1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Good morning, Mike and Dragon. It's another blustery day in Michigan. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: As we're out walking today, I'm walking the Great Pyrenees 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: during this lovely recording time, and she is having a 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: marvelous time. I have five dogs that I walk every day. 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: She is number four in the queue, and she's out 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: here having a wonderful time running around. And I know 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: she'd say good morning to you if she could have 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: a great day. 9 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: Guys, And we say good morning to her too, and 10 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 2: we just take her and just fluffer all that hair 11 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 2: around and just you know. 12 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 3: I'm more interested in the dog walking order. You don't 13 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 3: walk more than one at a time, so you just 14 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 3: do one than come home. 15 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 4: He's a capitalist. 16 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 2: Why would you you know she probably pay charges extra. 17 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 3: Oh you think that's that's her profession? What that's a profession. 18 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 3: I thought that she was referring to them as her dogs. 19 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 4: Oh. 20 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 2: I took it as she's dog walking. Maybe I'm wrong. 21 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 2: But when she said five, yeah, you don't want to 22 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 2: take all five out at once. But and if you're 23 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 2: dog walking, no, you want to charge for a private. 24 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 3: Walk, And well you take It's. 25 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 2: Like when we get a dog sitter, we don't want 26 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 2: a dog sitter that just comes in two or three 27 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: times a day. 28 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,119 Speaker 4: We want a dog sitter at the house. 29 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 3: But you take both of the girls out at the 30 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 3: same time. 31 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 2: Most of the time, except the old girls is getting 32 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 2: sometimes where she doesn't like to go, unless unless I'm 33 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 2: putting them in the jeep, because they know the jeep 34 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 2: on the way to the dog park involves a stop 35 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 2: either before or after. 36 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 3: At the McDonald means burgers. 37 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 2: That's right, And before you start yelling at me, no 38 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 2: they don't get the bond. No they don't get they 39 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 2: get in and out. They actually have a pup pupp burger, 40 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 2: which is just a meat patty with no seasoning, salt, pepper, 41 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 2: or anything out. It's just the meat. And at McDonald's 42 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 2: I just order a plain burger. Actually I order a double, 43 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: but those little keep burgers double meat and ask them 44 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 2: no pickles, no ketchup must or anything. That way, I 45 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 2: can just give them the meat, although it does have 46 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: some seasoning on them, but they do that. So I'm 47 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 2: assuming she's charging extra for private walks, you know, to 48 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 2: get some of the dogs. You get attention, you know, 49 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 2: you know, either way she anyway, dog walkers are pretty good. 50 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 2: I see dog walkers all the time. They probably make 51 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 2: pretty good money, probably better than you and I do. 52 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 2: I can tell you that that's probably true. Yes, And 53 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:23,839 Speaker 2: remember how you make fun of me. You always played 54 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 2: that stupid SoundBite about you. I am an idiot. 55 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 3: You know what you did. 56 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:29,959 Speaker 2: No, no, I'm not gonna know. But when you when 57 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 2: you play that SoundBite that you know what I'm referring to. 58 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 3: Did you say on your own all the time? 59 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 2: I didn't realize that you're also making fun of some 60 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 2: of the goopers out there because my wallet story apparently resonated. 61 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 4: With a lot of people. 62 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 3: No, no, no, I am just solely making fun of you. 63 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 2: Well, I know you are, but by playing it, you're 64 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 2: also making fun of them, because I've got so many 65 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 2: stories about Oh, the same thing happened to me. I said, 66 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 2: mine was for Mima Zoober or mine was even an Amazon. 67 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: And now a guy's because of an Amazon dispuse, got 68 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 2: a unpaid debt on his credit report. And I said, 69 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 2: I'm not giving you legal advice, but I'd make sure 70 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 2: that on all three credit reporting agencies that you put 71 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 2: in there a letter that this is a disputed. 