Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes spoke last night to a group of conservative activists — and further addressed the crisis of many top Republicans telling him to drop out of the race over his gaffe-riddled campaign. Many of them have endorsed the third-party candidacy of former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo.
As the Durango Herald reports, Maes particularly acknowledged the defection of former state Senate President John Andrews: “John was probably the most painful because he was a great mentor.”
Maes also defended himself against the allegation that he exaggerated his service with law enforcement in Kansas:
At issue is his use of the term “undercover.”
“It gets pretty gray when you’re doing what I was doing,” he said.
Maes said he has received an e-mail that vindicates him, but he is choosing to not yet go public with it.
“You discovered that I’m fallible,” Maes said. “You discovered that I’m a human being. And perhaps you thought I was more than maybe I really was. But by golly, I’ve made a few mistakes, and I’m going to own up to them.”
The TPM Poll Average shows Democratic nominee John Hickenlooper leading with 44.6%, followed by Maes at 28.1%, and Tancredo with 12.7%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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