We like to spread out our end-of-year retrospectives so that 2012 gets a little reflection time. It is with that in mind that we present the awards for Colorado's Top Politico (and Worst Politico for 2011, as well a look at who had a good and bad year in the last full year of human existence.
The top three candidates for the vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court have been submitted to Gov. John Hickenlooper. From a press release out of the Governor's office yesterday:
Gov. John Hickenlooper today received the names of three finalists to choose from to fill the vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Nominating Commission selected the candidates for a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Alex J. Martinez.
The nominees are Brian D. Boatright of Arvada, Frederick T. Martinez of Castle Pines and Patrick T. O'Rourke of Highlands Ranch.
Under the Colorado Constitution, the governor now has 15 days (until Oct. 28) to appoint one of the nominees as a justice on the Colorado Supreme Court.
FRIDAY UPDATE 6:30AM: After an apparent standoff most of the night, police moved in after 6AM and are, as of this writing, clearing out tents and other structures from Lincoln Park. Media reports upwards of 1,000 protesters overnight.
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UPDATE #3 10:45PM: Police appear to be preparing to enforce the order that protesters not camp in the area surrounding the Veteran's Memorial. A sizable crowd has formed in the park.
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UPDATE #2: 9NEWS reports:
[I]n a statement Thursday morning, Governor Hickenlooper clearly stated that the protesters have until Thursday night to pack their bags and leave. He claims that although he agrees that these protesters have a right to speak their mind - their camping out overnight could be dangerous to the public.
Mark Silverstein, the ACLU legal director, felt that the posting of tents could be a "symbolic speech that's protected by the First Amendment."
"I'm not saying they have a legal right in court to keep those tents there," Silverstein went on to say. "We'd ask the question: Is there a way the government can accommodate the expression without having to shut it down, without having to clear people out of the park?"
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UPDATE: In a tense press conference a few minutes ago, Gov. John Hickenlooper, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, and Attorney General John Suthers say (again) that protesters can't camp where they are, specifying an 11PM-5AM period when they are not permitted to occupy the park. No word on any specific enforcement planned, but Occupy Denver protesters are interpreting Hickenlooper's remarks as an imminent threat--and calling for backup.
As Politico'sReid Epsteinreports, popular Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado sees his own hurdles to a run for President in 2016--and frankly, we see them too:
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who founded a brewpub and was twice elected Denver's mayor, cruised to victory in 2010 in a three-way race against a fractured state Republican Party. He registered a 54 percent approval rating in a Public Policy Polling survey earlier this month, a whopping 30 percentage points higher than his 24 percent disapproval...
"You never say never, but it's hard to imagine," Hickenlooper told POLITICO in an interview in his state Capitol office here. "What we're trying to do here necessarily, I think, is going to irritate and I think in some ways divide some of the strongest constituencies that are going to be making those decisions."
Hickenlooper's best path to national office in 2016 would come in a Democratic Party looking for a centrist leader in the mold of President Bill Clinton, said University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin.
"Under many circumstances, Hickenlooper would represent a Democrat with crossover appeal who can win in swing states," Franklin said.
There's no question that Gov. Hickenlooper's broad popularity and moderate appeal place him on a hypothetical--very hypothetical over five years out--short list of viable Democratic candidates for President in the 2016 elections. But Hickenlooper makes perfectly clear in this interview that positions he holds on hot-button issues like "fracking" in oil and gas production could spell real trouble for himself in a Democratic primary. Hickenlooper talks about Colorado as a "model" in education, health care, and transportation; but most would agree that this is expressing, to put it charitably, an aspirational goal less than a year into his term.
Bottom line: Hickenlooper has the potential to be a great candidate for President, and his centrist liabilities in a Democratic primary could easily become powerful general election assets. It's true that the recent trend towards more strident ideology on both sides of the aisle represents a challenge for moderates like Hickenlooper. But we're inclined to accept the argument that, as of now, Democratic primary candidates are subject to less rigid ideological litmus tests in general than Republican candidates.
Perhaps the bigger obstacle to a Hickenlooper candidacy is that another well-known Coloradan is likely to at least kick the tires on a Presidential run in 2016 -- and they can't both become serious candidates. It's a quiet, but open secret that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar wants a shot at the Presidency himself in 2016, and he and Hickenlooper -- who are friends, by most accounts -- would probably have to decide quietly which one of them will take the stage and which one will stay behind. If Hispanic voting trends continue to rise, Salazar may have the better argument by then.
A lot can change in the next 4-5 years. Let's revisit this in 2015 -- by then it will either be a serious discussion, or not.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced today that Colorado Supreme Court Justice Alex Martinez has accepted the position of Manager of Safety for the City and County of Denver. That's good news for the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, which finally has something to do.
Martinez has served on the Colorado Supreme Court since being appointed by then-Gov. Roy Romer in 1996; he is the second-longest serving member of the bench, behind only Justice Gregory Hobbs in seniority. Martinez has not officially resigned from the Supreme Court, but once he does, The Supreme Court Nomination Commission will have 30 days to come up with three nominees for the bench to submit to Gov. John Hickenlooper...who then has 15 days to pick a new Justice.
