Former Republican Politician Cole Wist has taken to social media, print media and the airwaves to float conspiracy theories about why he lost his election (we will opine on this later), and why We The People shouldn’t exercise our right to recall his replacement (Tom Sullivan) that supported the extreme-far-left agenda in the legislature this year, while carrying on Wist’s legacy with the great gun grab known as the “Red Flag Bill”.
You may remember Wist (or maybe not) who dropped a BOMB on his caucus when he was Assistant Minority Leader with the Red Flag Bill in 2018. Did he consult anyone beyond a few agenda-driven individuals? NO. Did anyone in his party support his bill? NO. Has his anti-2nd Amendment extreme-far-left successor scratched out Wist’s name on the Red Flag Bill and scribbled in his own? YES.
This often boils down to a marketing question for voters: do they choose Politician Product A or Politician Product B? If they don’t have the choice of choosing a clear A or B, and A and B start looking very similar, they usually go with the more authentic candidate. Based on Wist’s deception on the Red Flag Bill, were voters really able to trust Wist? In stark contrast, Sullivan was pretty up front on where he stood.
It’s always good to ask the question, “What’s in it for the politician?”. Why, because most politicians are very self-serving. So, what’s in it for Wist by opposing the Sullivan recall? It seems pretty simple to us, this is a way for Wist to save what little face he has left. He embarrassed himself in this loss to Sullivan last November. So, if Sullivan was to be recalled and a different Republican replaced him – really all fingers (that weren’t already) would solely point at Wist for the loss of that safe Republican seat.
Wist still isn’t taking responsibility for his loss last November, mainly blaming Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) main agitator Dudley Brown, for his loss. Brown who the NRA labeled a “Carnival Barker”, loves to go after politicians and loves getting blamed for taking out who he deems bad on guns. It gives Brown power, and he relishes playing the boogeyman role.
What the establishment Republicans like Wist don’t understand, is every time they blame Brown for something, that just gives him more creditability among his members and the press for fundraising. So by blaming Brown and RMGO, they make both stronger, not weaker. But hey, establishment Republicans have been spending boatloads of money to lose elections for about 2 decades now – they ain’t the sharpest tools in the shed!
Wist makes the wild claim that RMGO controls the State Republican Party. The problem is that back in 2018, with Jeff Hays as Chairman, Sherrie Gibson as Vice-chair, and Brandi Meek as Secretary, State Party was definitely not pro-RMGO. In fact, you could make the case that the State Party officers were anti-RMGO, with Hays and Gibson coming from the anti-RMGO crowd in El Paso County.
Then there is the issue of the Colorado State Republican Party Independent Expenditure Committee (IEC) controlled by former GOP Chairs Steve House and Ryan Call. Neither are fans of RMGO, and Ryan Call has also come out against the Sullivan Recall. Did they not help Wist because of RMGO – yeah, not a chance. RMGO definitely doesn’t control the Colorado GOP, and didn’t during the 2018 election either.
So we’re not sure Wist is thinking rationally here in his Tweets. The facts and the timeline just don’t match up.
So is Wist in Denial as he claims, delusional as one of our contributors claims or just simply disconnected with reality. We’re going to give some information and let you decide.
So, was Dudley Brown and RMGO the reason Wist lost his seat or was Wist himself to blame. Well, if Wist would not have run the Red Flag bill, RMGO wouldn’t have been a factor. Sure, there’s evidence that RMGO poked the bear, but did they contribute to Wist’s landslide loss – if they did, then RMGO as the lefty Republicans fear – IS that powerful.
However, a quick review of Wist’s campaign finance shows that he had about 20% of the money he raised for the last election cycle left over AFTER THE CAMPAIGN. In fact, he still has that “cash on hand”. The spend to the end philosophy may have worked for Wist here. In addition, for down-ballot races, direct mail may be the most effective way to make the case to voters, because of the resources available to State House candidates. Wist spent a disproportional amount of money on digital advertising, to a firm called D/CO. Upon investigation, not many politicos in Colorado could identify any general election campaigns that D/CO made an impact on.
Then there was the issue of 3rd party help for Wist defending his “safe” Republican seat. If Joe Neville is to be believed from this article from Colorado Politics, Wist sent the message he didn’t want help from 3rd parties associated with his own House Republican Caucus:
Asked about Wist, Joe Neville said the candidate had made it clear that “he not only was handling his own race, he had his own people, potential third parties, and didn’t want our help. … In what has been a solid Republican seat, he chose to be responsible for his own campaign, and we saw the results. If he has changed his tune after losing by such a large margin, he needs to realize that he only has himself to blame.”
Colorado Politics – February 15, 2019
We think it’s a reasonable assumption that Wist was his own worst enemy, not only for his policy positions but how and if he spent his campaign cash. If you’re not going to use all the resources at your disposal to win, and have people around you that know how to win in a safe Republican seat, well…guess we see the results.
Wist also makes the assertion on Twitter after Dudley Brown again poked the bear: “And, sorry to break it to you, Dudley. You didn’t ‘ruin my life.’ I lost an election. Get some perspective. Compared to what folks go through every day, my bad election day is just so insignificant.” So this begs the question, why does Wist still have money in his campaign account, is he in fact done with politics?
Wist has been very active on social media, been on TV as a commentator, and of course, scurried to the media to get some attention. These aren’t actions that would lead us to believe that Wist the politician is going away. It seems that his attack on the Sullivan Recall is not just to save face, but also to get his name out there as well. Wist is a former Democrat, could we see a switch back that way anytime soon?
Our advice to Wist is to accept the fact that his actions led to his defeat and to stop pointing fingers. We remember when the Republican Party was all about personal responsibility.
If Wist cared about his district and helping take back Colorado from the extreme-far-left, he should look beyond his own shortcomings to answer the call, and join, not fight the Recall in this instance. It’s the only way he saves face, by helping this grassroots effort win back the seat he lost.
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