March 01, 2010 11:19 PM UTC

What Larry and Grizwald Didn't Know

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels wrote Saturday for The Spot:

You’ve got to hand it to Scott McInnis’ campaign for its clever jab at Democratic rival John Hickenlooper as told by Larry the Lynx and Grizwald the Bear.

McInnis, one of two Republicans running for governor, managed to combine Hickenlooper’s gubernatorial campaign open house today with Frontier Airlines’ move of jobs from Denver to the Midwest.

McInnis blames Hickenlooper, saying the Denver mayor ignored warnings its tax policies were going to drive Frontier away…

So it’s a cute little hit, yes–great low-context fodder for The Spot. In short, GOP candidate Scott McInnis thinks–or at least he implies here–that the city of Denver didn’t offer enough in the way of incentives to convince Republic Airlines to keep certain Frontier Airlines jobs at DIA after Frontier was acquired by them.

But a trip down Lexis/Nexis memory lane reveals a very different Scott McInnis: McInnis as Colorado House Majority Leader fiercely opposed giving ‘large incentives’ to United Airlines to locate their maintenance facility in Denver during Denver International Airport’s construction. Here’s a report from The Bond Trader from mid-1991:

House Majority Leader Scott McInnis, R-Glenwood, has suggested that if the state is to provide such large incentives, then lawmakers should create a new authority to manage the airport.

Later in 1991, McInnis suggested that we should stop trying so hard to win United’s contract at the new airport, from the Associated Press at the time:

United spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein acknowledged that the process has frustrated some local officials, but she said a final decision on the maintenance base will come “very soon.”

She said incentive proposals changed often and each change required a new review. The airline still considers Louisville a contender, she said.

Colorado House Majority Leader Scott McInnis says his state should follow Kentucky’s lead.

“United has a ring and is pulling Colorado by the nose,” said McInnis, a Republican. [Pols emphasis] But Democratic Gov. Roy Romer says the state will stick to its $ 330 million offer…

So the issue here is not really about whether the Denver city government should have dropped its trousers to whatever extent Republic Airlines would have found necessary to reconsider its decision relocating parts of Froniter Airlines’ operations away from Denver–you’ve got your opinions about that, the debate over tax incentives to encourage businesses to do things is as old as dirt.

The real story here is McInnis squawking hypocrisy once again–flagrantly contradicting his own record in order to attack his opponent. And above all, McInnis is counting on you not having access to 19-year-old news, or media outlets with enough institutional memory, to know any better.

But we think Larry the Lynx and Grizwald the Bear deserve the truth.