Tancredo tried to eliminate federal Dept. of Education. What chunks of state gov would he ax?

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

You knew Texas Gov. Rick Perry's famous Oops Moment would hurt Perry himself, because it made him look so stupid, but I really thought the substance of Perry's incomplete thought–that is, which federal departments should be shut down–would become more of a recurrent theme in conservative GOP primary circles.

I mean, it separates you from the crowd: Shut down the Commerce Department! The Education Department!

This comes up, just not so often.

For example, in a recent appearance on KLZ 560-AM's new "Wake Up" show with Randy Corporon, Rep. Tom Tancredo, who's running for governor, boasted about his efforts, when he was a regional director of the U.S. Department of Education, to shut down the Department of Education:

TANCREDO: I was elected to the State Legislature in 1976, re-elected two more times. I was appointed by Ronald Reagan to run the U.S. Department of Education’s regional office here, in Colorado – six state region. I did that for him and Bush I [one]. Our purpose was to try and implode the whole thing, because we wanted to get the federal government out of education, as much as possible. We couldn’t even get a Congressman to introduce the bill to abolish it, so we tried to do it administratively, and, um–.

HOST RANDY CORPORON: Starve the beast.

TANCREDO: Starve the beast.

CORPORON: Cut back the budget.

TANCREDO: Exactly. So, I found out that that’s what you had to do. That’s the only way you could actually get rid of people that were extraneous – let’s put it that way. [chuckles] I had 22o people employed at the U.S. Department of Education, in the regional office. Two hundred and twenty-two. Now, I emphasize the word ‘employed’. Some of those people were working there, [but] not many. And, um, it took me four years – and as I say, I had to go back to Washington every year and ask for a budget cut in order to actually work through the process of reducing the staff. And I — and there were other reasons why we ended up moving downward, but we got to the point that we had sixty people left, when I left, out of 222.

Left hanging here is, what departments would Tanc cut, wholesale, from state government? That would've been a more relevant direction for Corporon to steer the conversation, given that Tancredo is running for governor.

Perry, you recall, had three federal departments he'd shut down. You get the feeling, when it comes to state government, a guy like Tancredo can top that. Maybe we'll hear about it next time he's on KLZ.

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Tancredo, Hill Both Bypassing GOP Caucuses

Tom Tancredo and Owen Hill.

There's rarely much interesting on the right-wing "news" site Colorado Observer, but this tidbit from Valerie Richardson caught our attention:

The grass- roots army behind the Recall Hudak Two campaign has thrown its formidable petition-circulating skills behind Republican candidates Owen Hill and Tom Tancredo.

Recall organizer Mike McAlpine said Thursday that volunteers would gather signatures on behalf of the Republicans, who are petitioning to gain slots on the June 24 primary ballot instead of going through the state assembly.

Hill, a state senator from Colorado Springs, is seeking the Republican nomination for Senate, while former congressman Tancredo is making a bid for the GOP nod for governor.

“The same grassroots, conservative energy that led to the victories in the historic 2013 recall elections is the very same enthusiasm that will propel Tom Tancredo and Owen Hill into office,” said McAlpine in a statement. “People are excited about their genuine leadership for personal liberty, limited government, and especially their dedication to serve the people, not our corrupted government system.”

This is the first word we've seen that U.S. Senate candidate Owen Hill intends to bypass the state Colorado Republican Party caucus process, and go directly to the primary ballot by collecting petition signatures. We had heard the possibility that Tom Tancredo might bypass the caucuses with a petition drive, and this announcement would appear to confirm that rumor as well. The story infers that the petition gatherers in question, fresh off the petition campaign to recall Evie Hudak, aren't being paid, but we haven't confirmed that.

With one of Hill's U.S. Senate primary opponents, Amy Stephens, also ditching the caucuses to petition directly to the ballot, the GOP's formerly important assembly selection process appears less meaningful than ever in 2014. This illustrates a difference between former GOP chairman Dick Wadhams, who zealously defended the caucuses and penalized candidates who didn't participate, and current GOP chairman Ryan Call, who sheepishy says both means of getting on the ballot are "legitimate." The truth is, Call would probably be closer to Wadhams' position if he had the power to enforce it. But Call isn't Wadhams, and today's GOP isn't what it was even four years ago.

As for the legitimacy of Hill and Tancredo personally…that really doesn't matter right now.

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Tancredo Pal Ted Nugent Doesn’t Mince Words

UPDATE: Sticklers for accuracy would like us to point out that Ted Nugent’s reference to a “chimpanzee” did not come in the same breath as Nugent’s calling President Barack Obama a “subhuman mongrel.” It’s possible that Nugent was referring to someone else as a “chimpanzee,” and that possibility should be noted for the record.

Yeah, we know. But technically he could have been talking about somebody else, right?

—–

MSNBC’s Morgan Whitaker:

Aging rock star and NRA board member Ted Nugent has taken his typical extremist rhetoric up a notch calling President Obama a “subhuman mongrel” in a recent interview at a hunting and outdoor trade show in Las Vegas.

