ken_buckIf you thought former state Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton was going to have an easy run for the Republican Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, you haven’t been keeping your eye on Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck.

While Norton seems to have wooed the party establishment, Buck, who’d rather have the shot at ousting Democratic Senator Michael Bennet in the 2010 race, told the Pachyderms of Pueblo, a group of the city’s Republicans, he’s going to reach out to the grassroots. His strategy is similar to that of Colorado’s last Republican senator, Wayne Allard, who retired in 2008.

The “Wayne Allard model” of campaigning, Buck says, means he’ll visit all 64 counties in Colorado to build support, writes The Pueblo Chieftain. Buck acknowledges he lags Norton in funding, but her money, he claims, is tantamount to GOP leaders “anointing” her the nominee: “We cannot have an anointed senator.”

Buck had harsher words for Norton—and her family—recently in Estes Park, according to the Trail-Gazette. Asked to contrast himself with his opponents, Buck labeled Norton a former lobbyist, adding, “Her husband is a lobbyist. Her daughter, sister, and brother-in-law are all lobbyists.”