Colorado Politics, News and Inside Information

Governor Mark Udall: Non-Decision 2006

Days since private deadline:  7

Days until public deadline:   11

We missed a day of keeping our Mark Udall countdown calendar going.  This is understandable as our countdown desk spent Friday recovering from all the inaugural balls and trying to figure out how to beat the big snowstorm so we can be in Palm Beach on time for Mr. Trump's wedding.

Anyway, it's been a week since the private deadline for Mark Udall's decision on the 2006 governor's race, and things are pretty quiet.  We'll let you know if we hear anything.

SpongeDob SquarePants Continues

Some may accuse Colorado Pols of paying a bit too much attention to the James Dobson/SpongeBob SquarePants story.  Yet, on a Saturday when the story is still alive (thanks to Dobson and the Focus on the Family staff, see below), this whole situation is a great example of how politicians can get themselves into PR messes. And, since it involves a Colorado guy, on we go with some political PR dos and don'ts for our friends in Colorado Springs.

DO take a step back.  One of the first rules in political PR is that when the official or candidate says something stupid, or does something to divert attention from the true message, it's time to take a step back.  We're not saying this is the case where you've got a crisis on your hands - like the candidate getting arrested. Then it's time to go into full-blown crisis mode.  We're talking about actions that knock a campaign or effort off its message mark and focus media and public attention elsewhere.  That's exactly what happened to Dobson this week when he went from being the voice of the evangelical wing of the GOP who's going to hold Bush accountable this term to the person who thinks SpongeBob SquarePants is gay.

DO let the story die.  This is a one day story at best.  There's football championships this weekend, a big snowstorm hitting the Midwest and east coast, and Tom Tancredo's dazzling burst onto the New Hampshire landscape for the media and public to think about (well, maybe not the last one).   

How does a story die....?

DON'T try to explain yourself.  If you keep your mouth shut and don't try and explain yourself, the story dies.  But, like any politician following his natural instincts, Dobson went out on Friday and tried to explain themselves.  For a good example, check out the Colorado Springs Gazette's coverage today, which is being mirrored elsewhere in the country.  When the politician wants to explain himself in this type of a situation, it's the staff's job to help a politician rein in those natural instincts.  Trying to explain "what I really meant" only gives the media something new to write off, and, presto, the story continues.

DON'T give an opponent free media.  Seriously, who among our two readers even knew that Nile Rodgers was producing a video starring cartoon characters that would help teach tolerance to kids?  Was the New York Times newsroom buzzing over this creative update to "We Are Family" and preparing to break the news to a waiting world, only to be trumped by James Dobson?  Of course not.  This effort was way under the radar.  Now, thanks to James Dobson, Nile Rodgers is writing in the Times about his project, talking to Katie Couric about it and it's all over the news and the talk of late-night TV. 

If Dobson is going to be taken seriously as a player in politics in this country, he needs to get some people around him with a little more sense of how the game is played.  Meanwhile, to most Americans who even know who he is, they'll know him as the guy who thinks SpongeBob is gay.  And, while Dobson's base may forgive him, don't think the White House is somewhat happy that one of the more public voices trying to force their hand on certain issues is now a laughingstock.

Hoffman Wants Big Raise, Not Integrity

University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman apparently will go to great lengths to secure a hefty raise - including making things up. Hoffman demanded a substantial raise from the CU Board of Regents by telling them that Penn State University had offered her $900,000 to take over the Nittany Lions.

Last June Hoffman declined a pay raise from her $400,000 salary, citing concerns about CU's financial health. Those concerns have seemingly dissipated.

The truth?

Hoffman was not offered anything by Penn State, and in fact didn't even make it through the first cut of applicants. Never mind that the school doesn't pay anything near $900,000 for that job.

How will the CU Board of Regents react to this? We don't know if they've already decided on a raise or not, but here's hoping they don't cave because of a toothless threat.

Sponge Dob and Square Pants

Since it's Friday, let's take a short interlude from the business of politics to have a little contest, inspired by James "Sponge Dob" Dobson's battle against SpongeBob Square Pants.

Comment below with your best joke about this "controversy." The winner will receive...well, nothing, except for the undying love of both of our readers.

To get us started, here's our submission:

Is there any proof that SpongeBob SquarePants is gay? Did someone catch him making out with a male brillo pad?

(insert drum and symbol noise here)

First Bush, Next SpongeBob

The chatter continues to emanate from Colorado Springs this week as James Dobson has turned his attention from holding President Bush and the G.O.P. accountable to tackling the vastly more important issue of sexual orientation among cartoon characters. 

According to reports, Christian activists, including Dobson and Focus on the Family, are up in arms about a new music video promoting tolerance and diversity to children and featuring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney, Bob The Builder, the Rugrats  and other cartoon characters.  The video was produced by the We Are Family Foundation, founded by Nile Rodgers to promote healing after the 9/11 attacks.

Apparently, Dobson and others are angered that the tolerance message to children includes respecting people's sexual identity.  We'd link you to Dobson's full statement issued yesterday so you could read it yourself, but so far it hasn't appeared on the Focus on the Family website (though a press release on Dobson's TV appearance today has).

We're going to avoid the obvious comments that could be made about attacking cartoon characters, especially sponges, dinosaurs and builders (at least Dan Quayle took on a human TV character). However, this does seem to be a case where a Colorado Republican/Conservative has picked a fight that will be seen as less-than-serious by many, and could dilute the more important messages Focus on the Family feels they need to address.  And don't take our word for it, because there is a precedence here. In 1999 Jerry Falwell was widely ridiculed for saying that Tinky Winky, one of TV's Teletubbies, was a gay character.

