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August 23, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Taking Stock of Bill Ritter

  • 27 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

It’s been a good news/bad news month for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter. Let’s start with the good news…

The former Denver DA has been quietly making the rounds and gathering more support for his campaign while other potential Democratic candidates continue to play chicken with each other. State Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald had all the buzz as the next entry a few weeks ago, but support for her has faded somewhat as Democrats look at the reality of how a campaign for governor might play out. Her reluctance to step forward and make a decision, coupled with a fiery nature that can sometimes start too many fires has helped Ritter become a more viable candidate in the minds of some supporters.

Now the bad news…

Denver City Council aide Scott “Hutch” Hutchings is telling his friends that he turned down an offer to run Ritter’s campaign for Governor. Mary Buckley, who ran Ritter’s DA campaign in 1996, turned down the same offer months ago. Hutchings directed Rosemary Rodriguez’s city council campaign, and Buckley hasn’t been heard from since directing Ritter’s re-election campaign in 1996.

The problem isn’t so much that Ritter was turned down twice (although Hutchings isn’t helping Ritter by telling people that he said no). What has some Democratic supporters worried is that Ritter would even be considering these two for his campaign manager at all. Ritter needs to get out of Denver for help, and he needs to be looking at people who have won big races in recent years. Hutchings may have been a great manager for a city council race that only makes up a piece of Denver, but to ask him to run a statewide race is a monstrous leap that doesn’t make much sense.

Ritter’s inner circle is so small and isolated that it’s severely limiting the good advice he might otherwise get, and that, more than anything, is keeping his campaign from moving forward at the same pace as Republicans Marc Holtzman and Bob Beauprez. Holtzman and Beauprez have hired top staffers who have been involved in large-scale races. If Ritter isn’t looking outside of Denver – and isn’t even looking at candidates with big-race experience – he’s going to get someone who isn’t ready for this race. And then, Ritter isn’t going to be ready for this race.

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27 thoughts on “Taking Stock of Bill Ritter”

  1. I know he worked for Bridges, but Jim Merlino is a stud.  The guy would make a good candidate himself, he’s highly organized and motivated, not to mention Senator Salazar’s campaign victory.

  2. I think the biggest problem Ritter will have is not his campaign staff. It is himself. I know a lot of Dems at this point are saying “if he’s what we got, we’ll back him” but they are REALLY looking for another candidate.

    I fully expect one of the “big 4” uncommitted contenders to jump into this race: either Fitz-Gerald, Romanoff, Hickenlooper, or Salazar. I am just not sure which one. Right now my money is on Fitzy, but Salazar will clear the field if he goes for it.

    In any case, ANY other Dem candidate will likely beat Ritter in a primary. If it is true that Dan Grossman is reconsidering the AG’s office, I would hope that Ritter would see the writing on the wall about Governor and make a try for that office. His background makes him much more suited for AG instead of Gov.

    Having said that, I would be a little sad to see Grossman not go for the AG. I was really looking forward to the Dem. free-for-all that would have taken place to fill his senate seat. (I live in Grossman’s district). I know of 4 strong candidates who were looking closely at that seat.

  3. Giving Jim Merlino credit for Senator Salazar’s victory is like giving Peggy Lamm credit for Governor Owens beating Rollie Heath.  And you mean Congressman Salazar…

  4. Everyone knows that Scott Hutchings is going places (including Ritter).  While he works for the Denver City Council President now, he’s from the Western Slope and was the Secretary of the State Dems.  He would have been good.

    Still, isn’t it obvious that Ritter should be hiring a manager with two qualifications he does not: (1) a woman, (2) from outside of Denver.

    That should be a good place for him to start.

  6. OT: Colorado Springs City Council is SUEING to keep TABOR father Doug Bruce’s initiatives off the November ballot.

    See the Gazette.  Man, Bruce can’t even find friends in El Paso county?  I love GOP in-fighting.

  7. It happens with every single initiative Bruce files, every single year. This ain’t in-fighting – it’s the natural course of events, especially when you have an abrasive renegade like Bruce around.

    It’s kinda like the Democrats’ problem with the Be The Change die-hards, except with far fewer pleasantries.

    And anyone who told you Bruce ever had friend in El Paso is a fool – there’s a reason he only runs well among the eastern county precincts and their militia compounds.

  8. With all due respect ColoradoPols…you might have interesting gossip, but your reporting skills leave something to be desired.

    “[Mary] Buckley hasn’t been heard from since directing Ritter’s re-election campaign in 1996.”

    Not true.  She’s been Mayor Hick’s Director of Business Development since 2003.  She’s been quoted in the papers several times in the last couple of weeks alone.

  9. Anyone who actually knows Scott Hutchings knows he is first class.  Do your homework and you won’t find out otherwise.  He has loads of campaign experience, including numerous state wide campaigns.  Your article “Taking Stock of Bill Ritter” admits that Ritter needs “to get out of Denver”.  Scott would have given him that state wide expertise and is probably one of the reasons Ritter allegedly interviewed him.  Whatever transpired between them is their business.  Regardless, Ritter will need serious help to defeat Beauprez.

  10. Hey, el paso native: what problem do the Dems have with the Be The Change folks, except that they are with Be The Change?  I’m having a bit of a hard time coming up with issues where my fellow Democrats disagree with policies espoused by BTC.

    Bruce’s conflict with the rest of his party is that he wants to be in politics, but he wants to abolish government bit by bit.

    Big difference.  I wonder, if BTC all of a sudden merged in with Democracy for Colorado, what would it change except to relieve some party members’ enmity?

  11. It sounds a bit like some Democratic ankle-biters are miffed that Bill Ritter isn’t paying enough attention to them or is not heeding their (unsolicited) advice. 

    Re Scott Hutchings; at the start of the last Denver municipal election cycle he was working for the Thompson Group (Little Rock, AK and Washington, DC) running statewide political efforts across the west and mid-west. He can do this stuff in his sleep (and with a very young child at home he would have had to).  For starters, Hutchings would never let a candidate of his go on a blog like this as unprepared as Ritter was.  He is way too experienced to make those kinds of mistakes.  Hutch went to work for Council President Rodriguez because she was a close friend and because he had a brand new baby – and being on the road twenty-plus days a month didn’t make for a happy home life.  It was a good opportunity for him to return to a somewhat sane schedule and home life and to work with a friend.  My guess is that he didn’t want to go back to the campaign grind at this point in his marriage.

    Re Bill Ritter; His problem isn’t management, his problem is message.  Bill Ritter needs to let the Democratic nominating constituency know who he is – he needs to define himself beyond his pro-life/newly-minted 17th Street Lawyer persona.  Bill Ritter, not his advisors or his campaign manager, needs to do this.  The others can help him polish and refine his message, they can help him identify the best venues where he can deliver his message with greatest effect, but Bill Ritter alone is the only person who can tell us who he is, why he is running and what his vision is for Colorado for the next five years. 

    My guess is that he has 45-60 days to do this and do it with force or he will see another candidate in the race…and James Carville couldn’t save his butt then.  Bill Ritter might very well beat Bob Beauprez (and certainly Mark Holtzman) in the general election.  He prospects are bleak in a Democratic primary.  He needs to suck the oxygen out of the room for the next 45 days, so to speak, to discourage primary opposition.

  12. Jim Merlino had nothing to do with SENATOR Salazar’s victory.  He ran CONGRESSMAN JOHN Salazar’s race.  I’m surprized you “insiders” still can’t tell the difference between Ken and John Salazar.

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