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August 27, 2010 07:20 PM UTC

Tea Party Geniuses: Maybe We Should Raise Money?

  • 41 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

As Politico reports:

Colorado gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes has already overcome a significant cash dearth to win once this election cycle, but now Republican leaders are warning that without a fast injection of cash, his campaign might be doomed.

In a recent e-mail to grassroots Republicans forwarded to POLITICO, the president of Denver’s Coalition for a Conservative Majority said Maes’s campaign was teetering on the brink due to anemic cash flow.

“Dick Wadhams informed us that the Maes campaign is on the verge of collapse due to lack of campaign funding. If you are a Dan Maes supporter, be aware that his campaign desperately needs donations even more than it needs volunteers to work,” wrote coalition president Jack Ott, referencing comments made by state party chair Dick Wadhams at recent meeting.

In a separate e-mail to a conservative listserv, Colorado 9-12 Project leader Lu Busse wrote that Maes “in particular needs money,” and suggested that a big cash infusion from grassroots members could help spur rank-and-file establishment Republicans and “big money” players to get off the sidelines.

Busse went on to say that statewide Republican candidates like Maes would likely need a million votes to win, more than double the number of Republicans who turned out to vote in the primary. “Persuading 2.5 times that many to vote for the candidates will not be possible in the next 10 weeks without money for direct mail and other advertising . . . This is not being negative, this is accepting reality and changing our tactics/actions based upon the situation,” Busse wrote. [Pols emphasis]

We love that last quote from 9-12 Project Leader Lu Busse that they might want to “change their tactics” to include more fundraising. Whatever gave you that idea? Who gave up the secret that you can’t win elections with just “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and message boards?

Through the July 28 cutoff period for the last fundraising reports, GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes had less than $24,000 in the bank. We’ve always said that this is one of the main problems with Republicans kowtowing to the Tea Party and 9-12 groups of the world; sure, they’re loud and they show up at events, but taken as a whole, they are more of a hindrance than a help. Republicans like Senate nominee Ken Buck have had to move as far to the right as possible in order to win their support in a Primary, but once the General Election comes, they become a humongous albatross. They insist that Buck and Maes take positions that won’t help them much with swing voters, but they don’t do squat to help them raise money to appeal to anyone other than the Tea Party. You can see this muddled line of thinking in the quote above, as though it just now became clear that raising money might be helpful.

Of course, even if the Tea Party folks could help raise money, there’s no guarantee that Maes would know what to do with it, as a former staffer tells Politico:

“There were just red flags all over the place. It was real clear to me he didn’t have any personal money. His wife was running the campaign money,” said Ross, who left the campaign in March. “He doesn’t know how to manage $5. He won’t be able to raise money. He can’t raise money because people are finding out what a joke he is.”

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41 thoughts on “Tea Party Geniuses: Maybe We Should Raise Money?”

  2. We’ve always said that this is one of the main problems with Republicans cow-towing to the Tea Party and 9-12 groups of the world

      OK, bloggers are notoriously poor proofreaders and, certainly, I’m among the worst offenders.  But this typeaux is beautiful.

     

    cow-towing to the Tea Party

       Do Republicans tow cows to the Tea Party because the Tea Party is a bunch of cow-tipping idiots?

      I can live with that;-)

  3. Those polls aren’t looking so good for Hickenlooper. Maybe it isn’t going to be the cakewalk everyone predicted. A virtually unknown candidate tied with Hick in a head to head and support for Tancredo falling by the day. What’s the matter with your candidate, Dems?

    2. and I would not want a cakewalk. I want Hick to prove himself as worthy and I already know him to be. The only candidate who, seeing that more $ were needed, campaigned for tax increases and convinced the public of their efficacy.

    3. A virtually unknown candidate tied with Hick in a head to head

        YOU AINT GOT NO STEENKING head to head.  You got the Tank vs. the Tin Foil Man splitting the nut job vote, leaving the real world residents voting for Hick.  Furthermore, the Tank just shored up his right flank by adding Pat Miller, the one person in Colorado who makes Maes look reasonable, to his ticket.  That means Maes doesn’t dare move to the center, as he tried to do with the Tambourine Girl, because he’d alienate the Whack Job Right that is his only base.

        I can see those Blue Helmets marching down Broadway today.

         

        1. The poll found that, without Tancredo in the race, Hickenlooper and Maes were tied at 45%.

          Umm, without Hickenlooper in the race, Maes might win, too.

