Pass the hemlock, please

Though the Tea Party movement is not a cohesive entity, its component parts this year have been grappling with a central existential question: To be, or not be, a third party?  Thus far, Tea Party leadership from across the country has made a concerted effort to keep its powerful, grass roots movement within the Republican Party.  As one of Colorado’s Tea Party leaders, Lesley Hollywood, told me recently, “We had to work at convincing people that the right approach was to work within the Republican Party – to restore its conservative principles and to keep it honest.”  The thinking is that third party candidates are relegated to the role of spoiler, and even in the rare occasion when they are well financed, have little chance of actually winning.  Principle is important, but power is essential to changing the way government works.   The Tea Party has learned to work the system, and the system has begun to work for them. Or so they thought.  Late on Monday, former GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo announced that he was entering the race for Colorado Governor as the candidate of the tiny American Constitution Party.    Even for those who know this mercurial politician well, Tancredo’s move represented a dramatic about face.  In December of 2009, Tancredo sent an open letter to Colorado’s Tea Party patriots, imploring them to get behind the Republican Party and not make the “suicidal” mistake of backing a third-party candidate from a small fringe party:

Some patriots are tempted to launch a third political party or back one of the existing small parties that never attract more than one or two percent of the vote in state races. I strongly believe that such a course is suicidal and would only result in splitting the conservative vote and guaranteeing the re-election of liberals and socialists.

I believe the Republican Party is the natural home of conservatives and that the road back to constitutional government lies in taking control of the Republican Party from top to bottom, from county committee to the statehouse and all the way to Washington, D.C.

According to the Denver Post, the ACP has 2,000 voters registered with the Colorado Secretary of State, and is the kind of fringe party that Tancredo rightly says never attracts more than a point or two of the vote.  But with a high-profile candidate in Tancredo, who has a dedicated core of state-wide support and a proven capacity to raise money, there is a very real fear that the American Conservative Party will split the Republican vote sufficiently to ensure that Democrat John Hickenlooper is elected in November.  As Colorado GOP Chair Dick Wadhams told the Wall Street Journal, “He wants to destroy Republican chances”.

Not that Republicans haven’t done a good job themselves of messing up the Governor’s race – the Republican front runner, Scott McInnis, has been embroiled in a high-profile plagiarism scandal, and  Tancredo’s stated rationale for joining the race is McInnis can no longer win.   But in the end, this move by Tancredo likely has less to do with politics and more to do with personality.  “Tancredo has an unquenchable thirst for national media attention, at any cost”, Wadhams told the Wall Street Journal.  Tancredo has gained a national following for his strident position on illegal immigration.  When Tancredo ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, he ran an ad that was reminiscent of the “daisy girl” spot that LBJ ran against Barry Goldwater in 1964 – depicting a bomb being planted by illegal immigrants exploding in a mall and the slogan “Tancredo – before it’s too late”.

This kind of sensationalism from a Tancredo run is likely to suck the air out of the Colorado campaign season – at all levels.  In fact, conservatives worry that beyond splitting the conservative vote in the Governor’s race, Tancredo’s presence on the ballot will affect other races as well.  This includes the race in the critical 4^th CD, where Republican Cory Gardner is running a hotly contested race against Democrat Incumbent Betsy Markey.  If Tancredo’s presence at the top of the ticket helps the ACP”s 4^th CD candidate Doug Aden siphons away votes from Gardner, it could mean the difference in the race.

All of which is salt in the wound to Colorado Tea Party activists – especially in Northern Colorado, where Cory Gardner is from.  In an open letter to Tancredo the day before he made his decision to enter the race, Lu Busse, Chairwoman of the Colorado 9-12 Project Coalition wrote:

We clearly demonstrated at the precinct caucuses and state assembly (that the)Tea Party and other pro-liberty grassroots individuals have worked tirelessly for more than a year championing our principles, becoming engaged and informed, learning the political process, vetting candidates at all levels, and also reshaping the Colorado Republican Party as you advised.

For Tancredo, it’s do as I say, not as I do.  “He’s making a mockery of himself and the entire election process”, Lesley Hollywood told the Wall Street Journal.  “It seems like an enormous power grab”.

Or publicity grab, anyway.

Ken Buck's Grassroots Appeal

Memorial Day weekend in Colorado Springs should include a stroll down Colorado Blvd in Old Colorado City,taking in the food and frivolity of Territory Days.  The oldest city in the Pikes Peak Region, Old Colorado City was selected as the first territorial capitol of Colorado in 1861, although its reputation for being a rowdy place for gold miners and disputes among several area Indian tribes facilitated moving the capitol shortly thereafter. On Saturday, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Ken Buck, walked the streets of Old Colorado City, visiting with locals and tourists alike.  The Weld County District Attorney was right at home in this historic community which reflects a true flavor of the Old West.

