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July 23, 2009 08:11 PM UTC

Dick Wadhams Loves Primaries*

  • 21 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

The Grand Junction Sentinel reports, holding a straight face with remarkable professionalism:

Republicans are looking at potential showdowns among Grand Junction Republicans Scott McInnis and Josh Penry, plus Dan Maes of Evergreen, for the right to run against incumbent Gov. Bill Ritter.

They also are looking at a match-up between Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck with the winner taking on Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet.

Meanwhile, a second Republican is bidding for the party’s nomination for Colorado state treasurer, setting up the possibility of a primary battle for the right to take on incumbent Democrat Cary Kennedy.

J.J. Ament, the son of Don Ament, a former state senator and agriculture commissioner, announced his bid on Monday. J.J. Ament would face Walker Stapleton, whose campaign already has begun and who is touting his ability to collect campaign cash.

“I’ve never been one to think that primaries are bad,” said Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party… [Pols emphasis]

Hopefully you put down whatever you were drinking before you read that last part–the rest of you blew the contents out of your nose laughing hysterically like we did. Wadhams…doesn’t think primaries…are bad? Did anybody bother to give Wayne Wolf or Scott McInnis a call for an alternative view? Because we’re guessing they have one, with lots of swearing! For Wadhams to say he’s ‘never thought primaries are bad’ is not just fictional, but so divorced from reality that it seems likely to outrage a fair number of people who know better–and have scars to prove it.

And any of you who might just be joining us from an alternate reality or a cave with no radio reception, seriously, don’t be fooled: this is not and never will be how Dick Wadhams rolls. Much evidence suggests Wadhams is already working to clear the field behind the scenes in the races that matter, and there’s a “public” winnowing in the works too–as Politics West reports:

In what Republicans say is their most competitive primary season since 1986, State Party Chairman Dick Wadhams has devised a high-drama way to separate the men from the boys (and yes, all the GOP candidates for top offices are male.)

The night before the party’s September central committee meeting in Keystone, Wadhams is putting on a candidate forum for gubernatorial and U.S. Senate contenders followed by a straw poll of the who’s who of GOP leaders and activists from across the state.

“We’ll be just a little more than a year out from the election at that point,” Wadhams said. “We can throw a little drama into it. It’ll be an interesting test for that moment in time.”

Between this insider-dominated event and Q3 fundraising numbers that will come out a couple of weeks later, watch for leadership to try like hell to lock in their favored candidates this year–well before rank-and-file Republicans get the chance to even learn names, let alone vote on them.

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21 thoughts on “Dick Wadhams Loves Primaries*”

  1. Can you find a quote from Wadhams ever claiming something different?  This type of speculative mind-read of Dick Wadhams is getting ridiculous, Pols.  You can point to a lot of Republican nominees who were better for it for going through a primary (Allard and Owens — two people Wadhams worked for — to begin with).

    1. “We already have a de facto nominee, and I’ve told that to Commissioner Wolf,” said GOP party chairman Dick Wadhams, referring to former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer. “Until someone shows me that they have as credible a campaign as Bob Schaffer, we only have one candidate.”

        1. Most of the links you provide are to your own spin and speculation!

          The only one that might come anywhere close to is the Wayne Wolf case.  But if you really believe Schaffer had anything to be worried about or would have had to spend one red cent to defeat Wayne Wolf, then you don’t know politics.  

    2. gets caught yet again.  If he’d try to educate himself instead of making crap up, he might find someone who could start to take him seriously.  

    1. What’s wrong with straw polls?  Don’t they provide a good snapshot of where people are at with the candidates?  

      Do you really think it’s healthy for your business to pick fights with Dick Wadhams?  Elephants have long memories.  

      If this is what you’re getting paid for, Hesse and Duffy should demand their money back.  

          1. not looking for clients. Too busy with the “clients” I have at home…you know, the ones that you use to be?

            Oh, and I don’t think we have problems “getting clients in the future.” We are pretty good in bed.

            1. Attempting to out someone on Colorado Pols will get you banned. If you two know each other, why don’t you just email your personal attacks back and forth.

        1. I left this kind of crap behind at the Daily Sentinel Community blog. I guess there are disrespectful jerks everywhere here in cybervilletown..burg…world…or, uh.. wherever the hell we are.

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