72 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 4: Debt with Amazon. 73 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 2: I didn't know Amazon ever disputed if I thought you 74 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 2: could take something. In fact, I've done this. I have 75 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 2: not because I was trying to get any money back, 76 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 2: but just wanted to see if they would. So I 77 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: bought some Toner you know, some you know, the generic 78 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 2: oner cartridges, and I've tried every brand you can possibly imagine, 79 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 2: but brother has got it so tightly down electronically that 80 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 2: they just it was more trouble than it was worth. 81 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 2: So I boxed up some old Toner's and returned them 82 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 2: to Amazon. And I got to know from Amazon and said, 83 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 2: these are too late. We can't reimburse you for it, 84 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 2: but we'll we'll replace it, you know. And I said, well, 85 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: I'll just forget about it. But that way it got 86 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 2: out of my office yet rhythm. 87 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 3: I would like to add the origin of you saying 88 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 3: that you're the biggest idiot around, or whatever the hell 89 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 3: it was that you say live every time, of course, 90 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 3: was the fact that nobody else that I know it, 91 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 3: and an if anybody has please you know, feel no shame. 92 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 3: We won't even get out your googer number or anything. 93 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 3: Three three one zero three, oh, I said it as 94 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 3: soon as it came out. 95 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 4: Yeah, you did. 96 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 2: I just I was I was not going to say 97 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 2: a word until you finished whatever you were saying. But 98 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 2: I'm just gonna let you not. Good for you. Ah yeah, 99 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 2: good for you. 100 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 3: But the origin of that clip was the fact that 101 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 3: Michael Brown took a hammer to a brand new iPad. 102 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 3: So I don't think anybody else has done anything like that. 103 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 3: So just just just saying three three one o three 104 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 3: three three one oh three, text Mike or Michael. 105 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 2: All right, let's get started. Three three one zero three. 106 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 2: Even girl, even girl said it great. 107 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 3: I know a girl. Dad was standing right behind her, going. 108 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 4: Damn it no, because she's getting a good education. This er, father, 109 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:09,679 Speaker 4: she's getting a good education. 110 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 2: Let me tell you something about the Colorado Republican Party 111 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 2: that nobody inside it wants to admit out loud. They 112 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 2: know exactly what is wrong with them. In fact, I 113 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 2: think they can describe it with precision. They can name 114 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 2: the pathologies that exist within that party. They can identify 115 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 2: the failures. They can diagnose the disease down to the 116 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 2: molecular level. They've held meanings about it. The Colorado Republican 117 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 2: Party has written manifestos about it. They give them speeches 118 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 2: about it. Oh, they've been in passion, they've been correct, 119 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: eloquent speeches, and then they walked off the stage and 120 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 2: they did the exact opposite of everything they said that 121 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 2: they had just said, or that needed fixing, or that 122 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 2: they said they were going to fix. And then they're 123 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: just the opposite. That is not incompetence, that is worse. 124 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 2: That is a party that has confused understanding a problem 125 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 2: with solving a problem. And this state and you and me, taxpayers, 126 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 2: non taxpayers, every citizen of this state, even the Libs 127 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 2: that think their policies are correct, everybody pays that a 128 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 2: price every single election cycle when more and more Democrats 129 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 2: get elected and this state goes further and further down 130 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: the crappole. Now here are the facts, and I want 131 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 2: you to hold them like evidence, because that's exactly what 132 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 2: they are. The last time a Republican won a statewide 133 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 2: election in Colorado was twenty sixteen, ten years ago. And 134 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 2: I want to be precise about that, because that precision 135 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,600 Speaker 2: makes the point sharper, not softer. It wasn't the governor's race, 136 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 2: it wasn't the state Senate seat, it wasn't the US 137 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 2: Senate seat. It was a University of Colorado Border regenc seat. 138 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 2: That's the victory they're celebrating. Look what we did ten 139 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 2: years ago. When Heidi Ganal ran for governor a few 140 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 2: years ago, a capable, incredible candidate. She didn't just lose. 141 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 2: She lost by nearly thirty points. Nearly thirty points in 142 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 2: a race where the Republican Party of Colorado was supposed 143 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 2: to be putting its best foot forward, it got lapped. 