GOP launches new CO website, accidentally uses photos from UT, AZ

August 27, 2014

The Colorado Republican Party’s Official Independent Expenditure Committee (CORE) launched a snazzy new website today, billed as a grassroots organizing and fundraising tool for local and state pols. It’s part of the party’s healthily financed, years-long effort to catch up to the Dems’ technological edge that emerged during the Obama years.

The website lists a series of target state senate races, replete with opposition research on the Democratic candidates running in those districts to be used in campaign materials and advertisements.

“Based on our initial research, we are confident that Republicans can take back the state senate and win all statewide offices in 2014,” said CORE spokeswoman Lexi Effron in a press release. “CORE will play an important and central role in making this happen.”

Coloradocore.org “will help reach voters in an unprecedented manner,” said Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call. “Unlike unions and liberal interest groups who have invested millions of out-of-state dollars in previous years to turn Colorado blue,” he said in the release, “our effort is entirely transparent and will publicly report each donor and expenditure.”

The front page of the website features a slideshow of eye-catching widescreen photos of iconic Colorado sights—including the Maroon Bells, Garden of the Gods and the state capitol building—emblazoned with stylized text explaining the CORE mission. Earlier this morning, the slider also included such quintessential landmarks as Utah’s Monument Valley and a canyon in Arizona. Those photos were quickly taken down, but not before Colorado Pols nabbed a screenshot and wrote a snarky blog post.

Then local conservative blogger Kelly Maher outed D.C. based consulting firm Harden Global as connected to the site in a tweet that probably made Ryan Call et al. kick themselves.

Srsly @HardenGlobal if you want to play in CO use pics of CO in your CO websites http://t.co/vF8hzoCN04 https://t.co/WMgSZXHfa2 #copolitics

— Kelly Maher (@okmaher) August 27, 2014