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By: Michael de Yoanna

Category: Elevated Voices

Posted: September 2, 2010 7:21 AM

Can Dan Maes Salvage His Campaign?

The Republican's gubernatorial bid continues to crumble amid new questions about his "undercover" police work.

First there were questions over Dan Maes' handling of campaign finance. Then came inquiries about his seemingly overstated business prowess. And yet another problem arose this week, when it was discovered that Maes' claim to have worked "undercover" for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation might not be true, according to The Denver Post.

The paper has been investigating a statement from Maes' website (which is no longer available) that while undercover he "got too close to some significant people in the community who were involved in these activities and abruptly was dismissed from my position." When officials in Kansas disputed the claim this week, Maes, Colorado's Republican nominee for governor, backed down, saying, "Some people are probably taking that a little too literally."

Now, Maes has lost the endorsement of a highly respected Republican: former U.S. Senator and University of Colorado president Hank Brown, who is "looking around" for a new candidate, writes the Post, in a separate article.

That may also be the case for the Republican Governors Association, which has summoned Maes to Washington, D.C., reports Fox 31. While the RGA could talk to Maes about campaign funds that were slated for Scott McInnis before a plagiarism scandal dampened his hopes, it is "also possible that the RGA was making one last effort to convince Maes to drop out of the race so Colorado's GOP executive committee can appoint a replacement."

Meanwhile, Colorado College political science professor Bob Loevy has some words of wisdom about politicians in situations like Maes'. "When people don’t have much of a record, they tend to inflate it. Usually there is a grain of truth to what they are saying," Loevy tells The Colorado Independent. "They take a minor event and turn it into a major event. Then, their candidacy takes off or they win a major nomination, and people start going through their record and asking questions."

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