DENVER—Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck is rubbing elbows with the party elite in his drive to unseat Sen. Michael Bennet—but some tea party conservatives worry their candidate is moving too far to the center to win the election.
It’s a serious concern for conservatives who complain that their favorites routinely abandon hard-right conservatism to raise money and votes.
“This is the Republican syndrome. They campaign one way and then they change,” complained Bob Enyart, an abortion opponent who leads a Denver group called American Right To Life.
The group withdrew its endorsement of Buck after he said he opposes abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, but wouldn’t use abortion as a litmus test on judicial appointments. Buck also changed his position on a measure on Colorado ballots this fall to outlaw abortion because he said he feared it could ban emergency contraception and some types of fertility treatments.
Other conservatives say they still back Buck—but will watch him closely as he cozies up to Republican leaders.
“I truly believe he’s going down there to shake things up, and he better,” said Rod Herk, a tea party activist in Woodland Park, about 20 miles northwest of Colorado Springs.
“It’s our job to hold them accountable,” said Dudley Brown of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group. “We know he’ll have to work with a number of U.S. senators. However, I believe those senators will be disappointed when he gets to Washington and won’t be part of the good-old-boy network.”
That’s a message Buck is working hard these days to pitch.
“I will not take an oath to the Republican Party,” Buck vowed this week.
Republican leaders don’t seem to mind. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, mentioned as a possible 2012 presidential contender, clapped Buck on the back this week and said Buck’s outsider message still works.
“Ken was touching a nerve with people who want to see a Washington that gets away from this spending and borrowing and taxing,” Thune said before a steakhouse fundraiser for Buck. “It was very effective for him in the primary and I think it’s effective for him now.”
Last week, Mitt Romney headlined a Denver fundraiser for Buck. A few days before, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, feted Buck at a Washington fundraiser.
Buck’s campaign hasn’t reported its third-quarter fundraising. At midsummer, Buck had raised less than $1.3 million. Bennet raised $7.7 million.
Buck did say recently that “life is different now” because of how much money he’s raking in.
Many Republican Senate leaders now stumping for Buck had endorsed his primary opponent, former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. Asked before the August primary if any national Republicans had reached out to him, Buck replied sarcastically: “Yeah, outreach—ha, ha, ha! They’re throwing a lot of fundraisers in D.C. I haven’t been invited to ’em yet.”
He’s invited now.
