November 06, 2009 09:18 PM UTC

ObitsВ forВ FutureВ BallotВ MeasuresВ are aВ BitВ Premature

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• by: Great Education Colorado

(Excellent post – promoted by Colorado Pols)

It’s November 2009, but the pundits are already out, constructing a new conventional wisdom about voter trends for years to come.   The Denver Post, for instance, headlined Thursday’s front page story “Big ballot plans may be a “no” go in Colorado”:

“The drama of the losses (Tuesday) in terms of taxes is going to put a tremendous chill on the forces who want to put something on the ballot. Even 2011 is in question,” [pollster Floyd] Ciruli said.

This is the “horse race” version of Tuesday’s results.   It’s about odds, predictions and extrapolations from an off-off-year election in varied pockets around the state.

Setting aside the obvious truth that one or two years can make quite a difference in the electorate (2008, anybody?), this nascent “no go” conventional wisdom misses the point.

The decision about whether and when to put a ballot measure before the voters is about more than odds.  It’s about whether we’re going to give the tools of opportunity — health and education — to the next generation.  It’s about whether we’re OK being a state that leads the nation in growth in child poverty, provides just about the stingiest health care assistance in the nation, and imports college graduates, rather than growing our own.  

It’s about deciding when we’re finally going to stand up for the kind of Colorado we want.

So what’s the lesson of the election of 2009?  No real news here: getting a meaningful statewide ballot initiative passed is going to be tough.    A budget fix will pass when enough voters have had a chance to consider the long-term, moral and financial costs of living in a state that doesn’t invest in its schools, colleges, roads, health care or economy.  

What’s the lesson of 2009?  With funding for schools and colleges in free fall, the work of informing, organizing, and advocating has to begin today — regardless of what year we’re going to the ballot — because inaction is no longer a moral option.  Our kids can’t wait and they don’t get “do-overs.”

You can start here.

Game on.