U.S. Rep. Ken Buck says there’s a clear reason unaffiliated voters have taken the lead in registration numbers in Colorado – ahead of both Republicans and Democrats – and there’s a simple way for the GOP to win their allegiance.

“You know why the purple, the unaffiliateds are the highest?” the Windsor Republican asked members of the state GOP central committee on Saturday at its reorganization meeting at Englewood High School. “It’s because they don’t like Republicans, and they don’t like Democrats, and they’re voting unaffiliated. And the reason they don’t like Republicans is because we’re not bold enough.”

Unaffiliated voters have accounted for the highest share of Colorado’s active, registered voters for some time, followed by Democrats and then Republicans. According to the latest figures, updated on Saturday by the Colorado secretary of state, of the state’s 3,318,168 active voters, 1,161,597 are unaffiliated, making up an even 35 percent, while the Democrats number 1,050,167, or 31.6 percent, just slightly ahead of the 1,044,715 Republicans, or 31.5 percent.

“It’s not because we’re not conservative enough, it’s not because we’re not Republican enough,” Buck said. “It’s because we’re not bold enough. Folks want us to solve problems, and they want the problems solved now. They don’t want Obamacare Lite, they don’t want the tax-and-spend policies of the left to be just a little bit less than what the left wants. They want something bold, and they’re expecting us to do it.”

Buck, an unabashed conservative and member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, is serving his second term representing the heavily Republican 4th Congressional District.

A book Buck has written, “Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption is Worse than You Think,” published by conservative imprint Regnery Publishing, will be released on April 11.

Last week, President Donald Trump toasted the congressman on Twitter with a shout-out linking to an opinion article written by Buck in support of Republican-authored legislation that would have repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. GOP leaders canceled a vote on the bill in the House when it appeared it lacked sufficient support from Republicans – including several prominent members of the Freedom Caucus – to pass out of the chamber.

Buck said he believes Republicans are risking their hold on the reins of power if they don’t start getting more assertive.

“They’re expecting our candidates for governor in 2018 to do bold things, and they’re expecting us to do bold things in Washington, D.C., and we need to give them what they want or they will take that power away from us,” he said. “They gave us the House, they gave us the Senate and they gave us the White House. If all we do is had them Democrat Lite, we will get all those taken away from us in no time.”

For instance, Buck maintained, the key to reforming the health care system is to avoid getting bogged down in managing the health insurance market. “People want their health insurance rates to go down, and the way health insurance premiums is for health care costs to go down,” he said.

“Don’t focus on the insurance market. Focus on health care costs. Drop those costs down, and health insurance will go down. Increase competition in the marketplace for health insurance, then those costs will go down. If all we do is give a little bit less here and a little bit less there, we’re not going to solve that problem, and we need to solve that problem.”

“Folks – think bold, think bright colors,” he added.

Then, noting that an earlier speaker at the reorganization meeting had declared that the Republican Party “needs architects and not arsonists,” Buck said that reminded him of a well known quote by Samuel Adams, one of the rowdier Founding Fathers.

“‘It does not take a majority to prevail,'” Buck quoted, “‘but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.'”

Gazing firmly at the auditorium filled with fellow Republicans, Buck shrugged slightly.

“Now, I’m not suggesting we need to commit full-fledged arson, but I am suggesting we need to set those brushfires again, because today is a day for a new start of a patriotic future,” he said.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com