Republican Bob Beauprez compared his failed bid for governor to the Denver Broncos’ quarterback shake-up.
“I heard one of the Denver sportscasters say the best reason you can come up with for going with Jay Cutler is that he hasn’t had an opportunity to offend anybody yet,” he said. “I feel like Jake Plummer.”
Beauprez said Democratic Gov-.elect Bill Ritter ran a campaign with few specifics. And, Beauprez said, as a Republican congressman, the national mood was against him.
As for his political future, Beauprez in an interview Monday said he would not run against Republican U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard if Colorado’s senior senator runs again in 2008.
But he didn’t rule out a run if Allard honors his term-limits pledge and steps down.
“I’m not not looking at that seat,” Beauprez said. “What I mean by that is I’m not saying no to very many things right now.”
Beauprez said he intends to stay active by writing about politics and policy on his website, www.bobbeauprez.com. He said he’s exploring working for trade associations and economic development groups, though he “can’t imagine” lobbying.
He said he’s interested in promoting education options like vouchers, home schooling and online education. Education and job training are crucial, he said, to good-paying jobs and strong communities.
During the campaign, Beauprez battled a national political climate hostile to Republicans.
“I don’t mean to overly rationalize it or excuse it, but it was one of those years. There was a foul wind blowing and I stepped out in the middle of it,” Beauprez said.
He also pointed to party divisions stemming from Referendums C and D, a divisive U.S. Senate primary two years ago between Pete Coors and Bob Schaffer and this year’s nasty GOP battle for the 5th Congressional District.
“If we would have had about 80 percent of our base turn out and even a fraction of the unaffiliated, we would have won,” he said. “I guess I’ve got to accept some of that blame, but I don’t know.”
In the governor’s race, Beauprez acknowledged missteps. Asked for examples, he said only that “maybe we made a mistake in not getting out there earlier with some policy, some positions.”
The campaign chose to hold that information until after Labor Day, when voters traditionally start paying attention to elections, he said.
Beauprez took some criticism for not campaigning Labor Day weekend when Ritter stumped in five counties. Beauprez said he didn’t think Ritter outworked him.
His campaign seemed to get some traction by running an ad that said as Denver district attorney, Ritter had plea-bargained an illegal immigrant who later went on to commit a sex crime against a child in California.
But then his campaign was accused of getting the information illegally from a restricted law enforcement database. Beauprez refused to disclose the source of the information, who was later identified as Cory Voorhis, a federal ICE agent based in Colorado. The case is still being investigated by the FBI and CBI.
“I think Mr. Voorhis did exactly the right thing and I think we did exactly the right thing and I hope that somebody learns a lesson from it,” Beauprez said.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-954-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
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BLOWN BY WINDS OF CHANGE
“I don’t mean to overly rationalize it or excuse it,
but it was one of those years. There was a foul wind blowing and I stepped out in the middle of it.”
Bob Beauprez
