Weld County D.A. and GOP U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck received a key endorsement months ago from Erick Erickson, the founder of popular national right-wing blog RedState. Buck’s campaign manager Walt Klein told the Colorado Independent that the endorsement was significant not only for the cash RedState could funnel to Buck but because it demonstrated Buck’s grassroots strength.
“[RedState] has huge tentacles and is in tune with activist-voters on the ground. Erickson’s sentiments are reflected in what I see out there on the stump. The people interacting with Ken live see someone who can win.”
In the wake of Buck’s caucus victory over former Lt Governor Jane Norton Tuesday, Erickson has posted another appeal on Buck’s behalf at RedState.
In the Colorado Caucuses earlier this week, Ken Buck beat Jane Norton. It was close. Very close. You might say they tied.
But that is still big news. Buck does not have a massive on the ground presence yet and Jane Norton is the former Lt. Governor of Colorado with already massive name identification, the backing of the Washington Republican crowd, and lots more money than Buck. It’s like the Crist v. Rubio situation, except I actually like Norton, think she’s more with us than against us, but believe very strongly that Ken Buck will be more with us and a stronger conservative less likely to get pushed into doing silly things by the leadership.
Ken is showing strong grassroots support in Colorado, but he needs our help. We need to help him get even better organized on the ground, but unlike some of our candidates, Ken Buck really does need our cash. If you can’t, give your prayers, time, or what you can. But we need to get him fully funded.
Beating the Colorado Lt. Governor in the Colorado Caucuses is a very positive sign. Now we need to help translate that into money for Ken to turn out the vote in the primary.
I know our dollars are all stretched thing. All of us. But if you can commit to just a little, all of us doing the same will really help.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, Buck got creamed in the fundraising race, spurring speculation he might drop out of the race. He drew a mere $40,000 compared to Norton’s $550,000 haul. Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet pulled in $1.1 million. Yet Klein told the Colorado Independent he wasn’t concerned.
“There are two campaigns going on,” Klein told the Colorado Independent. “One that flows from the FEC reports and the one happening day to day. The candidates are showing up every day and making their case to the activist voters, who are the ones paying attention at this stage of the game. There are no reporters there. There’s virtually no coverage and that’s the part of the campaign that matters.”
Klein said money would eventually flow from the strong grassroots support Buck was building on the trail. Today’s Erickson pitch, coming on the heels of the caucus, couldn’t have followed Klein’s grand strategy any closer to the letter if Klein had orchestrated it himself.
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