Many Coloradans counted as fans

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 13, 2008 at 4:05 p.m.
Updated June 14, 2008 at 12:13 a.m.

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Photo by SPECIAL TO THE ROCKY

Senate candidate John Thune, moderator Tim Russert and Thune's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams of Colorado, after Thune's 2004 debate with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

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The e-mail from Tim Russert's office arrived Thursday, inquiring about scheduling a debate between the Colorado U.S. Senate candidates, Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer.

Dick Wadhams, Schaffer's campaign manager, said the e-mail to him from a Meet the Press producer outlined possible debate dates in September and October.

The news that Russert died Friday shocked Colorado politicos, including Wadhams, who also is chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, and Democratic consultant Mike Stratton, who worked with Russert on Capitol Hill in the 1970s.

"This is sad," Wadhams said. "Tim Russert was eminently fair."

Russert was in Colorado April 14 to accept the 14th annual Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club. He talked to the sold-out crowd of 750 about the excitement and history surrounding this year's presidential race.

On the campaign trail, he frequently ran into Stratton, who was working for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, until Richardson dropped out of the presidential race.

"Oh my God," Stratton said, when he heard from a Rocky reporter that Russert had died.

Stratton in 1977 was a 21-year-old Colorado State University graduate when he went to work for Colorado Sen. Floyd Haskell. Russert was the press secretary for powerful New York Sen. Patrick Moynihan. One of Stratton's best friends from Colorado worked for Moynihan.

"I used to see Tim all the time," Stratton said. "He was a big deal, but he was never arrogant to the younger staffers like myself."

Wadhams has had three U.S. Senate candidates in a row debate on Meet the Press, starting with Republican Wayne Allard of Loveland in 2002, John Thune of South Dakota in 2004 and George Allen of Virginia in 2006.

Wadhams said Russert and his staff were particularly fond of Allard.

"Wayne had a place in their hearts because he was the first incumbent senator to accept a debate on Meet the Press," Wadhams said. "Now it's almost like you can't say 'no', but before that Republican and Democratic incumbents routinely declined."

At the end of Allard's debate with Democrat Tom Strickland, the senator pulled a Denver Broncos jersey out from under his desk and handed it to Tim Russert, a rabid Buffalo Bills fan.

Wadhams laughed in delight as he recalled Allard stealing the thunder of what had been until then a routine debate.

Two years later, Wadhams was the campaign manager for Thune, who was trying to unseat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

"That debate was a turning point for us," Wadhams said.

The same could be said in the Colorado Senate race that year between Democrat Ken Salazar, of Denver, and Republican Pete Coors, of Golden.

During the debate, Coors mistakenly referred to "North Dakota" as a member of the axis of evil. He quickly corrected himself and said "North Korea," but the damage was done. Republicans privately worried about the race, and Salazar won in November.

Salazar issued a statement saying that Russert had a "pure passion for politics and brought an important perspective to politics in America."

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

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