DENVER - Scott McInnis knows the importance of every vote better than a lot of politicians, seeing as his first congressional race was decided by just six votes.
And yet, many Colorado conservatives feel like the 2010 gubernatorial candidate has been taking them for granted, following last month's roll-out of his "Platform for Prosperity," which effectively cleared the Republican field and aimed to unite the state party.
"The political elite have decided that they know best. And they're going to say we need to unify behind this candidate," said Lu Busse, chairwoman of the Colorado Coalition of 9-12 Groups. "That is not their decision."
Rather than uniting the various factions of voters, McInnis's platform roll-out and his subsequent appearance on Fox News Channel last week have driven away the more ideological, Tea Party-attending conservatives he'd hoped to court.
"We get the impression that they're trying to manipulate us, trying to ride the coattails of our movement without really engaging with us," Busse said. "There was no discussion with us prior to the Platform for Prosperity."
Nor was there any discussion with Dan Maes, the Evergreen businessman who remains a long shot for the GOP's gubernatorial nomination but is now capitalizing on the growing grass-roots dissatisfaction with the front-runner, McInnis.
"This isn't something that just evolved in the last few weeks because of a few specific events, this is the result of hard work," said Maes. "These are regular citizens in Colorado who are sick and tired of career politicians, they're sick and tired of promises that don't get delivered on, they're sick and tired of being ignored. "They are very upset about the implication: 'Hey, here's your choice'."
That was exactly the implication of the Fox News Channel segment that aired last week, in which host Neil Cavuto introduced McInnis, who was being interviewed via satellite from Denver, as "the country's biggest Tea Party candidate."
Conservative activists, already annoyed at what they see as the party elite's circumvention of their rights to caucus and choose their own candidate, bristled at the interview and have since organized a large rally at the State Capitol Saturday at 1 p.m..
McInnis, who could hear Cavuto's introduction but couldn't see the graphics on the screen, said the mistake was the network's.
"The network ran at the bottom of the picture that we'd been endorsed. We hadn't. That was a mistake," McInnis said. "The network admitted it was a mistake, they retracted the mistake, but some people didn't see the mistake."
In essence, the damage had already been done in that the clip added to the perception that McInnis wasn't willing to really engage the party's grass-roots while still counting on their support.
"That's wrong," McInnis said. "I've never taken a vote for granted. Real power rests at the grass roots, and frankly if you're not going to go out and talk to people from every walk of life, you're not going to be successful. My Platform for Prosperity has been built by listening to lots of people."
Within the last week, McInnis has reached out to Tea Party and 9-12 groups and agreed to meet with some of them face to face.
But these groups, inherently skeptical of "career politicians", may not be easily convinced. In fact, some have already endorsed Maes, however long a long shot he may be.
"Yes, this is partly to send a message," Busse said. "And not just to McInnis but to the party elite, that they cannot control us or tell us who our candidate is going to be. And, with Dan Maes, he's shown up. He's taken us seriously."
"We have a long way to go financially," Maes admits. "We will never be able to compete with the machine of Scott McInnis. But we've got a different strategy. It's going to come from the people. Dollar bills don't walk into the voting booth and pull the switch -- people do."
And yet, many Colorado conservatives feel like the 2010 gubernatorial candidate has been taking them for granted, following last month's roll-out of his "Platform for Prosperity," which effectively cleared the Republican field and aimed to unite the state party.
"The political elite have decided that they know best. And they're going to say we need to unify behind this candidate," said Lu Busse, chairwoman of the Colorado Coalition of 9-12 Groups. "That is not their decision."
Rather than uniting the various factions of voters, McInnis's platform roll-out and his subsequent appearance on Fox News Channel last week have driven away the more ideological, Tea Party-attending conservatives he'd hoped to court.
"We get the impression that they're trying to manipulate us, trying to ride the coattails of our movement without really engaging with us," Busse said. "There was no discussion with us prior to the Platform for Prosperity."
Nor was there any discussion with Dan Maes, the Evergreen businessman who remains a long shot for the GOP's gubernatorial nomination but is now capitalizing on the growing grass-roots dissatisfaction with the front-runner, McInnis.
"This isn't something that just evolved in the last few weeks because of a few specific events, this is the result of hard work," said Maes. "These are regular citizens in Colorado who are sick and tired of career politicians, they're sick and tired of promises that don't get delivered on, they're sick and tired of being ignored. "They are very upset about the implication: 'Hey, here's your choice'."
That was exactly the implication of the Fox News Channel segment that aired last week, in which host Neil Cavuto introduced McInnis, who was being interviewed via satellite from Denver, as "the country's biggest Tea Party candidate."
Conservative activists, already annoyed at what they see as the party elite's circumvention of their rights to caucus and choose their own candidate, bristled at the interview and have since organized a large rally at the State Capitol Saturday at 1 p.m..
McInnis, who could hear Cavuto's introduction but couldn't see the graphics on the screen, said the mistake was the network's.
"The network ran at the bottom of the picture that we'd been endorsed. We hadn't. That was a mistake," McInnis said. "The network admitted it was a mistake, they retracted the mistake, but some people didn't see the mistake."
In essence, the damage had already been done in that the clip added to the perception that McInnis wasn't willing to really engage the party's grass-roots while still counting on their support.
"That's wrong," McInnis said. "I've never taken a vote for granted. Real power rests at the grass roots, and frankly if you're not going to go out and talk to people from every walk of life, you're not going to be successful. My Platform for Prosperity has been built by listening to lots of people."
Within the last week, McInnis has reached out to Tea Party and 9-12 groups and agreed to meet with some of them face to face.
But these groups, inherently skeptical of "career politicians", may not be easily convinced. In fact, some have already endorsed Maes, however long a long shot he may be.
"Yes, this is partly to send a message," Busse said. "And not just to McInnis but to the party elite, that they cannot control us or tell us who our candidate is going to be. And, with Dan Maes, he's shown up. He's taken us seriously."
"We have a long way to go financially," Maes admits. "We will never be able to compete with the machine of Scott McInnis. But we've got a different strategy. It's going to come from the people. Dollar bills don't walk into the voting booth and pull the switch -- people do."
