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May 05, 2009 06:54 PM UTC

The Peril of "Fresh Faces"

  • 15 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

A thoughtful writeup on Colorado GOP Senate contenders from The Hill’s Aaron Blake:

There is a good bit of early buzz about Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier and, to a lesser extent, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck. But even supporters say it remains to be seen how formidable either will be – particularly on the fundraising front.

Republicans lately have been talking a lot about fresh faces, with mixed success in actually obtaining them. While the GOP has lined up current and former House members in most other open primaries, Colorado stands out as the one where they may be content to go with a wholly new brand…

“The [Democratic] tsunami has taken out a good many of the people who made up the Republican bench,” [consultant Katy] Atkinson said. “People are really kind of intrigued by Frazier, but they’re not willing to commit. And they may very well be intrigued by Buck, but he doesn’t have quite as much exposure with the rank-and-file Republicans.”

…It remains to be seen whether either Buck, Frazier or some other candidate gains that kind of momentum, but the early edge goes to Frazier, who has been earning rave reviews as he makes the rounds with conservative groups.

The state has also shown a proclivity for putting black Republicans in statewide office, having elected Secretary of State Vikki Buckley and Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers in the 1990s.

Buck, meanwhile, has stumbled out of the gate with an awkward launch. Even after his campaign website went live, Buck denied he was a candidate. Finally, just a day after making that denial, Buck officially entered the race.

But the state also has a history of electing law enforcement officers – the most notable being former Denver district attorney Ritter. Buck comes from a much smaller population base, though, and he’ll have to put in plenty of work to become known.

Blake goes on to note that if Buck and Frazier screw things up too badly with their “novelty,” Bob “The Closer” Beauprez is warming up in the bullpen. All in all, fairly close to our own assessment of this race–and relieving analysis for a certain fairly nervous appointed Senator.

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15 thoughts on “The Peril of “Fresh Faces””

  1. It looks like there might be more to Buck’s citing of an imaginary poll than Buck merely making shit up. The Colorado Statesman asked Buck’s manager what the hell his candidate was talking about and got an odd response:

    Buck, on the other hand, was quoted in the Greeley Tribune this week saying he has seen a poll that shows him ahead of Bennet and another that puts him behind. The only known poll in the race, released last week by Public Policy Polling, showed Buck behind Bennet – and it would be illegal for Buck’s campaign to run polling before his announcement.

    “We’ve seen a few straw polls, but I haven’t asked Ken what polls he was specifically referring to,” Stansbery said. “We, as a campaign, haven’t done any polling, nor have any outside groups done any polling that we are aware of. But we have seen some straw polls. I have not asked him, though, what he was specifically referring to.”

    Buck’s campaign just happens to be run out of Sean Tonner’s office, the same guy who was just caught potentially running polls on behalf of McInnis. I wonder if Buck would be able to worm out of federal elections laws the way McInnis was able to get around state laws?

      1. It didn’t take long for Flatline Strategies to throw Buck under the bus.  They screw up his website, screw up the announcement and blow the best (and probably only) opportunity to get some decent earned media for the rest of the year.

        They way that they’ve handled first McInnis, now Buck…and going back to Pete Coors…the only general election win that Flatline has had since the Owens’ reelect was Coffman last year.  That makes them a resounding 1-4?  That batting average won’t get your contract renewed with most major league baseball teams.

        I can’t wait to hear Buck’s side of this story.

        1. think they threw anyone under the bus.  Guess we’ll see as the campaign goes on whether or not he’s better off…

          Either way, I think it’s hard to point fingers at a GOP firm in general terms – it’s not like any of them in recent cycles have won a lot.  You could make the same case against any of them.

          And I could point out long-time Dem ‘strategists’ who got killed year-after-year in the ’90’s and first couple cycles this decade who are now considered geniuses because of more recent victories.

        2. He said they helped a little but he hired real pros after his launch.

          Does this mean Monica Owens isn’t in Ken Buck’s corner anymore, though? That would be a serious blow.

  2. I often thought of posting on here as H.I. McDonough.

    “What was a he wearing?  His jammies…with yoda’s and shit on them”-Nathan Arizona

    Sorry, what were we talking about?  Oh yeah, Buck will do and say anything to get out of the Weld County sink hole, er, I mean become a member of the GOP “elite” somehow.

    Truth be told, Buck may be able to raise some $$, but Frazier has people talking, whether or not that translates into him being able to raise some decent coin is another matter.  I wouldn’t count Frazier out by any means, especially if Buck decides to hop on the Tancredoista’s band wagon and go after the illegal immigration debate full tilt.  If he spends any more time on the Peter Boyle’s show, I’d start dropping the odds of Buck being a serious contender, but that’s just me!

    “I’ll be taking these here huggies and what ever cash you have in the register.” -H.I. McDonough

    1. … and Schaffer like Goldwater to Dan Caplis’ George Romney — and Bill Owens like Eisenhower to Frances Owens’ Mamie Eisenhower — this is fun! — and Marostica like John Lindsay to Josh Penry’s Ronald Reagan (’68 version) —

    2. But wouldn’t Pete Coors be more like Nixon – losing a close race to Salazar (Kennedy) who ends up getting replaced mid-term by Bennet (Johnson). But then wouldn’t mean that Bennet would have to win this time, but pass on re-election in 2016 (like Johnson) making the democratic candidate that year Humphrey?

      My head hurts.

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