Blake: VA chief eyes Senate race

Published January 24, 2007 at midnight

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A job in President Bush's Cabinet may not be a good steppingstone to elective office these days.

Nevertheless Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson is "intrigued" by Colorado's 2008 Senate race, spokeswoman Christine Burtt said Tuesday.

Not that he can do anything about it so long as he is a federal employee.

Friends around the state have urged him to look at the race, she said. But he's busy in budget hearings and needs to talk to the White House before making a decision.

The VA, with a budget of $70 billion, is the second largest cabinet department. It employs 230,000 people at hospitals, clinics, benefits offices, nursing homes and cemeteries.

Nicholson has headed the department two years. The previous four years he was U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

He has lots of inside baseball experience in politics, having been Colorado's GOP national committeeman from 1986 to 1997 and chairman of the Republican National Committee the next four years.

But the 1961 West Point graduate and former Army Ranger, who later became a successful developer, has not run for public office before. Over the years, Colorado voters have not been kind to the many wealthy Republicans who have sought high office without going through the farm system first.

The early front-runners on the Republican side are presumed to be former Rep. Scott McInnis, who has nearly $1 million left in his old House campaign chest, and former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer, who lost the 2004 Senate Republican primary to Pete Coors.

Nowhere to go but up: No sooner had former state Sen. Joe Shoemaker announced he was running for Denver County GOP chairman than he was joined in the race by GOP activist Mary Smith.

Think of it: Fighting over the chance to lead a county party that has been practically invisible for years. There are no Republicans from Denver in the legislature. But Smith thinks city Republicans can help win the Senate race as well as keep Colorado's Electoral College votes all Republican.

Mary is a veteran fundraiser who's helped the Denver Zoo and the Denver Public Library Foundation as well as numerous Republican causes.

The GOP assembly is set for 6:30 p.m., Feb. 8, at Hill Middle School, 451 Clermont St.

The Odd Couple reunited: Two former state senators turned lobbyists have been hired by the coalition that's trying to water down Amendment 41 by legislation.

The bill has yet to be introduced, but when it is, Democrat Mike Feeley and Republican Steve Durham will be working it at the Statehouse.

It's not the first time they've joined forces. A few years back they both lobbied for the homebuilders.

They've been hired by Coloradans for Sensible Ethics, a fast-growing group put together by Amendment 41 sponsor Jared Polis. As this corner noted Saturday, former Ritter campaign officials Greg Kolomitz and Sheila MacDonald are oranizing the constituent groups. Supervising the operation is veteran political strategist Eric Sondermann.

Resigning early pays off: Former House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, and former Rep. Lauri Clapp, R-Centennial, have teamed up, as expected, to lobby at the Statehouse. But since it's a Democratic era they have also taken on former Rep. Fran Coleman, D-Denver, as a partner.

The firm is known as CSC Public Relations. The initials, joshed Coleman, represent "a thorn between two roses."

All three resigned their seats early, beating the effective date of Amendment 41. It would have kept ex-legislators from lobbying for two years after leaving office.

But Coleman likes the rule prohibiting buying lunches for legislators. "No overhead," she beamed.

blakep@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5119.

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