CO-04 (Special Election)
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(R) Trisha Calvarese
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President (To Win Colorado)
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(R) Donald Trump
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CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
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April 27, 2009 03:40 PM UTC
37 Comments
in regards to the Pols questions, that the first is most likely (Sentinel reporter Harmon = bff Josh).
McLobbysist might think he’s offering the little man an overture, but Penry will clean Scott’s clock in that mighty locus of power (with 10% of the statewide vote), the Western Slope.
If McLobbyist gets another challenger, say from the right and the Front Range, then he comes out worse, I believe, in the three way. The few moderates left in the party might support Scooter, but between getting spanked on the West Slope by the former pupil and losing the wing-nut loony vote in the rest of the state…I say it doesn’t look good for Scott–I gave up the 3rd CD–McInnis.
Come on, isn’t the 2010 Guv race is really too early to be talking about now with PPP polling Bennet and Ritter so wrong? With all the stimulus [bailout] monies yet to flood the market, the overhanging debt yet to catch up [sans the flood of newly minted $s], the swine flu lurking like a Party field blogger, and the uptick of jobs that will be saved starting in June; we could see major changes in the environment.
Not suprising that oil interests (Owens camp)are leaning towards Mcinnis. He has a populist message, loves the guns, and LOVES to drill! I lived in Mcinnis’ district for 15 years and he never made the trip the 45 miles up from Glenwood to visit his constituents in Aspen, or the Roaring Fork Valley. I can’t think of a more retrograde move for Colorado or the Republicans.
n/t
The Democrats here could probably care less, but if Representative McInnis really wants a chance with us Republicans, then an apology to Representative Schaffer and the State Party, as a whole, would be a nice start
Representative McInnis’s comments that he could defeat Udall in the 2008 Senate race, a week before the actual voting took place, was deeply damaging to not just Schaffer’s campaign, but the entire GOP ticket here in Colorado
When a senior member of the Party openly criticizes our celebrated Senatorial candidate, it does severe damage down the ticket, in causing many Republicans to stay home, lacking enthusiasm and not voting
If Representative McInnis truly desires the Governor’s Mansion, I simply hope that his leadership will be different from what was displayed in October of 2008
And let it be known – Bob Schaffer is a wonderful man
In empowering the Leadership Program of the Rockies, Representative Schaffer and his team have done more to train Conservative leaders in Colorado than any other individual or entity – he is the Father of our current Republican Party and we are proud of that
As a Republican, myself, that is pro-gay-marriage (Go Iowa!) and in disagreement with Schaffer on many social issues, I always knew I could rely on him (Schaffer) to give me advice and guide me when I was running for HD56, as many other candidates knew, as well… Schaffer is a leader and his seat was made by his own love for training us and being available to guide us – his influence in our Party is DESERVED
With that said, in reference to October of 2008, to see our Party’s father-figure stabbed so deeply… it was just awful and heart breaking for all of us, especially myself
That’s my two cents on the issue…
was primarily directed at Wadhams, and factor out personal relationships with any of them, and focus on the facts and it’s pretty clear that the strategy employed in the Senate campaign didn’t exactly work. Unless of course the goal was to lose by a significant margine, in which case bravo.
What that race should have taught Republicans is that extremism does not work!
Schaffer is a great guy and definitely a true leader for the Party. He has done great things for us all. That being said, the only things we should look at from the senate race is what worked and what didn’t. We need to start doing what works, not what feels best emotionally.
It specifically mentioned Schaffer by name, not Wadhams.
Extremism? Exactly WHAT was extremist that Schaffer did or said? (Hears Crickets)
You valiantly attempt to defend your boss for what was, and remains, indefensible. If it was the only time that Scott McInnis has done this sort of thing…people wouldn’t get wound up about it.
Take the Half Truth Express on down the road.
I don’t recall Representative Schaffer running an extremist campaign in any sort of way
My name’s Josh. I’m 23, a couple decades younger.
