UPDATE: Bob Beauprez tells Fox 31’s Eli Stokols that he’s not only considering running for the Mark Udall’s Senate seat, but that he also hasn’t ruled out running for John Hickenlooper’s job. Has Both Ways Bob turned into Both Jobs Bob?
“The real answer is I haven’t closed any doors,” he tells Stokols. “Although I recognize it’s getting the point where you got to make a decision.”
It’s clear why anyone would consider either race — the weakness in both Republican lineups. And the lack — to put it generously — of fundraising prowess. And, of course, if you’re Beauprez, there’s the urge to get into some race — any race. Is it legal to run in both?
“It would be nice if one of our guys (in either race) was getting some separation, but that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Beauprez says. “The finance numbers don’t lie.”
(Oh, and Beauprez tells Stokols my previous post (see: below) was “not very accurate.” He doesn’t say what part might not be accurate. See if you can find any inaccuracies and report back to Beauprez.)
ORIGINAL POST:
Bob Beauprez is apparently considering jumping into the U.S. Senate race, where he would join Ken Buck in the Retread Stakes. Is that really possible?
If Beauprez gets in, Mark Udall’s two major challengers may be the Republicans’ two biggest losers of recent time. And you wonder why Republicans are having so much trouble winning in Colorado lately.
I mean, for those who think Peyton Manning, maybe the greatest of them all, has trouble winning the big one, what about these guys?
And yet, Beauprez — a 15-point loser to Bill Ritter in 2006 — tells One News Now that he is still thinking about getting into the race for Mark Udall’s seat.
“I haven’t said no — and I’m going to watch these next couple of weeks very carefully to see what happens,” he said.
“My guess is that maybe our field will narrow a little bit as people don’t find the fundraising especially very easy. And you’ve got to have a least enough money to stay alive and have a viable campaign. So we’ll see how things shake out and whether or not there’s a need to get in.”
The candidate rumored to be having money trouble is state Rep. Amy Stephens, who is thought to be a serious contender for the nomination in what is now a four-way race. State Sens. Owen Hill and Randy Baumgardner are also running.
Beauprez said he hasn’t said no, which means that someone must have asked. Or maybe Beauprez was just hearing voices. I’m making my bet now — however it shakes out, Beauprez won’t get in.
And yet, Beauprez, the former congressman, has been desperate to get into a contest — almost any contest — since his humiliating loss to Ritter. Not that there weren’t some highlights. We all remember the Beauprez ad showing him standing on the wrong side of the horse – just as the Cory Voorhis scandal was breaking — saying, “There’s that smell again.”
Ken Buck, meanwhile, doesn’t have any odor issues. But his campaign against Michael Bennet sure stunk. He found a way to lose to Bennet in the 2010 senatorial race despite a massive countrywide Republican wave that Buck managed to completely miss.
Beauprez was thought to be a sure winner against Ritter — and got clobbered. Buck was running against an appointed senator with low name recognition in a Republican year — and lost. And, while we’re at it, The GOP gubernatorial front-runner is Tom Tancredo, who ran in 2010 and got, yes, 37 percent of the vote.
Welcome to 2014, where the Republicans have gone all Dylan on us, in the belief that the loser now will be later to win. And the names don’t seem to be a changin’.
[…] also told FOX31 that a recent column by the Colorado Independent’s Mike Littwin suggesting he’s considering the Senate race is […]