The Republican Party I grew up knowing was the party of small business, big business, and job creation. It was the party that signed paychecks and built economies and legacies.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan swept Colorado in nearly every county, including Denver and Boulder. By 1988, Michael Dukakis, a Democrat who lost to George H.W. Bush, won Adams, Boulder, and Denver Counties and those counties have been blue since. At the time, I was sitting on the floor in the back of the League of Women Voters meeting in Castle Rock, likely bored out of my gourd and hoping for a Dairy Queen stop on the way home. The issues discussed at those meetings were of actual consequence to voters on both sides of the aisle. We have strayed away from good sense and doing what is best for people. 

In most rural counties, public transportation and bike trails are far from the top of voters’ priority lists. In most rural counties, affordable healthcare fails to include them, and renewable energy initiatives are shoved forward despite them. The Workers’ Party is showing up for the photo ops but failing to do what is best for the part of Colorado that foots the bill.

The Cargill lockout is continuing in Ft. Morgan, and I drove through town yesterday and wondered about the workers and the issues that drive them to vote one way or another. Democrats Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser have, of course, been out and standing with the workers during negotiations with Cargill. I’ll be the first to appreciate the importance of a skilled, affordable, and dependable workforce, but the fallout is becoming apparent in Ft. Morgan. Fuel stations and truck washouts are notably quiet while the main drag is full of bullhorn chants and signs, and the biggest loser if an agreement isn’t reached is the community.  

Notably absent from supporting rural legislators in passing the bill to raise the overtime threshold for agricultural workers was the union that represents Cargill employees. This is in no way surprising, but some of the businesses most hamstrung by overtime requirements were feedyards and dairies, the sources for the cattle those employees were processing. It passed without them but was another missed opportunity to read the room and dance with the one who brought them.  

It’s not too late for the Colorado GOP to return to the priorities of earlier years because, honestly, most conservative voters never strayed from their core priorities and beliefs, even when their party went off the rails. My Republican party believes in building businesses and treating employees fairly because when a business in rural Colorado is successful, the communities it operates in are successful. My Republican party supports private property rights and takes great pride in caring for the land from which they make a life and a living. My Republican party protects people, creates safe communities, and believes in the rule of law. My Republican party is the party of good sense and the big picture and moving through the world with eyes wide open to make decisions that benefit people. My Republican party believes in feeding people, and my Republican party has room at the table but isn’t afraid to show bad actors the door. Now is the time to come to the table and make good faith efforts before good people show themselves out. 

At the risk of ruining what began as a good column, I’ll spill ink on Victor Marx, a man who needs to show himself out. There’s no doubt that the Republican party in Colorado is a shambles, and it will remain a wreck until leaders step forward who are interested in stakeholder representation and not stardom. Marx certainly made a splashy debut, but he is in no way qualified to do anything of consequence.

Kyle Clark’s interview should make that clear to voters. Clark, who I appreciate for his willingness to call it as he sees it, didn’t have to even break a sweat to reveal Marx’s faults. It would be a grave error to allow distaste for Clark’s persona to overshadow what his simple questions allowed Marx to reveal about himself.  It’s unlikely that a Republican can win the state but handing this man – along with his dishonesty that comes at the expense of actual victims, his bizarre claims about exorcisms, dead men, dead cats, and ISIS strikes – the nomination could be the last straw for voters. It would certainly be a gift to Democratic candidates, late-night television show hosts, and salty columnists. 

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agriculture publication.