DENVER -
The word of the day at R.K. Mechanical, the family-owned, non-union manufacturing company in Stapleton that was the backdrop for Monday's Republican round-up, was "unity."
"The Republican party is very strong; we feel very united," said GOP gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis, who is the prime beneficiary of the party's new found unity.
A day after winning the public endorsement of a former rival, Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, McInnis got another stamp of approval from his last remaining potential rival on the Republican side, former congressman Tom Tancredo.
"I will do anything I can to advance a good, conservative agenda," Tancredo said. "And in this state, at this time, the best thing I can do is to get out of the way and let Scott McInnis lead that charge."
Tancredo, who said upon Penry's exit from the race that he planned to run in his place to challenge McInnis from the right, backed off after helping McInnis craft a new conservative agenda called "The Platform for Prosperity," a rough outline of conservative principles and a broad rejection of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter's record.
"Our focus is to put you back to work," McInnis said. "Prosperity does not come from higher taxes. Prosperity does not come from bigger government."
The platform, crafted by McInnis, Penry, Tancredo, former Gov. Bill Owens, state GOP chair Dick Wadhams and other Republican state lawmakers, promises voters that Repubilcan candidates, if elected, will adhere to core conservative principles: low taxes, promoting business, restoring the state's six percent spending cap, and opposing and possibly repealing the new oil and gas regulations and increased DMV fees passed by Ritter earlier this year.
"If we govern by these principles and we follow these principles, we are going to be able to deliver this state to prosperity," McInnis said. Even though Evergreen businessman and political novice Dan Maes remains in the race -- in fact, he might have been the only Republican who didn't attend Monday's anointing of McInnis -- the Republicans have effectively ended the possibility of a divisive, costly primary and can now set their collective sights on Ritter.
"This election matters. It's bigger than personalities, personal ambitions or the personal chase," Penry said. "This is about whether we move Colorado forward, or whether we allow Bill Ritter to take us back."
McInnis derided Ritter for calling a Sunday night press conference to discuss the developments within the Republican Party instead of talking about jobs as he did Monday.
In response, Ritter is holding another media availability Monday evening, perhaps to expand his criticism Sunday of the Republicans' multi-point agenda as "just (being) against things."
The GOP platform's focus is largely on fiscal issues, though it also suggests reinstating a ban on state funding for health providers that support abortion rights, such as Planned Parenthood, as well as forcing employers to use a workplace verification mechanism to ensure their workers are legal U.S. citizens -- enough perhaps to energize the social conservatives who preferred Penry, as well as the grass-roots activists on the Democratic side. "It's anti-women, it's anti-consumer protection, it's anti-Latino, it's anti-union, and it's anti-public education," said Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. "There are a whole lot of interest groups who would be a
ffected by this, and if you don't think those people are going to come out and get involved, it'd be a grave misgiving."
"The Republican party is very strong; we feel very united," said GOP gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis, who is the prime beneficiary of the party's new found unity.
A day after winning the public endorsement of a former rival, Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, McInnis got another stamp of approval from his last remaining potential rival on the Republican side, former congressman Tom Tancredo.
"I will do anything I can to advance a good, conservative agenda," Tancredo said. "And in this state, at this time, the best thing I can do is to get out of the way and let Scott McInnis lead that charge."
Tancredo, who said upon Penry's exit from the race that he planned to run in his place to challenge McInnis from the right, backed off after helping McInnis craft a new conservative agenda called "The Platform for Prosperity," a rough outline of conservative principles and a broad rejection of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter's record.
"Our focus is to put you back to work," McInnis said. "Prosperity does not come from higher taxes. Prosperity does not come from bigger government."
The platform, crafted by McInnis, Penry, Tancredo, former Gov. Bill Owens, state GOP chair Dick Wadhams and other Republican state lawmakers, promises voters that Repubilcan candidates, if elected, will adhere to core conservative principles: low taxes, promoting business, restoring the state's six percent spending cap, and opposing and possibly repealing the new oil and gas regulations and increased DMV fees passed by Ritter earlier this year.
"If we govern by these principles and we follow these principles, we are going to be able to deliver this state to prosperity," McInnis said. Even though Evergreen businessman and political novice Dan Maes remains in the race -- in fact, he might have been the only Republican who didn't attend Monday's anointing of McInnis -- the Republicans have effectively ended the possibility of a divisive, costly primary and can now set their collective sights on Ritter.
"This election matters. It's bigger than personalities, personal ambitions or the personal chase," Penry said. "This is about whether we move Colorado forward, or whether we allow Bill Ritter to take us back."
McInnis derided Ritter for calling a Sunday night press conference to discuss the developments within the Republican Party instead of talking about jobs as he did Monday.
In response, Ritter is holding another media availability Monday evening, perhaps to expand his criticism Sunday of the Republicans' multi-point agenda as "just (being) against things."
The GOP platform's focus is largely on fiscal issues, though it also suggests reinstating a ban on state funding for health providers that support abortion rights, such as Planned Parenthood, as well as forcing employers to use a workplace verification mechanism to ensure their workers are legal U.S. citizens -- enough perhaps to energize the social conservatives who preferred Penry, as well as the grass-roots activists on the Democratic side. "It's anti-women, it's anti-consumer protection, it's anti-Latino, it's anti-union, and it's anti-public education," said Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. "There are a whole lot of interest groups who would be a
ffected by this, and if you don't think those people are going to come out and get involved, it'd be a grave misgiving."
