Politicians are always blabbing about the grass roots. Bankers, lawyers, sons of millionaire former presidents – they’re all populists on the stump, proud products of the salt of the earth speaking from the heart about common-sense issues important to the people.
It’s such claptrap.
Take away the focus groups, the education committees financed by special-interest soft money and the speaking points produced by consultants, and they’re not called populists anymore.
They’re called losers.
With one possible exception: The leader of the subversive little movement to decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.
SAFER director Mason Tvert set up a folding table on the sidewalk in front of the state Capitol on Wednesday and got a couple friends to hold signs to announce that the campaign that legalized adult possession of small amounts of marijuana in Denver – at least theoretically – is going statewide.
Tvert said SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) has more than 300 volunteers poised to circulate petitions to get the initiative on the November ballot. If passed, the measure would change state law to make it legal – at least theoretically – for persons over 21 to possess an ounce of marijuana or less.
Tvert admitted straight up that if the initiative passes, it won’t alter local and federal laws prohibiting marijuana possession. He doesn’t care.
“It’s part of an end game for marijuana prohibition in this country,” he said.
And this is where he could be onto something.
The surprise passage of SAFER’s marijuana initiative last year in Denver suggests that the professional politicians were wildly out of touch with the grass roots, at least on the issue of grass.
They were so confident the measure would lose, few campaigned against it.
It could happen again, despite a recent Denver Post poll that showed 37 percent of Colorado voters favor the SAFER initiative while 51 percent oppose it.
That means “after more than 70 years of marijuana prohibitions, propaganda and misinformation, just over half of the state agrees with marijuana prohibition,” Tvert said.
OK, sometimes even a grassroots campaigner can’t resist the urge to spin.
The guy’s obviously counting on other polls, the ones that show at least half of Americans admit to having smoked marijuana despite federal, state and local bans and a relentless national war on drugs.
Sure, most of these people get all sanctimonious around their bosses and their children. But in the privacy of the voting booth, if everyone with a stale joint or an old film canister of marijuana from college tucked away in the sock drawer votes for the measure just to feel young and reckless again, the professional politicians could be in for another shock.
“We’re nearing the tipping point,” said Tvert, who dared Gov. Bill Owens, Mayor John Hickenlooper and Attorney General John Suthers to be among the first to sign the petition to put the initiative on the ballot so everyone can see what the voters really think about marijuana laws.
Coincidentally, while Tvert was mobilizing SAFER on the sidewalk, the tough-on-crime former District Attorney Bill Ritter was several Capitol steps above him trying to rally support behind his plodding campaign for governor.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am today,” he said, to which about a dozen guys in Teamsters Union jackets and as many state legislators clapped politely.
Tvert ignored it all.
He was comfortably in his element, standing on a sidewalk with the wind buffeting him, motorists honking their horns in approval, passers-by stopping to sign the petitions and a guy in full biker regalia revving his Harley in an enthusiastic show of solidarity.
Never mind the barrage of Oreos- and-Grateful-Dead humor that accompanies every commentary on his campaign. He’s serious about about taking grassroots politicking to a higher level.
Oops. I couldn’t resist.
Blame it on peer pressure.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
