Victor Marx supporters – and there were plenty in Mesa County in the primary election – should be angry that they effectively wasted a vote in making him the GOP candidate for the governor’s race.
We say that because Marx, the ministry leader, just signaled he’s not serious about trying to win. He’s skipping the Club 20 debates – the unofficial kickoff of Colorado’s general election season.
Club 20 represents local government, business and individuals in 22 counties across the Western Slope, which tends to be more politically conservative than the mountain resort communities and the Front Range to the east.
Colorado hasn’t elected a Republican for governor in more than two decades. Marx is voluntarily stepping back from courting a constituency he has to lock down to have any chance of being competitive.
“A kindergartner using kindergarten math could have figured this one out, but this is his decision,” said Club 20 Executive Director Wade Haerle. “It’s just disappointing as hell.”
It’s not just disappointing. It’s head-scratching. Underdogs have to exploit every opportunity to get their message in front of voters. Here’s one representing a friendly venue. But Marx isn’t interested.
Maybe the Marx campaign team figures Western Slope support is a foregone conclusion – or that he can’t realistically gain more votes from this region.
That doesn’t matter. Voters don’t want to be taken for granted, no matter the political calculus. Gov. Jared Polis earned the same contempt back in 2018 when he skipped the Club 20 debate citing a scheduling conflict.
Credit Haerle and Club 20 for holding Marx to the same standard – show up or be ridiculed.
Given the concentration of Democratic voters on the Front Range, Polis’ absence from the Club 20 stage at least had some mathematical justification. He may not have needed Western Slope votes to win, but he did himself no favors by appearing as if he was only willing to engage Front Range voters. To his credit, he’s been a regular visitor to the Western Slope since he was first elected.
But those initial impressions linger.
Marx is missing an opportunity to disarm unaffiliated voters who, so far, don’t have much in the way of hard evidence to dispel the notion that he’s a kook. A discussion of serious policy proposals might help him shed labels from his own party rivals that he’s a fraud and a con man.
But, as Grand Junction Sentinel reporter Nathan Deal reported, Marx’s campaign said he’ll only do one debate against Democrat Phil Weiser, the state’s attorney general, in the lead-up to the November election – under the specific condition that there be no moderator.
Say what? What is an unmoderated debate? A free-for-all shouting match? Why would Weiser agree to that if Marx won’t agree to structure in a GOP-friendly part of the state?
We can’t say we’re surprised that Marx is pulling stunts. He’s showing us his true colors. We never considered him a serious candidate and he’s proving the point by dodging an event that would expose his shortcomings.
Guest commentary courtesy of Opinion Editor Andy Smith and the editorial board of The Grand Junction Sentinel.
