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LITTWIN: Ritter boldly goes past the bench

By Mike Littwin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 3, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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For possibly the first time in modern history, I'm going to use the words bold and Bill Ritter in the same sentence.

It's a new year. And a new day. And if you didn't understand before what a firm grip Democrats have on Colorado politics, just watch the Bill Ritter- Michael Bennet handshake today at the Capitol.

When Ritter - wait for it - boldly selected Bennet to be Colorado's next U.S. senator, he flipped conventional wisdom on its head. The question is whether, at the same time, he risked falling flat on his, uh, face.

We'll have approximately two years - until Election Day in 2010 - to find out.

How did we get to this place? According to people who should know, Bennet apparently blew Ritter away in his job interview. These same people say Ritter finally picked Bennet because he thought Bennet would be the best person for the job.

This tells you everything you need to know about Ritter, the politician. Most of us assumed Ritter would pick the person who would most help him get re-elected. We assumed this because it's what happens in politics. I mean, ask yourself this: If we were worried about qualifications, would we have the Senate we have today?

Yes, Bennet is smart and tough and has repeatedly shown he can handle a steep learning curve - and he will probably be a very good senator - but he is entirely unproven as an elected official, meaning he has never run for public office, meaning his selection is a bold and brave move at a time when Ritter didn't have to be either brave or bold.

As you may have noticed, the Democrats have an unusually deep bench just now, but Ritter reached all the way past the bench and went deep - deep into the stands. Actually, I'm guessing Bennet sits in a luxury box, but you get the idea.

The savvy and the easy pick for the job was John Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor with the magic touch (at least as measured by pollsters) and who would have been a lock to keep the job past 2010.

Now, we'll get fresh rumors of a growing rivalry between the mayor and the governor and more questions about whether Ritter holds a grudge against Hickenlooper for leaving him hanging during the gubernatorial race back in 2008 when everyone waited as Hickenlooper played Hamlet and Ritter was stuck in a twisted version of Waiting for Godot.

I'm still trying to figure out why Hickenlooper went so public as a candidate for the Senate job. If you're Hickenlooper, you don't go public unless you're sure you're getting the job. Now it looks as if Ritter not only went out of his way to snub Hickenlooper, but he also chose the person who might as well be Hickenlooper's younger (and maybe smarter and slightly more obnoxious) brother. Hickenlooper and Bennet are that close.

The safe pick was Andrew Romanoff, the good-government type who works hard and does everything right and plays by the rules and has traveled around the state to eat bad meals at Rotary dinners and has, in the process, never so much as jaywalked. And he is rewarded for his efforts by not being rewarded at all.

Instead, Ritter went for Bennet, and the twin sounds you hear are of expectant Republicans cheering - the Republicans wanted anyone but Hickenlooper - and of overlooked Democrats moaning.

Democrats are new to being in charge in Colorado. They're new to having so many legitimate contenders for what suddenly seems like so few political places. And here's Bennet, the school superintendent, coming from nowhere to cut in line.

This is nothing new for Bennet. He's your Obama-style high achiever who usually finishes first. Where Obama was president of Harvard Law Review, Bennet was editor-in-chief of Yale Law Review. Soon after coming out of Yale he went to work for Phil Anschutz. With no business experience, he would help make the deal that would help make Anschutz a neat $1.3 billion. With no experience in politics, he would help invent Hickenlooper and became his chief of staff. With no background in education, he would become Denver's superintendent of schools and end up as a finalist to be Obama's secretary of education.

You can spot a trend here. If Bennet has no statewide name recognition now, he has two years to solve the problem.

If he has no political profile now, he has two years in the Senate to create one.

And if he Bennet doesn't find a way to turn himself into a political force, we'll have two years to find a word other than bold to describe Bill Ritter.

littwinm@RockyMountainNews.com

Comments

  • January 3, 2009

    10:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    "If he has no political profile now, he has two years in the Senate to create one."
    And that's the key.

  • January 3, 2009

    11:56 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Barbarosa writes:

    Naw, he doesn't have any time to create anything. The 2010 campaign starts TODAY.

  • January 3, 2009

    1:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jackwoehr writes:

    Ritter goes boldly past the bench and creates a new Senator who will be beholden only to Ritter rather than give a lift to any established politico. Mike, I thought you understood how it worked!

  • January 3, 2009

    3:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    gary writes:

    Bennet is just a sacrafice lamb. Whoever was appointed will not be re-elected to the post. So why appoint a good subject.

    Too bad for Bennet...good news for the Hick!

  • January 3, 2009

    8:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HopiMedicineMan writes:

    Gary
    I agree with you. Mike Coffman is already tired of being a Congressman. He's decided to run against Bennet. He'll surely win.

  • January 4, 2009

    8:31 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    FCZ writes:

    Bold : Not.

    Pay for Play.

    The NEA union now owes Ritter campaign cash and 'volunteers' for Ritter's re-election campaign.

  • January 5, 2009

    9:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    malis writes:

    I very much like that Ritter took a chance. Bennet's an ‘out of the box’ choice—a non-politician who’s an intelligent problem-solver with a history of bringing competing factions together.

    I expected Hickenlooper. Thought Ritter might go as far as risking Romanoff (not 'safe' as Littwin said—he has no achievements outside of the legislature and way too young to go directly to the Senate), but would have been OK with either. Choice of Bennet surprised me and everybody, but his variety of successes, obvious intelligence, and history of developing innovative, creative solutions to whatever issues he’s faced, are great if unusual qualifications for the Senate.

    Primary questions are not about whether he’s the type of person we want in the Senate, but whether he will prove a skilled enough politician (and money-raiser) to be elected on his own in 2010. I much prefer that to the main questions around the last two Republican Senate candidates—“how badly will they embarrass Colorado?”

  • January 7, 2009

    3:25 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    dirkle writes:

    Colorado is no longer a red state. Bennet has an excellent chance of being elected in 2010 as long as he doesn't step in something. Times are changing.