Full press releases from Hancock and Hickenlooper after the jump.
Republican Rep. Mike Coffman is putting forth legislation to repeal a section of the 1973 Voting Rights Act that allows districts with high percentages of non-English speakers to print ballots in different languages. From Talking Points Memo:
Coffman said Wednesday that his legislation would repeal Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires states or districts to provide bilingual voting materials if more than 10,000 or more than 5% of voters "are members of a single language minority and are limited-English proficient," or if the illiteracy of members of the language minority is higher than the national average.
"Among other factors," Section 203 says, "the denial of the right to vote of such minority group citizens is ordinarily directly related to the unequal educational opportunities afforded them resulting in high illiteracy and low voting participation."
As Polster VanDammerpoints out, Coffman has signed on to most major "anti immigrant" bills offered in Congress in the last year. While this would make sense for a conservative, Tea Party-loving Congressman, it doesn't make a lot of sense for someone with statewide aspirations.
Coffman has made no secret of the fact that he wants to run against Sen. Mark Udall in 2014, but he's going to have a hard time winning a statewide race by going out of his way to antagonize Hispanic voters, which he is doing with bills like repealing part of the Voting Rights Act. There's a reason why Texas Governor, and now Presidential candidate Rick Perry has been supportive of issues like in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants -- he knew he needed support from Hispanic voters in Texas.
In the 2010 Senate race in Colorado, 81% of Hispanic voters selected Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet over Republican Ken Buck; if Buck had received just 30 percent of the Hispanic vote, he would be in the Senate today. Take a look at what Mike Melanson, Gov. John Hickenlooper's campaign manager, had to say about the Hispanic vote last November. From Colorado Independent:
He said the Hickenlooper campaign saw an uptick in early voting among Hispanics this year - the first time he had seen that in a non-presidential year. He said Hispanic voters are a very strong element in Colorado and that it was a mistake by Republicans to focus on immigration in a negative way.
Either Mike Coffman wasn't paying attention in 2010, or he just doesn't really want to win a statewide race. But if he continues down this path of casting himself as a hardliner on immigration, there's no way he's going to defeat Udall in 2014. Hispanics accounted for 12% of all Colorado voters in 2010, and that number is only going to increase in the next four years. The numbers don't lie -- you just cannot win an election if you immediately lose the support of 10-15 percent of the electorate.
UPDATE: Reports FOX 31's Eli Stokols, who do you suppose might take issue with this decision on behalf of the casino industry? Why, GOP House Speaker Frank McNulty, naturally!
Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty, among others in his caucus, were dismayed by the governor's decision.
"Gov. Hickenlooper certainly didn't consult us before making this sweeping and arbitrary use of power," McNulty said to FOX 31 Denver.
"Whomever is on the commission, they need to realize that families, small businesses and entire communities rely on the jobs and revenue that the gaming industry creates. If the governor's new appointees do an about-face on these employers, families and communities will suffer."
So, who "suffers" if the casinos pay the same taxes they paid before this arbitrary decision to cut them? We know who won't be "suffering" more, and that's our community colleges--most voters care more a bit more about the health of colleges than casinos.
If this does turn into a political battle between Hickenlooper and the GOP, the GOP will lose. And Hickenlooper knows it. As for McNulty's whiny "he didn't consult us" statement--why would Hickenlooper seek McNulty's opinion here? Coloradans elected Hickenlooper as their governor--not Tom Tancredo, and certainly not Frank McNulty--and these are the types of decisions a governor makes. Hickenlooper is under no obligation, not even as a courtesy, to put in a call to anybody at the state legislature before making a decision like this.
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We spoke a few weeks ago about a vote by the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission to cut taxes paid by the casino industry--a decision made on the pretense of "tough economic times," but which stoked outrage from many over the preferential treatment for the industry only two years after Colorado voters approved much higher bet limits to increase revenue. Beneficiaries of these gaming funds like the Colorado Community College System cried betrayal: stakeholders didn't join with casinos to pass Amendment 50 in 2008 only to have the industry turn around and ask for a tax cut. The appearances here were straight-up awful.
As the Denver Business Journalreports today, this vote to cut casino taxes was a bridge too far for a commission that serves at the pleasure of Gov. John Hickenlooper, who creditably understood the terrible political folly taking place where commission members did not.
Gov. John Hickenlooper replaced all five members of the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission with new appointees on Wednesday.
The commission decides on regulations for casinos in Colorado, which are allowed to operate in three mountain towns.
The shakeup comes about seven weeks after its previous members decided to lower taxes paid by casinos. Hickenlooper disagreed with that decision.
In his statement today, Gov. Hickenlooper makes it unusually clear that this ill-advised vote to cut casino taxes in the middle of a fiscal crisis is the reason why the commission was ousted:
Each of the appointees will be new to the Commission. One current member reached the end of a second four-year term and was not eligible for reappointment; one member reached the end of a four-year term and did not reapply for a second term; and three members were asked by the governor to step down...
