When Republican strategist Dick Wadhams took over as chairman of the Colorado GOP last weekend, he inherited a divided party that has been humbled in the last two elections. And as Wadhams tries to put his party back together, his deep personal ties won’t make his job any easier.
Best known as the manager of ex-Sen. George Allen’s (R-Va.) ill-fated 2006 reelection campaign, Wadhams told The Hill he will remain “judiciously neutral” should there be a primary between former Reps. Scott McInnis and Bob Schaffer, even though he has a “sentimental” relationship with Schaffer.
McInnis has filed a statement of candidacy to run for retiring Republican Sen. Wayne Allard’s seat, while Schaffer said last week he is still considering a run.
The Hill contacted Schaffer last week when he was in Washington, but he declined to explain the purpose of his visit. An official at the National Republican Senatorial Committee said there were no meetings between Schaffer and NRSC officials. The Hill later learned that Schaffer was scheduled to speak at the Heritage Foundation.
Schaffer and Colorado native Wadhams have a longstanding relationship. Wadhams’s late wife, Susan, served as Schaffer’s chief of staff during his time in Congress, and Wadhams donated to Schaffer’s unsuccessful Senate primary run against Pete Coors in 2004. Coors lost to Ken Salazar (D) in the general election.
Wadhams said Schaffer has not signaled to him whether he plans to run. But he added that if his old friend did get in the race, he would remain neutral as party chairman and encourage a “healthy” primary.
“I will be using every ounce of moral authority I have to try to get people to focus on the bigger picture,” Wadhams said.
For his part, Schaffer told The Hill he “shouldn’t comment” on whether Wadhams’s new position might increase the odds of his getting in the race.
A spokeswoman for McInnis, Susan Smith, said it is “premature” to speculate on how the relationship between Wadhams and Schaffer might affect a primary showdown between the two.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R), who replaced Schaffer in the House, said she thinks her predecessor is interested in running. But she added that she does not foresee a primary battle because, “We don’t want to lose again.”
Wadhams is taking over a state party fraught with divisiveness. One case in point was last year’s gubernatorial primary between former Rep. Bob Beauprez and Marc Holtzman. Beauprez won the primary but lost the general election to Gov. Bill Ritter (D).
“There really is this pitched battle here between Republicans in this state,” said University of Colorado political scientist Ken Bickers.
Bickers said the party is “deeply split” between social conservatives, who have been well organized through the state’s expansive mega-churches, and what he calls “Cheney Republicans,” who focus on fiscal conservatism, a strong defense and the region’s mining and timber interests rather than social issues.
According to Bickers, Schaffer is more popular with the social conservatives, but he would have trouble running a statewide race, as he is not well known outside of the Colorado Springs and Loveland areas. By contrast, McInnis is closer to the “Cheney Republicans” of the Western Slope and less popular among the state’s social conservatives due to his pro-choice stance.
Given the “intramural” struggle within the party, Bickers said, “If [Wadhams] in fact is a Schaffer supporter, it may be that he wants party unity of his kind.”
University of Denver political scientist Seth Masket said Schaffer’s entrance into the race could cause problems for Wadhams even though the chairman’s job is to appear neutral.
“It’ll be a little tricky for him, especially since a few weeks ago it didn’t even look like there was going to be a contest,” Masket said. “It seemed like pretty much everyone had said, ‘Scott McInnis is the guy.’”
The “900-pound gorilla” in the primary race, Bickers said, is the possible, albeit unlikely, entrance of former Republican Gov. Bill Owens.
Wadhams, who once worked for Owens, said that Owens has not suggested he might run, but he noted that Owens would be “the strongest candidate to get into the race.”
Regardless of who runs or how they are connected to Wadhams, however, the new chairman might not even have that much sway in the nominating process.
To be nominated, candidates must first do well in the party’s caucus, which determines whether and where their names are placed on the primary ballot. If candidates garner less than 30 percent, they are not put on the ballot but have the right to circulate a petition. Once they secure 1,500 signatures from registered Republicans in each of the state’s seven congressional districts, they may then be listed on the ballot.
Whatever the result, Wadhams insists the divisions within the party are not new to either the Colorado GOP or the national committee. He said he will preach party unity above all else to prevent the likely Democratic candidate, Rep. Mark Udall, from exploiting GOP divisions and taking the Senate seat.
Wadhams cited as an example the 1996 Republican Senate primary, when Allard ran against former U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Although they had a rigorous debate, Norton was able to endorse Allard the day after the primary without hesitation.
For his part, Wadhams said he hasn’t been back to Washington since closing down the Allen campaign in mid-December of last year, and said he hasn’t missed it at all.
When asked about the Allen race, Wadhams said politics is “a brutal business, and when you make a mistake like ‘macaca,’ it can have dire consequences.” |
