It doesn’t matter whether congressional candidate Rick O’Donnell supports Amendment 41. Like it or not, O’Donnell has become the poster child for a state ballot initiative to limit to $50 private gifts to politicians and high- ranking public officials.
O’Donnell’s acceptance of a free trip to Panama while he ran the Colorado Commission on Higher Education has put the 7th Congressional District Republican candidate in the middle of a self-destructive ethics debate. It has also driven home the case for constitutional reform.
“This is exactly what Amendment 41 is trying to stop,” said Jenny Flanagan of Colorado Common Cause. “This trip was clearly a reward for the purchase of advertisements by a government agency.”
O’Donnell does not appear to have broken any laws. But his lack of judgment could sentence him to life without election. For a guy like O’Donnell, an ambitious 36-year-old wunderkind who ran Gov. Bill Owens’ Office of Policy and Initiatives and served as Owens’ deputy chief of staff before heading up a state agency, that is a fate akin to death.
If you aspire to any office at any level, you must understand that letting a TV station pay for you and your girlfriend to go to Panama is a no-win political proposition. To accept such a trip after spending public dollars leaves you without a defense in the court of public opinion.
The program O’Donnell’s agency advertised on television was a good and vital one. Colorado needs to attract more of its high school graduates to higher education. But having spent state bucks to promote a college-recruitment program and then taking anything from the station that broadcast those ads was destined to come back to haunt O’Donnell if he ran for office.
O’Donnell’s campaign didn’t call back to talk about the candidate’s travel itinerary. But O’Donnell’s claim to Post reporter Chris Osher that he didn’t really want to go to Panama on CBS’s dime doesn’t pass the smell test. If, as O’Donnell said, he could not auction off the trip for charity or give it to a needy student, then he could have stayed home. You know: Just say no.
Or if you say yes, at least come up with a creative excuse.
O’Donnell’s defense that he used the Panama junket to network with people who could help educate Colorado’s kids was absurd for this reason: O’Donnell told Osher he cannot remember who else went on the trip.
Sniff, sniff, sniff.
How much this trip was worth also remains a mystery. O’Donnell will not be required to report its value to the governor’s office until January, two months after the election, said Owens press secretary Dan Hopkins.
Sniff, sniff, sniff.
This stench is not only going to stick to O’Donnell through Election Day, it could cling to him for the rest of his political career. He will have himself to blame. At this point in most high-stakes campaigns, the rumor mill runs full time. Each day, each side tries to torpedo the other, planting stories with reporters. The problem comes when there is fire with the smoke.
Here, there was a five-alarm revelation.
The measure for trips like the one O’Donnell was offered should be to trust your gut. If your stomach hurts at the prospect of being found out, don’t go.
When guys as powerful as O’Donnell can’t make this call, something must change.
“The culture of Colorado is that this kind of gift-giving is OK,” Flanagan said. “It absolutely strengthens the case (for spending limits).”
Katy Atkinson, a spokeswoman for opponents of Amendment 41, said there might need to be a law to deal with situations like O’Donnell’s but not a broadsweeping constitutional change.
Be that as it may, a few things are sure:
If a $50 gift limit had been in place, O’Donnell would have been prohibited from letting someone pay his way to Panama. He would not be appearing on
ProgressNow’s website as “Panama Rick,” his head Photoshopped on a body in a Hawaiian shirt and a lei.
And he would have a much better chance of winning the 7th CD.
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-954-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