We were able to meet Ken Buck and hear him answer questions from other passersby about the economy and the general direction the country is heading.  Our distinct impression was that he's alot more about listening than simply dominating conversation with talking points and platitudes.  The street noise was much as it may have been back on a Saturday night in the Gold Rush Days, yet Mr. Buck leaned into to hear what people needed to tell him.  He looks people in the eye and extends a confident handshake.  We heard him ask people what issues matter to them right now and how their families are coping with the current economic climate.   He listened intently as people talked about being unemployed or having returned recently from overseas military duty.  In between smiles and shared humor, a sobering expression would quickly come over his face as he learned about a very difficult situation a person is having.

As Ken Buck strolled through the huge crowd, meeting and talking with people from all walks of life, all ages, all political persuasions and all economic backgrounds, he was definitely quite comfortable being amongst the cross section of people that make up the great state of Colorado.  His demeanor, as well as his stand on conservative issues  are clearly playing a big part in his popularity with the grassroots and tea party constituents.

There ARE Rising Stars in the GOP!

Barack Obama and Ron Paul had something very much in common during the '08 campaign. Both won hearts and minds talking about fiscal responsibility and Bush bashing.  The key difference was Obama delivered his fencepost-up-side-the-head attacks on Bush with polished eloquence and Paul, with his tremulous, whiny voice, sounded more like someone's great-grandad sitting on the front porch ranting about issues of the day.  Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll last night, at least among the college age attendees that voted.  When FOX News announced the results, they were quick to add that many people chose not to stand in line and cast a vote, suggesting the result isn't  especially signficant, but you can bet the liberal media and pundits such as the gang on MSNBC's Morning Joe tomorrow will have a boat load of fun with it.  They'll be quick to point out that the Republican Party still does not have a shining star at the helm.

Ron Paul is a stalwart against big government spending and along with his libertarian and anti-war points of view, he does have something to offer the disgruntled, especially Tea Party activists.  The combination of Ron Paul and an unpopular mainstream Republican candidate (selected for the most part by the liberal media) won the White House for Mr. Obama.  So, we want to go that route again in 2012?

There is a growing number of conservative Republicans, especially in the House of Representatives that are getting little press or attention.  As Mr. Limbaugh says, you can always tell which Republicans the Democrats fear most because they go after them with full force of their wrath and condemnation.  Identify, isolate and destroy.  The media has thus far been pretty successful in taking Bobby Jindahl off the national radar, yet the press conference he gave in anticipation of another hurricane instead of making a speech at the '08 Republican National Convention was incredible.  He is a man with remarkable leadership and organizational  abilities with staunch conservative values, not just in theory, but also in practice. He is also a joke amongst media types.

Indiana offers two conservative Republicans with impressive track records, and either would make an excellent presidential candidate.  Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels are often overlooked, but if you YouTube Pence's speech at CPAC a couple of days ago, he looks and sounds very much like the kind of conservative we need.  Governor Daniels presides over a state of fiscal reponsibility and black ink.  Cross the state line between Illinois and Indiana and immediately you'll see a vast difference in conditions of their roads and highways.  In spite of the likes of native Hoosiers such as David Letterman, Indiana has alot to offer America right now in terms of conservative leadership.  However, the suggestion that John Cougar Mellencamp may be a viable candidate for Evan Bayh's seat reminds us that even Red states have their share of looney liberals. 

We should also be taking a look at young Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.  He stood up to Obama at the Republican House Retreat a few weeks ago.  He has put forth an impressive and extremely workable, affordable alternative to ObamaCare.  It is simply a lie for anyone to continue to say that the Republicans offer no plan to health care reform.  As always, the Democrats' definition of bipartisanship means Republicans roll over and give them whatever they want without argument. 

The newly inaugurated governors of Virginia and New Jersey are both carrying the conservative torch and if they so continue, will have long careers in Republican politics.    John Thune and others have much to offer the Republican Party platform.  We have stars, but we need to start looking up rather than backward.  

