By now, anybody interested in politics enough to be reading these pages has seen the pictures of Dan Maes at a December, 2009 rally, collecting campaign donations in a burlap sack.

(Pics taken by and used with permission of Tom James of the Peoples Press Collective)

Plenty of ink has been spilled and hot air squeezed from lungs over this, but I’m going to pile on:

First, it must be pointed out that Maes is obviously not collecting information from his contributors. Perhaps he thinks that by collecting only $19.99 or less, he doesn’t have to get the donors’ names, addresses, and employer information because under $20 the donation isn’t reportable.

However, that $20 threshold is cumulative. In other words, if I give a candidate $10 twice, the $20 total is then reportable.  This means that a candidate needs to collect the donor information from all these enablers of the Bag Man Who Would Be King.

Basically, for every donor who gave Maes a $20 and got a penny in return, Maes was setting up a potential campaign finance violation the next time that same person made a contribution.

That said, probably not very many people were silly enough to repeat the error of donating to the secret agent turned successful businessman, so perhaps there actually didn’t end up being campaign finance violations.  In any case, we’ll never know for sure – which is part of the problem.

It just occurred to me: Why is the definition of “bag man” so different from the definition of “bag lady“?  I mean, what do you call a female “bag man” or a male “bag lady"?

Let’s look at the two dictionary.com definitions.

Bag man: “dishonest official; a person who collects, carries, or distributes illegal payoff money.”

Bag lady: “a homeless woman who lives and sleeps on city streets or in public places, often keeping all her belongings with her in shopping bags.”

Looking at those pictures of Dan Maes collecting money which I’ll bet is already the subject of some head-scratching by federal law enforcement, Maes seems to fit the former.  On the other hand, given the fact that for financial reasons, he chose to pay himself “mileage reimbursements” rather than hire a campaign manager, one has to wonder whether he’s bordering on a male version of the latter.

Or maybe, like New Shimmer, he’s both!

I’d rather have the Shimmer Floor Wax and Dessert Topping salesman be our governor than a bag man/lady.  Dan Maes is simply an embarrassment.

It’s time for everyone to get off the Dan Maes train and, unless you like your government big and your taxes high, to support Tom Tancredo.  Again, I say that as someone who has substantial disagreement with Tancredo’s signature issue of immigration but who realizes that governors have precious little to do with that issue, particularly as regards legal immigration policy which is clearly and only in the federal domain.

This state cannot afford a Governor Hickenlooper.  Even the most obstinate Maes supporter must now admit that a vote for Maes is a vote for Hick. There is no decent principle to be served by voting for Dan Maes.  Voting for party over person has given us, especially at the federal level, several years of terrible government. So voting Maes just because he’s a Republican is saying that your “team” is more important than your state.  Voting for Maes because you don’t like the way Tancredo got into the race is saying that your sense of propriety is more important than your state, even though what Tancredo did was legal.

As I’ve said before, I can understand voting Libertarian in this race, and if I thought Tancredo had no chance, I would do so.  But given the critical nature of this race at this time, with upcoming redistricting particularly important, I’d urge some careful consideration of that decision.  Again, I say that as someone who considers himself essentially libertarian.

John Hickenlooper is Colorado’s own Barack Obama: a radical “green” leftist wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Beating him should be a top priority for all supporters of good government and a once-again-great Colorado.

Dan the Bag Man is not worthy of anybody’s vote despite having legitimately won the Republican nomination.  Really, is that a guy you want in charge of a multi-billion dollar state budget?  Puhleeze…