Perhaps more than ever, money in politics only matters if you don’t have it, unless you’re Tom Tancredo. And there’s only one Tom.

Early fundraising assures us Colorado is facing the most expensive gubernatorial race yet, even before the outside special interest money flows in, before the marijuana industry spreads its political seeds for a defense against Jeff Sessions, and before the TV commercial breaks in October are filled with scary ads and flapping American flags. Attack ads and flapping flags don’t come cheap.

In the Republican primary, Walker Stapleton is the presumed frontrunner not just because he’s a Whitman’s Sampler of a politician. Forgo eight-year record as state treasurer, and you can sample his high name recognition. And if visibility isn’t enough, there’s lots and lots of money to get out his name and message.

The money Stapleton and an aligned Super PAC have raised is daunting, at least $1.8 million between them, all for the uncoordinated push to make Stapleton the first Republican governor since Bill Owens. And on top of that, he has some of Colorado’s best-known names in business, sports and culture ready to put their name behind his – Elway, Shanahan, Anschutz, Stevinson, Coors and Mizel among them.

Money attracts money, so money will be no object for Walker Stapleton.

The same can be said of Jared Polis and his rich Democrat friends (paging Tom Steyer, Tim Gill, Pat Stryker) can cut checks all day long, too. Then again, so can the oil-and-gas industry that convulses at the thought of Polis and a Democratic legislature controlling regulations and a renewable energy agenda. Oil and gas has been building a political machine in Colorado in recent years, skirmishing on local ballot issues and city council races. They’re spoiling to make a stand on the big stage in Colorado. And money is no object.

Stapleton, Polis and Big Oil have the deepest pockets. But money also can cancel out money. Is one side’s 50th 30-second commercial any more effective than the other side’s 50th 30-second commercial? It matters most only if you’ve got five 30-second ads and the other side has 50. It’s an arms race with dollars.

Spare me your tears. Campaigns that matter don’t run on bake sales and spaghetti dinners.

Tom gets by on Tom, however.

For two decades he has been a mainstay in Colorado politics, pounding a drum for tougher immigration enforcement, first as a U.S. congressman, then as a presidential candidate. He attracts an unshakeable base that can’t be lured away by door hangers and yard signs.

When Tancredo jumped in the governor’s race in 2010, up against eventual two-time winner John Hickenlooper, he left the GOP to run on the American Constitution Party’s ticket. The Republican, Dan Maes, was tripped up by controversies and a bad campaign strategy, and Tancredo presented himself as a viable conservative choice.

He got 36 percent of the vote. Maes got a little over 11 percent. In 2014, Tancredo was back in the GOP fold and took on a Republican statesman, Bob Beauprez. In a four-way primary, Beauprez topped Tancredo by just 3.5 points, ahead of then-Secretary of State Scott Gessler and former state Sen. Mike Kopp.

And he’s done it on peanuts, judging from his old campaign finance reports. To push Beauprez, he raised  a total of $838,000, or about what Polis raised in the last quarter and well in the rearview mirror of Stapleton’s first quarter.

Tancredo raised only $74,480. He either hasn’t yet summoned his donors or he’s going to have to run this race on peanut butter sandwiches, old favors and true believers. If there are more than a couple of people on the primary ballot, that’s great for Tancredo. If 30 percent wins the primary, Tancredo has a shot – big bucks versus empty pockets.

He is aligned in so many ways with President Trump. He told me early last year, backstage at a speech by conservative talker Michelle Malkin, that he’d love to be a Trump appointee if it was the right job and he could stay in Colorado. Governor, apparently, is that job.

Andy George leads a Super Pac called Better Colorado Now, the collection fo the biggest names in the state’s political donor class, presumably backing Stapleton. (Presumably only because independent expenditure committees and campaigns can’t coordinate. That’s on paper, but in reality they work together like water and wetness.)

I asked him why money in politics matters and at the same time doesn’t matter.

“Of course money matters in politics,” he said on a Saturday afternoon. “First, the most effective way for a candidate to introduce themselves to voters and educate them about their agenda is through paid advertising. The grassroots elements are also very important, but most voters don’t seek out this information and you need money to reach them.

“Second, financial support is a measure of candidate strength and discipline. Those candidates who launch campaigns but don’t actually raise real dollars are either lacking in support or in effort.”

And there’s one other bypass around big bucks,the major-league player told me. He called it the Trump example.

“When you’re a celebrity and already universally known and the media decides to cover every word that comes out of your mouth 24/7 for eight months, you don’t need to spend that much to get your message out.”

Tancredo, paging Tom Tancredo.