In politics, as in life, you should always expect the unexpected. But, of course, politics takes these things a couple of steps furthermeaning you should also expect the unbelievable.
Then, if you’re really lucky, occasionally you get to witness the unbelievably weird.
And so, I give you Josh Penry, up- and-coming star . . . campaign manager.
No, I can’t explain it either.
I had to ask him myself just to make sure it was true that Penry — the one-time gubernatorial hopeful — had actually signed on to be campaign manager for Jane Norton’s senatorial race.
I don’t know whether anyone has ever taken this exact path in a single campaign season, but Penry assured me it was indeed true. He admitted it was unorthodox. He said that even his friends were asking him what he could possibly be thinking.
Penry explained it was a “gut decision” and joked — I think — that “I’m totally ill-equipped for the job and am destined to be a failure.”
In any case, he laughed when I asked whether he wasn’t trying to be the Republican version of poor Andrew Romanoff — looking for some race, any race, in which to run, in whatever capacity.
Actually, Romanoff, in finally deciding to challenge Michael Bennet, has something to gain. If he wins his primary, he actually gets to run for the U.S. Senate. If Norton wins her primary, she gets to run for the Senate. Penry, meanwhile, gets to try to patch up the inevitable hurt feelings from among his fellow conservatives — the ones he hopes will vote for him in a race someday.
Why would Penry do it? He was campaigning hard for his old mentor, Scott McInnis. He was working hard for Republicans running for the legislature. He has that part-time job, at least for now, as state Senate minority leader.
“There’s one reason,” he said. “I love Jane Norton. I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else. I got the call from the bullpen, and here I am.”
Like many of you, I’m still not sure which Norton is running among the many Colorado Nortons. But I know who Penry is. If you have been paying any attention, you know that Penry is the 34-year-old star of the Colorado Republican firmament. You know he entered the gubernatorial primary race against McInnis and then, surprisingly, dropped out.
He explained his decision, saying he didn’t want to be remembered as the Marc Holtzman of the 2010 race. That was a reference to the damage Holtzman did to Bob Beauprez in their 2006 primary fight. Penry said it would inevitably get ugly between him and McInnis, and he didn’t want to be blamed for a Republican defeat.
That was so long ago that Gov. Bill Ritter was still in the race. It was so long ago that people were using the term “Platform for Prosperity” without smirking.
At the time, I asked whether Penry had jumped from the race or had been pushed. It turned out, it was a little of both. McInnis’ people begged him to drop out. There were also family considerations. There was his youth. There was the question of whether the timing was right.
And now?
Well, he clearly won’t be Marc Holtzman. But it looks like he might be Dick Wadhams, and you can take that any way you like.
Let’s just say Penry isn’t taking the anticipated career path. It is rare to make the move from being a would- be star candidate only to become someone else’s campaign manager and then expect to resume the starring role someday.
We know why Norton wanted him. She is in desperate need of help. Somehow, no matter what she says, whether it’s about adopting a flat tax or dumping the Department of Education, she is accused of not being conservative enough. She has issues. She did, of course, support Ref C when she was Bill Owens’ lieutenant governor. She has John McCain connections, which are the wrong connections for any Republican in 2010.
Once, she was an overwhelming favorite to be the nominee. Now, she is petitioning her way onto the ballot — pointing out, as she made the decision, that it’s what Bennet was doing on the Democratic side. And it’s no surprise that the national media are now starting to ask who Ken Buck is.
You would think if Penry were getting into the race at this stage, he would be itching to get into the race himself.
He is a frontman all the way. I mean, he was a college quarterback, not a left tackle.
Can Penry stay in the background? You think the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow to block for Kyle Orton?
Wadhams was frontman for two successful Wayne Allard senatorial campaigns. Could that be the plan?
Penry says the plan is for Norton to come out fighting and that his job is to find a way to “let Jane be Jane.”
Maybe. I just never would have thought that this is how Josh would end up being Josh.
Mike Littwin writes Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-5428 or mlittwin@denverpost.com.
