Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment – “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican” – is under plenty of stress these days, what with the Miers nomination, the war in Iraq and the burgeoning federal deficit.
But when the stakes get really high, the 11th Commandment simply falls by the wayside. To wit: the GOP gubernatorial race between Marc Holtzman and Bob Beauprez. Holtzman’s campaign has called Beauprez a thief. Beauprez’s campaign has called Holtzman a liar. And that’s just this week.
You’d think they’d be on better terms, if only for Reagan’s sake. Holtzman once worked for Reagan, albeit not as directly as he once let on, and Beauprez served as chairman of the state Republican Party.
The mudslinging between the GOP candidates 10 months before the gubernatorial primary has created a theatrical sideshow that has virtually eclipsed the Republican vs. Republican split over Referendums C and D.
“They’ve gone past the 11th Commandment. They’re into the 12th and 13th,” said political campaign consultant Rick Ridder. “There is greater vituperation here than between presidential candidates with an Iowa caucus three months away. If you call somebody a liar or a thief in October 2005, what kind of negative comments will you make when things really get escalated (in 2006)?”
Colorado College political science Professor Robert Loevy says the 11th Commandment “is famous for being broken.” What’s unusual, he said, is that “this is the kind of thing we expect to see going on in April.” Loevy was not unsympathetic to the combatants. “The first round in the nominating process is just five months away,” he said. “There’s a lot to be said for firing your ammunition now.”
The noise has caught many off guard, because Republicans historically have kept their dirty laundry private. “Democrats with their broad range of interest groups yell and scream at each other all the time,” says Michael Cummings, political scientist at the University of Colorado-Denver. “But Republicans keep their conflicts behind closed doors.”
Holtzman and Beauprez have become the antithesis of Alfonse and Gaston, the early 1900s comic strip characters who tried to outdo each other with politeness. In this case, the two candidates are trying to out-torpedo one another with insults. “These two Colorado Republicans are going against the grain of Republicanism,” Cummings said.
And they’re spending valuable resources to do so even though in the end they will inevitably unify – no hard feelings, old chap.
