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January 07, 2010 06:46 PM UTC

Belated Grace?

  • 23 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

As news was breaking Tuesday evening that Gov. Bill Ritter would not seek re-election, GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis could barely contain his glee–the AP reported:

GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis told The Associated Press that polls showed Ritter was too weak to survive a general election.

“He was in severe trouble. This guy could not win re-election,” McInnis told The Associated Press. “What is their plan B?” he asked.

Speaking to the Denver Post, McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy was no less of a, uh, jerk about it:

Sean Duffy, spokesman for McInnis, said Ritter had looked increasingly weak in recent months while McInnis’ polling numbers continued to rise.

“Scott has had a very strong positive message about job creation and economic opportunity for Colorado families, and he’s pounded it for six months, and he’s done what strong candidates do, which is raise a lot of money and go up in the polls,” Duffy said.

“Our point is, we beat the varsity team. Now we have to go beat the junior varsity. We’re ready for whomever they bring.”

About eighteen hours after all this smack talk from McInnis Ritter actually withdrew, and McInnis’ statements turned much warmer and more complimentary toward Ritter–more like the gracious statement one would expect from the guy who’s not pulling out of the race. And sure enough, the top story in today’s Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reads, “McInnis wishes Ritter the best.”

In fact, at least until somebody pointed out that this was an opportunity to look like a statesman, not so much! It isn’t a huge thing to dwell on, but it’s the sort of quote that establishes perceptions of how a candidate behaves in high-visibility situations–if you will, a window into their personality. And as has been pretty well discussed here and in many other forums, media appearances gone awry, etc., most of what is known about McInnis’ personality suggests he is a bit of a combative guy. We hear McInnis described a lot of ways, “personally ingratiating” is seldom one of them. These sorts of character impressions do matter to voters, as any image consultant (McInnis needs one if he doesn’t have one) will tell you.

Of course it’s also possible the McInnis campaign realized sometime yesterday morning that they didn’t beat the “varsity team” after all–nobody believes the spin that Ritter was scared of McInnis. We would have sobered up pretty fast, too: how long do you think it took the McInnis campaign to switch from high fives to “wait, Ken Salazar?“

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23 thoughts on “Belated Grace?”

  1. how quickly they got their little errand boy Josh spinning away from the State Capitol, spending those public resources attacking their likely electoral foe.    

  2. McInnis was extremely gracious last night on Channel 4 News in sharp contrast to how he sounded and particularly Duffy came off. And I think McInnis’s original statement came before he talked to Ritter so perhaps, after his conversation with the Governor, he changed his tone because he legitimately understood that Ritter is stepping down to keep his marriage and kids intact.

    I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt on this one that his campaign jumped the gun and not in a good way. If Pols is a microcosm of the larger world, then there was plenty of that going on here since Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.  

      2. I’d say McInnis was initially a world-class dick in how he handle this. Now Scott “Mr. Classy” McInnis did wise up and act gracious after he realized this was hurting him.

        But I think the initial response is the one that generally shows the true personality.

  3. He’s about to find out and Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) gave him a preview a few years ago when he said:

    “You think you are big enough to make me, you little wimp? Come on. Come over here and make me, I dare you. You little fruitcake.”

  4. I spoke to a Republican legislator earlier in the week, and that person said some fairly shocking things about Ritter. They could only be understood as starkly personal attacks.

    Wadhams did the same thing in his press statements yesterday.

    My impression is that there are a good many Republicans that are so sure that their view of the world is the only possible correct one that anyone who holds a different view is not only wrong, but worthy only of contempt. Unfortunately, some of those Republicans are in elective office.

    I can’t see how anyone could have confidence in those people. They aren’t nice. They aren’t courteous. And they are insufferably arrogant, lacking in compassion, and insensitive.

    The first rule of politics is to get along with people and, even while in the arena, give them the benefit of the doubt. Don’t say things in public that you wouldn’t say in private, and stay off the high horse.

    There’s a reason why so many people are disgusted by politics, and the two-faced, blatantly dishonorable statements and behaviors by many politicians are a big part of that.

    1. And I have had others in the capitol list various Republicans that have always been personally polite. I don’t think this is a Republican thing – I think it’s that some politicians are just jerks.

    2. “My impression is that there are a good many Republicans that are so sure that their view of the world is the only possible correct one that anyone who holds a different view is not only wrong, but worthy only of contempt. Unfortunately, some of those Republicans are in elective office.

      I can’t see how anyone could have confidence in those people. They aren’t nice. They aren’t courteous. And they are insufferably arrogant, lacking in compassion, and insensitive.”

      If you think they’re somehow worse than Democrats in this regard you either aren’t paying attention or have partisan blinders on.

      Note that I didn’t say you were wrong.

  5. Scott handled this perfectly well.  We all know he’s not running because the Dems feared losing the seat…we’re not stupid.  That deserves the response he gave at the time and he is being perfectly and appropriately gracious at this correct time now.  You lose all your credibility when you jump on Scott every time he blinks !

        1. His comments have been deteriorating on this site for months. I halfway hoped someone had hijacked his account. He’s one of the few Republicans I have consistently voted for over the years–I won’t be doing that anymore, not after reading some of his stuff here.

  6. McInnis has been sympathetic and gracious after he was surprised (weren’t we all) that Ritter announced he wouldn’t run. I’ve talked to people that saw him on TV in Denver and read his campaign release (which I posted here yesterday).  He said nothing about being ahead in the polls.   Was the quote taken out of context? I don’t know. But then this is Pols where most find great sport in snipping at McInnis.    

    1. This guy could not win re-election

      Sounds more like glee, or at least gloating.

      His later statements were, in fact, gracious, but as other people have pointed out in this thread, it’s kind of hard to believe they were sincere given his initial comment.

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