March 07, 2014 10:52 AM UTC

Tancredo To Wadhams: Bite Me, Dick

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• by: Colorado Pols

In a Denver Post guest column published yesterday evening, Colorado GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo responds to a blistering attack from former Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. Wadhams, in case you missed it, says Tancredo is the wrong choice for Republicans in 2014, with a "history of controversial statements" and "failed campaigns"–the latter being something Wadhams has a degree of expertise in.

Responds Tancredo,

Asking Dick Wadhams' advice on how to win Colorado elections is like asking Barack Obama's advice on how to balance the federal budget. [Pols emphasis] His track record does not inspire confidence.

Ouch! The Tanc continues:

Wadhams makes several spurious criticisms of me that betray either an appalling ignorance of my career or a calculated disregard of facts.

He labels me a "one-issue candidate," despite my long record of championing low taxes, school choice and human rights, not to mention my very public involvement in the successful marijuana legalization campaign of 2012.

Given his own prominent role in the unfortunate debacle of the 2010 governor's race, I can understand why he wants to distract attention away from his own failed stewardship of the Colorado Republican Party…

Wadhams represents that segment of the Republican Party that wants to strike a deal for amnesty with President Obama and Harry Reid, which the large majority of Republicans view as stupidity on steroids.

As our readers will recall, Wadhams opted against running for another term as Colorado GOP chairman in 2011, exiting with harsh criticism for the "crazies" who had overrun the party's local infrastructure and grassroots. Wadhams took much heat the year prior for his handling of the disintegrating gubernatorial campaign of Scott McInnis, which precipitated among other things the entry of Tancredo in that race as a third-party candidate–ultimately beating the Republican nominee Dan Maes by an embarrassing margin. Safe to say that Wadhams' dislike for Tancredo, and the unsightly radical wing of the GOP he is a leader of, is longstanding and amply borne out by events.

But for all his bluster, Wadhams has failed to make Tancredo go away.