The Republican Central Committee on Saturday voted to “admonish” Republican attorney John Zakhem for daring to – gasp! – donate $400 to the campaign of Democratic Rep. Bernie Buescher.
From what we understand, this is the first ever formal “admonishment” of a fellow Republican, although we have no idea what it means to be “admonished.” Do you sit in a chair and get yelled at by a high-ranking GOP official? Do you get a formal letter of “admonishment?” Do you get a trophy or a plaque?
Republicans on the Western Slope have been fighting for years over other Republicans who may have supported Buescher in the past. Apparently if you are a Republican in Colorado, you must seal your elephant stamp in blood and never, ever, ever associate with Democrats. It’s this kind of mentality – the “who is a real Republican?” approach – that has the GOP in Colorado feeling blue. Literally.
Zakhem is a longtime Republican supporter and former attorney for the state party. There’s no questioning his GOP credentials. He’s also no dummy. Zakhem does some work as a lobbyist, and should Buescher win re-election to the House in 2008, he is likely to be the next Speaker of the House.
Extending a friendly hand in order to work across the aisle isn’t something that should be “admonished,” but you can’t tell Republicans that. The Republicans in this state can’t beat Democrats because they’re too damn busy fighting each other.
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Compare this to the way the Democrats dealt with Steve Farber’s endorsement of Both Ways Bob last year, and you see a HUGE difference between the parties. While there was some grumbling, there was NEVER any discussion of censuring Farber (or “admonishing” him), and Farber just kept working hard on getting the Convention brought to Denver.
Democrats understand that having somebody with us 95% of the time is much better than having somebody with us 5% of the time…. Pragmatism dominates the Democratic Party in Colorado; strict GOP fundamentalism dominates the Republican Party.
process of discovering what Debbie Stafford recently learned. Perhaps he should change his registration to independent.
Good grief, do you Republican elect your thought-police/mullahs, or are they selected by God?
THE INQUISITION FOR IDEOLOGICAL PURITY, AND SUBSEQUENT PURGE, WILL CONTINUE UNTIL ONLY THE PURE WILL REMAIN ! There is no better sign that the Republican Party in Colorado is completely lost than this.
The entirety of the Lyndhurst, NJ board and 60% of the County’s Republican Central Committee there switching their party affiliation to become Democrats…
Thats pretty damn bad.
If this is any indication of what’s happening for the GOP in the suburbs (and I think it is) the party is in big trouble.
is that this says nothing about a shift in the opinions of those political leaders. In fact, the strong suspicion is this is a calculated move to keep their elected offices. Still, it says something that they would decide becoming democrats is the best way to keep their offices.
Funny how no one has refuted this…
Nice post though, all in all
I just read online that Chuck Norris (yes, that Chuck Norris) has endorsed Mike Huckabee for president.
Chuck Norris chooses a President and tells the people who it is going to be.
I know people that will vote for Huckabee just so Chuck Norris will allow them into heaven
That would scare Al Qaeda
If we did that, is there anyone in their right mind who would bet against Hillary?
made it all the more priceless. Ahem….
(I added the emphasis.)
I guess that means that the GOP primary voters have godlike qualities…
God will make sure it happens…
….but why wasn’t Shifty Schaffer admonished for helping to elect Gwen Green?
I’m a partisian Dem and I made a contribution to Al White. Are they going to yell at me for supporting a Repub?
I guess we’re both in trouble. Just don’t say it too loud.
but Al White will be excommunicated
the Dem Central Committee, halfway through campaign season last fall, changed their rules when the mayor of Leadville, a committee member, supported a Republican for Commissioner. They notified the mayor of the change in rules after it was well known whom he was supporting. When he continued to support the candidate he thought would be the best choice they expelled him and are now running the Deputy County Clerk against him in retribution.
He’s involved and his support of the fire department is justified.
He would make a good commissioner.
It is a dumb move to publicly embarrass someone when they are holding a checkbook.
When you force someone to pick sides, they often will pick against you. Even very active people like to feel that they are at least somewhat independent, and it is good to allow them to be so.
Look at me. I am a solid Democrat, but I still support Republicans like Ken Salazar.
(…He’s what? Really, are you sure? …Weird.)
I was at the Saturday meeting, and it was remarkable to hear how much work Zakhem and others in his law firm have done for the GOP over the years–and this is how we reward him? The original motion to sack Zakhem was destined for failure, but the Committee took the easy way out to appease the fundamentalist wing with the resolution to “admonish” him, whatever that means.
It would be a credit to his commitment to the GOP for him to continue to stick it out as the Party’s lawyer, but I wouldn’t fault him for deciding that the grief from the Flat Earth types wasn’t worth the effort.
Fortunately, more than a few members of the Central Committee did stand up and talk about how Zakhem and the other members of his legal team know their stuff, and have been a great and dependable source of campaign finance advice, election law info, and organizational help for the County Parties and our Republican candidates.
One thing’s for sure–Zakhem is much more likely to be the corporate lawyer and lobbyist of choice for the trade associations who want a pragmatic Republican attorney that is willing to reach across the aisle when the situation warrants it. I only hope that the public recognizes that the Schultheis/Mesa County/CCU folks don’t represent the sentiments of most of us in the Party.
We’re here from Denver to help you …
The complaint about Zakhem’s contribution may be a symptom of the the urban-rural split within the party. Party/Political decisions are often dictated by folks in a Denver-Douglas-El Paso corridor with little regard for how those matters play in the “sticks” (e.g., Mesa county races).
If the Republican party wants to win state-wide races, it needs to look beyond the Denver metro area IMHO.
As a former Republican and the former Republican Chair of Jeffco who left the party because of the nut-balls who now run the party, you guys are all wrong. The issue isn’t that Zakhem donated to a Democrat. The issue is that a party official donated to a Democrat. In party politics, you simply can’t have this. Imagine if every precinct committeeperson who didn’t like the outcome of a primary donated to the other party’s candidate. That’s just not right. When you take on an official party position, you agree to support all party candidates, at least in public. You just simply can’t do this. Can you imagine what would happen, if the state party chair endorsed a candidate of the opposite party. A party just can’t allow this from its elected officials. It won’t work for either party. If you want to do this, you have to resign your party position. You can still remain a member of the party, you just can’t hold party office while supporting a member of the opposite party. Oh, and just so you frothing at the mouth Democrats get a dose of reality. Does anyone remember what happened to Peggy Lamm last year in the primary after supporting or allegedly supporting Owens? I seem to remember something akin to a cruxification based on that. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Remember that one???
Lamm was a candidate running in a Democratic primary.
The difference here is that Zakhem is not an elected party official–he’s their lawyer. His effectiveness as a lawyer is enhanced by the fact that he has a relationship with the guy who is likely to be the next Speaker.
In fact, that relationship is likely to help other pragmatic Republicans who want to see at least some of their ideas implemented into policy in a Democrat-controlled state legislature. Unless, of course, Republicans take pride in having every one of their bills die in committee…
While Mesa County is safe Republican territory, this is the land of country club/sagebrush/Rotarian Republicans. They want to say God Bless America, wave the flag, graze and snow mobile on federal land, pay less taxes, and have less regulation.
I’ve heard a past chair of the county GOP bellyache about the pro-life and Terri Schiavo wing of the Republican party.
RINOs are present in abundance.
Although rumor has it, the guy who ran against Bernie Buescher last Nov. was a RINO.