As Brian T. Campbell Sr. and I stood on the East steps (yes the East steps) of the Colorado State Capitol on February 27th of 2009 at the first Denver metro Tea Party, we were encouraged by the obvious unity of the some 250 – 300 persons in attendance.

We also shared with each other the same question, what issues could destroy what we saw growing before us?

One of those issues we thought, could be, disagreement on candidates.

Will the current disagreement between groups and individuals about the Colorado governors race destroy the Liberty movement in the state?

I don’t know, I kind of doubt it.

But the risk does exist as the animosity seems to be on the increase.

I angered and lost some allies when Tom Tancredo entered the race as a third party candidate and I expressed my belief that to enter the race as he did was not a move I, personally, supported.

People actually choose to disassociate with me because I held and continue to hold that belief.

This without my having said anything about if I believed him qualified or not to be governor of Colorado.

Wednesday evening Hear Us Now pulled it’s endorsement of Dan Maes.

The ‘fall out’ has actually been minimal, so far.

We took a few very nasty emails, lost a couple of people on our email list (gained 24 on our email list), lost a few Facebook associates and have been removed from the email list of other organizations.

This is all well and fine.

As a co-founder of Hear Us Now I state that we have, in all things, acted in honesty and with integrity and if we ceased to exist as a group tomorrow, I’m fine with going out like that.

My concern is with the sentiment of the few emails we took against our decision to pull our endorsement of Maes and with many of the messages I see across Facebook and in some email threads.

It seems that some believe they cannot be disagreed with.

There exists a core of people who support Tom Tancredo in this race and believe that a vote for Maes is not a vote based upon principle.

Clearly there is as well a core of people who also question an individuals commitment to conservatism, the Liberty movement and the state of Colorado if they are not in support of Dan Maes.

If John Hickenlooper is elected governor of Colorado, some are going to blame Maes supporters and others will blame Tancredo supporters.

Some will never get past the fact that their candidate was not elected and are going to refuse (and already are refusing) to work with those individuals and groups who supported the “other” candidate.

I state flatly; if there is no room in the Liberty movement for disagreement then there is no Liberty in the Liberty movement.

The Hear Us Now committee met at 5:30 Wednesday morning to make a final decision regarding our continued endorsement of Republican candidate for Colorado Governor, Dan Maes.

We have, in the days following the Republican primary met and discussed, several times our growing concern and dissatisfaction with the Maes campaign.

A final decision was reached by the committee Wednesday morning to rescind our endorsement of Dan Maes.

It’s been no secret among some groups involved in the Liberty movement that we have been considering withdrawing our endorsement.

While some have challenged us suggesting that perhaps we, as a Liberty group, would not be standing on principles were we to withdraw our endorsement, we disagree.

We believe that the principles of the Liberty movement require us to cease any further support of Mr. Maes.

I have been assured that were we to withdraw our endorsement, our group would be “shunned”.

If that is the case, then so be it.

So, today we join CRL and former Senator Hank Brown as we withdraw our endorsement of Dan Maes for Governor of Colorado.

The letter to the Maes campaign is posted directly below. Click on it to download a more viewable copy in PDF form.

This is something we’ve posted before, but some messages are worth the repeating from time to time.

In reaction to the Congressional approval of the Declaration of Independence, George Washington issued the following orders.

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves, whether they are to have property they can call their own, whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them.

The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.

Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance or the most abject submission. This is all we can expect. We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die.

Our country’s honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail we shall become infamous to the whole world.

Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.

The eye’s of all our countrymen are upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises if, happily, we are the instrument of saving them from the tyranny mediated against them.

Let us therefore animate and encourage each other and show the whole world that a freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

General George Washington, 1776

November 2nd is, as George Washington put it, near at hand.

In understand fully that the context of this message was of a newly birthed nation which was in a physical conflict with an oppressor and that we are not now in such a physical conflict with those who wish to oppress us.

I however, also understand that we are in a very real conflict and that what is before us is in fact no less a struggle for freedom and liberty than was that which loomed before those who founded this nation.

Are you to be a freeman or a slave?

Are your children to be freemen or slaves?

The fate of this nation does indeed depend upon your courage, your willingness to sacrifice time and resources, your willingness to do the right thing as well as your personal conduct and our collective conduct.

I assure you, that you have something to offer and that you are needed in this task that is before us.

If you are unwilling to give of yourself then the fight is lost, it is going to take all of us.

Not only are your fellow Americans watching us, the whole of the world is watching us.

Other nations have predicted the demise of this nation and the death watch has begun, we can and should prove them wrong. We can demonstrate to them that we will neither hand over our freedom nor allow it to be stolen from us.

In all the years previous we have indeed made a difference, a negative difference, by electing men and women void of character.

By electing men and women who had no care or concern for your freedoms as an individual but their own power instead.

By allowing those men and women, once exposed, to remain indefinitely in elected office. By accepting the liberty stealing and slavish laws they implement.

The fault is ours, but this is the year when we can begin to redeem ourselves and take back the future of our children and preserve what our founders and so many since them had sacrificed so greatly for.

There are many good Tea Party and 9.12 Project groups in Colorado and around the nation.

Find one here and join with them or even begin your own.

You have something to offer, you are absolutely needed and, if you have not been, it is time you became involved.

Find your candidate, support them with your time, talent and money.

Please join Broomfield 912 September 13th at 11:00 AM at the west steps of the Colorado state capitol for the We ARE The People Rally (see the flier below).

As a part of the We ARE The People Rally Hear Us Now will be conducting an essay contest on behalf of Broomfield 912 for this event.

The winner of the essay contest will have their essay and personal bio printed in Liberty Ink Journal as well as provided the option to read their speech at the rally.

The contest is open to ages 12 – 17.

The theme of the contest is “How The Constitution Is Relevant To Me”.

All submissions should be emailed to

This will make a great project and history lesson for your children, please encourage them to take part in this contest.

We sure hope to see you Monday September 13 at the Colorado state capitol.

A little over a month and a half after the Rasmussen Reports showed Colorado to be the leading Tea Party state, a Gallup Poll shows it to be 6th in a list of the top ten liberal states.

I’ve considered Colorado a liberal state since the second I first moved here, but I was a little surprised to see it in a list of the top ten liberal states.

However, it’s not as bad news as some might first think.

According to the polling, which took place between January and June of this year, 27% of those who live in Colorado consider themselves liberals.

That means a majority of Coloradans (73%) do not consider themselves liberal.

Of the remaining 73%, I do not know how many consider themselves Conservatives, Libertarians or Independents.

What I do know, going back to the Rasmussen Reports findings, is that one out of every three Colorado voters are a part of the Tea Party.

So in response to those emails I received expressing concern about the results of this particular Gallup poll, I believe the pro-liberty movement is in fine shape in Colorado.

No matter if Colorado were 27% liberal or 99% liberal, we will continue to fight the fight and do our part to steer this nation back to fiscal responsibility and Constitutional adherence.