If you haven’t heard that Dick Wadhams is the new Chair of the Colorado Republican Party, then you really must not be paying attention. That’s because the Colorado media has been obsessively fawning over Wadhams for months, continuing with this puff piece yesterday from CBS4’s Jim Benemann, titled “Wadhams Ready to Turn Colorado Back to Bright Red”:

Republicans in Colorado may be down but they are not out, especially since they have elected Dick Wadhams as the new Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

Coloradans might not see Dick Wadhams in front of the cameras on election night, but don’t doubt his influence on the races…

…Wadhams has run successful campaigns for Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard and Gov. Bill Owens. Now as the newly elected head of the Colorado Republican party, Wadhams wants to turn an increasingly blue Colorado back to bright red, starting with the race for Allard’s seat. He said that race may end up costing the two candidates $20 million. But with that much money, and the balance of power in Washington at stake, how will candidates keep voters tuned in, especially with the potential for lots of negative ads?

Don’t get me wrong – Wadhams’ election as GOP Chair is news. It’s just that it was news TWO WEEKS AGO.

The revelation that Wadhams would be the next GOP Chair is several months old, and he was formally elected to the post on March 3. Yesterday was March 14. So why do this story now? It’s not like Benemann is doing it because he got an exclusive interview; Wadhams will talk to anything that moves as long as they have press credentials visible somewhere.

The fact that Wadhams continues to make headlines is a big reason why he has been such an effective campaigner for so many years. Wadhams meticulously cultivates his relationships with reporters, and those relationships pay off with embarassingly fluffy pieces like Benemann’s or shamelessly one-sided articles such as this piece last month by The Denver Post’s Jeri Clausing. Wadhams can spin a good yarn with the Colorado media – much better than the Democratic Party – and as long as the press plays along he’ll have a great opportunity to win back seats for Republicans.