144 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 2: Republicans are currently in such a deep minority in the 145 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 2: Colorado General Assembly in the polit Bureau that Democrats hold 146 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 2: or are a single vote away from, depending on how 147 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 2: you count a supermajority in both chambers. In the House, 148 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 2: Democrats hold I think forty three seats to Republicans twenty two. 149 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 2: In the Senate, it's twenty three to twelve. Now, why 150 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 2: does that matter beyond the obvious? Because Colorado requires a 151 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 2: two thirds majority to refer constitutional amendments to the ballot 152 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 2: or to override a gubernatorial veto. Democrats are right at 153 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 2: that threshold. They can, with the right lineup, change the 154 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 2: Colorado Constitution without a single Republican vote, and they can 155 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 2: override a governor's veto without asking a single Republican's permission, 156 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:41,479 Speaker 2: the minority party. The Republicans aren't just losing. The Republican 157 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 2: Party in Colorado is becoming structurally, structurally irrelevant, not policy wise, 158 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 2: not in terms of philosophy, not in terms of beliefs, 159 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 2: but structurally this party is becoming irrelevant. 160 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 4: And now here we are. 161 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 2: We're headed into the twenty twenty six election cycle. It's 162 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 2: an election cycle that is, by any measure, I think 163 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 2: one of the most consequential in a generation. And the 164 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 2: Colorado Party as of late February had not recruited a 165 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 2: Republican candidate candidate to run in thirty seven state legislative districts. Now, 166 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 2: I want to be careful with that number because the 167 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 2: fighting deadline is March eighteen, few days away, and candidates 168 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,199 Speaker 2: can still file. Now we will have the final count 169 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 2: after that date. But the party's own internal data from 170 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 2: the Carravao Secretary of State's tracer system showed that snapshot 171 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 2: nearly half the available legislative races with no Republican And 172 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 2: I'm not saying I'm blaming them, but no Republican willing 173 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 2: to step up and try to make our argument, to 174 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 2: try to make our case. Let me give you some context. 175 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 2: In the twenty twenty four election cycle, nine state legislative 176 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 2: races had no Republican candidate at all. Democrats ran in 177 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 2: ninety four percent of all available races. Republicans ran in 178 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 2: only eighty nine percent. We couldn't even feel a full 179 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 2: slate two years ago. And the problem, I think is 180 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 2: getting worse, not better. This is not a political party 181 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 2: preparing to contest a twenty twenty six election. This is 182 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 2: a party in structural collapse. Now I've spent I don't 183 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 2: give away my age. I have spent my entire licence. 184 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 2: I was six years old in politics. I spent almost 185 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 2: six years in Washington, DC, at the highest levels in 186 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 2: the cabinet of a president, running a federal agency, had 187 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of employees, had multi billions dollars of 188 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 2: a budget. I've watched political organizations. I have legally represented 189 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 2: certain political organizations. I've seen them succeed and fall from 190 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 2: the inside and from the out side. And I can 191 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 2: tell you, with some authority, I think I've got the 192 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 2: modified He's to tell you the Colorado Republican Party does 193 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 2: not have a voter problem right now. It doesn't even 194 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 2: have a messaging problem to some degree, though its messaging 195 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 2: has been at times, I would say breathtakingly self destructive. 