God love Glenn Beck, and thanks to him for the hard work in exposing the truth about ACORN and many of the shady characters given jobs as czars in this administration.  At the same time, Mr. Beck will do the resurgence of the conservative movement more harm than good if he continues his rant against the Republican Party.  We all painfully understand that when the majority voted Obama into office, many were voting against Bush policies and spending.  Glenn forgets sometimes that presidents don't have the power to spend, only to recommend spending.  Spending, for the most part, spun out of control starting in '07 when power was handed to Pelosi and Reid.  At some point, we need to move past the overblown spending in the Bush Administration on initiatives like education and the prescription drug entitlement.  Those were Bush's versions of the coveted bipartisanship, and we see where they got him.  We get it.   Massive spending of money not yet earned, borrowing from China and printing whatever else we need is a really bad deal for America.  But we have people that agree with us and that are willing to freeze spending here, and slash it there.  We have people ready to govern within strict conservative boundaries.

The Tea Party folks have put forth a third party candidate in Nevada to run against Harry Reid.  Ron Paul is obviously still popular among many.  History shows us time and again that when one party splits, it also fails.  We can try to run Third Party candidates without the funding, clout and backing of the Republican Party and take our chances, or we can look to some bright young stars waiting to be discovered.  There are candidates that will govern with the conservative values we want and need.  Once they are elected, we must not go back to sleep politically and expect government to take care of itself.  We need to stay engaged, continue to organize town hall meetings frequently and write and call our representatives with demands that they adhere to their campaign promises.

Shovel-ready jobs for Republicans

George Will was the keynote speaker Thursday evening at the CPAC Convention. Mr. Will is a "Washington Insider" and conservatives out in the heartland of America often don't agree with him, myself included, but his speech was entertaining and at times, profound. Mr. Will concluded his comments Thursday with the analogy that Mr. Obama's policies and proposals are like sand pouring in around us, perhaps faster than we can keep it shoveled away.  He noted there is much work to be done between now and the elections in November 2010.  There is much sand to move and ground to cover in order to oust liberals and RINO's and replace them with true conservatives in Congress.  Mr. Will likened the work to 'shovel ready' jobs in keeping with the president's promise a year ago when he pushed for passage of his Stimulus Bill.

There are, indeed, shovel ready jobs for each concerned Colorado conservative voter.  We are a fortunate state, in that we have the caucus system.  We can gather with our neighbors in our precincts and discuss the issues and the candidates.  We can exchange knowledge and information we've gained through researching the candidates and attending debates between them.  We have an opportunity to select the best persons for the job openings in Colorado politics. 

We will not find the perfect fit for each job, but we have a duty to choose as carefully as possible and most importantly, we are duty bound to participate.  Once our primaries are over, Coloradoans must take up our shovels and begin the Big Dig out of stifling, smothering government spending, waste and intrusion into our lives before it quietly robs us of our freedoms and liberties and further bankrupts the futures of generations to come. 

This is Colorado!  Grab your shovel and help dig for 'gold'.  Be a part of the caucus process.  Contact your county GOP office and find out who your Precinct Leader is and where your precinct caucus meeting will be held.  A group of concerned citizens in El Paso County have obtained lists of registered GOP voters in each precinct and will walk neighborhoods between now and the March caucus, encouraging their fellow Republicans to come out and be a part of this great opportunity.   The GOP brand has faltered in recent years.  We can reverse that by reaching out to our neighbors and letting them know we are proud to stand with our party in Colorado and are committed to working hard to elect the best candidates.  The more people come together to work toward the common causes and support our candidates, the more the timid members of our party will feel better about standing with us.   We'll see a resurgence of the conservative movement and a return of Colorado to its "RED" status.

Sharf running again in HD-6

Editor: Joshua Sharf, who blogs for us as well as on his own at View from a Height, and who has long helped me on radio, made it official last week: He will take another run next year at the east Denver seat in Colorado's House that eluded him last year when Democrat Lois Court prevailed after Sharf had bested Rima Barakat Sinclair in the GOP primary. Here's his email announcement from today: On Thursday, October 15, I announced my candidacy for State House District 6.

I'm running because I know that Colorado can do better than we have been, and that our district's representation in the State House of Representatives needs to be a part of that improvement.

House District 6 is a relatively prosperous district. But even past success isn't enough to guarantee the future. Coloradoans are worried about losing control over their futures, futures which they have worked hard to build. We can work to give them back that control.

Colorado has the resources – most importantly, our people – that can lead us back out. We need to unleash those resources to their full potential.

I hope you'll be able to join me as I walk the district, knock on doors, and discuss how to get the state moving in the right direction again. Please visit my website at sharfcolorado.com for more information.

The work ahead won't be easy, but together, we can succeed, both as a campaign and more importantly, as a state.

See you on the trail, JOSHUA SHARF