I’m not looking for a slap fight with either of you over Scott’s comments about Schaffer/Wadhams. I can argue the point all day but in the end there is no reason to do so, it will only upset certain folks. The comments are irrelevant at this point, and there are bigger things to focus on like defeating Ritter.
McInnis is clearly afraid of Penry in a primary. Why else would he be preemptively calling reporters to hype up some scenario that doesn’t even make sense?
Looking at the GOP’s performance over the past few cycles leads me to believe that McInnis has every reason to fear Penry in a primary. Not only is Scott wrong on GOP isues…he’s openly attacked the very party he wants to nominate him next year. Not only did he undermine Schaffer, he did the same thing to Beauprez.
Dont’ forget that elephants have long memories, McInnis.
Love it, just absolutely love it. Let’s crank up a flag burning issue, or an eggmendment! These types of stances on issues did wonders for Schaffer.
McInnis has the insight to realize that a primary will hurt Republican chances in the general.
His concern is Ritter and the general. That is where he is focused.
McInnis is scared that he’s going to lose a primary. Penry’s track record scares him…and legitimately so.
seriously?
I can say he hasn’t mastered the reply command for email yet – no response when I asked him for an interview.
He said he would master Twitter, not email. How can he be expected to master all of the “new media” at once!?
Scott McInnis and his supporters are pushing the meme that the reason that republicans haven’t done well in Colorado during the last two election cycles is because they’ve been focused on marginalized social issues. That the republican party needs a great moderate to ride in on a white horse and lead them to the promised land. Naturally enough, Scott McInnis and his supporters believe that he is that moderate. There are several fundamental problems with that worldview.
A lot of republicans believe that the problem has been that the party and its candidates have abandoned much of what it means to be a republican; individual freedom, limited government, lower taxes, fiscal responsibility. These are among the most active and energized republicans right now and the LAST thing they are going to tolerate are candidates who are anything other than 100% republican. McInnis doesn’t meet that qualification.
The second problem is that McInnis would like to think that he’s an elder statesman of the Colorado Republican Party like Bill Armstrong, Hank Brown, Wayne Allard or Bill Owens. The problem is that those three left a legacy in the party, they fostered and supported other republican candidates, they had staff that went on to be successful in future public service and the private sector. McInnis never has. In fact, he’s been jealous of other republicans and has never passed the opportunity to publicly shit on them. At one time or another he’s taken shots at Owens, Schaffer, Beauprez, et al. The only republican that he’s helped in the last six years has been his brother in law. That speaks volumes.
Lastly, McInnis is ethically toxic. Scott McInnis could have retired from congress and become a gentleman farmer…much like Bill Armstrong, Hank Brown or Bill Owens. Instead he retired to cash in as a lobbyist. It is unlikely that any lobbyist will ever be elected to statewide office in Colorado, particularly one that has direct ties to DeLay and Abramoff. Throw in the stuff about paying his wife a salary from campaign funds…and top that off with the distinct possibility that he’s laundering the federal PAC money he had left over from his Congressional campaign to illegally spend it on behalf of a gubernatorial run.
Republicans are sick and tired of the ethical lapses of other republicans. Most of them want to put DeLay, Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, et al behind them and move forward. McInnis will just dredge that all back up again.
I’ll give Pat Schroeder, Tim Wirth, David Skaggs and Gary Hart a lot of credit…when they were done, they realized it and didn’t try to pretend otherwise. Nor have they hid behind the pretense of ever trying to run for office again. It’s a shame that Scott McInnis just can’t take a hint.
Gary Hart hinted at running again a few times, and Skaggs is currently head of Colo Dept of Education, so hes hardly a “gentleman farmer”.
I don’t know why I am defending McInnis because he is the biggest threat to dems, but if you guys are going to back a 28 year old quarterback who has done an awful job as minority leader and has only fear and tax cuts to sell you guys are toast.
