WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE COLORADO REPUBLICAN PARTY?

Despite expectations, Republican candidates got their butts handed to them up and down the ticket.  Now we are in the “who do we blame and fire” stage of the election process.  Everyone else has given their opinions on the competence or lack thereof of the Colorado Republican Party, and hey…I thought why don’t I give my two cents worth, as well. (Don’t actually look for the two cents. No free money from this column)

We have had opinions from everything from the Party embraced Trump; to the party shunned Trump; to we didn’t have enough money; to we didn’t have good candidates; to we need to get rid of RINOS; to we need to get rid of the Freedom/TEA party; to we need to be more moderate; to we need to be more conservative …I can’t keep it straight.

My view is a little different.  I think that the Republican faithful expect too much from the Party because it is being asked to do things that it can no longer do.  The complainers (I won’t say the electorate because they don’t care) think that we are back when political parties mattered and actually had power to make things happen.

It Aint Like it Used To Be- Selecting Candidates

In the old days, the Party, in particular the “party elders”, selected the candidates to represent the Republican brand.  It used to be if you wanted to be a candidate for an office, you couldn’t just run.  You had to get permission and support from the people who ran the party, the party elders, the party bosses, those in the smoke-filled rooms (back when it was ok for people to smoke). Individuals were told who could run, who could not and who had to wait their turn.  As a result, the party leadership put forward candidates who they thought could win or at least not be too embarrassing to the rest of the ticket.

Winning elections were important to the party and its workers because with election wins came political patronage which provided employment not only for party workers but also favors for special interests supporting the winning candidates.  You could be postmaster or justice of the peace, or you got your road built or your railroad approved.  Those days are gone, … generally. (Hmmm…a topic of another time.)

In order to satisfy the “grassroots”, the Republican Party was forced to give up its ability to select candidates a while ago.  In Colorado, a caucus state, an elaborate process for selecting candidates had been developed and is enshrined in State law.

The caucuses are a remnant from the old days when people met in living rooms throughout the state and elected their own precinct leaders who were prominent figures who would convince their neighbors to support the candidates that the party would nominate.  The best of these precinct leaders were elected to represent their neighborhoods at the country assemblies, and then the best of those were elected as delegates to the State Assembly.  The State Assembly would then gather and select the State candidates, and the ballot would be set. 

As time went on, as people became busier with their lives and more isolated, the attendance at the caucuses declined.  As opposed to competitive precinct leader elections and races for County and State Assemblies, the Republican faithful were being begged to go to the nominating conventions. It got to the point where whoever drew the shortest straw had to go to the County and State assemblies if there was anyone there to draw straws at all.

Around the same time, the power of the Party and the State nominating assemblies was further weakened by the ability of candidates to avoid the party nominating caucus system all together and petition their way onto the ballot. At first, candidates at their peril would have to risk insulting the party regulars by avoiding the state assembly, but as the party structure weakened, it became more and more acceptable to avoid the Party altogether and petition onto the ballot.

In primary elections, it used to be that any candidate had to get the support of Republican voters alone.  Then in the 2018 primary election, for the first time, unaffiliated voters were allowed to vote in party primaries further weakening the grip of Republicans (and Democrats) in the candidate selection process.

Now candidates didn’t have to go through any of the party processes.  They didn’t have to appeal to party professionals or longtime party workers.  They didn’t have to swear fealty to the party platform which was adopted by a smaller and smaller segment of the Republican community. 

The deterioration of the parties is evidenced by voter registration numbers.  In 2010, the Republican, Democrat and Unaffiliated voters generally split the electorate 1/3-1/3-1/3.  From then until 2022, despite an overall increase in voters of 1,365,000, Republican registration numbers increased only by 67,000. And while the Democrats did slightly better, Unaffiliated voters rejecting membership in either party increased 965,000.

Where did the Money Go?

In addition to selecting candidates, the other function of a political party is to get their slate elected.  This is done through campaigning. While back in the day, campaigning was accomplished through rallies, speeches, debates, parades and leaflets, with society now being more isolated from their communities, campaigns are now conducted digitally through ads, social media, radio and the press.

This outreach to the electorate takes money.  At the same time that money was becoming more important to candidates and their parties, campaign finance “reform” was introduced to reduce the amount of money in politics. It failed.

Reform didn’t reduce the amount of money in politics, but it did funnel contributions away from candidates and political parties favoring rich candidates and Independent Expenditure Committees.  The maximum contribution to political parties is only $3350 each, and in the 2022 midterms, the Colorado Republican Committee raised only $347,000.

Meanwhile as an example, Governor Polis reached into his pocket and gave himself $13,000,000 for his reelection effort.  With other statewide candidates limited to a maximum of $1350/individual, his opponent had to generate 9,630 maximum individual contributions just to match Polis’ private wealth.

However, while private wealth is important, the real money flowed to the Independent Expenditure Committees (IECs).  Contributions to IECs are unlimited.  Since IECs are prohibited by law from coordinating campaigning with candidates and political parties, this money doesn’t go directly to candidates or parties but is spent for political advocacy on behalf of whomever and for whatever they want.  These are all those ads that say, “not endorsed by any political candidate or campaign.”

To give you an example of the irrelevance of political parties and direct contributions to candidates, in SD-27, Republican, Tom Kim, raised $174,000 including contributing $35,000 to himself. He received nothing from the Colorado Republican Party.  However not to feel sorry for Tom, he was supported by the Republican leaning, Senate Majority Fund, to the tune of $1,230.000.

