December 19, 2008 09:13 PM UTC

I Could Be a Senat...Argghhhhhhh!!!

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• by: Colorado Pols

There really are few things in politics as thoroughly enjoyable as watching people jockey for the Senate nomination. Case in point: We’re about one week from seeing Rep. Diana DeGette’s head explode.

Check out this article and video on Politics West.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, who is seeking the two-year appointment to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, said Thursday it was “ridiculous” that a woman hadn’t yet served in that role or as governor of Colorado and doubted that “the press, or the chattering class, seriously consider any of the women candidates.”…

…”Colorado has never had a woman (U.S.) senator or a woman governor,” said DeGette during an editorial board meeting at The Denver Post. “And so, in a way, this is the perfect time for us to have a woman because we actually have the ability to appoint somebody, have them serving as an incumbent, and I think that’ll increase the chances in 2010.

“I think it’s kind of ridiculous that after all these years we’ve never had a woman in either of those positions. Fifty-two percent of the electorate are women. And the other thing I will say is I don’t think that the press, or the chattering class, seriously consider any of the women candidates. And, I’ll put my record up against anybody’s record on accomplishments.”…

…”The pundits say, well Diana is from Denver and she’s too liberal to run statewide. John Hickenlooper, who’s the mayor of Denver, is the frontrunner. It’s like…hmmmm. And I love John. But frankly I would bet you – he doesn’t have a Congressional voting record – but if you look at some of the things he’s done, he’s probably at least as liberal as me.”

I’m a woman! We need a woman! Other people are more liberal than me! Arghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s dissect a few of these points, shall we?

First off, the elephant in the room: The fundamental reason DeGette is not going to be appointed to the Senate is not because she’s “too liberal to win statewide,” or because she’s a woman, or because she’s from Denver, or because her last name is hard to spell. The reason DeGette won’t be appointed is because she has no chits to call in. DeGette is infamous for her indifference to helping other Democrats in Colorado. She doesn’t raise money for others, despite never having to worry about her own re-election, and trying to get her to donate money from her own account to another organization is damn near impossible.

In short, DeGette doesn’t do shit for anybody else, and that’s why nobody is going to do shit for her. It’s all very simple.

Second, to the “she’s to liberal to win statewide” point. Whether or not her record is more liberal than others is really irrelevant, because she is “perceived” to be more liberal than others – and that’s an image she has always cultivated. In politics, perception is reality, as we all know.

And finally, let’s dispense with the idea that there might be some sort of sexism involved with the Senate choices. This is a very simple formula: Hickenlooper, Ed Perlmutter and Andrew Romanoff are all more well-known and more popular statewide than any other contenders because they have cultivated moderate, bipartisan images and have long careers to draw upon.

For example, we absolutely think that Cary Kennedy has a long career ahead of her, but she’s only been in elected office for two years. She doesn’t have the name ID to win a race the magnitude of the U.S. Senate in 2010. Kennedy is widely considered a strong contender for governor in 2014, because by then everyone assumes she will have built up a strong public image. But it’s just not there yet, and that has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman.

And here’s another example: Joan Fitz-Gerald. Joan had given a pretty Sherman-esque statement a month ago that she was done with politics. She wasn’t on the bench because she went back to the locker room. Hickenlooper, Romanoff and Perlmutter (and even Tom Strickland) have all been working hard to try to get the appointment, which is why they are all being widely discussed.

The one person (woman) who is not getting more consideration but should is Alice Madden, but there’s not much indication that Madden has actively campaigned for the post.

So there you have it. We could go on, but that’s a lot of words already.