Republicans are harming their own efforts to win the 2022 midterms as the GOP remains dominated by conspiracy theories.
That was on display at the Colorado Republican Party's nominating convention, which Colorado Springs Gazette editor Vince Bzdek described as "Republican Fantasyland. Or maybe just plain ol' Conspiracyland."
"I didn’t see much resemblance to the actual, real Republican Party I know, however; the party of Bob Gardner, Bill Owens and Dick Wadhams, that is," he wrote. "That’s the problem with Fantasyland. It’s great to visit for a day or two, but too many Colorado Republicans have taken up permanent residence there, which means they are likely to cede reality to the Democrats again come November."
Bzdek noted state Rep. Ron Hanks won the top-line designation in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.
He said Hanks received cheers when he lied about the 2020 election, saying, “I fully expected Donald Trump to win in 2020 — and he did."
Bzdek also noted that the party backed conspiracy theorist Tina Peters for Secretary of State, even though she's under FBI investigation for her conduct as Mesa County clerk.
"The problem with all this for Republicans in Colorado is, you can't win without the base, but it's hard to win with it, too," he explained. "To begin with, it's impossible to know how many members of the GOP base won't vote this November, or at least not by mail ballot, which lessens the likelihood they'll vote at all. That's a trust problem of Trump's making. Older voters, the GOP's key demographic, favor mail ballots, the last census told us."
Bzdek urged Republicans to return to reality.
"Colorado Republicans need to find some adults to take them home from Fantasyland. It’s time for some serious reality before the primary in June if they want to make gains this fall," he wrote.
Read the full column.
