Meet Dick Wadhams, the Colorado Republican state party chair and the man trying to deal with Colorado’s Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates’ recent gaffapalooza.
You may remember Wadhams. He made a name for himself by helping John Thune upset then-minority leader Tom Daschle in 2004. He managed successful campaigns for Sen. Wayne Allard and Gov. Bill Owens in Colorado, and Conrad Burns in Montana. In 2005, Slate dubbed him Karl Rove’s “heir apparent.”
Since then, it’s been just about all downhill. Wadhams served as chief of staff and campaign manager for George Allen, who went on to “macaca” fame. In 2008, he managed Bob Schafer’s doomed Senate run in Colorado, while also serving as the state’s GOP party chair. The state went to Obama.
In recent weeks, Wadhams has had to watch all four of his party’s major primary contenders commit serious mistakes on their way to the August 10 primaries. Now, Tom Tancredo is after him, and a new website dedicated to his ouster has been launched.
Last week, Tancredo bolted the party after the two Republican gubernatorial primary candidates, Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, refused to bow to his call for them to drop out of the race. The former Republican congressman signed up with the Constitution Party and launched a campaign — a campaign that threatens to hand the gubernatorial race to the Dems. The same day, on a radio talk show, Tancredo got into a shouting match with Wadhams. Tancredo accused Wadhams of privately badmouthing McInnis and Maes — a charge Wadhams denied.
Then last Thursday, an anonymous group launched dumpdickwadhams.com, calling for his job. The group calls Wadhams’ radio argument with Tancredo his “rock bottom.”
Despite devastating losses Dick sought and bullied his way in to a second term as state party chair. Since that fateful day Dick has made one bad step after another. He has alienated staff, volunteers, donors, and most importantly voters with his destructive and self-serving behavior.
While Colorado families struggle to put food on the table, Dick pays himself nearly $150,000 annually to serve as chairman. Yet Dick delegates his responsibilities to an executive director who he pays $96,000 a year. Dick is sucking up precious resources that otherwise would be funding efforts to elect conservatives in Colorado.
Rove’s “heir apparent”? Not so much.
