No, this is not an accidental re-posting of a blog note from a couple of months ago.

The two current Republican candidates for governor, Scott McInnis and Dan Maes are, repsectively, irredeemably damaged and hopelessly unqualified.

They are both also overly secretive.  Both men refuse to release financial records.  And Maes’ resume has me very suspicious that his career is not as glorious as he portrays it.  While I don’t hold it against anyone for not being a multi-millionaire, I do believe that opposition research by Hickenlooper (or by other Republicans if McInnis does not get out of the race) may show him to have exaggerated in a way that would be used against him.

I simply don’t believe either one can beat John Hickenlooper at this point.

Although some long knives have come out against Josh Penry following his decision to work for Jane Norton’s campaign (more on this tomorrow morning), he remains in my view the best likely Republican candidate for anything in the state of Colorado (at least among people who are likely to run for elected office.)

Penry was my preferred candidate for governor when the race began.  He got out of the race for reasons which remain the subject of much speculation…though most of that speculation by people who pay attention to  Colorado politics is probably  more-or-less on target.  In my view, his getting out was understandable but, putting aside any personal factors in Josh’s decision, a political mistake.

One way or another, McInnis and Maes should both get out, though I admit that getting Maes out will not be easy if McInnis goes first, and a vacancy committee should replace them with Josh Penry.  Republicans of all stripes except the most closed-minded will coalesce around Penry and he will stand a decent chance of beating John Hickenlooper, certainly a better chance than either of the current Republicans does.

Later on, after the fury of the campaign season has past, Republicans need to revolt against the GOP “establishment” multi-millionaires who gave us Scott McInnis over Josh Penry.  The power brokers who think that their riches makes them smart politicians – you know their names – have screwed us one time too many and it has to stop.  Many people treat politics as a game, and it feels that way sometimes, but at the end of the day these contests have real impact on real people.  We can no longer let rich amateurs destroy Colorado.

For the first step back to sanity, I hereby re-endorse Josh Penry for Governor.

Let me make one other thing clear: Tea Party activists who reflexively oppose any candidate who has held prior political office are idiots. If Tea Party members would oppose Penry and support Maes based only on the fact that Penry is an experienced accomplished politician and Maes has no relevant experience whatsoever, they will deserve the government they will receive…more likely to be Governor Hickenlooper than Governor Maes.

And one final note: There have been rumblings about encouraging Tom Tancredo to jump back in.  I like Tom a lot. I agree with him on more than I disagree with him on (though I’m far less “conservative” when it comes to immigration and social issues).  And I noticed, while most people were probably waiting for Tom to talk about immigration, that during the presidential debates Tom was one of only two candidates (the other being Ron Paul) who consistently referred to the Constitution in his answers.  But Tom is a controversial and divisive figure.  He’s easily, albeit unfairly, demonized, and simply can’t win the critical independent vote in Colorado – even in a season when so many people have become aware of illegal immigration problems and particularly the Arizona law.  For those like me who want to avoid four years (or more) of Governor Hickenlooper, I urge you not to push for Tom Tancredo to be the GOP’s replacement candidate (not that we even know if any replacement candidate will replace anybody.)  And I urge Tom to say that he’s not interested in running at this time.  Again, I say that as someone who thinks that Tom is smart, principled, and generally a good guy.