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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (34400)	7/27/2010 2:58:04 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

GOP hopes dim in Tancredo bid Ex-congressman plans run for governor on a third-party ticket. Posted: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 12:00 am By PAT MALONE \| pmalone@chieftain.com chieftain.com DENVER — Conservative former Rep. Tom Tancredo’s announcement that he will enter the race for governor as the American Constitution Party candidate could be a dagger to the heart of Republicans’ hopes of capturing the governor’s mansion in the November election. “There’s no doubt that Tancredo’s third-party candidacy makes it more difficult to defeat John Hickenlooper for governor,” said Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. And that has Democrats licking their chops. “I absolutely think it’s a good thing for the Democratic Party,” said Terry Hart, chairman of the Pueblo Democratic Party. “You always want the top of your ticket to be a solid, uniform, stable candidate. That’s what we’ve got and Republicans don’t.” Tancredo entered the race Monday with a bulk e-mail announcement that stated, “I am going to seek the nomination of the American Constitution Party for governor of Colorado.” But he made no public appearance. Wadhams found Tancredo’s affiliation with the American Constitution Party ironic, because it advocates repealing Washington lawmakers’ pay. “Is he going to return the $1.5 million he made in Congress and forego his government pension in keeping with that party’s platform?” Wadhams said. Tancredo’s announcement made good on his threat to run for governor if Republican candidates Scott McInnis and Dan Maes didn’t bow to his ultimatum to abandon their campaigns for governor by noon Monday. Last week Tancredo characterized McInnis and Maes as nonviable candidates in the wake of a plagiarism scandal that has dogged McInnis and campaign-finance rules violations by Maes that resulted in fines. In the throes of McInnis’ plagiarism flap two weeks ago, political insiders hypothesized that Republicans might ask him to resign as nominee if he prevails in the primary race with Maes. That would allow the GOP to nominate a replacement candidate who it sees as a more viable threat to Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor and sole Democrat seeking the seat. “That is all hypothetical,” Wadhams said. “As state chairman, I want the primary process to continue, and whoever wins the nomination to take a hard look at whether they can beat Hickenlooper.” McInnis’ campaign responded to Tancredo’s announcement with a written statement. “We have elections to battle out competing visions for Colorado’s future . . . Those looking for a deadline should focus on the only real deadline,” the conclusion of primary voting on Aug. 10, McInnis' statement read. Wadhams and Tancredo traded barbs in a dual interview with a Denver radio talk show on Monday. During the heated exchange Tancredo accused Wadhams of confiding in him that the party had little confidence that McInnis or Maes stood a chance to be elected governor. Wadhams told The Pueblo Chieftain he believes the Republican who emerges from the primary can beat Hickenlooper, but not if the conservative vote is divvied between the GOP’s nominee and Tancredo, who Wadhams said doesn’t have a realistic chance to win the election. “All he’s going to do is take a small percentage of the vote to make it impossible for a Republican to win the general election,” Wadhams said. Maes said he doesn’t take Tancredo’s criticisms seriously, and he doesn’t expect voters will either. “I feel Tom’s comments are arrogant and absurd,” Maes said. “We won the state assembly, and polls have us competing head-to-head with John Hickenlooper.” Even those loyal to Tancredo and his conservative stances — including an agenda of combating illegal immigration — could be frustrated by his undermining of other conservative candidates, Maes said. Maes is concerned that Tancredo’s presence could hand Democrats the governor’s office, but he’s not convinced that’s the case. “The question is how much he will hurt us, and we won’t know that until November,” Maes said.