Monday, May 14, 2007

Schaffer (Bob not Brandon) off to rough start

From National Journal's Hotline:

COLORADO: Pretty Thin Coverage For A SEN Announcement

'04 candidate/CO Bd. of Ed. member/ex-Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) officially announced his candidacy at the 5/12 Boulder Co. GOP Lincoln Day dinner. Schaffer: "After considerable assessment, I've decided I'm going to begin putting a campaign together to run for the United States Senate" (AP/Rocky Mountain News, 5/14).


Schaffer said he spoke with other potential GOPers who "deferred their ambition to me," adding: "We, as Republicans, really don't have the liberty to fight out a primary ... if we're going to win in 2008, than we need to blast through (the primary season). ... Republicans have lost elections because our leaders have not been bold enough in proposing innovative solutions in Washington and have drifted from our long-held claim to the mantle of fiscal responsibility" (Kosena, Ft. Collins Coloradoan, 5/13).


Schaffer traveled to the Boulder Co. "heart" of Rep. Mark Udall's (D-02) CD "to confirm his candidacy." Asked afterward why he hadn't named Udall in his speech, Schaffer said his "first objective is to reform the Republican Party" and rebuild and broaden its appeal to CO voters. "He said during his speech that he will roll out his campaign sometime next year and, in the meantime, will be organizing the campaign and raising money" (Fryar, Longmont Daily Times-Call, 5/13).


The DSCC issued a release headed: "GOP Picks The Last Kid On The Playground" (5/12).


On top of the announcement that he's hiring perpetually losing GOP consulting Shari Williams, this certainly isn't good news for Schaffer's Senate run.

No comments: