We admit it. We were surprised that Dick Wadhams bowed out of contention for State Party chair. Our prediction of his re-election slam dunk “missed it by that much.”
But what has happened since has been pretty remarkable: an outpouring of praise for Wadhams all across the State. What has resulted is a conventional wisdom that suggests that Wadhams was, as we suggested, a shoe-in to win if he had stayed in. (Our apologies for rhyming like Johnny Cochran)
The latest journalistic wet kiss comes from the Pueblo Chieftain, whose tribute to Wadhams closely echoed the high priase that former State Senator Josh Penry heaped on “Chairman Wadhams” a few days earlier. And Vince Carrol over at the Rocky, err Post, conveyed it most starkly of all.
It is too soon to say whether Dick's replacement will be better, worse, or not at all up to the task. But what is evident is that the story of Wadhams' stint as party chair is being written in terms that are doubtlessly making every other past chairman green with envy.
I like how the lovefest starts after he drops out. Where was the love while he was still in the race?
It’s a Wadhams lovefest! On Valentine’s Day!
We need someone who can build strong links with liberty groups. That’s where the energy on the right is.
Wadhams did a stellar job when he was dealt bad hand after bad hand. I just hope that his stepping down doesn’t pave the way to Ted Harvey taking over. That crackpot seems to think that uniting conservatives is the only way to win. Last I checked conservatives don’t make up a majority of the electorate. That man will royally screw the party by ignoring the need to reach out to unaffiliateds.
We need both to win! Harvey has the common-sense values with a universal appeal, but he’s also conservative enough that Tea Partiers like myself can rally behind him. Harvey can enact true change!
As an active Republican for many years in Colorado I love seeing new people in the process, but for new folks it can be frustrating learning the limitations of State Party. They can’t fix everything or singularly fund all Republican campaigns that can’t raise it themselves. While I’ve wished many times the well-connected staff and leadership at State Party would come out and dump all their information on bad primary candidates, it just wouldn’t be a good trend to set.
Everyone I knew who has been around for a while saw right through the fraud of Maes. Unfortunately, my fellow activists and I were very careful to publicly attack Maes in fear of angering his supporters, who many times were new to the process. They brought a tremendous energy to whatever they did, but unfortunately they also brought that passion to arguing with anyone who tried to point out salient facts or disliked their causes and candidates.
State Party is for fundraising and building a ground game through Victory offices. By that measure, Wadhams did great. By the high standards for always pleasing all the people all the time, Wadhams did not fare so well. Which is a more fair appraisal?
By the way, love the new site. When did it start? A friend sent the link to me today — never heard of it before.