        2. The poll found that, without Tancredo in the race, Hickenlooper and Maes were tied at 45%.

           Earth to Beej — Tancredo is in the race.

          HUFFPO was asking a hypothetical question, kind of like when that lady in Hot Pants asks you “Do you want to party?”

             She’s actually more concerned with her financial fugure than your social life…

          1. But earth to Voyager (somewhere out there in the galaxy) – Tancredo is losing support fast. I’ve talked to people who say they support Tancredo now but if Maes is doing better in the polls they’ll vote for him in November.

            1. which is why so much money is flowing to Tin Foil Danny, right?  

                Tank is far too ego-driven to withdraw.  And if he gets even 5 percent of the vote, you’re screwed.

                1. when they converted Folsom Field to astroturf.  Before then, they froliced freely on campus and Jesus went among them, turning water into wine for the benefit of the undergraduates.  So, yes, dinosaurs and Jesus did co-exist.

                     

                    1. and, for that matter, my portrait (and that of my wife) are actually on the wall of The Sink.

                      Hallowed ground indeed.

        3. Maes cruises to a 100 percentage point win.

          What an awesome candidate.

          Wahoo!!!  Calling all Tea Party extremists who have shared a bed with bj.  Maes is winning by a fantastic margin.  Way to go Dan.  You are the man.  bj said you are running neck and neck with those other guys so you must obviously be kicking it.

        1. I’m much more worried about the Tank than Maes.  You should really look at the poll before you rely on it.  The unaffiliated vote is so low in it as to make it absolutely worthless.

          As I’ve said before, Maes fades and The Tank becomes the main threat.  And I think he really is a threat.

          Sorry, BJ, I know that doesn’t play into your Republicans first and only, but do you even remember the name of the Republican who ran against Joe Lieberman and Nate Lamont?  Do you remember what percentage of the vote he got?  

          1. Pick another race to be worried about. And no we won’t all be too complacent either but life is too short to go looking for things to stress out over.  

  4. I can attest to the futility of efforts to get major party and PAC money by working really hard and being really enthusiastic about a no hoper campaign.

    It’s one thing to push to do well in the HD and SD races without money.  Almost getting Jared Ingwalson elected to SD 26 with pretty much nothing in 2004 opened the way to the targeting that helped us elect ideal military/moderate/former Glendale mayor D Joe Rice to HD38 in 2006 followed by a series of lucky breaks (R appointed SD26 incumbent Steve Ward, who couldn’t possibly lose, deciding to quit in favor of a quixotic primary run for the CD6 nomination, open seat, R candidate nobody liked much)) that gave D Linda Newell the seat in 2008 by less than 200 votes as I recall.

    But at the congressional level or higher it just isn’t doable. The establishment has too many competitive races nationwide it needs to win to be spending the kind of money it takes to win a higher level race without a strong chance of success. They aren’t ever going to be convinced to help a bunch of idealistic grass rooters without a chance or a clue.

    No amount of e-mailing,  face booking, putting on shows in the barn, calling all your friends to have yard parties and coffees is going to produce anywhere near enough funding to win a congressional, senatorial or gubernatorial race without the big boys playing too. C’est la vie.  

  5. “. . . the Maes campaign is on the verge of collapse due to lack of campaign funding. If you are a Dan Maes supporter, be aware that his campaign desperately needs donations even more than it needs volunteers to work,” wrote coalition president Jack Ott.

    . . . NO MORE MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT CHECKS!!!!!

    (I must say, however, that Williams gal? — she looks like an Amaesingly fine addition to the campaign.)

    Give that man a harrumpf — and any spare change you can muster.

  6. “Of course, even if the Tea Party folks could help raise money, there’s no guarantee that Maes would know what to do with it.”  Throw in the market dynamic that people don’t throw money at sinking ships, his well-documented failure to manage previous contributions is a valid concern for any donor.  Mr. Maes needs to realize that the State is facing real, long-term challenges that he is NOT prepared to address in any meaningful way.  Consequently, you are increasing going to see more and more Republican support for Mr. Mayor.  

  8. Seriously?

    At this rate he will have to bow out, unless he retreats into an entirely Alvin Greene – B.J. Wilson alternative universe.

    Question: If Maes simply drops out, what happens? Can the GOP then designate a successor?

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