Colorado: Rep. Gardner running for U.S. Senate, Buck running for House

[MichaelDavis]

"With Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner vacating his 4th District seat to run for Senate, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck is dropping his Senate bid to vie for Gardner’s open seat. The maneuver partially clears the primary field for Gardner, while giving Buck a better shot at coming to Congress. Buck won the GOP Senate nomination in 2010 before losing to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet."

http://atr.rollcall.com/ken-buck-senate-cory-gardner-seat/

U.S. Senator Owen Hill sounds a lot more likely now.

 

[TaftFan]

What a waste for Buck's supporters, mainly from out of state.

 

[MichaelDavis]

You think this helps Hill?

Absolutely. The Tea Party isn't going to support Gardner, who is a moderate. The 45% of Republicans who were supporting Buck now have to look elsewhere. Erick Erickson and other kingmakers are likely to support Hill. The Tea Party Express already has.

 

[TaftFan]

Absolutely. The Tea Party isn't going to support Gardner, who is a moderate. The 45% of Republicans who were supporting Buck now have to look elsewhere. Erick Erickson and other kingmakers are likely to support Hill. The Tea Party Express already has.

Sorry. Didn't read that Buck dropped out when I first made the post.

 

[William Tell]

Okay, maybe Hill will be treated as a Legit candidate now. It sounds like a win win to me, unless they both lose their races. If Buck wins a house seat, we will get to see how he votes. I assume that Buck decided he does not have a shot at the General Election for Senate since he made the switch.

 

[eduardo89]

Wow, that is a big news. Buck likely could have won the Senate seat.

 

[AlbertJNocke]

This smells like a dirty back room deal. I said from the very beginning that Hill was the true liberty/tea party candidate in the race. Buck only cares about his own political future and nothing else.

 

[Uriah]

So what are Owen Hill's chances, really? I haven't been following his race.

 

[compromise]

I now support Owen Hill.

 

[eduardo89]

I now support Owen Hill.

Meh, I've given up on this race. The only R who could have won was Buck and he's out.

 

[compromise]

Meh, I've given up on this race. The only R who could have won was Buck and he's out.

I agree that it's another long shot.

McDaniel in MS is starting to look like our only real gain in the Senate this year.

 

[eduardo89]

McDaniel in MS is starting to look like our only real gain in the Senate this year.

Yes, it's very unfortunate.

 

[pulp8721]

Meh, I've given up on this race. The only R who could have won was Buck and he's out.

Really? If he got the nomination, democrats would've played his MTP interview over, and over, and over again...


Why do you view Owen as a longshot? I saw him in the senate debate last night, and he seemed well-informed, and able to come up with good soundbites. Is he too inexperienced?

 

[Anti-Neocon]

I don't think his Kenya joke will affect anything much, but Hill may be a bit gaffe prone.

 

[eduardo89]

Why do you view Owen as a longshot? I saw him in the senate debate last night, and he seemed well-informed, and able to come up with good soundbites. Is he too inexperienced?

He said Obama is from Kenya, the Dems will destroy him with that.

 

[pulp8721]

He said Obama is from Kenya, the Dems will destroy him with that.

"The fact that my obvious joke is being highlighted today just shows how worried Mark Udall and the Democrats actually are of my campaign for the U.S. Senate here in Colorado."

-Owen Hill

 

[RonPaulMall]

So what are Owen Hill's chances, really? I haven't been following his race.

He is a significant underdog. Poll at the end of the year had him behind Buck, Baumgardner, and Stephens at 2% support.

 

[MichaelDavis]

He is a significant underdog. Poll at the end of the year had him behind Buck, Baumgardner, and Stephens at 2% support.

A lot of Buck's support will go to Hill. They were the only two "Tea Party" candidates and Buck was more well known. Hill has raised the most of any candidate still running and has been endorsed by Tea Party Express. I believe Hill will do surprisingly well in the next poll.

 

[TaftFan]

http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_25238764/amy-stephens-drops-u-s-senate-bid-calls

 

[RonPaulMall]

A lot of Buck's support will go to Hill. They were the only two "Tea Party" candidates and Buck was more well known. Hill has raised the most of any candidate still running and has been endorsed by Tea Party Express. I believe Hill will do surprisingly well in the next poll.

Maybe, I'm not counting on it though. Nobody besides Buck had much support at all in the polls previously, so Buck's support was pretty broad based. Gardner has Buck's endorsement as well as the entire establishment and he'll probably frame himself as "the electable version of Buck" and I think that might be enough. I'm rooting for Owen, but he's been languishing and at some point he's going to have to do something in order to catch fire if he wants to be a player in the race. Hopefully it happens for him. Sometimes it seems kind of random which liberty candidates catch fire and which don't. Media will probably be doing everything they can to paint Gardner as "inevitable".