Head down, mouth mostly shut, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has managed to successfully walk the middle line that divides the Colorado GOP on the issue of Referendums C and D, political observers say.
Although the two-term congressman opposes the budget measures, he has largely stayed out of the political fray. Instead, he has traveled around the state, talking primarily to small groups of loyal Republicans. At every stop, he talks about his position against the referendums, but then moves on to other state issues – gubernatorial campaign issues – such as water, transportation, education and health care.
“He’s being very smart,” said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University. “He’s communicating selectively, muting his public image and finding conservative, carefully selective venues and telling them what they want to hear.”
It’s a sharp contrast from his GOP opponent Marc Holtzman, who some say has successfully used the campaign against Referendums C and D to boost his public image and his campaign for governor. Holtzman has appeared in TV ads against C and D – funded in part by a $100,000 donation from Holtzman’s father – which has led to allegations by opponents that he’s skirting state election laws prohibiting donations of more than $1,000 to a gubernatorial candidate.
In turn, Holtzman has taken shots at Beauprez for lying low and not putting his weight behind opposing the ballot measures.
“Beauprez is trying to walk that line of not upsetting party activists or his wealthy Republican donor base,” said Holtzman campaign spokesman Dick Leggitt. “He hasn’t raised a dime for the (anti-C and D) campaign. He isn’t debating people all over the state, like Marc.”
Exactly, says Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College. Beauprez has garnered the endorsements of wealthy Denver business people such as Bruce Benson and top GOP leaders such as Gov. Bill Owens. That half of the Republican Party, often characterized as more moderate, is supporting C and D.
The other section – usually identified with the more conservative and religious part of the GOP, such as former Congressman Bob Schaffer, who has endorsed Beauprez – is against the referendums.
“Any clear-cut identification with one side or the other could be damaging to Beauprez in the general election,” Loevy said. “He’s soft-pedaling the issue enough so that no matter how the vote turns out, he won’t have antagonized either camp enough to hurt him.”
For instance, Republican consultant Katy Atkinson, who is the spokeswoman for the “Vote Yes on C & D” campaign, shows little hostility toward Beauprez.
When asked why she wasn’t criticizing the congressman for opposing the referendums even though she has hammered Holtzman time and again, she said: “Because Beauprez isn’t running a million dollars of TV ads against us and calling people pigs.”
Opponents of the ballot measures have run an ad showing a man in a pig suit chasing backers of Referendums C and D, claiming the measures were a tax increase to feed politicians eager to indulge in pork-barrel spending.
Beauprez’s campaign denies there has been a calculated political strategy at work over the past few months. “It’s really about Bob and how he deals with things,” said spokesman John Marshall. “He thinks people can disagree without being disagreeable.”
Even so, Loevy says, Holtzman’s attempts at higher name recognition and aligning himself with the right wing of the party may pay off in the primary.
“That could really help him in the precinct caucuses in April,” Loevy said. “Beauprez and Holtzman have two completely different strategies. It will be interesting to see which one works.”
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
