Maes should tell them to take a long walk off of a short pier, not unlike the graphic to the left. Any deal he makes with the kingmakers won't even be worth the paper it can't be printed on legally, and he loses the grass roots entirely. What is he left with? He will be just another salesman, who has been caught lying on his resume. He can't be a useful lobbyist, because he hasn't developed the requisite network of connections. Where is he ever going to get the money to service the $500,000 mortgage on his house, and the second that he took out to finance this endeavor?

It would take a phalanx of Poundstones to bail his sorry biblical transport out.

After Maes first appeared on the Peter Boyles show, I made and donated a political ad in which he used on the campaign website. When he was hit with the campaign violations and the $17,500 fine, along with his refusing to release his tax returns, I pulled the ad. I knew at that point there was real trouble ahead and I did not want my name associated with his.

I would bet a million dollars he withdraws from the race. It will be after the deadline so he can stick it to the party. To those who are still blindly in support of this campaign (or current gig): It is all about Dan, not about Colorado.

Now, the question is one of how long it will take for Coffman, Buck, Andrews, Beauprez, Hillman, et al., ad nauseum, to re-endorse Maes. After all, if we foot-soldiers don't support the execrable candidates they foist upon us (Beauprez, Coors, McInnis [until he melted down]), they excoriate us for our disloyalty.

Sorry, but Dan Maes is light-years ahead of Bob "I took $21,000 from a Russian mobster" Beauprez in the character department. His only flaw is that he inflated his resume (which doesn't distinguish him from any other politician in the freakin' country) and doesn't seem to know what he is doing (which doesn't distinguish him from Barack Obama).

That he tweaked the noses of the Party's plutocrats only raises his stature in my eyes; the Mark Hillmans and Dick Wadhamses of the world don't like being challenged, and tend to be too haughty. I'm sure he will have some amaesing stories to tell; it might just be worth volunteering just to hear some of them.

I'm almost back on board!