( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )
In his Sunday column today (http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_12523440) Dan Haley raises a point many Colorado Republicans should be wondering about: Why isn't Scott McInnis running for the U.S. Senate? Anyone who's been around Colorado politics for the past 20 years knows that every time there's any inkling of an open Senate seat or the potential of a weak incumbent running, McInnis floated his name and even considered a primary challenge to newly minted Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell back in 1998.
The current situation is that McInnis could instantly erase Bennet's fundraising advantage with his $1 million war chest that can only be spent on a federal race.
Why are Colorado Republicans going to give McInnis a pass on this? If he runs for the Senate he starts with $1 million in the bank. If he runs for Governor, he signs us up for a brutal primary.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller....?
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Comments
I wondered this also
Seems that McInnis is much more a Senatorial candidate for numerous reasons. Given that there are no big names in the Senate race, I can't figure out why he didn't jump on that.
I'll take a stab at this...
I had heard once that McInnis really didn't enjoy being in Washington DC and had long wanted to run for Governor. Frankly, I also think Bennet is far stronger then Ritter at this point, even though I believe Ritter appointed Bennet because he was solid enough to be a realistic pick, but weak enough that most of the Republican opposition would shift focus to that seat. However, it seems to have backfired, and what Republican bench we have left is lining up to take out Ritter.
As good an explanation as any
Also, I think that under Federal election laws, the $1 million that McInnis has can be used to aid another persons run in a campaign for a Federal seat. If I'm right on that, offering that kind of money to assist other Republicans in their run can buy a lot of forgiveness for past statements.
kind of
Scott is allowed to give candidate committee money to other candidates up to a maximum of either $5k or $10k. That's enough for a thank you card but not much else.
Correct
He actualy dispersed around 1/4 of his cash to other committees just prior to the 2008 election. That, coupled with what would be a two quarter head start for Bennet, means that his cash advantage if he were to enter the Senate race would be nice but would still fall a lot short of closing the gap against Bennet at this point.
Basically, he missed his chance and Ritter looks a lot more tempting.