February 24, 2014 10:47 AM UTC

Red State's Erick Erickson: Draft Beauprez For Governor

• 22 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels:

“I heard he was thinking about it again,” said Tancredo. “I told him to get in. He is a friend and a good guy.”

Tancredo and Beauprez served together in Congress. Despite their friendship, Tancredo said he never said he would drop out of the crowded GOP race if Beauprez got in. Tancredo is one of at least seven Republicans running for the GOP nomination for governor…

2006 was a fabulous year for Colorado Democrats, but [Erickson’s] statement overlooks Beauprez’s questionable performance as a candidate. Most of Beauprez’s wounds were self-inflicted, say political watchers, and raised questions about Beauprez’s ability to lead. Beauprez lost to Democrat Bill Ritter by 17 percentage points.

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One of the premiere "thought leaders" of the conservative blogosphere, Erick Erickson of Red State, throws down hard for a Bob Beauprez campaign for Colorado governor in 2014–unrepentantly at the expense of the current large pack of candidates already in this race. Excerpt, though the whole piece is worth reading and sharing with your Republican friends:

There are seven people running for the Republican nomination for Governor of Colorado. None of the seven have shown an ability to unite the Colorado GOP. None have shown the ability to win the tough race. None have shown the ability to raise the significant money they will need for a very tough race. None even seem to have a very strong, statewide grassroots network of support.

The frontrunners in the Republican primary include Colorado Secretary of State, Scott Gessler and former Congressman, Tom Tancredo. Both Gessler and Tancredo have high hurdles in terms of electability. Gessler has a series of ethics mishaps that are sure to be the basis of relentless attack ads and Tancredo ran four years ago for Governor as a third party candidate and lost handily.

It is time Colorado Republicans and the rest of us who can help get out and draft former Congressman Bob Beauprez for the nomination. Bob Beauprez can win tough races. Beauprez famously won the newly-added 7th Congressional District in Colorado by 121 votes in 2002 (less than one-third of a vote per precinct) then easily won reelection in 2004 in the district that a Republican hasn’t come close to winning since.

It is true that Beauprez ran for Colorado Governor in 2006 and lost in a year that was devastating across the map for the GOP. But Bob has stayed in the conversation and is highly respected across Colorado… [Pols emphasis]

As we've said, Beauprez's presence on the margins of both the Republican gubernatorial and U.S. Senate primary races is more about the weaknesses of the present candidates in those races than Beauprez's personal viability as a candidate. It's enormously damaging to the other candidates in both of those races each day that Beauprez lurks on the periphery. The rumors surrounding the possibility of a Beauprez 2014 campaign have trended toward a run for Governor as opposed to Senate. As GOP despair grows over the inability of the current candidates to defeat Gov. John Hickenlooper, it becomes less a matter of a savior as saving face–preventing collapse at the top of the ticket to give downballot candidates a better shot. And apparently, Beauprez can still charm people outside Colorado, either old Washington buddies or folks who don't know him or our state very well.

Above all, Erick Erickson's ringing endorsement of Beauprez didn't happen by accident. The likelihood of a Both Ways Bob reprise in 2014 is growing swiftly.