From the Durango Herald:
Mud flew in the Colorado Republican Party on Thursday as state Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, endorsed the Democratic candidate for governor. Larson’s endorsement of Bill Ritter against Republican candidate Bob Beauprez marks the maverick legislator’s latest break from the GOP.
“I’ve looked at the candidates,” Larson said, “and I’ve looked at what they represent and tried to match that against where the majority of Coloradans are and what’s good for the state. And I came up with Bill Ritter.”
Some of Larson’s fellow Republicans immediately went on the attack.
“It’s obvious that Mark Larson is shamelessly pandering for a job with the Democrats,” said Shannon Richardson, La Plata County Republican Party chairwoman. “He has created a lame-duck situation for himself with the Republican Party and is now out of work and looking for a job.”
Larson probably isn’t too concerned about Republicans attacking him; after all, Republican infighting was the primary reason he didn’t run for state Senate.
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I suspect this will not be the last Republican to endorse Ritter since the alternative choice is as bad as Enron.
BothWaysBob has notable endorsements himself including “Mommy,” Grover, the Benson Mineral Group and the Beer Baron.
I think Shannon is looking for a job in politics and has decided to sling her own mud to impress….um….well I don’t know since we could care less.
Who’s heading up Democrats for Both Ways?
BothWaysBob can’t have it both ways. He’s not going to get any support from the middle to left with his stance on business and immigration.
He has not even declared Gigi his running mate yet, but when he does…oh boy watch out for the sinking ship.
I thought it was gonna be Beazley or Coffman for Lt. Guv. what gives?
The hard radicals in the GOP who are waging primaries against incumbent Republicans who aren’t as radical as they are on social issues are laying the groundwork for their own demise into irrelevancy.
Whether it’s Focus on the Family or the volunteer suipolitical nuts out there who are willing to blow up the party in the interest of religious purity, the radicals are marking the GOP as the party of the mentally unstable.
Few voters like judgmental people, especially self-righteous politicians who wave the flag, promote faith-based programs, demand prayer in the schools and insist that big government be the leading misogynist in people’s bedrooms. The Jim Dobsons, Pat Robertsons and Frank Grahms of the GOP are driving voters into the arms of moveon.org.
Larson and other very public Republicans are following their supporters out of the Republican party, which will be in the minority for a long time.
I should expect anything different from Larson? Mark please, for the sake of your own reputation, just resign from the party and go become an unaffiliated voter or democrat or…something.
that Ms. Richardson, with her statement is essentially conceding defeat for Both-Ways Bob?: “It’s obvious that Mark Larson is shamelessly pandering for a job with the Democrats,” said Shannon Richardson, La Plata County Republican Party chairwoman.
The only way us Dems could give Rep. Larson a job is if Ritter wins and/or the Dems retain control of one or both of the Legislative chambers.
Good for you Mark! I like a man that says what he thinks instead of just blindly following party loyalty. Ya’all can take your RINO comments and put them you know where. It’s not just your party.
I’ve finally joined Coloradopols after reading it for a long time. This is my first post. All this back forth inside the Republican Party should not be viewed as who is right or wrong any longer. The fact is there are two factions which I will call the social conservatives and on the other, the traditional Republicans (I’m part of the later group). These two factions simply no longer agree on almost any policy area you want to name. It is time to call it quits, split the sheets etc. and admit that these two groups cannot remain part of the same political party. It means the democrats will be in control for the foreseeable future but the present situation can’t go on.
I believe the far right wing nuts (or “social conservatives,” if you will) have seen their best chance to make America and Colorado the kind of place they want it to be, and they weren’t able to make good on it. For all his talk of a mandate in 2004, Bush has had nothing but setbacks and trouble his second term. The only thing to crow about is getting 2 conservative judges on the Supreme Court. In Colorado we elected a Democratic majority in both houses and unless things take a major turn we’re about to elect a Democratic governor, while the country will doubtless increase the number of Democrats in the US House and Senate, possibly gaining a majority in one of these houses.
So, what’s a wing nut to do? The tide’s just starting to turn against you. Well, it looks like they’ve decided to fight their closest allies (old school Republicans) instead of their traditional foes. This is a losing battle. They might win the party but they’ll lose any meaningful power at all levels. Why? Because the majority of Americans do not see things their way. Sure, there may be a few things that anyone but the most hardcore lefty liberal can agree with in the wing nut platform, but no one wants the whole package. If traditional Republicans gain the upper hand (and I believe they will – in this environment even Reagan would be called a RINO by most of these nuts) then the nuts will split off, learn first hand how small a minority they really are, then eventually come sheepishly back into the fold. This may take 10 or 20 years to play out, but that’s a scenario that is starting to look more likely to me all the time.
I await all the angry gnashing of teeth from the hard right.
They are big government radicals. There is nothing conservative about them. They want government in our lives, they spend like Humphrey Democrats and the want to forget about the Constitution and the values that have made America great.
They’re Republican social radicals (RSRs) or Religious Republican Radicals (RRRs).
Let’s not change the meaning of conservative.
But I think that horse may have already run out of the barn.
I wouldn’t give up on Radical Social Republicans too soon. The Lemmings from RSR wing of the Republican Party will fall in line with BWB. This is the REL (Really Easily Led) wing of the party we’re talking about after all. They’ll rant and rave, and then vote for the BBOP (Big Business Over People) candidate who pays lip service to their agenda.
Whether it’s keeping women submissive, barefoot and pregnant, persecuting gays and lesbians, or shoving their God down everyone’s throats, the Christian Coalition truly is the American Taliban.
Where is the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Suppression of Vice when we need it most?
Where is Mullah Omar or his evil twin, Dr. James Dobson, when we need him most?
but Aristotle and Another Skeptic pretty much covered it. I need to get up earlier.
but i will add one comment:
read john dean’s new book Conservatives Without Conscience.
It started being co-written with Barry Goldwater, the real father of the conservative movement. But clearly he would be seen as not just a RINO pub probably a LIBERAL!!!
Barry Goldwater was a libertarian, a word which some right wing nuts have trouble differentiating from L-I-B-E-R-A-L. And the Taliban wing of the GOP (euphemistically called “the social conservatives”) would be trashing Goldwater because he was pro-choice, on abortion, gun ownership, same sex relationships, public v. private education, social security participation, pretty much everything.