196 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 2: What it has is a leadership problem, a structural, a cultural, 197 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 2: an organizational leadership problem that has been compounding for years, 198 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 2: like interest on a debt that nobody even wants to 199 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 2: acknowledge that we have that debt. Let me explain to 200 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 2: you what I mean. Dave Williams became the chair of 201 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 2: the Colorado Republican Party in twenty twenty three. He arrived 202 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 2: with old big ideas aggressive, I ite is he was 203 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 2: going to fight the culture war, expose the rhinos, be 204 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 2: the tip of the conservative spear, and the blue state 205 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 2: that has forgotten its roots. What did he actually do? 206 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 2: He actually ran the party into the ground, financially, make 207 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:05,319 Speaker 2: pre primary endorsements that divided the party against itself, pursued 208 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 2: a messaging strategy so toxic that Republicans across the state, 209 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 2: not Democrats. Republicans publicly demanded that he resign, and then 210 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 2: he presided over an election cycle in which nine Democratic 211 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 2: legislative candidates ran completely unopposed because the Republican Party couldn't 212 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 2: find anyone. I would put in parenthetics, maybe stupid, enough 213 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,199 Speaker 2: to challenge them. Dave Williams didn't just lose fights. He 214 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 2: chose fights that made it harder to win in the 215 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 2: fights of that dead matter. So Republicans tried to remove him. 216 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 2: In July twenty four. They organized, they petitioned, they held 217 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 2: a meeting. A judge threw it out because they didn't 218 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 2: follow their own procedures, specifically, specifically the requirement that removing 219 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 2: a party chair requires three fists of the entire governing body, 220 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 2: not three fists of whoever just happened to show up. 221 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 2: Williams survived on a technical then he didn't seek reelection, 222 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 2: and in March of last year, the party elected a 223 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 2: new chair, and her name was BRETA. 224 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:08,839 Speaker 4: Horne. 225 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 2: Bretta is a Route County rancher's wife. I think fourth generation, 226 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 2: fifth generation. Her husband is. When I talk about cowboys, 227 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 2: when I talk about ranchers, he personifies what I know 228 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 2: as the ranchers and the cowboys that I grew up 229 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,719 Speaker 2: with in the Elham Panhandle. See the chief of a 230 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: volunteer fire department. The former county treasurer, former Democrat who 231 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 2: became a Republican after moving to Colorado in nineteen eighty nine. 232 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 2: She ran on a platform so obviously correct that you 233 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 2: wonder why it even needed to be saved to be 234 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 2: said or you know, put out there. 235 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 4: And that was simple. 236 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 2: Stop using the party chair as a position as a 237 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 2: platform for personal advocacy. Stop picking sides and primaries, Stop 238 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 2: calling fellow Rep. Aubigin's rhinos. Follow Reagan's eleventh commandment, open 239 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 2: the tenth focus on what the job actually is. If 240 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 2: you thought about the job of the chairman of the 241 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 2: chairman of the GOP is raise money, recruit good candidates, 242 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 2: and elect them. And she was right about every single 243 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 2: word of it. And then she got to work and 244 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 2: she couldn't do any of it. Now, I will say 245 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 2: that I think partly it might be that she was 246 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 2: a disruptor. Because let me just before I go any further, 247 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 2: let me say this. I talk I use the word structural. 248 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 2: I think that the current foundation and the structure of 249 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 2: the Colorado Republican Party is deeply legally structurally flawed. I 250 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 2: don't want to get too far ahead of myself here, 251 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 2: but think about dealing with five hundred. 252 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 4: Delegates. 253 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 2: It's insane now for a five hundred delegates at the 254 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 2: Republican National Convention or one thousand delegates is okay, because 255 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 2: you have substructures under the RNC. You've got the state parties, 256 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 2: you've got all the different little groups out here that 257 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 2: make up all the people end up being delegates. But 258 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 2: what they're doing at a convention is there generally there 259 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 2: most times to coordinate the person who has run through 260 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 2: the primaries and has emerged with enough delegates to win 261 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 2: the nomination. But what we do in Colorado is we 262 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 2: expect five hundred people from a huge state, a huge, 263 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 2: you know, square state, to come from all over the place, 264 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 2: and quite frankly, it's not the easiest thing in the 265 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 2: world to get saved from. Tell