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Top 5 stories of 2008 in Colorado politics
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5. "Right To Work" = Right To Lose
As states across America kill off worker unions with "right to work" laws, Colorado stood up and soundly defeated a proposed amendment to the state constitution that aimed to destroy unions on behalf of rich business owners like John Coors.
4. The repeated humiiations of one Bob Schaffer
Whether getting called out for his connections to Jack Abramoff and the Mariannas Islands fiasco ("I did not observe a forced abortion" was the quote of the year in Colorado politics), scrambling to explain his son's racist Facebook page, the Bill Orr scandal, or showing up on Meet The Press with ten Red Bulls in him, Bob Schaffer so thoroughly embarrassed himself this year that it is almost impossible to imagine him ever running for public office again. But I hope he does... this guy's still got some comedy gold in him, I just know it.
3. Fort Collins cures Mad Cow Disease
She got her start in politics on the school board up in Fort Morgan, where she would spend time in libraries blacking out passages in sex-education textbooks. After close calls in 2004 and 2006, Marilyn Musgrave was finally defeated in Colorado's 4th Congressional District. Her missteps and deranged statements ("Gay marriage is the most important issue facing America today") are too numerous and depressing to relive now that it's 2009. Politicians like Musgrave have been winning in America for a long time, their success due almost entirely to bigotry and fear, and that all seemed to wash away this year. Good riddance.
2. Salazar appointment/Senator Michael Bennet
Well, that came out of nowhere. After U.S. Senator Ken Salazar was appointed to become Secretary of the Interior, the Rocky Mountain News is reporting today that Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet will be appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to take over Salazar's seat. The official announcement is expected tomorrow.
According to the Denver Post, Ritter's choice came down to Bennet and his former boss, Mayor John Hickenlooper. Before becoming Superintendent, Bennet was Hickenlooper's chief of staff.
1. The Democratic National Convention
After all of the fear and paranoia about disastrous traffic jams and 1968-Chicago type riots, Denver's moment in the spotlight as host of the DNC went off without a hitch.
The protesters, in retrospect, were on pretty good behavior, as if many of their leaders knew that Barack Obama is just about the best nominee from a major political party that you can hope for if you're a committed leftist. Contributing to the lack of drama was the Bill Belichickian performance by the Denver Police Department, who at every turn seemed as if they knew what the protesters were going to do before they did it.
After Obama's momentous speech at Invesco Field, it seemed as if the entire thing was overshadowed the next morning by John McCain's shocking selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, a story which had its own Colorado connection. Still, it was fun while it lasted... and I got to meet the RZA.
