Each night as I zoom home on Interstate 70, I’m reminded that Bill Ritter is Colorado’s governor.
No, it’s not the potholes. Rather, it’s the large sign, paid for with taxpayer dollars, that tells me so. It also implies that Ritter is helping to put “America to work.”
Wherever federal stimulus money is spent in Colorado, there’s likely to be a sign erected to tell us it’s stimulus money putting America back to work. And, for no apparent reason, the bottom of the sign reads: “Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.”
No wonder he signed a bill making it illegal to text and drive. He wants all eyes on that free advertising.
It’s good to be king.
The sign is part of the power of incumbency, and one of the reasons it’s hard to unseat a governor or any officeholder. Not only do they get their faces and names all over newspapers and newscasts, they also have other ways of getting in front of voters without having to drain their campaign coffers.
And with all of the do-gooder campaign finance reform legislation passed here and nationally in recent years — laws that have only made politics less transparent by driving money underground — expect to see more politicians (and their supporters) using less conventional methods of campaigning.
Consider the ad in last week’s Post by a trade group, praising Ritter for supporting biotech industries and thus creating high-wage jobs. It had a huge photo of the guv under the heading “Bill Ritter understands Colorado’s economy.”
First, let me go on the record to say I am in favor of most any group that pays to put a large ad in the paper. But this one had campaign ad written all over it — without, of course, having “campaign ad” written all over it.
The fact the association that put it together uses the same Colorado consulting firm that’s running Ritter’s campaign is just, well, a coincidence, PhRMA’s senior vice president told The Post’s Lynn Bartels.
The ad didn’t mention Ritter’s candidacy or his campaign, so it passed the smell test of one ethics group.
Then I heard Josh Penry, a GOP state senator from Grand Junction, in an ad on Denver radio this past week, telling listeners to spend more time with their kids or they might run off and do drugs or drink or run for public office. It was paid for by the American Beverage Association.
The West Slope politician seemed like an odd choice to be a spokesman on that topic in this market. That is, until you consider he may run for governor and needs to raise his name recognition with Front Range voters.
The commercial was supposed to run in March, according to the lobbyist who set it up, and Penry was not chosen because of his future political aspirations. Last year, Peter Groff, a Democrat, cut a similar ad, she said.
But still, for Penry, who hasn’t declared he’s running — which means he can’t raise money for the race — it’s an opportunity to raise his name recognition on someone else’s dime. Why wouldn’t he?
I imagine it’s only a matter of days before some group is buying ads for Scott McInnis, who’s also running for governor, to pitch the virtues of baseball or apple pie.
Isn’t it time to end this Kabuki dance and strip away most of these well-intentioned but counterproductive campaign finance laws? Like water, money in politics follows the path of least resistance. Now, once a corporation or lobbying firm has maxed out its limited contribution to a campaign, it just works overtime to find loopholes.
Our laws basically force a lack of honesty on political players, through no fault of their own, by making them play these games.
All we really need to know is who is giving what to whom and why.
E-mail Dan Haley at dhaley@ .
