December 22, 2010 08:50 PM UTC

"Anybody But Dick"

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado Statesman’s Leslie Jorgensen reports:

If state Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams were handed a report card for his performance in the 2010 election cycle, he would be awarded high marks by traditional GOP activists and flunked by several tea party groups. The anti-establishment mood that wafted over tea party rallies – and was intoned by GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes – has drifted into the election of party officers in 2011.

Among those humming the “Anybody but Dick” mantra, the most vocal is Colorado Change the Change that blames Wadhams for not having vetted Maes, failing to promote the GOP gubernatorial candidate and not waging a vigorous defense of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck whose videotaped comments became fodder for attack ads aired by left leaning groups…

“I am part of an effort to replace the state GOP leadership – Dick Wadhams and crew – with a new team that will take the Colorado GOP in a different direction,” said Jim Courter of Teller County in an e-mail to enlist support from Otero County Republican Party officers.

As some of our readers have mentioned in previous discussions of Dick Wadhams’ fate, the shift of votes away from the GOP nominee to minor party candidate Tom Tancredo–a move that was tacitly encouraged by Wadhams as he scumbagged the GOP nominee at every opportunity–may play a key role in Wadhams’ removal as party chairman should he decide to run again.

The fact that Maes won just 199,034 votes has reduced the number of state GOP Central Committee bonus members who, along with county party officers and Republican elected officials, will elect the state party chair in March. Heavily populated Republican counties, such as El Paso, Jefferson, Arapahoe, Larimer and Douglas counties, overwhelming supported Tancredo over Maes. Consequently, the rural counties are estimated to have 53 percent of the vote for state GOP chair.

Of the possible alternatives to Wadhams mentioned in this article, two who intrigue the most are former Senate candiate Tom Wiens and GOP attorney Ryan Call. Call in particular is probably a choice that Democrats would prefer the GOP not make, being a smart guy with a good understanding of the role of ‘independent’ groups, and the party’s place in the political landscape–meaning he’d be a better opponent to the Democrats than Wadhams.

On the other hand, Call’s role in organizing much of the ‘independent’ capacity that does exist on the Republican side would make the lines between the party and these groups even hazier if he were to become party chairman–a further vector for scandal? Let’s make sure to get an opinion on that from Secretary of State Scott Gessler right away…

Kidding aside, the tone of both Call’s and Wiens’ comments in this story suggest Wadhams still has enough clout to make the decision whether or not to run again himself–for the time being, anyway. It seems increasingly to us, based on conversations with Republican sources, that a sense of overall “Wadhams fatigue” is the most likely factor to push him into retirement. It’s not who one blames for any one of the many incidents that have divided the Colorado Republican Party during Wadhams’ term. it’s the simple fact that so many such divisive moments have occurred at all; and Wadhams inability, for whatever reason, to get control of them enough to capitalize on the greatest opportunity the GOP will have in a number of years.