In this episode of Rush to Reason, hosts John Rush, Andy Pate, and guests dive deep into the realities facing conservative candidates in Colorado. With sharp analysis and candid debate, they explore why traditional, “safe” establishment campaigns fail to inspire, the importance of energetic and authentic candidates, and why understanding and responding to the political “market” is key to victory—even in blue states. The show tackles everything from grassroots strategy and messaging blunders to the internal rifts that hold back the GOP. Drawing lessons from both success stories like Trump and Colorado’s unique challenges, this episode is a must-listen
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it.
SPEAKER 08 :
There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 16 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 13 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 16 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 03 :
And we are back. Hour number three, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Myself, Andy Pate, Charlie Grimes, and Jim Paff joining us now from the conservative caucus. Jim, welcome. How are you doing, my friend? Doing great, and I appreciate you joining us. Always a lot going on, D.C. and around the world. First off, give us an update of the conservative caucus, what you guys have going on, and how folks can help you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, first of all, everyone should go to theconservativecaucus.com. We’re constantly looking at what’s going on in D.C. There’s a lot of legislative stuff that’s coming up. I mean, we’ve got a promise of a couple new reconciliation bills this fall when they go back to D.C. here in September and then also in the spring. So You know, the big, beautiful bill was great in many ways, but it also missed some opportunities. We’re always watching that. Going to be in Colorado, actually, here between the 29th and the 8th. Got a fundraiser we’re doing in Cherry Hills. It’s a private fundraiser with some major donors that we know. But it’s going to be fun finally getting back home. after a long hiatus, and we’ve got 2026 coming up. I mean, we’re looking at races that we’re going to try to affect, and we intend to get involved just like we did, spend about a million dollars on pro-Trump independent expenditures in last year’s election, and we’re going to do that again in 2026 in certain congressional races.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jim, what do you see happening here in Colorado? Obviously, the 8th District is going to be highly contested here. Are you guys going to get involved there or maybe in the other races? What do you foresee?
SPEAKER 09 :
Strongly looking at it, it is going to be one of the targeted races for 2026, and if we can have an effect there, we absolutely want to. I think the dynamic in Colorado right now is such that You know, you can keep that seat in Republican hands. You know, it’s a halfway decent candidate, got some money. But, you know, a big if still, it’s one of those districts that was long held by a Democrat, Salazar, prior to Scott Kipton taking it, who was, you know, made himself out to be somewhat… I don’t know, libertarian minded, but mostly in the way that Jared Polis tries to fake say that. Right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
And then Scott Tipton took it. Lauren Boebert, obviously, Scott Tipton. I think, you know, if you can make a good case for supporting Donald Trump. I think that that district can stay in Republican hands. But it’s going to be a challenge.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, are you talking about the third, you mean? Because that’s where Boebert knocked out Tipton.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I’m thinking the third. No, no, that’s okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
The third, because I wanted to talk about the third anyway. The third, I think, is going to be pretty hotly contested, although we won it by like four points, five points last time. So that was more comfortable. But the eighth, we won by less than a point. And that’s very tough with Gabe Evans.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, no, listen, that is a real possibility. I think, I mean, it has been, it’s like this is an area of the state that is always, you know, just right there and you think it’s going to go our way and then suddenly it doesn’t. We’ll have to see. But, yes, because I think the dynamic in Colorado is reactionary. all the Democrats have been doing. I think there is, from our base, from our people, I think there’s a desire for energy. We are going to look very closely at it. We’ll be sitting in the middle of it, I think, actually, with our event. And I think there’s a real possibility. But, you know, it really takes a candidate that can Get the message out. Communicate to people. Be energetic on the ground. And not have establishment geek campaign managers and consultants.
SPEAKER 03 :
How important, and this is something that, to me, it’s a big deal. I want to ask you and Andy a question on candidates in general. And you just said something a moment ago on the energy of… candidate and I get it in a lot of cases there can be some low energy individuals that get elected you know John Hickenlooper is a great example of that he’s a guy that doesn’t have a lot of energy he can seem like he does but it’s awkward energy when he even has some it’s very awkward and yet he gets elected but he has the advantage of having the left’s machine and and helping him get elected, and he comes across as kind of the everyday nice guy, used to run a business, he understands your plight, blah, blah, blah, but doesn’t have a lot of energy. So I ask the question when it comes to our side of the aisle, guys, how much does energy for that candidate come into play when they’re running an election?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, listen, I’m convinced that had Lauren Boebert decided to stay in the third, that she’d have been reelected. because of her energy on the campaign trail. And I know there were a few issues there and, you know, you can never prove it. Um, but the reality is she kind of set the standard for Republicans in staying focused and driven and getting with small and large constituencies who could help her. Uh, this is a formula that works for Republicans in every district that they want to win and hold because you build a team of grassroots supporters. You know, the standard consultant line is, make sure you line up a media guy, you know, because they are hard to find at the end of the campaign. And it’s like, no, that’s bull crap. That is bad thinking. The proper thinking is start with building your grassroots team. The people who are going to work – well, not work the polls, but work the people who need to vote that are going to make the phone calls, that are going to do door-to-door work, that are just the standard stuff that’s really hard to do, that no one ever wants to do. But if you really energize those volunteers, they can make sure the communication gets to the people at the right times, particularly when it’s time to get people to turn in their ballots. And that’s the key. The rest of it you have to do. Don’t get me wrong. You’ve got to do media. But if you can build that team and keep them energized with a candidate who shows they care about them and will work with them… That is a winning formula, in my opinion.