you rider Durango to Denver, 266 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 2: and if and if you're a shopkeeper, yeah, it might 267 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 2: be easier for you to jump on the plane in 268 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 2: Durango or tell you ride and try to fly up here. 269 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 2: But that's going to be expensive. So then you know 270 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,479 Speaker 2: it because you're working on those small business and margins, 271 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 2: So now you're gonna drive up in steads, so that 272 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 2: takes even more time away from your business. We're asking 273 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 2: five hundred people, five hundred people. I have managed hundreds 274 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 2: of thousands of employees. Do you think I managed every 275 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 2: single one of them. 276 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 4: No. 277 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't manage the clock very well, but I 278 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 2: manage them because I broke it down into manageable components. 279 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 2: Colorado wouldn't even do that. 280 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 4: No, those are my dogs. 281 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: I have five inside dogs, and I walk each one 282 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: for about fifteen to twenty minutes by themselves, every day, 283 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: several times a day, so they get their own individual attention. 284 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: In the house, they're all just loving dove once and 285 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: for all, but especially with the Great Pyrenees, they are 286 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: big runner, roamers, jumper. It inundates my smaller dogs. I'm 287 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: now outside feeding my kennel dogs, which consist of beatles. 288 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: Have a great day. 289 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 3: Bye, Oh my god. Uh huh. Five inside dogs. And 290 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 3: she didn't say as to how many kennel dogs dogs? 291 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 2: Oh my god, write that number down. Let's send it. 292 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 2: Let let's send it to you know, the people that 293 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 2: carry the white coach to come and get her some help. 294 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,960 Speaker 2: Get her some help. Back to Brenda Horn have a 295 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 2: Colorado Republican Party. Within two and a half months, her 296 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 2: first vice chair resigned, deciding what he described as being 297 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 2: systematically sidelined. She replaced him with a conservative state legislator 298 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 2: named Richard Holdtorf, a man that had, you know, credibility 299 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 2: relationships and some standing in the party. He resigned five 300 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 2: months later. Now his parting words, not mine, but his 301 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 2: partying words come pared her chairmanship to the Titanic. Well, 302 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 2: I think the Colinio Republican Party was that Titanic. Long 303 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 2: before Breda showed up. She was just trying to bail 304 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 2: out the water, trying to keep it from sinking. Then 305 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 2: her own secretary, man that she'd recruited elected on her 306 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 2: own slate, privately described her in terms that I won't 307 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 2: repeat on the radio. Two officers both gone, both pointing 308 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 2: at the same problem. They're pointing at her. Meanwhile, then 309 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 2: the financial numbers and by the way, pointing at her. 310 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 2: That doesn't mean I agree with what they're saying. But 311 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 2: the infighting just continued. Everybody wanted change, they got change, 312 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 2: and then they started bitching about the change. 313 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 4: It's insanity. 314 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, the financial numbers came in, and I want to 315 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 2: give you the exact figures because I've pulled these directly 316 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 2: from the filings with the Federal Election Commission, So these 317 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 2: may change a little bit here or there. According to 318 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 2: the FEC filing for the Cholerai Republican Committee Committee ID numbers, 319 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 2: so you know see zero zero, zero, three three one 320 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 2: three four. Covering January one last year through January thirty 321 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,880 Speaker 2: one this year, the party raised two hundred eighty six thousand, 322 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 2: seven hundred and twenty three dollars in individual contributions across 323 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 2: the entire twenty five calendar year. 324 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 4: In the same period that it. 325 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 2: Had raised two hundred and eighty six thousand plus dollars, 326 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 2: it spent six hundred and fifteen thousand, four hundred ninety 327 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 2: nine dollars, so that as of January thirty one this year, 328 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 2: the most recent filing, the party had sixty three thousand, 329 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 2: nine hundred and seventy eight dollars in cash on hand 330 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 2: and owned and owed two hundred and thirty six, one 331 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,919 Speaker 2: