Rep. Bob Beauprez officially launched his campaign for governor Tuesday – and officially abandoned his responsibilities to the people of Colorado.
By giving up congressional influence he accumulated in three short years, Beauprez ditched a position with enormous benefit to Colorado in order to scratch the itch to be governor.
Beauprez became the state’s go-to guy in Republican Washington by winning a district that might otherwise go to the Democrats. To cement his status, GOP leaders rewarded him with a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee that no other Coloradan could hope to obtain.
Poof; now it’s gone.
The move to abandon his 7th District congressional seat was the second bad decision Beauprez made en route to Tuesday’s announcement. The other occured last year when he brushed off Gov. Bill Owens and other Republicans who put politics aside to campaign for Referendum C, the budget fix that voters approved last November to restore Colorado’s finances.
Beauprez opposed Referendum C to save face with the anti-tax zealots of his party, knowing all the while that his political calculation was contrary to Colorado’s interests.
Yesterday, the congressman spoke of Colorado as a place where residents can realize the American dream. “If you’re interested in opportunity, where on Earth would you rather be than Colorado?” Beauprez said.
We suggest he ask the current governor where Colorado would be if C had failed to pass. “I, as a conservative Republican, wouldn’t be pushing it as hard as I am if I didn’t think … these referenda were vital for Colorado’s future,” Owens said last fall.
Yesterday Beauprez said society has no greater responsibility than to educate its children. We suggest he ask University of Colorado President Hank Brown where Colorado students would be without C.
“If Referendum C doesn’t pass, within a decade there will not be a single penny of money in Colorado’s general fund going to higher education,” Brown warned.
Beauprez says the passage of C “fixed absolutely nothing about the way we do business in the state,” essentially rebuking voters who gave it their approval.
He just doesn’t get it.Thanks to the state’s political and business leaders, and especially its voters, Colorado’s economic future is secure and its opportunities for growth over the next decade are considerable. No thanks to Bob Beauprez.
He’s wrong on C and is now abandoning Colorado’s interests in Washington. Has there ever been a more twisted road to a gubernatorial announcement? Poof.
