:48 pm

is apples to oranges since it isn’t either/or with Dems. For Bennet it’s in addition to making it onto the ballot with a respectable showing in a way that increases his exposure to the electorate. For a Republican it shows a rather desperate fear of the base.

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Middle of the Road says:

April 26, 2010 at 5:51 pm

[Penry] clearly won’t be Marc Holtzman. But it looks like he might be Dick Wadhams, and you can take that any way you like.

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1. RedGreen says:
  
  April 26, 2010 at 6:40 pm
  
  Dick Wadhams still has a job and is in the news whenever he wants to be. The Senate candidate whose campaigns he ran, not so much.
  
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marilou says:

April 27, 2010 at 6:52 am

Check out Penry’s voting record. He is 11/14 of Senate Republicans. He just co-sponsored legislation to increase your electricity rates – again.

Surely, we have to think of Norton in terms of the company she keeps.

Why does Norton continue to defend her Referendum C support? Is she a closet tax and spender?

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WesternSlopeThought says:

April 27, 2010 at 5:50 pm

John Marshall/Tim Foster school of failed campaigns. And I suspect his brand of extremism will be a drag on the Norton campaign. Extremist Mesa County Republicans have a long history of failure at running outside of the county. Janet Rowland, Greg Walcher and Penry himself are the latest proof of that.

It was just a few short months ago that Penry was telling everyone that if you could not get nominated through the Republican State Assembly processes, then “there must be something wrong with you”. Will flimflam man Penry be out to prove himself wrong or will he prove Norton chose the wrong path to the nomination. You can’t have it both ways.

I suspect Norton brought Penry on board to smooth her relationship with Penry’s wacko teabagger base who have already endorsed Buck. But running to the far right will prove to be Norton’s downfall in the end. Just as it was for Penry.

“Is anyone else here tired of the flimflam, mealy-mouthed Republican?” –Josh Penry

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