hundred and thirty eight dollars in total debts. Those numbers 332 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 2: are from the Federal Election Commission. That's a matter of 333 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 2: public records and anybody can go look them up. So 334 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 2: let me put it in plain language. The Colorado Republican Party, 335 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 2: heading into the most important election cycle in years, has 336 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 2: sixty four thousand dollars in the bank, owes two hundred 337 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: and thirty six thousand dollars. It's spending money it doesn't have, 338 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 2: and according to reporting by Colorado Politics, which review the 339 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:22,120 Speaker 2: party's own financial filings, more than one hundred thousand dollars 340 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 2: of that was spent on litigation, not against Democrats, not 341 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 2: against you know, some redistrict can plan or anything else, 342 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,919 Speaker 2: but against fellow Republicans. So you have a political party 343 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 2: that can't pay its own bills, can't field candidates, and 344 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 2: half its districts, and is spending six figures suing itself. 345 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 2: That's not a political party that is ready to contest 346 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 2: a governor's race or three congressional seats and eighty three 347 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 2: state legislative racist simultaneously. It is a party running on 348 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 2: fumes while shooting each other in that circular firing squad. Now, 349 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 2: I want to be because I want you to have 350 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 2: the full picture. The campaign to remove Bretta Horne was 351 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 2: not a spontaneous grassroots uprising that you had been presented. 352 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 4: The evidence, and I. 353 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 2: Have reviewed substantial evidence, including internal documents that Bretta herself 354 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 2: provided to me, points to a coordinated effort, directed in 355 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 2: significant part by Dave Williams, her predecessor, the man that 356 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 2: she replaced. You know, Williams is now Trump administration and 357 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 2: federal appointing at the International Trade Administration in Washington. A 358 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 2: man who, as I understand it, a condition of his employment, 359 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 2: agreed to stay out of Colorado Republican politics. A man 360 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 2: whose former allies reported that the White House initiated an 361 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 2: ig investigation into his continued Colorado political activity. That man was, 362 00:21:55,320 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 2: according to documented emails with timestamps and Gmail message that 363 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 2: can be independently verified and that I have reviewed myself, 364 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 2: directing petition infrastructure, assigning operational roles to participants, providing forms 365 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 2: from his former administration, and answering questions on behalf of 366 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 2: the current party secretary while that secretary is out traveling somewhere. 367 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 2: The secretary, for his part, deleted eighty six percent of 368 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 2: his emails with Williams before a forensic review captured them. 369 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 2: The ones that survived tell a story of coordination between 370 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 2: a man prohibited from this activity and an officer who 371 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 2: swore a duty to the chairwoman that he was. 372 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 4: Working to remove. 373 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,680 Speaker 2: So the full picture a removal campaign that is well 374 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 2: partly legitimate, I would say, with frustrations with some failures, 375 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 2: and a party and a partly directed operation that is 376 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 2: run by the man those failures replaced from a. 377 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 4: Federal office in DC under an active. 378 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 2: Inspector in general investigation. But you know, both things are 379 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 2: true simultane That is the Republican Party in twenty twenty six. 380 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 2: Now full disclosure. I met with Bretta Horne yesterday for 381 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 2: more than two hours, and I want to tell you 382 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 2: about that meeting because it matters, not just as political news, 383 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 2: but it is the window and what is actually happening 384 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 2: and what might come next. So we agreed to meet somewhere. 385 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 2: We had to change the meeting place. We kind of 386 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 2: ironically ended up at a McDonald's. It was hilarious. I 387 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 2: came fully prepared. I had done my homework. I had everything. 