Former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Grand Junction) drew headlines last month by saying the Colorado Republican Party needed to run more moderate candidates if it hoped to stop a string of political losses in the state.

But speaking with PolitickerCO.com on Wednesday, McInnis talked at length about the need to bring Republicans of all political stripes together. He also dismissed suggestions that conservatives and moderates were preparing for battle over the Colorado GOP -- with McInnis leading the latter group -- as nothing more than "a distraction, a diversion" by Democrats seeking to cause party infighting.

McInnis said after he made critical remarks about the state GOP to several media organizations late last month, he's fielded one or two phone calls asking him to help shift the party in a more centrist direction.

"No, that's not my role," McInnis said. "I am not thinking about some kind of overthrow or any of that kind of stuff."
 
"Right now the party has elected people -- (Colorado GOP Chair) Dick Wadhams, who I think is very capable -- and those people are the decision-makers," he said. "I think they're very committed after these results. I think they're very committed to listening, and there are a lot of people who want to be heard. So I think the leadership will make the decisions."

However, McInnis emphatically and repeatedly stated that Republicans need to come together and find ways to stem a six-year hemorrhaging of political power in Colorado.

"State house, state senate, U.S. Senate race, governor, second U.S. Senate race, U.S, House. We lost the treasurer's office; we're now about to lose the Secretary of State's office," McInnis said, reeling off a long list of Democratic victories in Colorado since 2002. "As much as (Denver Broncos owner) Pat Bowlen loves (Broncos head coach) Mike Shanahan, if Mike Shanahan had that kind of win-loss, what kind of conversation do you think they would have?"

One priority, McInnis said, is to emulate Colorado Democrats' success at raising money through 527 groups and wealthy benefactors such as the "Gang of Four." McInnis said Republicans need to create well-funded and well-organized 527 fundraising groups of their own.

"Frankly, it's a very effective system (Democrats have), and it's a well-funded system," McInnis said, adding that Republicans should "adopt a model that's working."

McInnis also urged a return to the "big tent" philosophy in which both conservatives and moderates are welcomed into the Republican Party.

"We have a blend -- that's what made our party strong," he said. "Our party strayed with spending, our party strayed with corruption. But after getting a good whipping, we're coming out of the woodshed. A lot of people are saying, ‘Hey, this big tent philosophy works. It doesn't dilute anybody's views. It incorporates a lot of them.'"

The only way to catch a big fish, McInnis said, is by "throwing a lot of bait in the water."

In previous media interviews, McInnis warned that the party needed to run more centrist candidates or alienate the state's independent voters.

 "Our state party is going to need some leadership and some direction changes - or the party is going to be a very minority player in the future," he told the Denver Post on Oct. 29.

On Wednesday, McInnis was much more conciliatory.

"My focus now is not on future office. My focus is saying, ‘Hey, I want to be one of many that help put this party back where this party used to be,'" he said. "We gotta do something."
 
McInnis reiterated past criticism he had made about Wadhams' decision to run Bob Schaffer's U.S. Senate campaign while staying on as state GOP chair.

"[W]e're not doing that anymore," he said. "So if Dick Wadhams runs again for state chairman, we'd be able to have him wearing one hat, full focus on the state party."