A former Republican congressman from Colorado criticized Bob Beauprez's gubernatorial campaign Friday, complaining that its top staffers don't have the skills or experience to run a successful statewide race.

Scott McInnis, who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district for 12 years until leaving office in 2004, said that Beauprez's sliding poll numbers are a reflection of a campaign staff that's not up to the task, and singled out two officials for failing to get the job done right.

"Running for governor is big league, and big time, and it requires a lot of sophistication," McInnis said. But handing the race over to the people running Beauprez's campaign "is like putting a high school quarterback on the Denver Broncos and having him start the game."

McInnis let loose with his frustrations Friday, the same day a Rocky Mountain News/CBS 4 poll of likely voters showed Democratic candidate Bill Ritter leading U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, a Republican from Arvada, by a surprising 17 points in the governor's contest.

"I guess I wouldn't be so discouraged if we didn't have a great candidate and the odds were stacked against us, but in my opinion this was Beauprez's (race) to lose," McInnis said. "As you can tell by (Friday) morning's newspaper . . . we're losing it. That's tough to take when you have a good candidate."

McInnis said he likes Beauprez's campaign manager John Marshall, and another top advisor, Shari Williams, but said they aren't experienced enough for their roles. "You need a varsity squad for a campaign team, and that team doesn't have it," McInnis said.

Asked if he had any advice for the campaign, McInnis said: "That campaign is not inclined to take any advice from me, they think things are going just cheerily."

Beauprez campaign officials didn't return messages Friday, but a top Beauprez supporter and GOP heavyweight, Bruce Benson, called McInnis' criticism unfair.

"Like every campaign (Beauprez's) had growing pains and stumbles. Show me one that hasn't," Benson said. "Scott or anyone else can make all the criticisms they want. I'd ask people to think of their own campaigns" and the mistakes they made.

Benson, along with Republican strategist Walt Klein, said Beauprez had to climb out of a tough primary campaign against Marc Holtzman, while Ritter has benefited from easy sailing over the past year, with no Democratic opposition.

"(Ritter's) been in a position where all he had to do was go around the state and keep his head down while other people were throwing things at Beauprez," Klein said.

Benson scoffed at the numbers in the News poll showing 50 percent of likely voters choosing Ritter and 33 percent choosing Beauprez. He called the poll inaccurate, and said it overstated Ritter's advantage by seven or eight points. And he painted a rosy picture for the days ahead.

"I think the problems in the Beauprez campaign are behind us," Benson said.

McInnis said it's fair to pin some of Beauprez's struggles on a national mood that polls show has soured on Republicans. But he said that's all the more reason he needs a stronger campaign team.