388 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 2: I had, the good, the bad, and the ugly about 389 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 2: Bretta everything. I didn't let her read it, but I 390 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 2: showed her. Look, I've done my homework. I had no 391 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 2: idea what to expect. I didn't even know how to 392 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 2: start the meeting other than I was gonna let her 393 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 2: speak because she had heard my rant about how bad 394 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 2: the Colorado GOP was and I got a nice email 395 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 2: from it, just said, hey, can we meet so I 396 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 2: can tell you my side of the story. Well, of 397 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 2: course I'll hear. So we met yesterday. She came into 398 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 2: the restaurant, like, holy cow, I thought there was a 399 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 2: hurricane or there was a fire, or there was something. 400 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 2: She came in and she flopped down on the table. 401 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 2: She didn't flop down. She sat down at the table 402 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 2: and she flopped down, opened her notebooks, and she started, 403 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 2: here are the numbers. 404 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:24,880 Speaker 4: Here the numbers. 405 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 2: She started to subscrib me quickly the numbers. And I'm 406 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 2: thinking to myself, what are freaking numbers that you're talking about? 407 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 2: And I finally realized, oh, the numbers told the story 408 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 2: that she had been sitting with. I think for some 409 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 2: time another recall effort was taking shape. But this woman 410 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,479 Speaker 2: was different from that symbolic no confidence vote that had 411 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,919 Speaker 2: come before. With ninety more votes that's a small but 412 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 2: a achievable number in a body of five hundred and two. 413 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 2: In fact, her opponents would have enough to force her 414 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 2: out under the party's own bylaw. The math that had 415 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 2: protected her through every previous attempt was now closing in. 416 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 2: So I told her what I thought, Michael, I've got 417 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 2: five dogs. Of course, my dogs stayed in the house 418 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 2: at night, but during the day, my dogs are totally 419 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 2: free range. Well, I hope not in your neighborhood. If 420 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 2: you live in a like urban or suburban area, you're 421 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 2: out on the farm. Great lucky dogs, lucky dogs. So 422 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 2: after're telling you everything about how flawed the Colorado GOP 423 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 2: is and my rent a couple of weeks ago about 424 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 2: the party and its structure, Brenda wanted to meet. So 425 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 2: we met for two and a half hours or so yesterday. 426 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 2: As I said, she came into the restaurant showing me numbers, 427 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 2: and the numbers told a story that she had been 428 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 2: clearly sitting with for some time and under a deadline 429 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 2: from people I'm going to tell you about it in 430 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 2: a minute, who said you've got to resign or we're 431 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 2: going to hold the vote now. I had intended to 432 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 2: simply ask her a question when she came in, and 433 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 2: that was, why are you doing this? If you heard 434 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,159 Speaker 2: me talk about how structurally flawed it is, and how 435 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 2: dysfunctional it is, and how there's so many things that 436 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:29,119 Speaker 2: need to be changed legally and culturally and everything about 437 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 2: the party, why are you continuing this fight? And what 438 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 2: she told me instead was well, here are these numbers, 439 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,479 Speaker 2: and I've made the decision I'm going to resign, and 440 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 2: I told her that I agreed with that decision. Well, 441 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 2: follow was two plus hours of something I didn't entirely expect, 442 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 2: a frank, unsentimental conversation about the state of the party. 443 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 2: That she had tried to lead, a collaborative effort to 444 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 2: draft letter that said what needed to be said, and 445 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: our first draft, I'll tell you, honestly, was I think 446 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,679 Speaker 2: too focused on her grievances, too much of here is 447 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 2: what was done to me, not enough forward looking clarity 448 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 2: about why she was stepping aside and what she hoped 449 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,159 Speaker 2: would come next. So we went back and forth, and 450 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 2: we redrafted, and we cut and we redirected. And the 451 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 2: letter she sent out yesterday at four fifty nine BM 452 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:35,119 Speaker 2: to meet their extortion deadline says, in part, under the 453 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 2: continued threat of further division, legal attacks, and escalation within 454 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 2: our party, it has become clear that those intent on 455 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 2: prolonging this conflict will not stop. We cannot allow this 456 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 2: party to be weaponized against our efforts to elect more Republicans. 