Blake: Yes, other statewide candidates are seeking your vote

Published June 10, 2006 at midnight

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While media attention is focused on Marc Holtzman's quixotic campaign for governor, down-ticket candidates are touring the state and trying to raise money in publicity-free anonymity.

Democrats are learning, for instance, that they have two unrelated candidates named O'Brien running for statewide office. Barbara is Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter's choice for running-mate; Fern is the candidate for attorney general.

"Barbara says a few people have called her Fern," said Fern. "And a few people have called me Barbara. It's an honor to be confused with her."

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, a husband-and-wife team is running two separate campaigns. Rich Coolidge is managing Attorney General John Suthers' effort to get elected to the post Gov. Bill Owens appointed him to after Ken Salazar went to the Senate; his wife Tiffany Coolidge is in charge of former state Sen. Mark Hillman's campaign for state treasurer.

"Our dates entail Lincoln Day dinners" in remote counties, Rich Coolidge said Friday.

The two met while working on Owens' re-election campaign in 2002.

Hillman, who served as interim treasurer while incumbent Mike Coffman was in Iraq, is running against Cary Kennedy. She's best known for spearheading the campaign for Amendment 23 in 2000. It substantially boosted state spending on public schools and made sure it couldn't be cut for years.

Indeed she likes to make funding for education a major platform in her campaign. In addition to promising fiscal responsibility and effective management of the state's investment portfolio - the usual issues in a treasurer's race - she talks about the importance of not cutting school funding. "People all over the state respond to that," she says.

And she likes to point out that she supported Referendum C - "because it gave Colorado a true and honest balanced budget" - while Hillman did not.

Hillman is unapologetic about his efforts to cut education funds during the state's recent economic downturn.

"I believe in getting more from your tax dollars rather than more of your tax dollars," he says. "I don't think any part of the budget should be isolated from economic reality." The state funds that went into education had to be cut from other parts of the budget, he notes.

Both treasurer candidates are campaigning nearly full-time, although Hillman is also trying to keep his farm near Burlington going.

Although Kennedy has never run for office before, and doesn't enjoy Hillman's higher profile, she's been able to match him in fund-raising. She had $130,000 in cash at the end of May; Hillman had $126,000. "She knows how to shake the Democratic money tree," Hillman said grudgingly.

Kennedy has been able to keep expenses down by running her campaign out of her Denver home. Hillman has a small office in Highlands Ranch.

But she just hired a campaign manager: Eric Rothaus, until recently a deputy attorney general.

Neither candidate for attorney general is campaigning full time, but that probably works more to Suthers' advantage than to O'Brien's. After all, he can use his incumbency as a campaign tool.

For instance, this week he announced the indictments of 10 people who were allegedly involved in defrauding nonprofits out of bingo and pull-tab proceeds. And two weeks ago he announced the indictments of 11 people who are said to have run a burglary ring along the Interstate 25 corridor.

The free media that comes from announcing the indictments of bad guys by the state grand jury has to be worth two or three Lincoln Day dinner appearances. Expect more indictments between now and November.

Meanwhile, O'Brien says she has to keep working at least part-time at her regular job as an attorney specializing in business and real estate law. She doesn't expect to campaign full-time until later in the fall.

Until then she'll try to make do by promising to be more of an activist in economic matters than Suthers. Like Democrats nationwide, she'd try to investigate alleged "price gouging" by oil companies, whereas Suthers would chalk up higher prices to market forces.

O'Brien is employing one money-saving technique: She's time-sharing her political strategist, Jim Merlino, as though he were a vacation condo. His other employer: Peggy Lamm, one of three Democratic candidates in the 7th Congressional District.

Suthers had a huge edge in campaign funds. At last report he had almost $200,000 in cash; O'Brien had under $19,000. But she likes to point out she raised about as much as he did in the last month and believes she'll have enough money for a media campaign in the fall.

How to use the veto power: The oddest political event of the week had to be President Bush's invitation to Bill Owens and several other governors to come to the White House and discuss the power of the veto.

This is a president who has not availed himself of the opportunity to veto even a single bill during 5 ½ years of ballooning deficits.

Owens, on the other hand, has vetoed 91 bills during the past two years. Perhaps the president wanted to learn how he worked up the courage to do that.

But no. What Bush wanted to discuss was the line-item veto. The power to reject bits and pieces of spending bills is enjoyed by 43 of the nation's governors.

Apparently Bush wants to learn how to take baby steps before taking a big one.

blakep@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5119.

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