Republicans just need to get back to their “core values”. That’s the ticket.
You represent a small worldview within the defeated fringes that has contributed to the situation we as Republicans and conservative currently find ourselves. The problem with your approach to conservatism, is that you focus on excluding people from the party rather than incorporating the many diverse citizens who share most of your views. This is exactly contrary to how Reagan approached the party btw. The Party should have learned from the dems that large gains are made incrementally, and that taking a radical approach only alienates, divides, and results in total failure.
You continue to attack McInnis’ ethics, and yet have no evidence of anything unethical or illegal. You can spin all you like, make accusations, and try to create issues where there are none, but in the end all you are doing is helping the dems and further adding to the gap in the republican party. If you were truly interested in regaining control of the state and governor’s chair, you would not be devoting all of your attention to dragging a solid conservative (look at the record) leader through the mud so that your guy can make a premature run for a seat that would in such a case, likely go to the incumbent.
Wake up! The goal for Republicans is not to defeat McInnis or Penry, but to defeat Ritter.
You haven’t been to many republican meetings lately have you? Scott McInnis is selling a message that the people who walk the precincts and make the phone calls aren’t buying.
It’s pretty rich of you to now clothe yourself in the mantle of Reagan. You’re the clown who posted a completely unsubstantiated hypothesis about Penry on two different websites last week, and when asked to prove any of it…declined to do so. You took the first shot, and now you’re whining and complaining because the other side has more bullets than you do.
Mike you need to come up with 1 message and stick to it. One post you’re claiming that McInnis is the Great Moderate who will save the party from itself and then the next you claim he’s a solid conservative. You can’t have it both ways. Pick one.
Just fired back with a bigger gun that seemed to really upset the Penry fever swamp, which makes me smile just a little.
One thing that’s nice about McInnis is that he understands that he doesn’t need to spout off with a bunch of rhetoric for the cameras in order to get the job done. That’s why he’s perceived as a moderate, and yet still has a conservative record. He isn’t offensive to moderates or independents and still represents conservative values. A pretty grand combo in my book.
Your last line is exactly what I told you last week after you wrote a completely unsubstantiated attack on Penry.
it was a legitimate question that should be looked into. And was raised now, so that it would be dealt with before Ritter has the chance to use it later.
I’ve not changed my mind, the real fight is with Ritter. But I won’t sit back and ignore the baseless attacks from the Penry supporters either. I will get my jabs in.
This little part made me chuckle, and just proves to me that you’re pretty much making it all up as you go:
West Sloper hit on the candidate portion, but I have to address the staff portion of your smear. Dana Perino, Josh Penry, Stephanie Finley, etc… all former McInnis staff members, to name a few.
McInnis has been doling out contributions to Republican candidates for years. He might not have the Wadhams crowd in his back pocket (they haven’t won anything anyway), but he has paid for the loyalty of many Republican county commissioners, state reps, county activists, and other people in the Republican Party infrastructure. He’s been running for governor since he left the 3rd CD.
Penry isn’t going to drop the bird in hand (he’s up for re-election in 2010) to go for the gov’s seat. But this supposed competition with his former master makes for good copy in the media…and the blogs.
I personally don’t like the guy but you should ask people like Tom Dashle if Dick Wadhams has ever won anything. Or Tom Strickland. Or Gail Schoettler….
The beauty of the internet is you can actually look people up and see what they’ve given.
http://www.opensecrets.org/ind…
MCINNIS, SCOTT
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT/CONGRESSMAN 8/19/04 $2,000 Walcher, Greg (R)
MCINNIS, SCOTT
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 HOGAN & HARTSON L.L.P./ATTORNEY 4/10/06 $680 Hogan & Hartson
MCINNIS, SCOTT
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 HOGAN & HARTSON LLP/ATTORNEY 2/10/08 $680 Hogan & Hartson
MCINNIS, SCOTT
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 HOGAN & HARTSON LLP/ATTORNEY 2/5/07 $666 Hogan & Hartson
MCINNIS, SCOTT
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 HOGAN & HARTSON L.L.P./ATTORNEY 10/3/05 $666 Hogan & Hartson
MCINNIS, SCOTT THE HON
GRAND JUNCTION,CO 81506 SELF-EMPLOYED/ATTORNEY 5/16/08 $500 McCain, John (R)
Wow. $500 to John McCain last year. What a party stalwart. As a moderate you’d think that McCain’s message would have resonated with McInnis a little more than $500.