457 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 2: So with great sorrow, I will be resigning from my 458 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 2: roe as Chairman of the Republican Party, effective April seventeen, 459 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 2: following the Republican State Assembly. I believe in my heart 460 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 2: she did the right thing, and I believe that she 461 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 2: did it for the right reason. The Assembly, the candidates, 462 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,479 Speaker 2: the voters who deserve to have Republicans on the ballot 463 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 2: in November. She is staying through April seventeen because she 464 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 2: wants to make sure that that work gets done and 465 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,199 Speaker 2: that matters, and she wants to make sure that the 466 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 2: convention actually goes off as it should. 467 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 4: But as in most of these. 468 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 2: Kinds of stories about the Coloradl Republican Party, here's where 469 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 2: it gets complicated again, because when brother resigns, someone has 470 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 2: to take her place. Right that someone, in all likelihood 471 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 2: will be temporarily at least maybe Russ Andrews, her own secretary, 472 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 2: the man documented coordinating with Dave Williams, who deleted eighty 473 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 2: six percent of his relevant emails, who build the party 474 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 2: fifteen or is trying to build a party fifteen hundred 475 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 2: dollars a month for storing party supplies in his barn 476 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 2: and has threatened to auction them, who actually recruited Horn's 477 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 2: replacement candidate before the no confidence vote even occurred, and 478 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 2: who conditioned his own resignation on a ten thousand dollars 479 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 2: plus expense reimbursement, including a four hundred a night hotel 480 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 2: line item. Now he will temporarily or could temporarily, become 481 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 2: chair of the party. Then there will be a new election. 482 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 2: He might win that election out right, I don't know. 483 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 2: The people who drove Horn out, some of whom were 484 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 2: coordinating with a man prohibited by federal employment from participating 485 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 2: in Colorado politics, will have considerable influence who chairs the 486 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 2: party next. Now think about that sequence carefully. The complaint 487 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 2: against Horn was that she was a poor fundraiser, a 488 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 2: poor coalition builder, too quick to use the party's resources 489 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 2: for legal warfare. 490 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 4: Now that may or may not be true. 491 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 2: The vehicle used to remove her was built and directed 492 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 2: by Dave Williams, the man whose own chairmanship Hey did 493 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:05,960 Speaker 2: that financial ruin. The organizational chaos created the cultural toxicity 494 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 2: that made Bretta's failures possible in the first place. The 495 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 2: cure is being administered by the people who infected the party. 496 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 2: In our conversation yesterday, I told Brett is something I 497 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 2: want to share with you directly because I think it's 498 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:31,080 Speaker 2: the most honest framing of where this Republican Party stands. 499 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 2: I told her, I knew she'd understand this because she's 500 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 2: a firefighter. She knows that sometimes the house cannot be saved. 501 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 2: Sometimes you have to let it burn. 502 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 4: You've seen it. 503 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 2: A house is fully engulfed in flames. So what do 504 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 2: the firefighters do. They turn their hoses on everything around 505 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 2: the house and they let the house burn down to 506 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 2: the ashes, burn down to the foundation. That's the smart 507 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 2: thing to do. But she interrupted me. She said, well, 508 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 2: the house is already burning. But what she needs to 509 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 2: do isn't let it burn. Maybe somebody needs to start 510 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 2: a backfire. If you spend any time in fire country, 511 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 2: you know what a backfire is. It's a controlled burn 512 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 2: that you set deliberately ahead of the main fire to 513 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,719 Speaker 2: consume the fuel before the main fire can reach it. 514 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 4: Now. 515 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 2: I know it's counterintuitive to many people because here you 516 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 2: are fighting fire with fire, but guess what it works. 517 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 2: The backfire sucks the oxygen completely out of the landscape. 518 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 2: The main fire arrives, finds nothing left to consume, and 519 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 2: burns itself out. That's my theory of what her resignation does. 520 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 2: It removes the fuel, It deprives the ongoing conflict of 521 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 2: its organizing principle and ideally if she is right and 522 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 2: I think she is, it creates space for something new.