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July 08, 2009 07:22 PM UTC

Rumors Swirl of Penry Staff Hires

  • 57 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

The conversations started by word that spread yesterday of soon-to-be gubernatorial candidate Josh Penry’s official announcement, scheduled for Saturday are no longer focused on whether he’s going to run (which hasn’t been a question for months). Now, everybody is talking about who he is hiring for key campaign positions. Jeremy Pelzer of the Rocky Mountain Independent wrote on his blog yesterday:

Though Penry (R-Grand Junction) has stayed mum up until now about speculation that he would seek to topple incumbent Gov. Bill Ritter (D), several Republicans have said over the past few weeks that Penry will enter the gubernatorial race and has been looking to hire staff.

Which is consistent with what we’ve heard. Word is that some of the senior staff choices have already been made, we’ll get you names as quickly as possible. Some of them, we can tentatively say, will be names you’ll recognize from previous high-profile Republican campaigns.

We tried really hard not to bait that last sentence overly. Did we succeed?

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57 thoughts on “Rumors Swirl of Penry Staff Hires”

  1. Let Dick Wadhams be his campaign manager. Please let him not have learned his lesson from micromanaging Bob Schaffer’s Senate campaign.

      1. Here are at least four:

        Jake Zambrano

        John Marshall

        Tim Pollard

        Chuck Broerman

        ——————————————————————————–

        by: walk_the_line @ Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 11:20:40 AM MDT

        [ Reply ]  

  3. So you don’t have the stones to layout the names, too bad.  

    Who knows maybe you’ll get some bloggers all hot and worked up with this attempt to re-focus on potential campaign staff versus Senator Penry and issues, again too bad.

    1. Because who a politician hires for their campaign staff is totally meaningless, and we should just talk about how great TABOR is.

      Thanks for framing this discussion so well Libertad!

      1. A Penry Guv campaign should be about Penry.

        But if critics can spin up a story in the blogbogusphere, well then, isn’t that was ColoradoPols was really put here to do.

            1. Truly, something else is happening here other than you criticizing others for speculating on who a gubernatorial candidate’s staff would be after previously openly speculating on who a gubernatorial candidates staff would be.

              1. On who would run his Senate campaign? Penry’s been raising money for both campaigns. He could afford two campaign managers at this point.

        2. You spin so much on this blog I’m surprised you aren’t too dizzy to type.

          And it is about Penry, because who he decides to hire at this early juncture is one of the first leadership tests he’ll face. If he can’t put together a proper campaign, there’s no way in hell he can be an effective Governor.

          Since I’m sure this response will only spur another nonsensical response back from you, I’ll let you know in advance that I’m done discussing this with you now.

          Have a great day Libby!

    2. Then you really don’t know jack shit about politics, Libertad.

      Remember, Bob Beauprez was considered almost unbeatable for Governor. Then he went out and put together the worst campaign the state had ever seen and got his brains beat in by Ritter.

  5. Janet “Bestiality” Rowland as Penry’s campaign manager, yet again?  Nope, not smart enough to run a state wide campaign.  As The Daily Sentinel editorial board pointed out, she has a difficult time thinking for herself.  She’ll probably just have to content herself with being a cheerleader and spiritual advisor.  But I would support the move if she’d resign as county commissioner to take the job.  

    I believe Ralphie might be correct.  Penry’s buddy John Marshall, after running the disastrous and failed Walcher and Beauprez campaigns, could be looking for redemption.  Maybe this time, on a short Tim Foster leash?  A third loss would really set Marshall’s head on fire, though.  Would Wadhams ever trust Marshall again?  

    1. that Marshall was “parked” there until a suitable campaign came up, it hardly seems likely that he would give up a job that pays fairly big bucks–one that he could probably occupy for life (or at least until Mesa State changes management).

      Unless, of course, he could negotiate some kind of leave of absence with Timmy.

      Eh, it’s all just speculation–something to occupy the long summer days.  We’ll know soon enough.

  6. Walt Klein, who blew the Armstrong campaign by starting the advertising campaign AFTER the absentees had been sent out in the CD6 primary (80% of the vote was early).  Then after that, ran Bob Schaffer’s Senate gig with Wadhams  against Udall.

    John Marshall whose last race was Beauprez.

    With those two, Ritter should be doing a fundraiser for Penry so that he can face him in late 2010.

  7. He’ll have a figurehead that makes the party happy and hire someone competent to actually run the campaign. As to who, I would look for someone who ran a Senate or House campaign where the candidate did better than expected in ’08.

                  1. Or…they could just run their mouse over the link and read the title, which is what I did, before deciding to read the linked material. A little tip just for you–you learn something new everyday. And honestly, I wouldn’t be replying to you now if you weren’t going out of your way to engage in such a gutless back pedal.  

                    1. I’m sorry MOR, but if they did as you said and moused over the link, they would have seen the guy “briefly” managed Ali’s campaign.

                      And, just to flesh it out, he left the campaign not because Ali changed his mind about hiring the guy in the first place but because he had some unrelated personal problems that demanded his attention.

                      So my point still stands — David’s suggestion that Penry hire whoever ran Ali’s campaign wasn’t the most well-thought-out suggestion, for any number of reasons.

