I’m not willing to say anything definitive at this point, because I certainly haven’t made up my mind, but I will go on the record with this:
I am not ruling out coaching the Denver Broncos at some point.Mind you, I’m not ruling it in, either, and that’s not only because I really don’t have any certifiable background in the game of football. Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and I? Well, let’s just say that we haven’t talked in awhile.
Okay, so by “awhile” I mean “never.”
Just the same, I’m not going to rule out coaching the Broncos. At some point. I want to keep all of my career options open, and I would be doing a disservice to Broncos fans (and myself) by closing the door, once and for all, on a possible coaching stint with the team.
As a wise man once said, “Never say never because it never comes true.” I don’t know what that means, but it seemed appropriate here.
I bring this up because Bob Beauprez, the former Republican candidate for governor, says that he is not ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate. He is also going to start distributing an online newsletter, presumably to keep people informed about other things that he has not ruled out.
Launching an online platform is at least a sign that Beauprez wants to stay in the middle of big debates, said GOP political consultant Katy Atkinson.
“He clearly isn’t through with public policy, whether or not it necessarily translates into another run for elective office,” Atkinson said. “It’s almost impossible to speculate on that.”…
…Atkinson said the political battlefield could change again two years from now, so the 2006 defeat does not disqualify Beauprez for seeking another statewide office. “He obviously has lost his aura of being invincible, but two years ago none of us even thought Bill Ritter could get the Democratic nomination” for governor, Atkinson said.
Beauprez isn’t ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate, and Republican consultant Atkinson isn’t ruling it out, either.
Unfortunately, Bob, the rest of us are. I’m ruling it out for you. So are the voters of Colorado who beat you over the head with a 15-point loss to Democrat Bill Ritter when you entered the race as the presumptive favorite.
Is it “impossible to speculate” on Beauprez’s future, as Atkinson says? No, not really. Not where a run for statewide office is concerned.
Beauprez alienated a large portion of the Republican base with his feud with Marc Holtzman, and he alienated most the rest of that base by running possibly the worst statewide campaign Colorado has seen in the last 50 years. National newspapers called Beauprez’s campaign one of the worst in the entire country in 2006. You know you aren’t doing well when the ad your campaign produces ends up hurting you worse than it hurts your opponent. His campaign singlehandedly redefined the term “negative advertisement.”
See, it wasn’t just losing that disqualifies Beauprez from being a serious candidate for the U.S. Senate anytime soon. Lots of candidates lose and return to run another day. It’s okay to lose, but when you lose in spectacular fashion, as Beauprez did, you don’t come back to fight another day. We don’t remember “Custer’s Last Stand” because of what the good General went on to accomplish later in life. Beauprez didn’t lose The Alamo; he lost the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
In a state with a significant Republican voter registration advantage, Beauprez got his brains kicked in at the polls. Republicans won’t soon forget that he gave up a safe congressional seat (CD-7) to run for governor, and when the dust settled, the GOP didn’t have either post. Beauprez was so bad that everybody who was paying attention knew in late August that Ritter would be the next governor of Colorado. He was a drain on the entire Republican ticket, where the GOP didn’t pick up…one…single…seat in any of the state legislative races.
It’s almost impossible to see how Republicans would embrace Beauprez as their candidate for another important statewide race, particularly a run for a U.S. Senate seat that is likely to be wide open (if, as expected, Sen. Wayne Allard retires). How could you run Beauprez again after how disastrous he was as a candidate in 2006? The answer: You can’t. Not when you really need to hold onto that senate seat.
You can get over losing, but you can’t get past being an outright embarrassment. At some point Beauprez’s 2006 campaign crossed over from losing effort to punchline. He was Michael Dukakis riding around in a tank. He was Bob Dole falling off the stage. He was Howard Dean screaming like a madman. He was George Allen’s macaca.
Bob Beauprez may not be ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate. I’m not ruling out coaching the Denver Broncos. It really doesn’t matter.
It’s been ruled out for us.
