Liberal political organizer Michael Huttner, founder of ProgressNow Colorado and a nationally knowb consultant, is leading the 527 group Making Colorado Great. (Special to the Post/ Matt McClain)
While the politician who says he hates the rough-and-tumble of campaign politics, incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper, was wooing business investors and analysts at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel at lunchtime Monday, Colorado politics regarding him played loudly in the public arena.
Michael Huttner made his presence known in a press release, with a familiar name in the “contact” spot.
A decade ago, there was no clearer, or possibly louder, voice from Colorado’s political left than Huttner, the founder of ProgressNow Colorado and a consultant for similar groups across the country since. He’s back now with the well-financed group Making Colorado Great.
Its mission statement? “[T]o hold Bob Beauprez accountable to the people of Colorado.” See where this is going?
While Hickenlooper has vowed to avoid negative campaigning, his ally Huttner was fast out of the gate Monday. He called on Beauprez to renounce an endorsement from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is awaiting booking on a . Over the phone, Huttner also brought up Beauprez’s support from embattled New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as well as an affiliation through a conservative group’s board with former House Speaker Tom DeLay, who was indicted in the same Texas county in 2005, convicted in 2011, and last year.
Beauprez’s campaign did not comment on heavyweight Huttner directly, but supported Perry’s decision to seek the removal of Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg from office after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated last year. Perry followed through on a threat to veto funding for the Democratic prosecutor’s Public Integrity Unit, which is investigating a taxpayer-supported Texas cancer research center where donors to Perry campaigns benefited suspiciously from lucrative grants.
“There’s a disturbing trend of John Hickenlooper’s allies supporting drunk driving offenders,” said Beauprez spokesman Allen Fuller. “Most Coloradans are more concerned about public safety than protecting drunk drivers.”
Huttner said with Making Colorado Great because he’s tired of Beauprez’s “extreme, backwards views.” The group, which does not have to disclose its donors, has plenty of money and airtime to get that message out: about so far, according to Federal Communications Commission documents.
“I care deeply about Colorado and it is crucial that the people here learn about him,” said Huttner, who’s political consulting firm has offices in Boulder, where he lives, New York City and Washington, D.C. “And when you look at Beauprez’s history of unethical misconduct, as well as his extreme views on key issues, Both Ways Bob Beauprez truly represents the wrong kind of politics for Colorado.”
