Beauprez takes stock

The former Republican congressman who lost the governor's race to Bill Ritter in November hasn't ruled out a return to the political arena, but . . .

Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, July 30, 2007

LAFAYETTE - Bob Beauprez woke up two mornings after the fall election, still reeling from a landslide defeat, and decided to visit the old family homestead.

That mild November morning, he talked his wife, Claudia, into riding up with him from their Arvada home to the former dairy farm in Lafayette that he had long since developed into the 1,350- home Indian Peaks golf course community.

"It wasn't about playing golf, it was just about getting out on the land," he said.

They hit the links and didn't make it to the third hole before Claudia spoke her mind.

"We ought to move home," she said.

Up for sale went the Arvada house they had moved into in 2002 so that Beauprez could run for Congress in the 7th Congressional District. Soon they moved back into their house on the 17th hole, on the land where Beauprez was born.

"Coming home was exactly the right thing to do," Beauprez said in a recent interview. "It helped the healing a lot."

Nine months after losing his bid for governor, Beauprez, 58, is still recovering from the first major setback in a career in business and politics.

For now, he seems happy and at ease. His friends and family say that's what he needs right now. But they also know he won't be happy drifting for long.

Record of success

Bob Beauprez speaks with a Western drawl and projects a laid-back persona, but he has always pounced on an opportunity.

Whether marketing genetically superior Holstein embryos to cattlemen, converting his family farm into a subdivision, or turning a failing hometown bank into a powerhouse worth $72 million, he's been a success in business.

So, too, in politics. Before his campaign for governor took a nose dive, he righted Colorado's Republican ship as state GOP chairman and won a newly created congressional seat in a 121- vote squeaker.

After two terms in the House, Beauprez grew impatient with the snail's pace of getting things done on Capitol Hill, so he rolled the dice and ran for governor.

"It was the weirdest campaign I've ever been involved in - never could quite get traction," Beauprez said. "We issued policy statement after policy statement on what we would do when I became governor, on transportation, on education, on health care, on water, on the environment, on and on and on, and none of it ever seemed to matter."

The candidate once considered a shoo-in lost by one of the biggest margins in memory for an open governor's seat.

Beauprez friend and real estate developer Steve Schuck said Beauprez's fate was sealed at the primary.

"He was wounded and there were too many nominal Republicans who wanted to be invited to the governor's mansion who abandoned Bob because they smelled his blood in the water," Schuck said. "That combination ended up being fatal."

After the election, Beauprez heard from "a plethora" of friends with ideas for business and political endeavors. Beauprez said he seriously considered many of his friends' pitches. But inevitably, after he gave them some thought, each fell by the wayside.

Then he found the right fit.

He accepted a job heading up a new nonprofit that will be called the Rocky Mountain Community Foundation. Its purpose: to help donors across the West "get their philanthropy done."

Beauprez already had the banking experience to make such a foundation successful and was accustomed to fundraising as a congressman.

The nonprofit will provide donors with alternative, more conservative beneficiaries for their charitable giving. For example, faith-based and charter school causes will probably have a better chance of receiving funding from Rocky Mountain Community Foundation donors than from similar organizations, board members say.

"I think that most traditional community foundations have a more liberal bent and look to government solutions to human and societal challenges," said Schuck, a foundation board member. "This opportunity will provide a vehicle for those of us who have a higher trust of the marketplace."

Wind against the GOP

When he scans the political horizon, Beauprez says the wind is still blowing against his party.

Beauprez says he's not sure it's time to jump back into politics. After briefly considering a run for retiring U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard's seat, he has thrown his support to former congressman Bob Schaffer.

He won't rule out another run for Congress, though he sounds lukewarm about the prospect of a 2008 campaign. Possibilities would include trying to take back his old 7th District seat from Democrat Ed Perlmutter, or a bid for the 2nd District seat Democrat Mark Udall is giving up to run against Schaffer for Senate.

Marge Klein, former district director for Beauprez's Colorado congressional office, has spoken with him about what it would take to get him back into politics. She said the jury is still out.

"I think there would have to be some awful good polls to show that he could do a very good showing," she said. "I think it's just too soon for him to even really think too much about running again."

For now, Beauprez writes a lot. He toys with writing his memoirs.

He maintains an online newsletter, "Line of Sight," which has become an emerging clearinghouse for Western conservative political ideas.

And despite being criticized by some Republicans during his last campaign for not being conservative enough, Beauprez says he remains true to the conservative cause.

He said the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate are making a "very big mistake" in pushing for a mandatory withdrawal of troops from Iraq. He agrees with many of Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo's views on how to curb illegal immigration without offering amnesty, and he thinks governors should try to find a solution to immigration problems.

For the most part, Beauprez resists criticizing the job Gov. Bill Ritter has done so far, though he allows one jab: "Ritter showed up without an agenda. I probably would have hit the ground running a little more."

Beauprez says he already would have urged the state to build more reservoirs. And he would have pushed to put an amendment before voters to replace Colorado's 22.5 cent per gallon gas tax with a 1 percent statewide sales tax increase.

But he's not governor, and for now, Beauprez says he is enjoying life in the slow lane.

'More vibrant right now'

He has played more golf than he ever did since the Indian Peaks course opened in 1993.

"Physically, I see him a lot more vibrant right now," said his brother, Mel Beauprez. "Personally, I'm glad to see him back off and enjoy retirement a little."

Still, his brother said, "I'd like to see him do something."

His biggest fan remains his wife and high school sweetheart, Claudia Beauprez.

"I think Bob has so much to offer, and regardless of what he's doing, he always seems like he's giving," she said. "I want to see him do what makes him happy. I'm so proud of what he has done."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059