Hillman, we have a problem

When Mark Hillman announced last week that he’d run for RNC committeeman from Colorado to replace outgoing Colorado RNC committeeman Bob Schaffer, the groan coming from several parts of the GOP was audible.

“Yeah, Hillman took his 30 pieces of silver,” said one GOP official. “But the difference between he and Judas is that at least Judas had the good sense to hang himself. Hillman acts like he deserves a promotion.”

At issue between Hillman and some parts of the GOP is Hillman’s abandonment of his opposition to Referendums C and D after receiving an appointment from then-Governor Owens to serve as acting Treasurer. Prior to the appointment Hillman served as Senate Majority Leader and was vocal in opposition to Referendums C and D.

Some say that implied in the agreement between Owens and Hillman to appoint Hillman to the top spot in the state treasury was that Hillman stop campaigning against Referendums C and D, a measure which Owens used his considerable prestige to pass.

And it still rubs some in the GOP raw that Hillman apparently put the political appointment above his political principles.

“My issue with Mark,” one GOP delegate told the Inside Edge "is that now he writes and talks against Referendum C like he was somehow a great leader on it. He abandoned us at a time when we needed every leader. [Referendum C] only passed by 45,000 votes. He could have made a difference there. That’s not leadership.”

Many in the GOP point to the schism created by Referendums C and D as the turning point for the Republican Party in Colorado.

“You want to know why the Party is in such a deplorable state right now?” says another GOP delegate from El Paso County. “You can trace it all back to C and D. Guys like Hillman caved-in. It decimated our leadership because the rank and file doesn’t trust them anymore. They talked about fiscal discipline until they actual had to exercise it and then they failed the test. ”

Senator Dave Schultheis, Hillman’s opponent in the RNC race, is not encumbered by the same Referendum C and D baggage that Hillman brings to the race. However that doesn’t mean that Schultheis is a favorite for the position. In fact he’s probably the underdog.

“Schultheis has got his own problems,” said one of our GOP delegates. “I don’t think many are supportive of a sitting state senator working as RNC committeeman. The RNC will probably just end up as a huge ways-and-means committee for McCain if he ends up serving as president. And he’ll just ignore Schultheis.”

Not that a President McCain wouldn't ignore Hillman too.

But first Hillman has to get past the Colorado Republican fiscal hawks that are waiting for him with torches and pitchforks.