                    2. Ali Hasan’s statehouse bid.” That’s what I read when I run my cursor over the top.

                      My point stands–you backpedaled and that’s unlike you…and gutless.

        2. That’s why he could even be competitive. It had nothing to do with whoever ended up finally running his campaign. Frankly, you could make a case that Ali SHOULD have won if you consider how much money he spent.

          1. You still can’t walk through Summit County without seeing Ali Hasan Reusable grocery bags.  With his visibility he should have won, but his public image was so mismanaged, he came off as a joke, not a serious contender.  I wouldn’t recommend that to Penry (or maybe I would?)

      3. Alison Miller, who did mostly PR, and then claimed he had harassed her; and then the campaign was managed by former Vail Chamber and Business Association Director Kaye Ferry, who referred to Denver skiers who come to Vail as “riff-raff.”

        Quite a combo.  

    2. Virtually every campaign has an unpaid “advisory committee” or “kitchen cabinet” that advises the candidate, and through him/her, sets strategy.

      As an unpaid adviser(with someone else as the Campaign Manager), Penry gets Marshall, Marshall gets to keep his day job, and scads of campaign money are saved for use in negative ads.

      The only potential complication in that scenario is whether he’s a State employee and, if so, what he’s allowed to do.

      Speculation on my part.  We’ll know in the fullness of time.

  9. Penry will not go with Marshall. Here’s my short list.

    Jake Zambrano: He’s one of Penry’s closest friends and has lots of experience. I think he’s the favorite at this point.

    Dustin Zvonek: He ran one of the only sucessful campaigns in 2008 and currenly works for Penry in his senate office.

    James Garcia: James is still at state party and has no real role, could be a good fit.

    Tim Pollard: Keep it in the family.

  10. We scored 44% in Summit County – the highest total for any Republican that faced a Democratic challenger

    In comparison, most other Republicans hovered between 25% and 33% in Summit

    As ColoradoPols reported itself, polls had us ahead in the race right before the bail out – once the bail out passed, the roof completely collapsed, as it did for most Republicans

    No worries though – we ran a terrific campaign – definitely had mistakes, but can’t regret things forever – overall, I’m deeply proud of how well we did

    BTW – we personally estimate that around $500,000 was spent towards promoting Scanlan’s campaign, primarily from 527’s like Accountability for Colorado –

    http://www.vaildaily.com/artic…

    There were postcards sent out promoting Scanlan almost daily, come the early Fall

    If one were to account 527 money, we were heavily outspent – what can I say? Democrats just didn’t want me in the State House (I don’t blame them)

    Overall, Scanlan and Co sent non-recycled postcards – we knocked on doors and passed out reusable grocery bags – had McCain not voted for the bail out, it would’ve worked – nonetheless, no regrets

    Thus, there’s a reason why a potential run for State Treasurer is taken so seriously – most, if not all agree, we ran a terrific State House campaign and appealed to Independents and Democrats, more so than most Republicans in 2008 –

    http://www.westword.com/2009-0…

    Lastly – Kaye Ferry ran my campaign – she did a tremendous job and she’s the best campaign manager in the world

    That said – I seriously doubt she works for either Penry or McInnis, even if either were to beg her… as to why, you’ll have to ask her that….

    1. For timeline/reference sake –

      Kaye Ferry was hired at around April/May of 2008 — in that time, we completely re-organized our entire campaign, re-strategized, etc

      After Ferry’s hiring, we did a poll in May of 2008 that showed us behind Scanlan by 30 points

      At that point, I spent the entire summer knocking on 22,000 doors with my team

      By mid-September, and going into early October, we took the lead in polls –

      http://coloradopols.com/showDi…

      Absentee ballots went out almost right after McCain voted for the bail out – we did a poll right after the bail out passed, and we plummeted to down by 12

      We spent the rest of October scratching and clawing, and ultimately, received 47% total

      Kaye Ferry did a terrific job and executed every goal our campaign set perfectly

    2. Just blame it on Bush and McCain?

      “we ran a terrific State House campaign and appealed to Independents and Democrats, more so than most Republicans in 2008 -“

      So will mommy allow you switch parties next time around?  Or did you waste too much money on your little boy’s game last time around?

      “Even worse than the ego I think is he comes across as a child. A rich spoiled child who wants a senate seat because it would be fun. But the biggest impression I was left with is he still emotionally is a child”. –DavidThi808

      1. Granted, we were down by 30 in May 2008, due to many factors

        But 22,000 knocked-on doors later, we had the endorsement of the Vail Daily, were the only Republican to win Eagle County, and had the highest Republican totals in Lake and Summit, despite being outspent – I think the negative factors in October of 2008 were a bigger affect than the ones pre-May-2008

        Party switcher? You’re looking at a dude who knocked on doors for Ronald Reagan in Pueblo, Colorado, back in 1984 with his precinct captain mother

        Party switch? Never – who do ya think I am? Arlen Specter???

        1. What do you find impolite?

          “I’m the next fucking state representative.” –MAH

          “I hate those fucking kingmakers. I am not going to listen to those fuckers.” –MAH

          Give it up, Hasan.  Your BS will never work on me.

          1. No doubt about that and I still say stupid things, now and then – I’m sorry for that

            However – you’re a good guy and I like being active here – you’re more than welcome to engage me in a discussion rather than a bated argument – cool?  

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