SPEAKER 05 :
Jim, I think one of the real weaknesses with these, I guess I would call them establishment consultants, is that everything comes off too packaged, too programmed, and too stiff. And one real advantage for Donald Trump or for Lauren Boebert is when they come along, they sound like someone you know. OK, here’s a guy who’s a multi multi-billionaire. He sounds like the guy working on a work site. OK, Donald Trump. You’ve got people who sound real. And what I’ve seen be a real problem here in Colorado and in some other states as well is that Republicans will go with these consultants. Right. And we’ll put out these candidates who sound like politicians. They sound like somebody who’s just working you. at the moment, who’s reeling off their 10 talking points, and they sound not fresh. They sound not real. Then along comes Donald Trump, who says things outside the box constantly, and he sounds so real. Now, obviously, the downside of that is you can get people who have hoof and mouth disease. And I get that, right? You’ll have some of these, they sound very real, but they say stupid things and they get crucified in the press and it doesn’t work. So there’s a balance. But do you see a lot of that problem when we have these consultants, that people just come out sounding fake?
SPEAKER 09 :
In districts where you really have to fight to win, you absolutely need that. You know, you will have from time to time, in fact, actually most districts districts around the country are relatively safe. Saying out of the whole gerrymandering topic, which we can talk about later, because that’s important. But nonetheless, most districts around the country are pretty safe. You only have about 10% that really turn over at most in any given election cycle. So if you want to go take a district that really matters and that is winnable And that also, you know, you really need to have, you’ve got to have a candidate who is like a Donald Trump. You know, when Donald Trump does make mistakes sometimes, there is every once in a while, very real foot and mouth disease with him. But it’s pretty rare because he’s based in what he thinks. He’s not going to change from that. He’s willing to be provocative on something he knows about and he knows is important to people. One of the great things about Donald Trump is he does understand media very well. Most Republican candidates have no clue on that. The reason you have so many mealy-mouthed, candidates in the Republican end of things, because there are a lot of safe Republican districts where all you got to do is just kind of show up and do the minimum, say the platitudes, to get enough people engaged to want to vote for you. We need to change that dynamic all over the conservative right, because we also need to win primaries, which is a different topic than we’re talking about. We need to win primaries around the country. That also can do that against these weirdo candidates. You know, AOC beat in her primary, just on the other side of the aisle, a congressman that had been sitting there so long, committee chairman, even in leadership, boring, platitudinal, and she came out with something different and was willing to take that risk. We need that in primaries. But to take seats in the general election that we must have, like the 3rd, like the 8th, You have to be able to be provocative enough to gain interest and even to have people attack you. But yet understanding enough to know that you’re operating in your lane, that you’re comfortable in. It’s a hard combination to find, but we do need to do much more of it. It’s a key factor from the candidate perspective.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, Jim, how rare is it to have a J.D. Vance come along? And what I mean is this. There you have somebody who comes along like just a normal guy, but he is also brilliant and smooth. He’s got the smoothness of, say, a Rubio. But he’s got the everyday guy of a Trump. I mean, how rare is that to see somebody come along who’s just got it all?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, one of the things with J.D. Vance is he had proven himself in business as well. Now, he wasn’t quite an Elon Musk kind of guy in the tech field, but he was doing investing in tech. He was following up on the business itself. I think having that business background with some success is really key to this because you have a lot of these interactions with people that are similar to the types of things you have in a political campaign. It’s not a perfect one-to-one ratio, but it is. a better feel for that. So having someone that’s had to do some significant things in business is really helpful. But also, going back to the Tea Party way, where Marco Rubio came in as a member of Congress, he had been Speaker of the House in Florida and had to deal with that melee coming after him. And he was smart about it and an excellent communicator, which allowed him to come in when he did at that time and win. So, you know, one of those kind of two paths are really helpful. We want a guy or gal who’s really done well, say, in the state legislature or someone that has had some degree of business success that they feel confident in themselves and they’re better also willing to take risks. But the communication thing is key. And you have to take those risks. So you want someone that has those sorts of foundations in them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Makes total sense. Makes total sense. Yeah, I agree. Yep. All right. By the way, appreciate all that. That was fabulous. And even on the candidates and the types we need and what they need to be doing and the managers and so on. Thank you, Jim, for all of that. One last time, how do folks find you?
