Why Democratic voters should send Shafroth to Washington

Rocky Mountain News

Friday, July 18, 2008

If the polls are right, Democrats could have a field day in November - not only possibly capturing the White House but increasing their majorities in Congress, too. That's why the quality of newly elected Democrats will be so important - and why we're taking a look today at the race in Colorado's 2nd congressional district.

Make no mistake: The makeup of the 2nd District almost guarantees that one of the candidates in the Aug. 12 Democratic primary - Jared Polis, Joan Fitz-Gerald or Will Shafroth - will be heading to Washington next year to replace Mark Udall, who is attempting to jump to the Senate. Yet the two experienced office-holders, Polis and Fitz-Gerald, are flawed to the point that we think voters should acquaint themselves with the political newcomer, Shafroth. He's a professional conservationist who could add a needed perspective to the Washington debate.

The problem with Polis? Don't get us started on Amendment 41, which the wealthy former state school board member bankrolled without bothering to vet properly for problems. The result: The state's constitution will be saddled perhaps for decades with this flawed, heavy-handed document.

Then there is his campaign itself. We had to do a double take, for example, when we saw the recent Polis TV ad shot in a diner. There he was, wedged into a seat at a crowded counter, the inevitable burger and white coffee cup on display, holding forth on the evils of Big Oil - which apparently even include high food prices - to what appear to be several stunned customers.

Just in case the viewer failed to get the point, words flashed on the screen: "Jared Polis, Standing up to Big Oil."

It always gives us vertigo when a powerful man mimics Huey Long, so we checked Polis' Web site to see if he provided a more sophisticated analysis of Big Oil's sins. No such luck. The "TV ad fact sheet" there was just as simplistic.

As it happens, federal marshals could confiscate every penny of Big Oil's assets and not moderate prices at the pump, but never mind. When a populist is talking trash, nothing can slow him down.

We actually had hope for Polis' campaign given his obvious intelligence, attractive record as a entrepreneur and avid support for educational choice. But we should have foreseen trouble when he pretended last year that he had never backed the state's pilot school voucher program, though he clearly had. When he went to Iraq and started issuing feverish blog posts suggesting that contractors might "have me killed as an 'accident' if I published anything they didn't like," we knew he'd veered into a ditch.

And Fitz-Gerald? The former state Senate president is smart and tenacious, and differs only marginally on the issues from her opponents. Yet those differences are significant enough to cause concern.

Not only does Fitz-Gerald support a single-payer universal health care system (as does Polis, unfortunately) that will boost the frequency of rationed care, she is the least friendly to free trade among the candidates - even opposing NAFTA and in an apparently successful bid for union support.

Trade will be a huge challenge for labor-beholden Democrats if their majorities are large. And yet the importance of trade to economic prosperity is one of the few issues on which the vast majority of economists agree. Which brings us to Shafroth. He may be the underdog, but his grass-roots campaign could surprise people; its thoughtfulness has already attracted an impressive list of supporters.

No, we're not deluded. There are many issues on which we part company with the liberal Shafroth, beginning with his belief that conservation and renewables are sufficient to handle future growth in U.S. energy demand. If such views prevail and fossil fuels and nuclear power are pushed off the table, the price of energy and everything related to it could climb to the point that it slowly chokes off economic growth.

But Shafroth's rhetoric on green issues differs little from that of his opponents. What sets him apart is his lack of shrillness on issues generally, his proven ability to work with people across the political spectrum and his realism on critical issues such as health care and trade. Yes, he favors universal medical coverage, for example, but through both government and private insurers.

Shafroth's level-headed approach paid big dividends while he was executive director of Great Outdoors Colorado, where he leveraged lottery money to preserve thousands of acres of scenic land, and then as founder of the Colorado Conservation Trust.

The 2nd District primary has gotten nasty in recent days, with Polis, for example, trying to paint Fitz-Gerald as a pawn of wealthy PACs and sleazy corporations. We'd urge voters to ignore this white noise and get back to basics: Which candidate has the skills to best excel in Washington's ego-heavy arena. We think the answer is clear.