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The safest bet in politics this week is that the forces of Trump will relegate Colorado’s GOP delegation to the back of the bus.
Already assigned to what one cable news network called the worst seats in Quicken Loans Arena, the Centennial State contingent left the venue in protest on Monday after the party’s rules committee declined to hold a roll call vote concerning the convention rules.
Colorado is at the center of the so-called “Never Trump” movement that tried to unbind delegates and allow them to vote with their conscience. The thinking was that if enough delegates expressed buyer’s remorse over having chosen Donald Trump during the primaries, it might open the door to a floor fight over an alternative candidate. This was always going to be a Hail Mary pass, one that party leaders quickly batted down via a voice vote after a frenzied few moments of convention-floor lobbying.
The anti-Trump activists responded angrily to the thwarting, and the Colorado delegates temporarily left the arena. While they returned a few hours later, Kendal Unruh, one of the delegates who lead the walkout, told Vox on Monday night that more actions could come on Tuesday. The state’s representatives were destined to be neglected and ignored this week, as Trump has repeatedly called’s Colorado’s caucus system “rigged” since all of the state’s delegates were awarded to Ted Cruz in March. (Our state did away with the presidential preference poll at GOP caucuses this year, which means that the delegates don’t truly represent voters’ wishes.)
Meanwhile, Colorado GOP Senate nominee Darryl Glenn’s speech didn’t make as big a splash as he hoped. Placed in a time slot that began about 20 minutes before the major networks went live, his words played mostly in the background of the cable networks’ continuous coverage. Those who watched it in person characterized it as about what we expected, with plenty of conservative applause lines. But they also recognized what a missed opportunity it was for Glenn and the party.
But like every other speaker on Monday night, Glenn’s words were overshadowed by the hubbub that arose after Trump’s wife, Melania, was discovered to have lifted a few passages almost verbatim from Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, a gaffe that had even Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, calling for someone to be fired. Maybe they could have Trump himself do it in The Apprentice boardroom.
And it’s only day one…