SPEAKER 09 :
they need to go to theconservativecaucus.com, theconservativecaucus.com. And a lot of cool announcements coming up. So make sure you check it out. And, of course, we have a donate button. Sign up for our email. It’s all there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Awesome. Jim, as always, I appreciate it, sir. We’ll talk to you here in the next couple of weeks.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we’ll talk to you soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, man, appreciate you very much. Jim Paff, it’s P-F-A-F-F. By the way, used to be here on KLZ for a number of years. He’s a great guy. Yeah, I like Jim a lot. He’s a great guy. Great guy. And he understands us, so it’s always a joy to talk to him. So Fletch Law coming up next, folks. And again, civil, criminal, you name it, you could have had a traffic altercation. Something’s not going well with the insurance. Maybe the other insurance company isn’t doing what it needs to do. Talk to Kevin today. Find out what help you need. He’s there for you. 303-806-8886.
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SPEAKER 08 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive. This is John Rush.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, John Rush, together with Andy Pate. John, I want to talk a little bit about what Jim was getting to in having edgy kind of candidates. Because here in Colorado, I think a lot of people need to understand this is actually very, very important. Now, on the one hand, you’ve got to keep in mind you’re in a blue state, right? So you can’t run somebody as deep red as me, Andy Pate.
SPEAKER 03 :
Or me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Or John Rush. We wouldn’t win. And we’re very good in speaking.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re very comfortable. But our belief system, Andy, and what people know about us, even our past that we’ve said on air and so on, it ain’t going to fly. No, it isn’t. I could come out and make a 180-degree reversal. Well, I just said that on air because I’m a shock jock talk show host. And they’d be like, yeah, sure you are.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
In other words, that ain’t going to fly. Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
But here’s another thing that isn’t going to fly. Let’s go the other way. You’ve got a lot of people who want to get, okay, let’s get that establishment. Right. Moderate. And put that establishment moderate out there. And let’s put out, say, Heidi Ganahl.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
Who, by the way, I love Heidi. I love Heidi. I think she was a great product that could be sold. But the way they sold her was destined to get creamed. And here’s why.
SPEAKER 03 :
Heidi had some very bad. Sorry, I’ll just say it as it is. Those of you that don’t know this, but this is my own opinion. I love Heidi. Okay. I’ll say this openly. Heidi had some really bad campaign instructors, managers, whatever you want to call them around her. Yeah. That really did not do her a good service because she was a lot better candidate than what it came out to be at the end, losing almost 20 points. At the end of the day, she had a better shot at that. She had really, really, really bad advisors around her, in my opinion.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, there were. And, you know, I don’t want to spend all this time going into Heidi’s campaign because actually what I’m going to say is generalized to a number of campaigns I’ve seen where we have had these quote unquote establishment type candidates. And I don’t find Heidi’s actually quite conservative. I don’t think people understand.
SPEAKER 03 :
Very.
SPEAKER 05 :
She’s very much a MAGA Trump supporter. So I don’t know why she gets branded establishment. But, you know, that’s what some people do. But these establishment style candidates. Here’s the big problem, John. When you are in a blue state like this, you’ve got to make a splash. OK, if you’re going up against a well-funded and they all are OK, not just Polis, but Michael Bennett is going to be well-funded. Right. Every one of their candidates is going to be extremely well-funded in this blue state. If you are going up against somebody like that in a statewide election in current day Colorado, you have to make a splash. You’ve got to take on some tough issues. And you’ve got to put your neck out there. Now you’ve got to be very careful in how you word it so you cannot be eaten alive by the press. You can’t just say stupid things. And this is where I’ve got to take a look at Boebert. Early on, Lauren Boebert, she stuck her neck out there. Now she was in a safe district that then got redistricted, and she went to District 4 where she could keep being herself. Okay? But the simple fact is you can’t stick your neck out in the way you say things, but you must take on some hard issues. Case in point, in the last election, COVID was still a very big issue. Jared Polis had mismanaged COVID badly, and there were lots, hundreds and hundreds of businesses gone, all because of Jared Polis. And Heidi Ganahl and her campaign, it’s more her campaign, not her. That’s right. She was doing what they said. So let me just talk about the campaign. The campaign didn’t have her take a stand on any of that until it was far, far, far too late. She could have come out right out of the gates and said, you ran businesses right out of town. We could have been Florida. You tried to make us California. And these businesses are all gone. And it’s because of you. Own it. Okay. And she could have done that. And a lot of people, John, would have heard that and said, yeah, yeah. Folks, when you go to businesses and everybody’s spaced out, you know, to where you have half as many tables in a restaurant, they’re going to go under. Okay? You can’t do that. Her husband runs a restaurant. Right. A couple of them here in town, very successful. Heidi could have been able to do that. And they held her back. But it’s not just Heidi. Okay? There are so many of these campaigns. They come out and they try to just play the middle. And not take any chances. Well, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get buried in a blue news cycle here in Colorado. You’re not going to stand out at all. And guess what? Everybody’s just going to vote Democrat because that’s what they’re used to. And that includes the independents. The independents in Colorado probably vote 60-40 Democrat. Okay? So you can’t just say, well, half the state’s independent. It’s wide open. No, it isn’t. It isn’t wide open. They lean left. You have to make big statements. Here’s the beautiful thing about Donald Trump. Branding. Build the wall. Build the wall. Oh, no, we can’t take a stance like that. We’re going to get crushed. Really? The majority of people in Colorado are for the wall. The majority of people in Colorado are for everything that Donald Trump is doing on the border right now. He was thinking ahead. You guys were thinking behind. You ran from that topic and you could have won on that topic. Illegal immigration was a winning topic here in Colorado. And you guys ran from it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep. Agree.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Agree.
