Reason #1523654 Why A GOP Governor Is Necessary

Especially if the Democrats continue to control both legislative bodies--another reason for Holtzman to drop out:

DENVER -- Gov. Bill Owens vetoed 18 bills on Friday, including key Democratic proposals to relieve prescription-drug costs, expand the use of ethanol fuels and ban employers from requiring staffers to participate in political or religious meetings.

Also vetoed were bills to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, monitor state contracts and simplify contracts for doctors.

Are all of the vetoed bills liberally oriented? No, but Gov. Owens knows how to wield the veto pen, and curtail the Democrats. Was his support of other liberal legislation surprising (Ref. C)? Yes. But at least he defended his position, though he faced a good deal of opposition from his own side. Elected officials won't always act consistently, or can even live up to lofty ideals (can't please everyone, all of the time), but in general having Owens for the last eight years was certainly better than a Schoettler or whatshisface (Heath, ha ha).

A successful conservative GOP candidate will certainly help to shape state politics in this state for the next four years, including the 2008 Presidential election and the battle for Allard's seat. 2010 brings a re-election campaign as well as the ability to structure the congressional layout after the census in 2012, something the Denver Post astutely picked up on. In vetoing the Dems' legislation Owens is "angering Democratic lawmakers":

The sweeping range of the vetoes shows that the governor is still in the driver's seat when setting key policies for the state despite a Democratic takeover of the legislature two years ago.

That is the largest number of vetoes Owens has ever issued in a single day and raises the total number of bills vetoed this session to 32. He also has used his line-item veto power on three budget bills. Last year, Owens vetoed 47 bills.

To top Democratic leaders in the legislature, the vetoes are proof they need a Democratic governor to enact changes.

"Bill Owens provided a pretty good argument for Bill Ritter," House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said of the party's gubernatorial candidate.

"November now looms larger for a lot of reasons, especially in solving the health care crisis," Romanoff said. "Every month that passes, some Coloradans will be forced to choose filling their refrigerator or filling their medicine cabinet or filling their gas tank, and that's an unhappy choice."

That is why a united, conservative GOP candidacy is necessary this year. Beauprez, like any politician, has his faults--and Ritter might be viewed as relatively innocuous as far as Democratic candidates come--but faltering support stemming from a divisive primary battle will not help. As said in a previous post, Holtzman's support would not come from the "middle" or "independents", most of whom vote pretty consistently for one side or the other without declaring a party affiliation, but the disaffected GOP voters, fed up with the party nationally, or as a result of a Colorado party breakup. Holtzman might attract the anti-establishment conservatives or libertarians voting in the GOP primary, only to see them sit out the November election, withholding a key segment for a successful Beaurprez campaign.

Nothing would make conservatives happier than to see on a yearly basis the continued effect that vetoes have in "angering" a Democratic legislature--something only possible if the GOP unites now for a single candidate, and Holtzman concedes:

Owens continued to serve as a vigilant watchdog for bills that he considered hurting the economic climate of the state.

"I think the message is the same as last year," said Owens spokesman Dan Hopkins. "He certainly watches for things like overregulation. He watches for bills that are anti-business."

Ain't gonna happen if Ritter gets elected.