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Star touts Beauprez

Massachusetts guv Romney speaks in Greenwood Village

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 26, 2006 at midnight

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Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a possible Republican presidential contender, used his rising star power to energize Bob Beauprez's Colorado gubernatorial bid Wednesday.

Romney praised Beauprez as a bold leader who will carry on the trailblazing legacy of Gov. Bill Owens. He said that unlike Democrats, Beauprez isn't shackled by special-interest obligations that prevent him from revamping public education or the state health care system.

"Republican governors are increasingly associated, not just with public safety and transportation and keeping government running well and lean . . . but you're seeing Republican governors are known for improving schools and education and the environment," Romney told 100 state Republican power players, including Owens, at the Cool River Cafe in Greenwood Village.

"We care about those things just as much as Democrats do, and we have one big advantage: . . . We're not tied to any special interest."

With less than two weeks until Election Day, Romney urged people to rally voters for Beauprez, calling him "this great new governor here who's going to fight for one thing: the people of this great state."

Romney's remarks echo those of Beauprez, who says Democratic opponent Bill Ritter won't shake up the education system or maintain lawsuit damage limits because the former Denver district attorney is too beholden to teachers unions and trial lawyers.

Ritter has publicly called the congressman's claim "horse hooey."

Romney was preaching to the GOP choir when he said: "My friends in the Democratic Party are so tied to the teachers union that sometimes it makes it very hard for them to look at the bold and bright ideas that came that are totally nonpartisan."

Likewise, he said, ties to trial lawyers and labor unions handcuff Democrats' freedom on health care reform.

Beauprez predicted that Romney's "biggest lasting legacy as governor of Massachusetts will be health care reform," adding that as Colorado governor he might borrow some "good ideas" from the state-mandated health insurance plan that Romney signed into law.

But it's been Ritter who has most often praised the nationally watched Massachusetts' health care experiment. Beauprez has in the past called Romney's program "noble if the effort is to give everyone you can insurance coverage," but said he prefers a free-market fix over health care mandates on business.