SPEAKER 05 :
What we’re talking about with, you know, bike lanes, converting bike lanes to car lanes, it’s a winning topic. Don’t run from it. Run to it. Okay. Fighting crime, fighting homelessness. Okay. Ideas like with the homeless, you tell them, look, you got three choices. You either move out. Or you go into a care facility where the taxpayer will take care of you and work with you. Or you’re going to go to prison. That’s your choice. But you will no longer be camped out in front of these businesses, period. End of story. Guess what? That’s a 60-40 issue.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, no, that sells, Andy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Oh, really? Well, tell me, how many of our major candidates here in Colorado campaign on that? None. None. None. Men and women’s sports, that was so easy. There’s another one where the, not just the Ganahl campaign, all the major campaigns. I only mentioned her because it’s recent, okay? You can go back the last few. That was an issue where Eli Bremer, he said, and he was telling me for years, John, why are we not campaigning on this issue? It’s 80-20. And they won’t touch it. They won’t touch it. They feel it’s dangerous. Get men out of women’s locker rooms. Get men out of women’s sports. Now it’s too late.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now it’s not fresh anymore. Yeah, why was it so hard for our side to talk about that?
SPEAKER 05 :
I don’t know. And everybody looks at Eli.
SPEAKER 03 :
Did we think we were going to hurt feelings or what was the deal, Andy?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. They thought that the wave of society was going toward the woke and that if you embrace that, that it was too dangerous. It’s so funny because everybody looks at Eli, Mr. Establishment, moderate. No, he isn’t. Eli led the way. Fighting against men and women’s sports. OK, led the way. And he said, why are you guys not on this? Why are you not fighting for this? All right. But it’s the same thing. They were afraid to. I remember I was speaking at these groups. They were afraid to come down and say illegal immigration is flat out wrong. And we need to fight this. They were afraid that we were going to lose the Hispanic vote. I said, yeah, you’re going to lose a portion. But I get I get news for you. First of all, more Hispanics than you think want this because they came here legally and they don’t like other people cutting in line. And secondly, a lot of people who are not Hispanic are also going to be on your side. And what I’m getting to here, John, is this. Yes, we have some firebrands who go too far out there and are unelectable. I get that. I’m not saying to go that way. Dave Williams, good example, was a terrible candidate. But if you don’t take any stances, you’re going to bore people to death and are going to vote Democrat.
SPEAKER 03 :
Can’t argue that. Dan and Blackhawk, hang tight. We’ll come right back and get to you. Roof Savers of Colorado coming up next. Again, whatever’s going on with your roof, we have the answer. All under one roof. Residential, commercial, extending the life, fixing your roof, replacing your roof. Dave can do it all. 303-710-6916.
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SPEAKER 03 :
And we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Dan and Blackhawk, you’re next. Go ahead, Dan.
SPEAKER 11 :
So, Andy, you’re talking strategy is what I’m understanding, correct?
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. So not only are you talking about, like, win issues for conservatives, but also, I mean, I’m assuming there’s political strategists that give us the information about what people are thinking about. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. They do a lot of polling in the area. Okay. But people who try to run their campaigns firmly on polls, we got a word for them. We’re called losers because they’re going to lose a lot because they come off too stiff. They don’t come off as bringing your heart and your message and what’s important to you for others. You come off as somebody who’s just trying to play the market.
