As the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reports:
Former GOP Congressman Scott McInnis was mum about his political future on Tuesday in the wake of reports that U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is expected to become the next Interior secretary…
McInnis, a former congressman, said that the Ritter appointee can expect a competitive race from a Republican candidate in 2010. He added Salazar’s seat would have been competitive for Republicans to challenge in 2010 even if he didn’t become Interior secretary.
McInnis had been considered a leading Republican contender for the U.S. Senate seat that fellow Republican Wayne Allard gave up when he retired this year. But McInnis dropped out of the race in March 2007, and Democrat Mark Udall later beat former Republican Congressman Bob Schaffer by a significant margin in November.
In the days before the election, McInnis told the Colorado Independent that he “would have beat Udall” and that he “has more difficulties with the right-wing” of his party than he did with taking on a Democrat…
A poll follows–will Salazar’s exit give Scott McInnis a chance to triumph over the hard-right bridge trolls who punked him for Bob Schaffer? We say this all sounds interesting, but McInnis is personally damaged goods. Watch this story arc closely in the coming months regardless–McInnis, for all his warts, may still be a preferable Republican contender to the usual washed-up suspects. But McInnis floats his name for anything – he even floated his name for Mesa County Sheriff recently – so we don’t believe a word of what he says until he actually pulls the trigger and makes the jump.
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This morning, while perusing the political blogs I started to realize how interesting the search for Salazar’s appointed successor is. Colorado for some reason has a lot of political retirees all of a sudden smelling the dried out cheese and mystery sausage tray circuit once again.
This is a new world they want to enter. The voters are looking for something more than what has been happening for most of a decade. Many of the new voters have no idea who Delay is, except they can do a quick search to find out. Many of the older voters DO know who Delay is and want nothing to do with that era anymore.
Watching the collapse of the American financial system and their own financial lives while the Senate gives trillions to bankers and financiers and ignoring working people is not going to give the retreads much to work with. We want change. Bringing up retirees is not the way to do it.
It is time for a new generation of politicians to move in to the Senate. Fresh ideas are needed because what we are going through is not the future. People need confidence they will be represented by those they elect, not that the elected represent other more moneyed interests.
is term limits. There are downsides to term limits but also some great upsides that we are constantly moving new people into leadership where they undergo fast training.
Without term limits Romanoff would just now be moving into a junior leadership position in the House.
Scooter McInnis has discovered “king makers” can have just as much political power – while earning more income — as the “kings.” Stepping up dialog over the US Senate race is a chapter in McInnis’ playbook in a showdown over control of the Republican Party in Colorado: “Look, my fellow Republicans, I still have the media’s attention.”
Western Slope Republican lawmakers among their Front Range moderate counterparts have long grumbled about the extreme Right influence upon their party. Wadhams has only festered that sore. Quietly, but efficiently, McInnis is shoring up his army for the take-over.
McInnis also has an amble war chest fueled by willing sponsors. He was very successful in funneling oil-and-gas cartel money through 527’s targeting house and commissioner races on the Western Slope. Surely, among state Republican circles, he is claiming sole responsibility for upsetting Rep. Bernie Buescher and swaying local county commissioner races to favor energy-friendly Republican candidates.
Oil-and-gas companies may be physically pulling up stakes because of low natural gas prices and no pipeline access, but they continue to up their stakes at the political poker table.
McInnis must be salivating at the prospect of an open CD3 seat. And no doubt, SD 7 Josh Penry — an oil-and-gas company favorite and former McInnis staff member– would be the Republican candidate. Sure, the Democrats have candidates with comparable resumes, but they don’t have Chevron, Exxon, EnCana and Williams. A win here for McInnis would about force Wadhams to give up the key to the Colorado Republican executive restroom.
A rejuvenated Republican Party with McInnis in charge will be a much more dangerous political machine to the Democrats in 2010 than a Wadhams/Owens retread. Interestingly, Gov. Ritter’s choice to replace US Sen. Salazar could be a wild card in McInnis’ poker hand.
I don’t think McInnis will go after an unbeatable foe (ie Romanoff or Perlmutter).
If Ritter plays it smart and appoints one of these two, the GOP nominee will be someone they owe a favor to so he will go away and be quiet (Tancredo?)
If Ritter were to appoint one of the weaker candidates, McInnis might really get off the fence this time.