"We don't believe the Colorado gaming industry should be judged reasonably unprofitable or unhealthy at a time when some casinos are making major multi-million dollar investments in one of the worst economic periods in our nation's history," Hickenlooper said. "Gaming should be subject to the same risks and rewards of operating and expanding as other industries that don't have the same ability to change their tax rate based on market conditions. Colorado casinos pay among the lowest tax rates in America, and to lower them even further in these times of unmet needs in local communities makes it appear they are diverting their fair and rightful obligation onto their neighbors in the rest of the state."
Any way you look at this: fairness, corporate honesty, or just plain realism in approaching our state's complicated fiscal problems, the decision by the LGCC to cut casino taxes in the middle of a budget shortfall was a horrible move for everyone involved. We didn't believe anything could be done about this bad decision except complain and count the losses to education and other priorities; but then John Hickenlooper reminded everyone who is governor of this state.
We know a lot of people who will be very happy to see that.
Former State Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams wasn't unemployed for long. According to a stunning press release sent out this morning, Wadhams has been named Deputy Political Advisor to Governor John Hickenlooper. A press conference has been scheduled for this afternoon, but as the release explains:
The office of Gov. John Hickenlooper today announced that former Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams has been appointed as Deputy Political Advisor to the Governor.
"The Governor feels strongly about his bipartisan credentials," said Alan Salazar, the Governor's chief policy and political director. "There's no better way to show that you don't favor one political party over the other than to hire someone who is truly disliked by both political parties."
Earlier this year Wadhams announced that he would not run for re-election to a third term as State Republican Party Chair. Last Saturday he was formally replaced when Republicans elected Ryan Call to become their new Party Chair.
"I think the Governor was concerned that too many people looked at him as a Democrat," said Wadhams. "He's not a Republican by any means, but my job is about making sure that nobody ever really understands which political party the Governor favors. The Governor has already done a good job of making that unclear, and I'm confident that I can continue to keep those waters murky."
Colorado's state constitution is confusing and easy to change. New Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper says efforts to revise the state constitution are "a huge issue" - but Hickenlooper isn't ready to say what he thinks should be done.
The governor talked about Colorado's muddy state constitution in a lunch talk Thursday with newspaper editors and publishers. Hickenlooper was asked about proposals from lawmakers in both parties to address confusing language in the state constitution, or at least change how easily the document itself can be changed.
"I think that those conflicting elements in the constitution are a huge issue. But I'm not sure I want to come out and say, 'Alright, here's my plan to solve it.' Because as soon as I do that, I begin to color the conversation," Hickenlooper said. [Pols emphasis]
What we're talking about here, of course, are the interlocking fiscal mandates and revenue restrictions that have made it virtually impossible for the state legislature to deal with the past decade of declining revenues and economic recession. The last attempt to alleviate some of these restrictions, 2005's Referendum C, was a stopgap measure that nevertheless divided the Republican Party to the present day--and, though enormously helpful, did not achieve all of its goals, due principally to the second recession of the 2000s that hit not long after.
All of this has gained new urgency this week after Gov. John Hickenlooper announced proposed cuts to the budget for the coming fiscal year. The latest cuts come after the state has been wrestling around the margins with small-scale revenue fixes, and mostly painful cuts, for several years: there's nothing left except the things that everyone will feel pain from cutting now. Due to the aforementioned limitations on the legislature's ability to raise revenue, that means K-12 education will take an "unsustainable" hit next year of over $500 per student. These latest cuts will relegate Colorado even closer to the bottom of public education funding rankings across America.
As you can read in news reports around the state today, there is a lot of anger being directed at Hickenlooper over these proposed cuts. Some of this anger has its origins, we believe, in a lack of understanding about what the constitutional restrictions on Colorado's budget actually mean--Hickenlooper had very little else to turn to other than education to make these cuts, and outgoing Gov. Bill Ritter warned that the next fiscal year would bring challenges greater than he had ever faced. Hickenlooper is making devastating cuts to education not because he wants to, but because he really doesn't have much choice.
But there's something else driving dismay at Hickenlooper, and here's where there may be a legitimate issue. As the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institutehas said in the last few weeks, and key legislators like Sen. Rollie Heath have now taken up the call, there is really only one way out of this dire situation: a ballot initiative, or set of initiatives, that would either sweep away restrictions imposed on the budget process in recent decades, or at least revamp Colorado's tax structure to allow minimum needs to meet available resources.
Hickenlooper's answer to this plea has not changed since the campaign trail. "There's no appetite for it," he says. But was there really an 'appetite' for Referendum C in 2005, that is until Republican Gov. Bill Owens joined then-Denver Mayor Hickenlooper and sold it? The wonderful TV spots that Hickenlooper did in support of Referendum C, like the skydiving spot above--were those not vitally necessary in building support for Referendum C?
More than that, say some we've talked to, isn't Hickenlooper's ability to persuade and motivate the voters of Colorado to take the steps needed, as they were in 2005...why he is Governor? "Coloring the conversation" is the whole point of the job.
