October 04, 2013 09:27 AM UTC

On KLZ, Brophy explains what's required to hold together the GOP base

•  
• by: Jason Salzman

(Frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails! – promoted by Colorado Pols)

I like it when conservative talk radio hits on this question: What's the winning formula for a GOP candidate in Colorado?

On KLZ's Grassroots Radio last Friday, gubernatorial candidate Greg Brophy talked about why he'll triumph next year, and it made for provocative radio.

"Number one," Brophy told Worley, "you’ve got to be able to hold the base together. I can do that. I’ve never let anybody down on the Second Amendment, life, or taxes. So, I can hold the base together just fine." Listen to Brophy on KLZ radio.

That sounds like Brophy's formula for winning the GOP primary. Maybe that's why it was number one on his list, but Worley didn't ask if Brophy thought he could "hold the base together" better than the other GOP candidates.

What about the strengths of the other Republicans in the GOP field: immigration and winnability (Tancredo), election fraud (Gessler).

Can Brophy win over the GOP base on those issues? Does it matter? What's the priority?

And from the GOP base's perspective, for the primary, it's not just a matter of whether Brophy has really "never let anyone down" on guns, life, and taxes, but whether Tancredo has? Or Gessler? Or Kopp?

After talking about how to hold together the GOP base, Brophy described what you have to think would be his general-election approach:

Brophy: "But then you also have to be able to reach that middle of the road voter in the metro area, and I can do that too, based on my experience and the fact that I’m a farmer, and not your typical Republican – more like your typical Coloradoan. I’m an avid cyclist – everybody knows that."

I'm not sure everyone knows Brophy is a cyclist, but here's a suggestion Worley might toss at him to boost his cycler profile: Brophy could take a page from Hick and make political ads showing Brophy riding around Denver's bicycle trails, pedaling past Tancredo, Kopp, and Gessler, panting on their bikes as Brophy zips by, maybe with a pink gun in the water holder on his bike.