“I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame enough Americans to be ever vigilant not to let a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel [Pols emphasis] like the ACORN community organizer gangster Barack Hussein Obama to weasel his way into the top office of authority in the United States of America,” Nugent said in response to a question about the 2016 election in video from Guns.com…

Acknowledging that many might consider the comment “inflammatory speech,” Nugent said, “I would call it inflammatory speech when it’s your job to protect Americans and you look into the television camera and say what difference does it make that I failed in my job to provide security and we have four dead Americans.”

“What difference does that make? he added. “Not to a chimpanzee [Pols emphasis] or Hillary Clinton, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

When we last saw aging rock legend Ted Nugent of Wang Dang Sweet Poontang fame, he was headlining an email fundraising pitch for Colorado GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Tom Tancredo (photo above right). Ordinarily, we’d expect a leading endorser of a high-profile campaign to swiftly apologize after calling the President of the United States a (making sure we’ve got this right) “subhuman mongrel chimpanzee.”

But this is Tom Tancredo we’re talking about. He’ll want Nugent on tour now.

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Tancredo says Republicans “will not beat Hickenlooper” on gun issues

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

On KNUS radio this morning, host Dan Caplis said it was "legitimate" for Sen. Greg Brophy to spotlight Tom Tancredo's post-Columbine vote for a House resolution limiting, among other things, the size of magazines to 10 rounds or fewer, the same limitation put on magazines by one of Colorado's new gun-safety laws.

In response, Tancredo, who's battling Brophy for the chance to take on Gov. John Hickenlooper in November, downplayed the importance of the gun-safety issues in the upcoming general election, saying, "We are not going to win an election on this."

Here's part of Tanc's response, as heard on KNUS:

Tancredo: "I'll tell you that if, indeed, anybody believes that the Republican nominee, whoever that might be, can win the general election on this [gun] issue, or a couple of others that are fairly focused, they're wrong. We will not beat Hickenlooper, I don't care who it is, we will not beat Hickenlooper on this issue… We are not going to win an election on this. …

The NRA has always supported me. These things are essentially frivolous attacks that do not help in the long run. And as I say, I do not agree with you that this is something that the other side will use. Do you really believe that Hickenlooper would be attacking me for being soft on guns?"

Caplis: I think it would come up. And I think you'd handle it well…. Here's how I would definitely see it coming up in the campaign. You're running against Hickenlooper. You're the nominee. You're bashing him…he tried to restrict Coloradans' gun rights. And then Hickenlooper turns around with their 527s… 'Wait a second. Tom agrees with Hickelooper on this.'

Listen to Tancredo on Caplis saying GOP won't beat Hick on Guns

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Wadhams takes the knife to GOP peace-maker Tancredo

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Former Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams.

Just as Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo started pleading with Colorado Republicans to stop beating up each other, GOP strategist Dick Wadhams took to the radio waves to slam down Tancredo as unelectable.

On KNUS' Backbone Radio show Sunday, Wadhams amplified on an a Sept. 1 Denver Post op-ed, where he made veiled references to GOP candidates who've lost previously and who, if nominated, would extend the Republican "losing streak" in Colorado.

Guest host Randy Corporon deserves credit for getting to the heart of the matter, when he asked Wadhams:

Corporon: "The two candidates who popped to mind for me who've lost state-wide office in recent history are Tom Tancredo and Senate candidate Ken Buck. Did you have them in mind?"

Wadhams: "Indeed I did. I cannot see how a candidate who has clearly had a history of rhetoric that has alienated Hispanic voters can get elected state-wide in Colorado. I don't see it."

[BigMedia intervention: One wonders if Corporon thought about asking Wadhams for the name of any GOP candidate, including Rep. Mike Coffman, who does not have a "history of rhetoric that has alienated Hispanic voters," but let's continue with the interview.]

Wadhams: In terms of Ken Buck, who I think would have been a marvelous U.S. Senator, and Ken, actually, was going into October with a lead. But he said some things that gave Michael Bennet the ability to come from behind and win that… And those issues don't go away.

[BigMedia intervention]: But Buck blamed his loss on Democrats, not on himself.

Wadhams later in the interview: "I do not think that even if it had been a head-to-head with Hickenlooper and Tancredo, that Tancredo would have won in 2010. Hickenlooper never had to run a negative ad… He's never been tested state-wide in a campaign like this. I don't think he would hold up under scrutiny."

Dick Wadhams on KNUS Backbone Radio 09-01-13

I respect the conservative talk-show hosts, like Corporon, who've been dedicating serious time to figuring out how to reform the Republican Party. Contrasting Wadhams' attacks with Tancredo's peace-offering is definitely part of this debate.

And again, Corporon took on the issue directly, asking Wadhams whether Tancredo's "peace plan" is something he'd reject. Wadhams said "issues matter in campaigns" and ignoring them during the primary will just make Republicans go down in flames in the general election.

It's a "bunch of bunk" that primaries hurt GOP candidates, Wadhams said, adding the bruising primaries benefit good candidates.

I started thinking about the U.S. missiles that are poised to bomb Syria. Peace is difficult to pull off, but at least they're debating the topic, as it relates to the Colorado Republican Party, on conservative talk radio.

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