SPEAKER 11 :
And also, there’s political strategies for… conservatives, but there’s also political strategists for the other side of the fence. And this is what’s so frustrating with me, is it’s not like we’re not going to know what they’re going to campaign on if we understand what they’re focusing on. So learn how to address what the other side’s going to say during the campaign. And it’s like they do it. They don’t pull out issues that and then they’ll put it up on the news and commercials. Oh, look how bad of a candidate they are because they believe in this. And then there’s no response on the conservative side. And I’m like, what are you, dumb idiots?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
Response to that and say what you need to say and how your views is going to address what they think is, quote unquote, a concern. Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I’ll be honest. A lot of the consultants I have seen are not very good at messaging. They are very good at running the mechanics of a campaign, which is very important, by the way. I think it’s phenomenal. I think they work very hard. And I think working on turnout, working on the machine, that’s all great. But you need something totally different when it comes to messaging. You need somebody who can quickly say, okay, this is what your opponent said. Here is your response. Here is your response. Otherwise, what you’re going to have is a candidate go out there who is not well skilled in this, and they’re going to put their hoof in their mouth. And they’re going to get nailed. And guess what? Then they’re finished. Dan, this is especially important here in Colorado. Why? Because it’s a blue state. You’ll notice that the Democrats, what kind of candidates do they generally run? Boring, for the most part. Now, on the lower end, they run some real wackos who go out there. But for the most part, statewide, they run boring, boring, boring candidates like Bennett. OK, why? Because they’re playing it safe. They understand they’ve got the majority of the voters already.
SPEAKER 03 :
As long as they don’t upset the apple cart, they win.
SPEAKER 05 :
Bingo. But they don’t. So they don’t make mistakes. And that’s what a Bennett is going to give you. That’s what a Hickenlooper gives you. That’s what a polis gives you. But on our side, we try to run the boring, safe candidate. That doesn’t work for us. When we’re in the minority. You know what that gets you? The minority. Yeah, we can’t do that. Right. You have to have somebody. Now, remember when Trump beat Clinton originally back in 2016. She was the one who ran a boring campaign who thought that she had it made. He came along.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you deplorables, you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you deplorables. He came along and talked real in a way that shocked everybody. They’d never heard it before. He made a splash. And nationally, while nationally we were not as blue as Colorado is today, it was leaning blue. And he came out of the blue and shocked people, Dan, and suddenly got people thinking in ways that they had never done before. Let me tell you something. Here in Colorado, if you want to be a statewide candidate, you have to do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, can’t disagree with that at all.
SPEAKER 11 :
And it’s figuring out what are concerns for the Colorado residents. You know, like you said, they lean left, but at the same time, for example, remember, I don’t know how many election cycles ago it was, that we shot down the no fracking ballot initiative. Remember that? Yeah. The no fracking ballot initiative. So what does the legislature do and the governor do? They put in place no fracking.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
So they went against the will of the people.
SPEAKER 03 :
Happens all the time.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I can’t believe… that the candidates at the time didn’t go on that. It’s like, look, they say they’re for you, and they go against you.
SPEAKER 03 :
And really quick, Dan, and Andy understands this, and Dan, I think you will as well. The problem we have with a lot, not all, but a lot of the candidates that are run from our side is this, and I hate to call it the MAGA arm of politics, the party, because I’m MAGA, Andy’s MAGA, you’re MAGA, Dan, so I hate when these people call themselves that. But at the end of the day, it’s because of those hardcore, you know, you can only have caucus, we shouldn’t even have primary at all, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s that whole arm of the party that pick a lot of the candidates that we run, and then they become so hardcore on things like the steel and, you know, dominion and this, that, and the other. And by the way, while those issues are important, The middle-of-the-road voter doesn’t want to hear anything about it. They could care less about the things that I just mentioned. And by the way, they’ll add other things in, you know, right to life, Second Amendment, which, again, I agree with wholeheartedly. But the reality is that middle-of-the-road voter doesn’t care. So the problem, Dan and Andy, is we have these candidates that we’re running that come out of that group of individuals that I’m talking about that there’s not a snowball’s chance, and you know what, they’ll ever win.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. Well, what you’re talking about is actually working with the market. You’ve got to make a splash on issues that are going to matter to the market. Dan, you brought up a great one when you were talking about oil and gas. Don’t set back oil and gas. Remember that? That campaign won big. It won by 15 points, I believe. And what did we do? The Democrat legislature legislates right around it, and we didn’t capitalize at all. Our candidates were afraid to touch it. If you’re afraid to touch an issue, you just won by 15 points. What are you willing to touch? You see what I mean? Instead, we talked about things they didn’t care about. We talk about get out of our primaries, right? We talk about the 2020 steel. We talk about Dominion. Yeah, that’s all great. Nobody outside our base cares. What they do care about is immigration. What they do care about is roads, bridges. What they do care about is oil and gas. Like Dan just said, they want those jobs. They care about that stuff, but we look at that as too dangerous. Go ahead, Dan.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, it’s just finding out those issues for, you know, and it’s going to have to be somebody who’s going to have to kind of go against the flow if they can get it to be a candidate and say, look, I mean, you look at it nationally. The Democrats, all they’re spewing is hate, hate, hate towards Trump. They’re all against him, and I think people are getting sick and tired of it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the problem they’re running into is the same problem our side had in some past elections, whereby in our case it was steal, steal, steal, steal, steal. That was the only thing we could run on as far as an election was concerned, is they stole it, they stole it, they stole it, they stole it. Now the left is running on Trump bad, Trump bad, Trump bad, Trump bad, no matter what. It’s Trump’s bad. He’s the reason for high prices. He’s the reason for this. He’s the reason for that. It’s not working. And it’s not working anymore, Dan, to your point. In fact, it’s starting to turn some people off because they’re looking around saying, well, wait a minute. Reality is, no, things have actually improved under Trump. The border’s secure. Things are much different than they were even a year ago. So, no, it can’t all be that Trump is bad. You guys need another message.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. And the thing is… And we do the same thing in Colorado. That’s all I can say. Like you said, the Dominion, I think you’re talking about the Dominion voting machines. Right. You know, the caucus. Hey, it is what it is. Stop complaining about it. Let’s learn how to deal with the environment and how to adapt.
