May 15, 2012 09:28 PM UTC

"Kill Committee" Actions May Lead to Death of GOP Control in House

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols begins to tally the damage:

On Monday morning, as supporters of civil unions rallied on the Capitol’s west steps, Dan Ritchie and Greg Stevinson, two reliable, deep-pocketed GOP donors, stood with them.

Sources have told FOX 31 that Stevinson, along with Charlie Gallagher, another big GOP donor, are so upset with McNulty’s handling of the civil unions bill they may not donate to his GOP Majority fund this fall [Pols emphasis] – this as the Democrats’ main money man, Tim Gill, who made a point of showing up for Monday’s hearing in person, is likely to write even larger checks to help Democrats win back a House majority.

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Last night House Speaker Frank McNulty used a “kill committee” to end the hopes of civil unions legislation in the 2012 Colorado legislative session. We continue to be baffled by McNulty’s political rationale behind this move; while McNulty’s maneuvering to prevent the bill from reaching the House floor may galvanize a portion of the GOP base, he also handed Democrats a ginormous stick with which to pummel Republican candidates in the fall.

We were reminded of a telling statement from Public Policy Polling in April when they released new survey results showing that a whopping 62% of Colorado voters support civil unions (compared to 32% opposition). As PPP noted in their April memo:

We already see Colorado shading bluer and bluer at the Presidential level and this is one of the issues where Republicans seem to be stuck behind while the electorate is moving forward.

There was no way that McNulty and friends were going to come out of the Special Session looking good after last week’s end-run around the House floor to prevent a vote on civil unions, but there was a way to reduce the damage. McNulty should have let the bill go to the floor and let any Republican ‘YES’ vote become available for the public record.

What happened instead is that McNulty turned a single issue — civil unions — into a broader narrative of Republicans refusing to even give legislation a fair up or down vote. While that 62% of Colorado voters who support civil unions will no doubt be reminded again and again of McNulty’s tactics as we approach November, the GOP is also going to lose a lot of votes from people who may have been indifferent to the issue but really don’t like seeing the Democratic process being tossed in the trash. A loss of votes in November from opposition to civil unions was probably inevitable. Losing voters because McNulty’s maneuvering was altogether avoidable.

It was this kind of behavior that ultimately led to Republicans losing control of the legislature in 2004, and it’s a good bet that history will repeat itself come November.