Sarah Kendzior of St. Louis has a new book out, “They Knew,” which explores her meditations on “How a culture of conspiracy keeps America complacent.” If that sounds a tad overheated, it should be noted Kendzior’s 2015 prediction that Donald Trump would win the 2016 Presidential race – a conclusion explained in her previous tome, “The View from Flyover Country,” – was one of the few progressive voices, together with that of filmmaker Michael Moore, anticipating Trump’s victory. Alas, she may be on to something again.

This past weekend I heard a bizarre conspiracy theory from a Phoenix-based family member, in town for my father-in-law’s 93rd birthday, regarding the dismal performance of Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos. According to Arizona sportswriters, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll recognized last season that Wilson had lost more than a step or two. He would have to make a change at quarterback, but he appreciated a decade of contributions from his star player. He proposed the Seahawks leak a rumor among NFL teams that Wilson was dissatisfied in Seattle and ready to accept a trade to another franchise. Carroll argued his quarterback could negotiate an eye-popping contract that would guarantee his family finances.

This fishing expedition hooked the Denver Broncos at a time when the team was being sold and front-office attention was focused elsewhere, least of all on Wilson’s diminished skills. Carroll was correct, and his franchise all-star secured a quarter billion-dollar payday from Denver. Presumably, NFL owners across the league are laughing up their sleeves. At least that’s the story being sold in Phoenix.

Whatever truth there may be to the tale, it’s evident the current edition of the Broncos has a knack for bringing out the worst in its opponents and still managing to lose – contests where neither team deserves to win. In recent weeks, Denver fans must be thinking of Casey Stengel’s quip about the 1962 Mets, “can’t anybody here play this game?” I’m not sure whether this conspiracy theory will create complacency at Mile High (the boo-birds were already out in full-throat even as seats were empty during Denver’s last home game), but it’s certainly more palatable than acknowledging that coaching incompetence and management shortcomings are to blame.

One of the major attractions of conspiracy thinking is the opportunity to shift responsibility for failure. If current polls in Colorado’s statewide races hold through Nov. 8, it appears Republicans will be squashed again without winning a single contest. If true, let the finger pointing and blood-letting commence. How did a candidate like Heidi Ganahl – so manifestly unsuited and inexperienced as a campaigner – manage to win her party’s nomination?

Colorado Republicans have passed over or refused to nominate women for major office despite having a number of talented candidates in their ranks. Gale Norton and Lola Spradley leap immediately to mind. In 1980, Secretary of State Mary Estilll Buchanan had to launch a petition campaign to force a primary to challenge Gary Hart. Underfunded and resented by Republican leadership, she still managed a nail-biting finish against the incumbent, which wasn’t called for Hart until Wednesday morning. Without a bizarre press conference conducted from a motel bed she shared with her campaign manager, Buchanan may have won.

Forty-two years later, most ambitious Republicans recognized a race against Jared Polis was likely a fool’s errand. Ganahl, the party’s only statewide elected official, cruised to an easy primary win over nuisance contestants. There are few observers who believe Jared Polis would ever have ascended to the Governor’s Office absent his near billion-dollar fortune. Since first running for the state school board, he has generously dumped money into his campaigns. Eyebrows raised when he spent a million dollars for his school board seat, which he won in a squeaker. He later swamped Senate President Joan Fitzpatrick in a campaign for David Skagg’s vacant congressional seat – which he then held without significant threat for a decade. His decision to enter the governor’s race four years ago scared Ed Perlmutter into abandoning his candidacy, opting to remain in Congress until his retirement this year.

If you’ve watched recent gubernatorial debates between Polis and Ganahl, it’s apparent neither Jared’s placid demeanor nor his declared priorities constitute a political juggernaut. Few Democrats awake asking themselves, “what can I do for Jared’s campaign today?” To be fair, however, the pandemic severely curtailed any first-term policy aspirations. Nonetheless, most voters seem to believe he’s earned the chance to govern the state in normal times. They’re willing to accept his purchase of another four years in office – it is his money. Ganahl, by contrast, sounds her air-raid sirens night and day alleging the governor is executing a conscious strategy to destroy Colorado’s future. You can only sell that kind of conspiracy by assuming voters are stupid. They’re not.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.