Speakout: Many Republican woes self-inflicted

Michael Carrigan

Published January 12, 2007 at midnight

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In his Dec. 30 Speakout column, former state Sen. Mark Hillman presented his theories explaining Colorado's conversion from a bright red to a blue state. His piece, "How did Colorado turn blue? Dems had a meticulous plan," suggested ongoing misunderstandings among Republicans as to what the voters in this state clearly want from their elected leaders: serious discussions about serious issues.

Nowhere is Hillman's mistake more evident than in is repeated allusions to affluent Democratic contributors as "leftist ideologues." Such labeling is ironic from a party that, in back-to-back elections, nominated multimillionaire candidates for statewide office (both of whom lost by wide margins).

Hillman attributes Democratic successes to three factors:

1. Democrats' advantages in legislative and congressional redistricting.

2. Voter-approved campaign finance reform.

3. Republicans' failure to address state budget problems on their terms and during their watch.

Each of these excuses are suspect. The GOP regained the state Senate and a congressional seat with those same supposedly Democrat-friendly districts, and both parties are subject to the same strict limitations under Amendment 27. Also, the division of the Republican Party over even bipartisan compromise of Referendum C showed that lasting budget reform would never have received a Republican consensus.

A closer examination of Colorado political history shows that the Republicans set themselves up for failure as much as the Democrats successfully planned for victory. The Democratic victories were, as Hillman admits, the result of long-term strategies. However, these strategies are not state secrets - they are obvious and practical: nominate hard-working candidates whose positions match their districts.

With these candidates in place, the Democrats articulated a vision for the kind of state Colorado could be, one that was business-friendly and willing to spend reasonable amounts in essential services such as education, transportation and health care. Nowhere was this more evident than Gov. Bill Ritter's "Colorado Promise" platform, which detailed areas where the state must invest more resources. The result? Ritter won in a landslide.

Of course, such balanced principles have been recognized by a great many Republicans, including former Gov. Bill Owens who risked his political future by supporting Referendum C, a sensible, if temporary, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights compromise. Unfortunately for Owens and other fiscally conservative Republicans, their socially conservative brethren instead chose to focus on divisive social issues. As a result, the GOP became a party divided.

Meanwhile, the Democrats were offering practical approaches to the real concerns of our citizenry: education, jobs, health care and transportation. Several years ago, while still in the minority, now House Speaker Andrew Romanoff captured the nature of the right-wing obsession with wedge politics when he observed that Republican legislators "were spending all their time making sure that gays couldn't get married and straights couldn't get divorced."

In this context, the supposed advantages that the Democrats enjoyed from congressional and legislative districts and campaign finance reform were of little consequence. With or without money, campaigns, especially those for down-ticket races like the legislature, are most often won by the better candidate with the better message.

Of course, there are many sensible, responsible and dedicated Republican elected officials in the state of Colorado. I am fortunate to serve with some of them on the University of Colorado Board of Regents. The regents can serve as an example to other Republican elected officials in Colorado. On our board, we have differences - often ardent ones - but members of both parties focus on the essential challenges facing our flagship university and we don't waste time on distracting and divisive social issues.

As a lifelong Democrat who has watched events in Washington over the last six years, I believe a strong two-party system is essential and single-party domination can be dangerous. Thus, even as a lifelong Democrat, I believe Colorado will be a better place when Democrats are challenged by their friends across the aisle. Republicans will be in a place to offer such a challenge if they focus on issues that matter to voters and not issues designed to divide them.

Michael Carrigan is a Democrat representing the 1st Congressional District on the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

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