Tom Sullivan, whose son died in the Aurora theatre shooting and is a noted anti-gun advocate, raised $102,000 himself but was also supported by Democrat leaning, All Together Colorado, in the amount of $1,170,000.  Then toward the end of the campaign, Michael Bloomberg’s independent expenditure committee., Everytown for Gun Safety, as almost an afterthought, kicked in an additional $1,000,000 into the State. Neither candidates nor the political parties can compete with that.

There was so much money in this last election cycle, that Democrat Independent Election Committees spent $10 million to support far right Republican candidates in the Republican primaries in order for their preferred progressive candidates to have an easier time in the general election.

There is a dizzying array of organizations, in and out of state, that raises and spends money for political purposes which dwarfs any efforts by the state political parties. To list only a few, there is Progress Now, Media Matters, the ACLU, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, Emily’s List, Everytown For Gun Safety, the National Education Association and other various unions.  The Right is not totally disarmed, although vastly outmatched with Americans for Prosperity, the Federalist Society, the Family Research Council, the NRA and others.  Each election cycle spawns new independent expenditure committees to support Democrat or Republican candidates with banal sounding names that don’t even reveal what team they are on unless you do a lot of research.

So, what is wrong with the Colorado Republican Party?  Well, the answer is nothing within its control.  I think we should cut all those folks trying to run that group some slack and pity them rather than condemn them, but hey…that’s me.

What to Do.

The Republican Party can’t control who their nominees are and can’t get the resources to get their candidates elected, so what good is it? Good question.

Take Sides.

Political parties can’t go away as they are embedded in state law (and our culture) to provide a process to get candidates on the ballot.  As a result of Republican party rules, the Republicans are bound to remain neutral during the primaries and then required to support the entire slate of candidates including the crazy ones.  The Democrats pick out the most crazy unacceptable person running for office under the Republican banner and say “see, the rest are all like this guy…”

I would propose to change the Republican party rules that require party officers to remain neutral during the candidate selection process, and if on the general election ballot, to support them.  Some Republican candidates who slip through the caucus or primary do not deserve the approval of the Republican apparatus. I understand that this can be high risk because sometimes, Republican leadership is crazier than the bad candidates who are dragging down the ticket, but these are desperate times, and I believe the risk is worth it. 

Democrats are not bound by this pre-primary neutrality as evidenced by the national Democrats sticking it to Bernie Sanders in favor of Biden in 2020 or in Colorado in 2018 when Democrats cut Andrew Romanoff off at the knees in favor of John Hickenlooper in his 2018 Senate run.

Change the Party Brand.  Be Positive, Not Negative.

Next, party leaders need to work to change the Republican stereotype.  Currently, as the party in opposition, it puts them on the defensive which drives it to the negative.  Everything that the other party does is wrong and bad, even some halfway good stuff that they might be able to agree with should they not be focused on always tearing the Democrats down.

The Republican brand suffers from the perception that it is selfish, mean and only for rich people.  As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  The Republicans need to work hard to let the electorate know that they care about their neighbors, all of them.  I know a lot of Republicans and they really do care. It just doesn’t seem that way.  This initiative is a year-round effort and can’t be just turned on during the election season. 

Donald Trump for all his faults (and they are many) gave a glimpse how this idea could work when he sought to move himself (and therefore the Republican Party) from the selfish party of big business to being the advocate of the “working man”.  He further reached out to the minority community with the simple argument that they had been relying on the Democrats for generations for a better life without getting any results, and why not give him a try.  He lost some of that initiative when he forgot the people and made everything about himself, but the idea is still there for the taking.

The Republican party should give this a try.  It should quit being the party of finger wagging against those with whom it disagrees to being the party of opportunity for those who want to take advantage of it.

Instead of attacking the school unions, it should focus on school choice for better educational results.  There is no need to tear down teacher unions as the source of educational decline.  It should simply support parents (Democrats and Republicans) to have an educational system that works to teach our children.  The Union can try to take care of itself.  Republicans don’t have spend energy to go after it.

Instead of being the party of anti-abortion and anti-planned parenthood, be the party of life and the joy of children.  Let the Democrats be the party of death and anti-child. Be the party of “babies are good” and work very hard to promote pregnancy and child support for those who want their children.

Be the party of business opportunity instead of the capitalist survival of the fittest.  Focus on clearing away obstacles to success for individuals and small business entities.  Develop programs to provide guidance for small businesses in minority communities sharing information on finance and business practices in order to give minority entrepreneurs the tools and information they need to compete in the marketplace with everyone else.

Instead of being the party of anti-immigration, be the party of welcoming and integrating newcomers who believe in the American dream such as developing English as a second language initiatives.

Be the Yes Party not the No Party.

I am sure there are more ways to help Americans take advantage of the opportunities that exist in our society.  Hey, I can’t think of everything.  However, every initiative that the party sponsors should be heavily marketed and associated with the Republican brand.

This is not to say that these efforts will change the world but perhaps it can change the direction where currently the Democrat party is viewed as the party representing the people and the underdog while it keeps enacting policies that hurt the public in favor of their big business and cultural special interest groups.

For every issue like school choice where you start with, “this is not a political issue”, the Party should grab it and brand it. Then perhaps…just maybe…in the next election, voters will look past the crazy idealogues to Republicans generally. Then, they might just vote for those Republicans who only want to make things better for the voters and their families, giving them an opportunity, if they will just take it, for a better life.

Can this happen?  We shall see.