Playing nice guy, Shafroth risks getting labeled irrelevant

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 17, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Joan Fitz-Gerald

Will Shafroth

Jared Polis

The attacks are flying in the Democratic primary race for the 2nd Congressional District between Jared Polis and rival Joan Fitz-Gerald.

Left unscathed: Will Shafroth, the other candidate in the three-person race. He has been left untargeted by his opponents and has refrained from tarring the others.

It's a high road Shafroth is taking - a "conscious decision," he said. It's also a decision that leaves him in danger of losing headlines to his two opponents, who seem more willing to mix it up.

"You have to behave badly to get good press - I just think that is what's so wrong (with politics) and what people are fed up with," Shafroth said.

It's what he hears on his door-to-door campaigning, more often than even complaints about the Iraq war or health care.

"Across the board, the thing that people are fed up with is the whole style of politics in Washington, the partisan bickering and not the problem-solving," he said.

Indeed, playing nice with others regardless of party or position marks a key theme of Shafroth's campaign. In many years of assembling land conservation deals, he said, he resolved conflicting interests by working for consensus and shunning a polarizing approach.

Shafroth sums up his positive, attack-free campaigning this way: "How we choose to run our campaigns is a statement on how we will serve in Congress."

Attack-free campaigning might be a laudable goal, but it also carries risks, said Democratic political consultant Steve Welchert.

"You risk not being a participant," Welchert said. "I understand his strategy - he figures these two will muddy up the waters, and you can come up the middle as a Clean Jean candidate. The risk inherent in that is you're not relevant, not part of the dialogue."

Shafroth rejects any idea he's not a player in the race, pointing to his fundraising.

He had more cash on hand after second-quarter financial reports than Fitz-Gerald, the most recognized name of the three and the one most established within the Democratic party. She's the former president of the state Senate.

"It's saying something significant," Shafroth said, "that I have a very strong grass-roots base of support, and it's growing all the time."

While Polis' campaign has targeted Fitz-Gerald's contributions from energy and mining groups, Fitz-Gerald's campaign has pointed to Polis' donors in the oil and gas industry, as well as the idea that his fortune makes it hard for voters to identify with him.

But neither has devoted any energy to attacking Shafroth.

Welchert said that likely means Shafroth isn't showing strong enough support in the campaigns' internal polling to merit targeting.

Shafroth said there's good reason he's not getting attacked. There's little negative for his opponents to spotlight.

"I don't necessarily think there's that much mud to sling at me," he said. "My track record is pretty clean. I've had 28 years in public service - I'm not sure what there is to pick at there."

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

• July 17, 2008

  5:26 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Veritas writes:

  Will is a pleasant guy but an ineffective campaigner and I fear he will be an ineffective congressperson. He had both the time and the money to get his name out but chose to sit on the side lines. We do not need another observer in Congress.

  Joan has served us well in Colorado. The majority of her money has been raised inside the state from individuals.She has a proven record of getting things done. As the commercial says, "I'm for Joan."

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