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November 18, 2008 - 7:20pm
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Hesse says he won't face Wadhams, pushes GOP 527 effort
By Jeremy Pelzer, PolitickerCO.com ReporterFormer Colorado Republican Party Executive Director Mike Hesse said Tuesday morning that he will not be running against Dick Wadhams for state GOP chair.
Instead, he said, Republicans needed to look beyond the state party to combat Democrats' substantial independent financial resources.
"After leading and seeing what the model is, I'm surprised (Wadhams) wants to do the job because again I think that the way in which we're going to impact elections in the future is going to have less to do with the state party and more to do how we're going to build the Republican model for the Democrats," Hesse told PolitickerCO.com.
Hesse said instead of the party, which is under strict state and federal limits about how much money it can offer to candidates and groups, Republicans needed to emulate independent Democratic groups such as the Colorado Democracy Alliance that legally avoid campaign finance rules to give generously to Democratic candidates and causes. The conservative Weekly Standard termed it "the Colorado Model."
"We're just getting killed on that (financial) front -- they're outspending us five to ten to one on these races." Hesse said. "Frankly, as I talk to folks, I'm just not so sure that who the state party chairman is going to matter as much as how we follow through with a new model."
Hesse said it's too early to tell what such a model would look like. Right now, he said, he's contacting other Republicans to hear what they have to say.
"I've found that if you come in and lay your marker before you do your appropriate amount of listening, and people who do that usually end up having their butts handed to them," Hesse said.
Related topics: Mike Hesse, Dick Wadhams
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Forgetting about Trailhead, Mike?
The GOP does use 527s, and quite extensively. Maybe the conservative 527s would be more effective if they focused on substantive messaging instead of serving as the vehicle for personal smears and false information as Trailhead Group did in 2006, when it failed abysmally in its mission (throwing millions down a rat hole in the process).
In other words, you guys keep going back to the Wadhams-Caldara-Philp well every election and you're going to get your hat handed to you again and again. Coloradans are sick of their crap and those guys are sliding further into irrelevance with each passing year and each election defeat. Find people who know how to push messages that resonate with the electorate instead of just telling it what to be afraid of and you'll have a winner.
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