How did Cynthia Coffman go from being Steve House’s very public mentor and champion to pulling the knives out for him 3 months later?
Coffman took all the credit she could find for ousting otherwise successful State Party Chairman, Ryan Call. She lobbied hard to the voting members of the GOP Central Committee. Against the backdrop of historic victories for Colorado Republicans in 2014, the Attorney General argued that they should fire the current party chairman and vote for her chosen candidate, Steve House.
Coffman argued that her chosen candidate would exceed the high bar that the previous chairman had set and would be a net gain for the party. She asked the GOP to walk out on a long tree branch for her because they could trust her that it was the right thing to do. After all, she reminded everyone, she was the leading vote-getter in the 2014 elections and therefore the de-facto party leader. She had the vision and the organization to know what was right and to get it done. She owned it.
Then, almost 3 months to the day after the March 14 GOP elections, she invites her political protégé to a meeting where he would be forced to choose between his political demise or a personal one. It was like walking into a meeting with Barzini and Tessio in The Godfather. Like the movie, the plot was uncovered and ultimately unsuccessful. Unfortunately, this isn’t a movie but instead involves real life people who hold fairly prominent positions that affect many of us in the Republican Party.
In addition to Coffman, former congressman Tom Tancredo was there in waiting as was Pueblo County Chair Becky Mizel. Because Chairman House hadn’t acted according to the plans they had for him, the conspirators gave House an ultimatum: resign immediately or rumors of his “extramarital affairs” would be made public. To his credit, House stood his ground in an extremely difficult and intimidating situation.
So how to explain this turn of face and events for AG Coffman? What kind of person would turn so quickly and callously on a supposed friend and ally? (Isn’t it this kind of “backroom dealing” that she fought so hard against in getting House elected?). What kind of leader and mentor not only lets her charge fail so badly, in her estimation, but then tries to finish him off rather than continue to work with him to make him as good as he can be- and the party be as good as it can be? What would compel Coffman to publicly admit a major defeat in House’s supposed failure and consequently put the future of the party at risk?
Let’s assume for a moment that everything Coffman and crew thought about Steve House was true. Let’s assume she had other choices. For example, she could have found another candidate for Executive Director that they both agreed upon. She could have provided guidance on a party budget, introduced House to donors, facilitated interaction between the party and aggrieved coalitions, or even acted as some sort of intermediary between the Colorado GOP and the RNC (if she was ‘worried’ about RNC influence in Colorado).
Maybe Coffman did some or all of those things but House resisted or refused to listen. She still had choices. Instead of choosing to make the best of the situation, she chose to create a vacuum – the worst possible outcome. Who was going to fill it? Did she really expect everyone to just trust her again? The party would have gone from The Godfather to Lord of the Flies. In the worst case scenario, she could have simply chosen to wish House the best of luck, then align herself with a PAC or a C4 to accomplish many of the political objectives she didn’t think were being met through the state party. After all, in today’s reality, the state party is primarily responsible for party administration, PR, and providing general resources and direction to candidates.
Ultimately, few are shocked that politics includes a lot of fastballs high and inside. But inside baseball at this level usually involves a cost-benefit analysis. These actions by Coffman seem to come at a personal, professional and political cost. Ironically, Steve House may be the only one to have benefitted from this in the long run by showing a little intestinal fortitude when he had to. Regardless of any individual opinions of Steve House, it is in our collective best interest as Republicans to see him succeed.
Jack Stansbery is a political public affairs consultant in Denver and former executive director of the Colorado Republican Party.
No comments:
Post a Comment