Darryl Glenn is a smart man, a man of raw political talent who should do well in the debates with incumbent Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet.
That’s according to Republican powerbroker Dick Wadhams, who until Tuesday night was the campaign manager for Jack Graham.
Wadham gave a brief analysis of the U.S. Senate matchup between Bennet and Glenn.
Winning a primary is nothing like winning a general election in Colorado, Wadhams told reporters Tuesday evening. Glenn will need to figure out the issues that will appeal to the nearly one third of Colorado voters who are unaffiliated.
In speaking to his supporters, Graham hinted that Coloradans may not have seen the last of him.
Graham said running for U.S. Senate was a very sobering and humbling experience. “It wasn’t about me, what we were trying to accomplish for America. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. But we started with 15 candidates and got down to five and then finished second,” he said.
“We were running against a great opponent. Darryl Glenn is a fantastic human being. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished for his campaign and the Republican party, and I will support Darryl Glenn,“ Graham added.
Graham thanked the other candidates in the race for their willingness to step into “this crazy process.”
He also saluted his campaign staff, including Wadhams, saying, “We came close, Dick…we just needed a few more months.”
The campaign covered 39 counties and 20,000 miles in four months. “Nobody worked harder and had more fun that we did,” Graham said.
He also thanked and joked with his 98-year old father, who brought him up as a Democrat. “I took a ton of heat about being raised in a Democratic family. Pop, it’s your fault,” he joked. “What was wrong with Ike? I liked Ike!”
“I voted for him,” Graham’s father said.
“We did this together. It’s about our children, our grandchildren and about America. This experiment is so bloody important, we have to keep this going forward,” Graham said.
“We came a long way in a short period of time,” Wadhams told reporters. “Darryl clearly had a very strong political base in El Paso County, more power to him. That’s the story.”
“Darryl was out there for almost two years campaigning and it paid off. I’ll be voting for him,” he added.
Wadhams then summed up his reasons for working with Graham.
“I went to work for Jack because I thought he was a strong candidate who fit the Colorado model — like Hank Brown, Bill Owens, Cory Gardner. There’s a thread that runs through all of them — they were all conservatives but conservatives who could appeal” to everyone in the state,” he said.
Photo credit: Allen Tian
Dick Wadhams was right in saying that Jack Graham would have broader appeal to voters in the general election. It looks like another lost opportunity for the Republican Party but it’s their choice – and that’s Glenn so congrats to him. Ah! Tomorrow, the fundraising challenge really kicks in for Glenn!