The latest Denver Post poll is a testament to how far embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis has tumbled after recent plagiarism allegations. Not only has the former GOP front-runner lost ground to rival Dan Maes, he's trailing someone who hasn't even officially thrown his hat into the race: Tom Tancredo. The former U.S. Representative, best known for his hard-line stance on illegal-immigration, is now seen among Colorado Republicans as the "strongest" candidate for governor, coming in 10 percentage points higher than McInnis in the latest polling. While Tancredo was certainly flattered ("I was flabbergasted") by the results, he has yet to declare that he's officially in (although he's cryptically stated that he's considering some "unconventional methods") Is Tancredo an ideal pick for Republicans?  Pundits weigh in:

• Please Say It's Just a Grand Old Prank scoffs The Denver Post's Mike Littwin. "If Republicans wanted to push Democrats to the polls, they could come up with no better plan than putting Tancredo on the ballot. What I mean is, 'Mad Men' is a TV show — returning, by the way, next Sunday — not a campaign strategy."

• Looking at a Tancredo Candidacy Tom Jensen at Public Policy Polling parses earlier polls for a comparison. "It's possible that Tancredo would not wear well as a statewide candidate, but it's hard to make the argument that you can with some of the other more extreme GOP hopefuls across the country that voters didn't know them initially and that the better they get to know them the less they'll like them, i.e. Rand Paul."

• A Political Encore? Tancredo may be getting Republicans excited, but that doesn't necessarily mean that McInnis will be dropping out, Washington Time's writer Valerie Richardson notes: "Even Republicans who think Mr. McInnis has no shot aren't pushing him out the door just yet. Party insiders acknowledge that the best-case scenario would be for Mr. McInnis to stay in the race, win the Aug. 10 primary and then immediately drop out."

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Erik Hayden