Free Republic

Politicians from both parties, as well as the punditocracy in Colorado, are shaking their heads over the stunning and never-expected outcome Friday of the Republican assembly (convention) in the Centennial State's 4th District. With 183 votes (62%) to 114 (38%) for four-term Rep. Kenneth Buck, R-Colo., political newcomer and Elbert County real estate broker Bob Lewis secured the top line of the Republican primary June 28. Buck's incumbency notwithstanding, his near-demise at the assembly was particularly surprising because he is known as a stalwart conservative from both his voting record in Congress (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 98%) and his...

A fight within Colorado’s Republican Party that involves accusations of an extramarital affair and blackmail could have a ripple effect on future candidates and elections. The infighting involves big name Republicans in Colorado and it could have implications for not only statewide elections, but national races. Colorado is a swing state that will not only be key in deciding the presidency next year, but control of the U.S. Senate. “It’s an ugly, sticky, yucky situation,” said former Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo. Tancredo has been a magnet for controversy. He, Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and Pueblo GOP Chair Becky Mizel...

WASHINGTON - If you stand by the right edge of the seventh-floor window in the Pennsylvania Avenue office and crane your neck just so, you can see the Capitol, where George Allen made his living for six years. That ended in 2006, when he was denied a second Senate term by the voters of Virginia and Democrat Jim Webb. Allen is on the outside, looking in. Over his shoulder and much easier to see is the Ninth Street tunnel and the road out of town, to his home near Mount Vernon. It's the road to freedom, Allen says, sitting at...

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee met with conservative Christian leader James Dobson Friday as he vied to pick up the Colorado delegates pledged to Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race. Huckabee's visit comes two weeks after Dobson endorsed him for president. "Personally it was a great encouragement," Huckabee said of the endorsement. "I think it also was an extraordinary boost for our campaign because Dr. Dobson is seen as such a true national leader when it comes to issues of life, marriage and family." Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister and a former governor of Arkansas. His campaign...

Former Delta County commissioner to try to unseat Salazar for House seat instead. Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf has dropped his longshot bid to become a U.S. senator and now is seeking the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Wolf said his decision to try to defeat U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, has received "plenty of support" on the Western Slope and in southern Colorado. That's a much different response than he received this fall when he said he intended to challenge Bob Schaffer for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican...

At the behest of the Mesa County Republican Party, the Colorado Republican Party voted to censure its attorney, John Zakhem, for making a contribution to incumbent Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction. Zakhem, whose law firm, Zakhem Atherton, represents the Colorado Republican Party, said he was surprised to hear about the central committee’s vote to censure him. Nonetheless, he said he was happy to hear a motion to terminate his service with the party... was defeated in a voice vote. Zakhem’s Aug. 28 donation of $400 to Buescher’s re-election campaign sparked outrage among the ranks of the Mesa County Republican Party...

Republicans themselves brought on the whipping they suffered in the 2006 elections, Colorado state GOP chairman Dick Wadahms said in appearances in Montana. "I don't think Democrats really won the 2006 elections," said Wadhams, who spoke to the Montana Republican Party convention ... "They were just standing there. We didn't deserve to win in 2006." Wadhams is a former campaign director and staff member for Conrad Burns, who represented Montana... Republicans lost in 2006 because they forfeited their claim to fiscal responsibility, "mishandled the ethical lapses" ... Wadhams, 51, has won more campaigns than he's lost, but he lost a...

The state Republican Party is hurting for cash. Federal financial disclosures as of April 30 showed the party was $261,907 in debt. A filing with the secretary of state a month earlier showed $11,310.51 in the bank. Republican insiders said party officials are trying to renegotiate payment on contracts and searching for cheaper offices. New party chairman Dick Wadhams acknowledged that he inherited debt when he took office in March ... But reconnecting with the party's activist base and with state lawmakers after back-to-back legislative defeats was his first task. Since March, he has made 60 speeches to rally the...

A year ago, Dick Wadhams never thought he’d be back in Colorado full time trying to resurrect the state Republican Party. Wadhams, the silver-tongued Las Animas native who has led upset campaigns across the country, expected to be getting Virginia Sen. George Allen prepped for his presidential run. That was before Allen made his infamous “macaca” remark amid what should have been an easy reelection bid, and suddenly both he and Wadhams, his press secretary, found themselves out of their jobs. One week after that debacle, Wadhams fielded a call from Colorado Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, who suggested that...

[SNIP] Can Wadhams take Allen from a little-known senator to a spot on the national ticket? It's a gamble, for sure: Even some Republicans snicker at Allen's tendency to turn every thought into a football metaphor (primaries are "intersquad scrimmages"; Senate recess is "halftime"). Questions about whether Allen is smart enough to be president are sure to dog a potential bid. And Wadhams has never run a national campaign before—or for that matter, a campaign outside a red state. The Republican presidential primary will be crowded, which means that his reflexive go-negative strategy could be risky: Voters who are turned...

PALO ALTO, California (CNN) -- This week's Inside Edge ties to a new segment I am doing on CNN television.Each month on CNN's "Live From" with anchors Kyra Phillips and Miles O'Brien, I'll profile five individuals to watch in the political arena.I start with "the next Karl Rove," five political consultants to watch.While few people outside of Texas knew who he was a decade ago, today Karl Rove is a household name as President Bush's top political adviser. Barbara Walters even named him to her "2004 Ten Most Fascinating People" list.Rove is perhaps the most influential political adviser of the...

THE VIRGINIAN Very quietly, some Republicans with eyes on standing in four years where President George W. Bush stands today are already beginning to lay the groundwork for 2008. Some are being more aggressive than others. Some are showing the good sense simply to sit back and enjoy the inaugural events before kicking into high gear. One of the eager beavers -- and an early favorite -- is Sen. George Allen. Allen has the advantage of running for Senate re-election in 2006, so a campaign team may already be in place. One critical addition was the announcement that GOP strategist,...