SPEAKER 03 :
Our problem is, Dan, sorry to interrupt, but our problem is we can’t do that. We can’t get over ourselves to turn that corner to make that everything that you just said and things you and I and Andy talk about continually, we can’t get over ourselves enough to even talk about how we could use the open primary we have in Colorado now how we can actually use that to our advantage. We’re so mad about it and so upset about it that we’ll never talk about how we can use it for our side.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, if I may, you know, I ran for the county chair here in Arapahoe. I lost, which is really weird. I lost by like just a few votes, but I didn’t think it’d be that close. When I spoke at this meeting and I listened to a bunch of people speak and I listened to the crowd, the crowd made it very clear, Dan, you know what their number one issue was? Get out of the primary. And if you did not support getting, you know, opting out of the primary, getting out of the open primary, they would primary you. They would oppose you. So any of our candidates right now who want to run, if they talk to any of the leadership in the state, the state central committee or these county committees. Most of them are going to hear this. Unless you support opting out of the primary, which, by the way, is insane, unless you support that, we are going to oppose you and put money into candidates against you. That’s what they’re facing right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep, that’s the problem.
SPEAKER 11 :
And the thing is, the majority of the people voted for open primaries.
SPEAKER 03 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 11 :
Why do you think you’re going to win that? You’re not.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re not. You’re right, Dan.
SPEAKER 11 :
You’re not. It’s water under the bridge. Let’s move on and get back the seats.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and I always hate to belabor this, Dan, but you would know this being in the business world that you’re in. Andy already knows this, but here’s the reality. And I keep going back to this, but I have to because it’s the truth. These are people, the majority of… have never ever had to run a business. And even if they had a business never had to adjust to different market trends in the business and or had to deal with something to her Oh, all of a sudden, something happens. And I can’t get that from the same vendor I used to. So I’ve got to switch gears and go someplace else. Oh, we just had a new regulation that got passed down to us, we now have to do something different. in the business that we didn’t once have to do before the reality is in business you do these things constantly whereby you deal with the hand that you’ve been dealt you try as much as you can to get the hand re-delt Dan but at the end of the day in business you run with the hand that you’re dealt the people that are in charge of the party right now minus the Britta Horns of the world don’t understand what I just said they are dead set on getting rid of the open primary that’s their number one focus Instead of just handling what they’ve been dealt with and doing the best with it, they’d rather go back in time and try to change things that, frankly, are not going to get changed.
SPEAKER 11 :
Not anytime soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Nope.
SPEAKER 05 :
And even Britta is being forced to do a lawsuit about the open primary. It’s ridiculous.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dan, I will just tell you right now, it’s never, it’s never, mark my words, all of you listening that are on that side of the aisle, mark my words, it’s never going to change.
SPEAKER 11 :
But the thing is, we’ll get a more rounded candidate if we have people that would vote Democrat, but we put a good candidate on the primary. They’re like, I like this guy. Let’s vote for him. So maybe we’d get somebody in there to actually change.
SPEAKER 03 :
The problem is that hardcore side will anti that guy out. Saw the same thing happen between the last time around for Senate with Joe O’Day and Michael Bennett. We saw the exact same thing happen there. Ron Hanks decided that he didn’t like the outcome of that primary. He didn’t like Joe O’Day. He was going to take his ball and cry and whine and moan and complain and go all the way home with it. Oh, wait a minute. No, I’m going to come back out and actually throw the ball back. at Joe O’Day, and I’ve got all my supporters behind me to do just that. So in turn, instead of having a good showing against Michael Bennett, we lost disastrously because of guys like Ron Hanks.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, Ron Hanks depressed our turnout.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you see, and let me sum it up with this, John. Here in Colorado, we do the opposite of what Trump does. Do you realize Trump has been building this coalition on 60-40, 80-20 issues? He’s taking issues where he already knows the majority is on our side. And then he goes out on those issues and talks big. Talks tough. On the border. On the homeless. How to handle them. On trade. On whatever. On men and women’s sports. And he does that. Well, here in Colorado… Our leadership, at least up until now, and I’m hoping for better things from Britta, is doing the opposite approach. When you talk about getting out of the open primary, Dan is right. The majority voted solidly against it. That’s a 57 to 43 issue against us. So what do we do? We champion the 43. Donald Trump would champion the 57. You see? Go ahead, Dan.
