William F. Buckley, writing years ago about Robert Welch and the John Birch Society, who pushed for the ridiculous theory that the Communists had invaded the American government to such an extent that President Eisenhower himself was a high-ranking agent in the Soviet Union, said Welch’s accusations were “unrealistic.” “Put a heavy burden on responsible conservatives”. The same can be said today about Trump’s allegations about the stolen election.
That’s why Tuesday was so good for the Colorado Republican Party. The so-called “establishment” candidates (besides how the “establishment” was once separated from the “conservative”) won the Republican by-elections in general. It was a triumph of common sense and reason before Bircher. This means that the Colorado GOP is not only the best way to achieve the election results they have had for decades, but also that they can take advantage of it now.
The victories at the top of the ticket – Joe O’Dea as US Senator, Heidi Ganahl as Governor and Pamela Anderson as Secretary of State – are, of course, good news, as these three candidates pose a credible threat to democratic authorities. But this is at least good news for Republicans to vote for candidates. Had any of these three seats gone to the electoral conspiracy candidate, the constant recitation of erroneous principles would have generated a large proportion of Republican tickets, including those who did not buy the allegations, especially in critical areas.
Ganahl, O’Dea and Anderson join John Kellner and Lang Sias, who are running for Attorney General and Chief of the Treasury respectively, marking the most impressive Conservative in a long time. At the state level, Senator Paul Lundeen survived the challenge in an increasingly quarrelsome county in El Paso, and House of Representatives minority leader Hugh McKean and Representative Colin Larson both won a riot backed by Rocky Mountain gun owners. Several new state candidates overcame similar challenges, including Rose Pugliese of Colroado Springs, one of Colorado’s most promising conservative leaders.
They will be joined at the federal level by state senator Barbara Kirkmeyer (running for the brand new 8th Congressional District) and officials Doug Lamborn (who wants to take a more prominent position in a powerful armed committee; on the right.
Congressman Lauren Boebert, of course, rejected the pre-election of Senator Don Coram, a more moderate state; a man whom I have great respect for, but who, from time to time, found himself in what even many mainstream conservatives would have considered the wrong side of prominent issues. Boebert’s fame among the right and frequent media coverage ensured his victory early on, and given the ideological alignment of the district, he is more than a serious gateway to a democratic offer.
There are other stories from the pre-election, deeper than the headlines about who won and lost. It is noteworthy that the top three winners in particular (O’Dea, Ganahl and Anderson) currently appear to be around 6% better than their polls; In addition to the eternal questions about the accuracy of the polls, it refers to the most important unrelated people, which is promising for Republicans in the fall. It also suggests that the millions of dollars that Democrats spent questionably interfering legally in the Republican pre-election did not turn out very well for them.
Another interesting trend is that although Republicans are returning to their traditional realm of reality and caution, the Democratic Party seems to be moving further to the left. There were not so many pre-elections for the Democrats that distorted the analysis, but the few that took place won by a more extreme progressive candidate. The only possible exception is the HD-6 race between Katie March and Elizabeth Eps, which drives with a handful of votes as it writes in March.
This may be a critical factor in November. It is also interesting to see that in several districts where the final Democrat candidate should eventually win, the turnout numbers for Republicans and Democrats were astonishingly close. For example, in HD-17, now seated by Tony Exum, the two Democratic candidates received a total of about 3,700 votes, while Republican Rachel Stoval received about 3,400 votes against (Regina, another left-wing candidate who won the by-elections). Perry Will received 7,300 votes vs. 7,500 votes for the two Democratic candidates, a large-scale referral to the Democratic Party.
This is a potentially phenomenal year for Republicans, and President Joe Biden is not cooperating much with Democrats. Colorado Republicans, who have nodded sensible, prudent and traditional conservatives, now have no excuse for not winning and justifying a state ship.
Kelly Sloan is a political and public relations consultant and revolving journalist in Denver.
