It’s been said there are two political parties – The Evil Party and The Stupid Party. Take a few minutes to read the following, and then decide which label fits.
Four years ago, a group backed by Democrat billionaires Tim Gill and Pat Stryker spent $500,000 to help a virtually-unknown candidate, Dan Maes, rise from obscurity to win the Republican primary for governor.
Maes narrowly upset former Congressman Scott McInnis, 50.7% to 49.3%.
So why did Democrats – even very wealthy ones with money to burn – spend a half-million dollars to influence the Republican primary? Obviously, because they thought Maes would be easier for the Democrat candidate to beat.
They were right.
Maes turned in the weakest performance in history by a major-party candidate for Colorado governor. He raised just $314,710.12 during his entire campaign – compared to more than $3.5 million raised by Democrat nominee John Hickenlooper. He received just 11% of the vote to finish a distant third behind Hickenlooper (51%) and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo (36%).
Well, the Democrat money machine is again up to its old dirty tricks.
With help from the Democratic Governors Association, a liberal front group, registered as “Protect Colorado Values,” is spending big bucks on television ads and direct mail aimed at Republican primary voters.
Initially, the first message appeared to be an attack on Tancredo, who is now running as a Republican. The advertisements say, Tancredo is “too conservative for Colorado” due to his opposition to ObamaCare, illegal immigration and increased spending on welfare.
Of course, “attacking” a conservative Republican for being “too conservative” is like attacking a Hershey bar for being “too chocolatey.” It’s a good way to rile the conservative base, which can then be expected to rally to support the conservative candidate who is under attack.
Democrats know this, but they’re hoping Republicans will react on emotion – without thinking too much.
The ads never mention that Tancredo’s positions on ObamaCare, illegal immigration and welfare spending are basically the same as those held by the other Republican candidates.
Perhaps the giveaway that the attack really wasn’t intended to harm Tancredo is that genuine attack ads typically use digitally-manipulated mugshots that make the target of the attack look like a serial killer. In this case, the Democrat front group chose a very flattering portrait for its “attack.”
A second advertising campaign from the same Democrat-backed group attacks former Congressman Bob Beauprez, also a candidate for governor. And, yes, this campaign has all the markings of a nasty negative hit piece, designed to smear Beauprez – not to help him.
The Democrats’ missives have yet to mention two other Republican candidates, former state Sen. Mike Kopp and Secretary of State Scott Gessler.
Pollster and former Democrat state chairman Floyd Ciruli called this strategy “totally unethical.”
Since 2002, Democrats have worked overtime to make sure elections in Colorado are not contested fairly:
• They’ve restricted individual contributions to candidates, while allowing Democrat-friendly labor unions to donate 10 times more than ordinary voters.
• They’ve gerrymandered congressional and legislative boundaries to give Democrats the inside track to winning a majority.
• And last year, they re-wrote voter registration laws to virtually encourage voter fraud.
Not satisfied by those tricks, Democrats are now trying to “help” Republican voters select a candidate they believe can be easily beaten in November.
You can call Democrats many things, but you can’t call them stupid.
So, fellow Republicans, let’s not be The Stupid Party again. If Democrats want to “help” us select the Republican candidate for governor, you can bet it’s not because they want him to win in November.