SPEAKER 11 :
We’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater then. Right. I mean, it’s… And it’s stupid. I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, you’re right.
SPEAKER 11 :
You guys have got to be so frustrated. I mean, I only listen to you guys occasionally, and I’m frustrated. So it’s totally stupid.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is. No, you’re right. No, Dan, you’re spot on. I think what frustrates Andy and I so much sometimes is the fact that we… We preach this stuff, preach this stuff, preach this stuff, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it. And unfortunately, we’re talking to people that, I’ll just be straight up honest with you, Dan, don’t have the IQ that God gave an ant, which the ant has a better IQ than most of these people, because at least the ant works all summer long to be up in storage for winter so that he can survive through the winter. The ant is actually smarter than most of the people we have. He thinks ahead. Yeah, he thinks ahead. He’s smarter. The ant’s smarter than most of the people we have running the GOP in Colorado.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, well, it’s going to be an uphill battle, but. Maybe if we get enough people thinking like-minded, maybe we can change the GOP.
SPEAKER 03 :
Maybe. I don’t know. We’re working on it. Dan, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for your support. I know you don’t get to listen all the time, but I appreciate it very much. Ridgeline Auto Brokers coming next. And again, folks, if you’re looking for a new used car, they have you covered. And what I mean by that is if there’s a car that they don’t have that you’d like, they’ll do their best to find it. They take trades. They can finance. Whatever you need, full service, they’re there for you. RidgelineAutoBrokers.com.
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SPEAKER 08 :
It’s time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Debra’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Myself, Andy, and, of course, Charlie Grimes. And real quick, just back to the whole, you know, the candidates, who we run, how we run them. I know we’ve kind of focused on this. This hour started off that way with Jim Paff from the conservative caucus. But, Andy, it really is important that we – message correctly. We run the right candidates in the right areas. It’s one of the complaints I’ve had as being a host on this program and even beyond that for the last decade plus. And I’m sorry to say, but I’m going to be very blunt here. Until we do some pruning, of the wackadoodles we have in our party that think that you can only run on the steel and you can only run on, you know, this, that, or the other, that, by the way, at the end of the day, have us losing elections right and left. Until we get rid of those wackadoodles, we’re doomed. Right. We’re not going to make it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Remember, Trump has been building on the 60-40 issues. Let me ask you this, okay? What percentage of Coloradans care about the 2020 steel? Zero.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the hardcore. No, it’s probably about 20%. The hardcore percentage that I just got done talking about.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, right. So it’s 20-80. What percentage of Coloradoans care about the open primary, about opting out of the open primary?
SPEAKER 03 :
Honestly, even inside of our own party, probably 10% of Coloradans. It’s even less than the last number you asked me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, what percentage of Coloradoans want to ban abortions in all cases, even in cases of rape and incest?
SPEAKER 03 :
Maybe 25%. Oh, no, no. Sorry, I forgot the last statement you said, 10. I go back to the same ones that were talking about the primary. So it’s the same group.
SPEAKER 05 :
It might be 5%. Okay. And yet, if you do not hold those three positions, you are called a compromiser who will be primary. You’re a rhino, Andy. You’re a rhino. Think about this. They are demanding that you be unmarketable in the state we’re running in.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. These are the Rhino Watch loons that are out there running around that basically condemn everybody that doesn’t think just like them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, let me just generalize it. Rhino Watch, okay? And there are people who, listen, they don’t even know who Rhino Watch is.
SPEAKER 03 :
I get it. Okay, but Rhino Watch— And by the way, that’s good for you. Believe me, it’s good for you. You are happier. You don’t need to know.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. We will know for you. We will endure the pain, okay? John, in general, the Rhino Watch viewpoint—
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s a losing viewpoint.
SPEAKER 05 :
What percentage of Colorado voters, left, right, middle, all of them together, holds the Rhino Watch viewpoint? I would say maybe a quarter of the state, and that might be kind.
SPEAKER 03 :
Quarter of the state party?
SPEAKER 05 :
The state. Because there are a fair number. No, you know what? That’s too high. No, that’s way too high.
SPEAKER 1 :
10, 15, 10?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, 10 at most.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. In other words, if we went and polled all quote-unquote Republicans where they say, yes, I’m a Republican, I’m a conservative, so on. If we went and polled all of them, the ones that think like Rhino Watch, it’s probably 5%.
