Congressman Bob Beauprez handed his political opponents, who already deride him as “Both Ways Bob,” a nicely wrapped gift Friday afternoon.
He flip-flopped on the controversial Amendment 38. In a letter to proponents, Beauprez said he can no longer support the proposal known as the Petitions Rights Amendment, which the business community has roundly deemed as bad for Colorado.
Beauprez’s move angered some conservatives and prompted his opponent Bill Ritter‘s campaign to quickly sniff: He “can expect to wear [the Both Ways Bob tag] around his neck from now until Election Day.”
Beauprez’s support for Amendment 38 had become his Achilles’ heel in Colorado’s business community, and had begun to hurt his fundraising. His campaign knows his about-face will only exacerbate his image as Both Ways Bob, but the candidate defends his turnabout.
The congressman still supports an expanded right of citizens to petition government, but after consulting with lawyers and land-use experts he said in his letter to pro-petition activist Douglas Bruce that he discovered Amendment 38 could “erode private property rights.” It “may end up significantly impairing the right of our citizens to own and utilize their private property without excessive government interference.”
Campaign manager John Marshall says the decision wasn’t made for political reasons. “If it were, we would have made it eight weeks ago,” he said.
Pressure had been mounting for Beauprez to abandon 38 for weeks. Its backers say it would clean up some of the abuses in the petition process, but opponents claim it undercuts representative government and could open a Pandora’s box of problems. Ambiguity in the proposal, Beauprez notes, “could invite activist courts to reinvent the law.”
Colorado Counties Inc. and Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, and many of the groups that supported Referendum C, have come out against 38. Gov. Bill Owens, Beauprez’s most visible supporter, also opposes it.
Beauprez had worked himself into a corner, and his move Friday still may not be enough for some since he’s opposing it on a technicality of sorts.
And that brings us to Beauprez’s other predicament with the business community, Initiative 88, which would limit the amount of money the state could retain under Referendum C. The business leaders who rallied to pass Ref C also oppose it, as does Gov. Owens.
Beauprez was the first signature on the petition, and still backs the idea.
Marshall says it’s just “one of the vehicles out there” to make sure state revenue collections don’t grow beyond the $3.7 billion touted during the Ref C campaign.
Beauprez’s support for the measures recently led the Denver Business Journal to write this headline about the race: “Who backs business? It may surprise you.”
Ritter’s support from the business community is paying off. So far this year he has out-raised Beauprez $822,000 to $588,000. And Ritter is coming off his best month yet, raising $360,000 in June. Beauprez’s numbers should be out next week.
Ritter’s plea bargains
Speaking of Ritter, the Democrat with low unfavorable numbers and no primary opponent to tar him – he’s finally about to get dirty.
The Trailhead Group, an independent political action committee started by Gov. Owens, Bruce Benson and Pete Coors, launched radio ads Friday attacking Ritter’s high plea-bargain rate from his Denver district attorney days. It was a predictable political move, since most DAs have high rates, but it portrays him as soft on crime.
It’s familiar territory in a Beauprez race. His congressional opponent in 2004, DA Dave Thomas, ran a hapless campaign and was at least partially sunk by ads making him appear soft on crime because of his high plea bargain rate.
“He brags about fighting crime,” the statewide radio ads declare, “but while Ritter was Denver’s district attorney – by his own admission – his office plea-bargained 97 percent of all cases. Ritter even plea-bargained with murderers and convicted sex offenders.”
Imagine that, a DA who settled cases without a trial.
It isn’t exactly Willie Horton, yet, but if it raises fear with any voters it could drive up Ritter’s unfavorable numbers.
Dan Haley (dhaley@denverpost.com) is a member of The Post’s editorial board.