Dobson is trying to make himself and his base a player in Republican politics (see James Dobson's Threat).  Going after gay sponges only serves to weaken that effort. Not to mention the fact that everyone, including us, is now going to start calling him "Sponge Dob."

Before we get angry comments on this, remember we often approach things here at Colorado Pols from a political strategy standpoint. We're not commenting on whether Dobson is correct that SpongeBob is gay - and we're not interested in debating the sexual preference of a cartoon sponge - but we do feel strongly that it is always a PR mistake to attack a cartoon character. It's seen as petty, whether your intentions are noble or not, and it makes it hard for people to pay attention to what you are saying.

Colorado Congress Watch: Tom in 2008!

John DiStaso's column in the January 19 Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader reports that Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo is headed to the Granite State next month.  The Sixth District's gift to those across the country who just want the damn borders closed will be in New Hampshire on February 3 to join the like-minded Bay Buchanan in presenting an award to New Ipswich Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain.   Last fall the Chief stopped and detained a carload of illegal immigrants, only to let them go after the feds declined to take on the case.

Is Tom taking seriously the "Tancredo For President" internet movement?  If you want to learn more, check out this site and this site for an example of people who believe in all-things-Tom. 

Governor Mark Udall: Non-Decision 2006

Days since private deadline: 5

Days until public deadline:   13

On this federal Inauguration Day, we'd like to remind readers that the inauguration day for the next Governor of our state, as written in Colorado's Constitution, will be January 9, 2007.

Drunk Donkeys

It's another session of the Colorado General Assembly and once again the effort to repeal Colorado's "blue law" ban on Sunday liquor sales has reared its head.  As we understand it, Jennifer Veiga's proposal would allow local liquor boards to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether or not liquor stores can be open for business on Sunday.

First off, the Colorado Pols line up like the rest of you on Saturday to make sure our whiskey supply is plentiful for Sunday.  And, we certainly don't like waking up bleary-eyed on Sunday morning realizing we downed all of said whiskey supply on Saturday night and are facing a Sunday of 3.2 beer.  We would like nothing better than to be able to head to the liquor store on Sunday for a little hair of the dog on such mornings.  The Democratic proposal would allow us, and all of you, to do so.

However, putting aside the personal appeal of getting rid of Colorado's blue laws, we think this is not the brightest move politically for Democrats at this time.  Again, it comes back to priorities and not setting yourself up for Republican attacks.  While many would support having liquor stores open on Sunday, it will not happen.  The liquor lobby, with their tight control over who sells what and when in Colorado so to maximize profits, will defeat this proposal.  As in past years, it's a non-starter.

The risk is that the Republicans use this to paint the Democrats as irresponsible stewards of society.  Worse, the Elephants start talking about the booze-loving Donkeys who only want to make alcohol more available in Colorado, especially to kids.   Statistics about alcohol related deaths will be pulled out, tragic stories about young people dying because of alcohol will be used.  Yes, this attack has nothing to do with the real issue at hand, but until the Democrats prove their mettle by fixing the problems they were elected to fix (as we've been advocating), everything else becomes a distraction, and a possible PR nightmare. 

Years ago, an image of a drunk mother being pushed in a shopping cart by her young child at the grocery store was used to help defeat the proposal to open up liquor sales to chain stores.  If Democrats want to push their blue laws repeal this year, expect a similar tough campaign.

Not One Dime Day? No Thanks

Many Democrats are calling today "Not One Dime Day," in protest of President Bush's inauguration (some are refusing to spend money today as a form of protest), but we think it's nonsense. Bush is the President, and he won with a comfortable margin. Protesting this four years ago made some sense; protesting today is pointless.

We also don't understand the protest over the cost of the inauguration. Yes, there are other causes that would be better served with that money, but you could say the same thing about virtually any big expenditure in this country. Had all of this money come from the Federal Government, we'd be pissed off too. But we think it's fine to do it if they are going to go out and raise the money themselves. Bill Clinton capped contributions to his 1997 inauguration at $100, but that was only because some of the bigger donors had been facing scrutiny for fundraising scandals. Do these protestors really think that John Kerry wouldn't have had a fundraising line out the door for his inauguration? Not likely.

This comes back to a fundamental lesson that activists from both parties need to learn and re-learn: pick your battles. Democrats in Colorado can't complain about Norma Anderson's childish protest of Joan Fitz-Gerald's Senate President nomination (which was a similarly pointless objection) and then turn around and do their own pointless protest of Bush's inauguration. Save your energy for another day.

James Dobson's Threat

We're a little behind on this one, but NPR is running a two-part series on the Evangelical Christian movement in Colorado Springs, highlighted by James Dobson's Focus on the Family and Ted Haggard's New Life Church.

What stood out to us, however, was the very direct threat issued by Dobson to the Republican Party:

"If they get disinterested in the values of the people who put them in office as they have done in the past, if that happens again, I believe the Republican Party will pay an enormous price in four years and maybe two," Dobson said.

That seems a little high and mighty to us, and it rings more than a little hollow. Who else are they going to vote for? Libertarian candidates? What would Dobson have his followers do instead? It's not like they have a clear second option if they get disenchanted with Republican leadership.

Politically, this sounds almost like the Republican version of the Mike Miles "Be the Change" group trying to eat their own for personal reasons. Surely Dobson can't expect George Bush and other Republicans to follow his demands to the letter. Evangelical Christians weren't the only people to vote Republican, so warning them not to "get disinterested in the values of the people who put them in office" seems out of line; he's not speaking for everyone who voted Elephant in 2004.