Published in The Flume – January 6, 2023
“[It] was probably the wildest experience I’ve ever been involved in forty-plus years in this arena. To see what’s going on nationally, to see what happened locally, it does make you see from the ground here how the Republican party has absolutely disintegrated.”
That was what District 3 Commissioner Dave Wissel told Chuck Bonniwell and Julie Hayden on November 14, 2022. He was reflecting on the latest District 3 Commissioner race. It was the fourth, fifth, or maybe even the sixth time he appeared on the Chuck and Julie Show podcast during the election cycle.
In last week’s Flume, Steve Vincze, in a letter to the editor, raised the specter of Ronald Reagan. Of course, the old-timey Republicans and those who identify as Constitutional Conservatives (read Boebert, Hanks, Peters, Mitchell, Wissel, etc.) worship Ronald Reagan. Good for them. Vincze also said, “…I am concerned and sometimes appalled by the state of the GOP here in Park County, Colorado, and our nation.
The thing is, though, who really carries Reagan’s torch? Or, perhaps the better question is who doesn’t.
Or, maybe even the better question is whose gaslight shines brightest?
Gaslighting: Psychological manipulation of others that causes others to question the validity of their own thoughts. The act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage.
Stuart Spencer, the Republican campaign strategist who, other than Nancy, was most responsible for Ronald Reagan’s political successes, was interviewed by the LA Times in June 2021. In that interview, he characterized Donald Trump as “a demagogue and opportunist. He sees an issue, and no matter what he believes, he goes where it gets him the most votes.” When asked how Reagan would have viewed Trump, Spencer said, “He would be sick. Not just the issues out there but the personal things he’s done. …Trump’s behavior would have upset him the most.”
Let’s be honest. The Grand Old Party is disintegrating because the lunatics on the far right side of the table have embraced MAGA and America First. They’ve bought the Big Lie, lock, stock, and barrel. They’ve redefined Natural Rights to exclude any community responsibility. They’ve embraced Christian Evangelical Nationalism despite the Founders’ and Framers’ abhorrence of such a thing. They’ve enshrined the January 6 insurrectionist mob as Patriots no less honorable than those who fought at Lexington, Concord, Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown. They’ve demonized entire segments of society. They’ve tirelessly strived to limit the franchise by hook or crook.
Indeed, the lunatics in the Republican Party were at the helm of the GOP in 2022. They believed a Red Wave was inevitable in November. (Chuck Bonniwell, who embraces the lunacy and was certainly Wissel’s good buddy during the recent Commissioner campaign, said on September 3, 2021, “I think 2022 will be a great year for the Republican party nationally.”) In Colorado, the lunatics nominated lunatics to run for national and state offices. Even with President Biden’s low approval ratings, inflation, and the trudge from the depths of the COVID Pandemic, the Red Wave did not materialize. Not nationally. Not in Colorado.
“I can’t tell you how flattered I am [with] the amount of negative energy and money they put towards me, and the people of this county saw through it.”
That’s what Wissel said on the Chuck and Julie Show podcast, commenting on his election victory of November 8, 2022. He also alluded that Park County is very red and always has been. The observation was that Democratic candidates are scarcely seen in Park County, and occasionally an Unaffiliated candidate will appear. But, he concluded, the county has been “…infiltrated by the blue wave. And it’s been from our own people.”
On the last day of October 2022, Wissel (albeit soon to be flattered by all the negativity against him) begged the Democrat Colorado Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, to provide “oversight” of the Park County November 8 election. Otherwise, it would be “…tainted if not altered…” by all the skullduggery and negativity. He said the “…best result [would be] an overwhelming victory with a large margin.”
I do believe Wissel can be called the 4% Kid. He won the Commissioner Republican primary in 2022 against Ray Douglas by 4% or 130 votes. (The “4%” figure is what Wissel says it was. Actually, it was about 3.6%.) He won the general election over Ashely Girodo by 4% or 440 votes.
No overwhelming Wissel victory with a large margin, in either case, winning both races by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin.
In 2018 65% of eligible voters showed up for that Commissioner race, and Ray Douglas won over the Democrat by 27%, the Unaffiliated candidate by 34%, and both combined by 7%.
Has Park County been infiltrated by, as Wissel says, “…the blue wave” introduced by “…our own people?” Nah. All I have to do is walk out my front door. Wave at a few neighbors and, understanding their unshakeable devotion to the Republican Party, conclude as I’ve done a thousand times that the county is red. No doubt about it. Nearly everybody loves Ronald Reagan up here.
Wissel would have you believe the local RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) were responsible for his meager wins at the polls. But, yes, he did win. He’s the 4% Kid. How on earth, though, could a Republican victory over a Democrat in four years decrease by 23 points? Have dyed-in-the-wool, Reagan-loving, old-timey Republicans had enough of the lunacy? And, who do they see as the lunatic?
