Bill Ritter has proved that he is indeed a good man.
Sometimes being a good man means you’re not a very good politician, but when he stood up Wednesday to say he needs to spend more time with his family, it rang true. It wasn’t like those other politicians we’ve seen walk away, citing that familiar excuse. His voice was tremulous when he talked about his family and how he had “not made them the priority they ought to be.” He has a son in college and two children at home.
“They need me. My wife needs me.”
We have sometimes disagreed with Ritter on political and policy decisions, but we’ve always believed he was a good man and a caring father.
He has been a governor with a big heart, even if he sometimes has a tin ear for politics.
His three years as governor have been shaped, for the worse, by a deep recession and a problematic state budget, which have made it difficult for him to keep much of his Colorado Promise made to voters in 2006. But some of his problems have been created by his own missteps, as we’ve chronicled, so he finds himself in January of an election year with a stiff anti-incumbent wind in his face and falling poll numbers.
Still, we don’t believe that Ritter dropped out of the race because he was down in recent polls and feared losing the gubernatorial election to Republican Scott McInnis. The margin was only single digits, and voters haven’t unseated an incumbent governor since 1962.
Ritter was elected in a Democratic landslide in 2006, but at times has had trouble identifying with his own party. He often wasn’t on the same page as House and Senate leaders.
His surprise appointment of Denver schools superintendent Michael Bennet to an open U.S. Senate seat, skipping over several seasoned politicians with broad Democratic support, ruffled feathers. His affection for blue-ribbon panels rather than executive decisions has made him look indecisive.
And in November 2007, his executive order granting collective bargaining rights to state workers outraged business leaders. His efforts to woo them back then outraged labor, and he has been trying to mend fences with both camps, with mixed results, ever since.
But some of Ritter’s difficulty in governing, especially in the last year, wasn’t his own doing. The recession took its toll in Colorado, causing a serious dip in state revenues. During an 18-month period, the governor and state lawmakers will have cut $1.5 billion from the state budget.
It was a painful task, particularly when Ritter was forced to suggest cuts to programs he deeply cares about, such as higher education, K-12 and mental health treatment.
The job he campaigned for in 2006 was markedly different from the one he has held for these last several months.
Still, there are positives that Ritter can legitimately lay claim to, including development of the new energy economy and still-evolving statewide education reforms that could position Colorado well in its efforts to get millions in federal Race to the Top money.
And as he noted Wednesday, much work remains to be done over the next year.
It may not have been noticeable to Coloradans, but this job has worn on the governor. We couldn’t help but notice the lightness in Ritter’s demeanor at his press conference, joking at times with journalists. It seemed as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
He had the appearance of a man who was very comfortable with his very difficult decision, and we’re happy for him.
The moment he finished his speech in the Capitol foyer, he turned and hugged his teenage son. Sometimes stepping away from a job to spend time with one’s family means just that.