SPEAKER 1 :
5%.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, here’s the thing. They represent about 5% of Coloradoans. Do you know how much of the state’s central committee they represent? 80? No, no. Almost 50.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, almost 50. It’s about 50-50. Okay, 50-50. I thought it was higher than that. I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, on some of those issues, on getting out of the primary, opting out of the primary, they probably represent 55 to 60 percent. 60 percent of the state central committee. Those are the people leading our party all around the state. So if you don’t hold that view, what are they going to do? they’re going to raise up other candidates to run against you and cost you money to where you’re broke when you go against the Democrat.
SPEAKER 03 :
Going back to what I talked about earlier, the problem is because of the loons that we have in the party, and I’m calling them that because there’s nothing else to call them. They’re just loons.
SPEAKER 05 :
The Davidians.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, the Davidian loons that are out there, they are the ones that are really… uh really slowing down progress for our party in colorado where these are the same people that’ll tell you that you know we need to take our we got to take our state back red well it hasn’t been read for a very long time so that’s a stupid statement in the first place on top of that you are the people that say you want to take it back back red and yet you’re the ones causing it to be blue
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. And what they’re saying is we need a fighter like Trump. And here’s what they get wrong.
SPEAKER 03 :
They believe that Trump compromises on all sorts of things, Andy.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s what it’s going to get to. Trump is is a compromiser. He’s a dealmaker. Trump is not a hardline conservative at all. OK, look at the big, beautiful bill. How many things were in that that you didn’t like? Plenty.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. Probably about 15, 20 percent you didn’t like at all. Right. That’s how everybody feels. Trump makes deals. He does it on the world stage constantly. That’s why he’s such a peacemaker. He does it here at home when when he deals with all sides of the party. OK, Trump makes deals. The only time he draws a strong line is when he knows he’s got a real winner like the border.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. And that’s an easy one. And that’s an easy one because most of Americans want it fixed. That’s easy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, they didn’t want to be invaded anymore.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. That’s an easy one.
SPEAKER 05 :
Men and women’s sports.
SPEAKER 03 :
He kills it. But how often do you hear Trump talk about abortion?
SPEAKER 05 :
Never.
SPEAKER 03 :
Why?
SPEAKER 05 :
You already answered your question, right? And you and I are strongly pro-life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. And by the way, I think he is as well. I really do. I think he is as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, he’s pro-life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he definitely is. Now, is he as strong as you and I? Maybe not, although I think if you had him in a room, just the three of us, he’d be right in line with you and I. He’s pretty close. Yeah, I think he would be.
SPEAKER 05 :
Close enough. Yeah, but this is what Donald Trump does. Now, our candidates here, though, they want to talk about – it all gets back to the market, John, and we’ll close with this. Trump cares about the market. The party in Colorado does not. It does not care about the market.
SPEAKER 03 :
Andy, I’ll go as far as to say this. They don’t even know what the market is. Right. Not only do they not care, they don’t know what it is.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
So it’s two whammies against them. They don’t care what the market is. Let me say it that way. That’s a better way to say it. They don’t care what the market is, Andy, because you know what? I’m the market. As far as they’re concerned, I’m the market, and you better be selling to me because if you don’t, I’m not going to vote for you.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m going to primary vote or I’m going to stay home, not vote for you.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, there are two sides of the party and here’s how they view the market. You tell me if I’m right. The Davidians hate the market. The moderates are terrified of the market. None of them know how to win the market.
SPEAKER 03 :
You got it. Y’all close with that. Mile High Coin is up next. Again, whatever that collection is that you’ve been kicking around, get that appraised. Find out exactly what it’s worth. They’re free appraisals, by the way, for KLZ Rush to Reason listeners. Talk to David Gonzalez today, 720-370-3400.
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SPEAKER 08 :
We don’t yell at you. We inform you. Now, back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, that’s going to be it for today. Really appreciate you all listening. Thank you, by the way, for all the interaction on the text line. I appreciate that as well. Always great comments. And remember, you can text even after the program is over, 307-200-8222. I do my best to answer those pretty much at all times. Again, 307-200-8222. Be safe out there. Have a great evening. Myself, Andy, and Charlie signing off. This is Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
2026 and Beyond: Can Conservatives Reclaim Colorado? Encore show from 8.19.25
In this episode of Rush to Reason, hosts John Rush, Andy Pate, and guests dive deep into the realities facing conservative candidates in Colorado. With sharp analysis and candid debate, they explore why traditional, “safe” establishment campaigns fail to inspire, the importance of energetic and authentic candidates, and why understanding and responding to the political “market” is key to victory—even in blue states. The show tackles everything from grassroots strategy and messaging blunders to the internal rifts that hold back the GOP. Drawing lessons from both success stories like Trump and Colorado’s unique challenges, this episode is a must-listen
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