Elephants able to forget

Ritter speech led to GOP advice: Ignore his name

Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 15, 2007 at midnight

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Republican talking point No. 1: "Avoid saying, 'Gov. Ritter' or 'Bill Ritter.' He needs no help from us with name recognition, so try to stick with 'the governor' or 'our new governor.' "

That was the "general suggestion" for media interviews that GOP representatives got from their House Minority Office during Ritter's first State of the State speech on Jan. 11.

Ritter, a Democrat, had just assumed the governor's post.

That morning, Ritter's office released advance copies of the his speech. They quickly found their way into the office of the House minority.

There, staffers quickly scanned the text, identified themes they wanted to emphasize or take issue with, typed up their bulleted thoughts, and circulated their talking points to as many Republican representatives and senators as they could find, by then seated in the House chambers and listening to Ritter deliver the remarks.

Agree and disagree

Suggested were "points of response," such as telling reporters that Republicans agreed with "the governor" on government efficiency, accountability and illegal immigration.

They then went into a list of seven points on which Republicans didn't agree, including "government not the solution" and "role of unions/special interests."

The House Minority Office provided copies of the talking points and other documents this week in response to a Colorado Open Records Act request for correspondence regarding union issues. The Rocky Mountain News filed identical requests with the offices of the House majority, as well as the majority and minority Senate offices.

Much of the Democratic correspondence focused on a bill that would have made it easier for unions to organize workers, which the governor vetoed.

Many union members and Democrats wrote to encourage legislators to keep pushing the cause for labor, while many others, including fellow Democrats, voiced displeasure with the bill.

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said he didn't write or remember the admonition not to use Ritter's name.

"I mention his name all the time, so I don't pay too much attention (to the talking points)," he said.

Responses from the House Majority Office did not turn up talking points, and the House majority's spokeswoman said that's because it doesn't have talking points on union issues.

House Republicans, on the other hand, have plenty. The documents suggest that, ever since Ritter took office, GOP staffers have been developing a strategy to divide and conquer the Democrats' control over state government by emphasizing tax hikes and unions in state government as bad ideas.

Romanoff: 'I'm flattered'

Republican talking point No. 2: "Don't forget the property tax hike and union bosses.'"

This was the advice May received as his staff prepared him to deliver remarks to the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation on Aug. 17, alongside House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat.

"We no longer have a Republican gatekeeper to help protect business from harmful proposals or from the influence of union bosses," the talking points advised May to say. "We cannot afford to allow Colorado's economy and business community to be sacrificed for political gain."

"I'm flattered to make the list of talking points," Romanoff said in an interview.

"It sounds like they're spending more time pointing fingers and picking fights than solving problems."

Words in their mouths

Here are some of the House GOP talking points in response to Gov. Bill Ritter's State of the State speech:

• "I was pleased to see the governor recognize that illegal immigration is still a problem. This has not been the message from the Democrats in the legislature, so I hope that the governor will join us in our commitment to protect our citizens from the symptoms of our national government's inaction on this issue."

• "The Democrats owe a lot to unions and other special interest groups who helped them get where they are today."

• "The governor promised in his speech that he would always listen to all of us, yet in that same speech he issued two executive orders on divisive issues. I was concerned to see that he will be involving state government in the health care business with a multi-state drug-purchasing pool. I was also concerned to hear him say he would issue a renewable energy mandate."

• "Need to act now - Health Care: . . . We cannot wait for another election cycle, another year of studies, another year of talk, while the problem continues to grow. Surely, on this issue we can bridge the partisan divide and put Colorado's families first."

• "Expanding government: The governor mentioned the word 'invest' almost a half dozen times in his speech . . . The governor has ambitious goals and has not provided much information about how he plans to fund those goals . . . With a state government that already spends more than 16 billion tax dollars a year, we cannot afford to have a governor who wants to significantly increase spending."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059

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