That erked me, too. The least McInnis should have done, after he slimmed Schaffer and the McCain campaign, was max out to both. He didn’t.
If Benson were still running this Party, McInnis would have been fined huge…
They have a deal… they each campaign hard between now and Jan/Feb. Take a poll, and whoever is top-line gets the top of the ticket. Runner up gets Lt. Gov.
Details may be off – but the point it the same. We’re looking at a McInnis & Penry (in whatever order) ticket.
it makes way more sense for Sen. Penry to be the Lt. Governor candidate.
All things being equal, McInnis just has more experience and more credibility than Penry. He also polled 7 points ahead of Ritter in the recent PPP poll (not saying it’s the greatest poll ever, but anyway) whereas Penry was in a statistical dead heat.
Of course, Lt. Governor would be a step down from State Senate Minority Leader, so I don’t know if that’s what Penry would want to do.
Either way It’s Me, I would tend to agree with you if the two don’t burn each other down between now and next year. Their surrogates are doing a hell of a job of it right now.
The “let’s poll and make a deal” pact didn’t work out too well for Jeff Crank when Rayburn’s sleeze-bag campaign manager (Mike Hessssse) crawfished on the deal when Crank’s polling numbers were on top.
Surely McInnis’ campaign manager (Mike Hesssse) wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
I thought it was illegal for a 527 to coordinate with a candidate committee? Hesse runs a 527 out of his house…so does he not talk to himself without a lawyer present?
Beyond that, I can’t find a candidate committee for McInnis on the SoS website. I might have missed it, but under state law the minute he represents himself as a candidate, raises or expends any money…he is required by state law to file a committee and begin reporting contributions and expenditures.
Seeing as he’s having an event tommorrow with the Owens’ kids as “Colorado’s Next Governor” he’d probably better file before somebody files a complaint.
I wonder who’s paying for the event at the Blue Bonnet? If he’s paying…he’s breaking the law. If somebody else is paying…that’s an in-kind contribution and that would also be breaking the law.
It’s just dizzying isn’t it, he hasn’t even filed with the SoS and he’s already making campaign finance violations.
What….Scott McInnis comply with campaign finance rules! Why? Not him.
I’m guessing that his paid campaign manager, his wife, must have forgotten to file the paperwork. Perhaps she was too busy counting the stacks of cash she raked in from his congressional account.
not a fundraiser. I believe the kids call it “networking” these days. The Owens’ kids can call it whatever they like, they are not spokesmen for McInnis last I checked.
And there is no candidate committee, ’cause there is no candidacy, and he has yet to represent himself as a candidate for anything. It’s all speculation.
speaks volumes about you, and your sense of ethics and honesty. Anybody who’s been paying attention long enough on pols should take note.
There are only two “s'” in Hesse btw; though I imagine when you speak the name you do so with a childish, bitter hissing sound that is not uncommon amongst those with supressed (though not so much in your case) anger issues.
Has it really come to tne point where Scooter and Penry are the republican front runners?
Scooter can’t win the primary because he’s way to “centrist” for the base loony tunes. Penry’s own antics in the State session have allowed the Democrats to brand him a fringe lunatic, much like Brophy and Gardner. He’d get hammered in a statewide against anybody the Democrats run, not just Bennet.
Now that the issues are more complicated that just gays, guns, and God, Colorado no longer is an automatic for this “Elmer Gantry” type of pol.