When President Kennedy explained the goal of sending a man to the moon, he said the nation chose to do such things “not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…” We often face challenges that are difficult, but nevertheless important, and we should not shrink from doing the right thing just because it is hard.
I recently had the pleasure of attending, at CMU’s new Asteria Theater, a conversation with former Colorado Governors Bill Owens and Bill Ritter. It was a wide-ranging discussion, skillfully and personably moderated by CMU President John Marshall, about their varying yet similar experiences, their commentary on the future of the State, and several important contemporary issues.
Both Governors were in great form, looking good and speaking well – articulate, persuasive, and forceful. Two things especially stood out, to me and I think most of the large crowd. First was the level of civility that is so desperately lacking in today’s politics. Owens and Ritter both survived rough and tumble campaigns, to be sure. But campaigns in 2024 are worse than rough, characterized by name-calling, blatant lying, character assassination, legal maneuvers to stifle speech and debate, and if all else fails, efforts to imprison political opponents instead of defeating them in elections.
By contrast, Governors Owens and Ritter, political rivals to say the least, can sit together and talk as friends, disagreeing on most issues yet never disagreeable, and looking forward to sharing beers on the plane afterwards. Although polar opposites in their political outlook and philosophies, they nevertheless are more united as Americans and Coloradans than they are divided as Republican and Democrat.
Yet the second thing that really stood out was precisely that difference in philosophy and outlook. They are very different people despite parallel resumes of long-term public service, Owens firmly engaged in the private sector and Ritter still in the public arena, now working at CSU and serving on boards of environmental groups. Their disagreement on several important issues revealed why their political fortunes were also so different.
Bill Owens, although the only Republican Governor Coloradans have elected in 50 years, became one of the State’s most popular. He was elected in 1998 in one of Colorado’s closest-ever elections but re-elected four years later by the largest margin of any Republican in state history. He left office as one of the most popular figures in Colorado, following an ambitious and highly successful agenda of educational accountability, transportation improvements, and the largest tax cuts in state history.
Bill Ritter, by contrast, scored a solid victory in the 2006 election to replace term-limited Owens, but by the end of his term polls showed only 33 percent of voters supported his re-election. He presided over a worsening economy and angered many by imposing higher fees on vehicle registrations and other services. He alienated traditional supporters by instituting furloughs for state employees, and vetoing legislation labor unions wanted. His re-election was called “in doubt” by the Cook Political Report and other media observers, and he opted not to run again.
Owens and Ritter remain very different despite their friendship and civility. Owens continues to talk about fixing major issues facing the state, addressing the crime wave, immigration mess, highway infrastructure, and educational failings. Ritter talks about climate change, global warming, and the importance of Coloradans “doing our part.” He brags that by 2030, 80 percent of Colorado’s electricity will come from renewable energy and, by 2050, achieving 100 percent net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, presumably by following California’s lead in banning internal combustion engines, eliminating gas stoves and furnaces, and driving consumers’ electric bills through the ceiling. Owens predicted, correctly, that it will not happen and explained the economics that motivate power companies in thoughtful and measured terms that enthralled even the academics in that CMU audience.
Full disclosure: I served in Governor Owens’ cabinet and have considered him a friend most of my adult life, so I make no claim to objectivity here. This is an opinion column, not a news article.
Owens was right on target in pointing out the futility of destroying Colorado’s prosperous economy for no noticeable global improvement, while emissions spike in China and India. He and Ritter will never agree on that and many other issues. But the ability to come together and debate them calmly and dispassionately is what makes the American system of self-government work. We need that now more than ever.
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