Dan Maes, Almost Second in GOP Guv Straw Poll, But Gets the Grassroots

He’s not my first choice for governor, but I have a lot of respect for Evergreen businessman Dan Maes. A very thoughtful email message he sent out recently has been reprinted by Backbone America:

The Democrats, liberals, progressives or whatever name they go by these days, have awakened the sleeping giant of the silent majority and a conservative revolution is upon us. In my now over 30,000 miles of campaign travel I have seen this revolution in the form of Tea Parties, new grass roots organizations like 9.12, I Caucus, ROAR America, Liberty on the Rocks, R Block Party, and others all around the state by names unique to their own region.

A clear message has been articulated and that is “Enough is Enough” of the recent and not so recent sins of our fathers in both parties. Generally speaking members of these groups want to be republicans but the sour taste of the sins is still wearing off. They want new and fresh faces in their candidates and anyone that has any similarity to a lawyer or “career politician” may as well pack their bags and go home if these folks have anything to say about it. They want common sense candidates and leadership that truly represents them and not party or special interests….

The words of a candidate who has hit the trail hard and listened to the people around the state of Colorado. Though I knew it’s true of many, wish the same could be said of all our Republican hopefuls for statewide office.

On a related note, Joe Neville reports on Twitter from the Keystone GOP candidate straw poll the following results:

• Josh Penry (269 votes) … 80%
• Scott McInnis (38 votes) … 11%
• Dan Maes (29 votes) … 9%

Hmmm … even more overwhelming than our recent survey of Colorado’s political temperature. Maybe I’m a “heck of a bigger deal” than the state Central Committee?

On a related note, Some Blog Guy at Rocky Mountain Right (who has slightly different figures on the governor’s straw poll), reports that Jane Norton underperformed by eking out a narrow win (34 percent) over Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck (tied for second at 27 percent each).