Governor resists union convention (08 Dem in Denver) threats

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5406652,00.html

Governor resists union convention threats

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon and Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
March 9, 2007

Gov. Bill Ritter is confident that the Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver in 2008 despite threats from labor leaders to get the convention moved unless Ritter backs a pro-union bill in the Colorado legislature.

"I don't have any reason to believe it's going to move,'' Ritter said today of the national convention slated for Denver in August of 2008.

What's more, Ritter showed no inclination to bow to the AFL-CIO's threats and revive the fight over House Bill 1072, the Colorado Labor Peace Act.

"The veto message was a pretty clear message,'' Ritter said. "Not many people in Colorado are talking about 1072.''

FULL story at link.

[madrchsod]

1. i wonder whose`s idea was it to have the convention in denver?

colorado was such a big prize they had to have it there? i know at the time they decided they did`t realize that illinois has two candidates either born or home there running for president...chicago would be a great place to have it

[lvx35]

2. They really want those western states it seems.

Colorado is fairly balanced between red and blue, and its rapidly growing both in people and industry. Maybe that's it :shrug:

[BayCityProgressive]

3. Ritter

is an absolute piece of shit. On the campaign trail he promised to sign this bill. If we cave to this piece of shit and reward him our party will keep lurching to the right. This will send a message to others that they can keep shitting on the base.

[msongs]

4. link to his "promise"? nt

[jdog]

6. I disagree.

The debate on this issue did get crazy and the outcome was not satisfactory. I think he showed that he would not be backed into a corner and dis-serve all the people by signing something imperfect and unacceptable when something better could be worked out.

http://www.denverpost.com/mobile/ci_5194935

[gratuitous]

10. "Not many people are talking about 1072"

As a non-resident, I wonder what is this "something better" to be worked out, if the governor is saying that nobody much is talking about reviving the legislation?

Working people don't have much say or clout, thanks to the repressive policies enacted against them by Republicans and Democrats alike. But corporatist politicians do understand getting hit in the pocketbook, and costing their state money. I hope this continues to be an issue.

[Cha]

9. Don't know for sure but I think Dean

lobbied for and got this. And it would have been great if ritter acted like a Democratic Governor and lived up to his promise.

Maybe Dean needs to be written to for some winning resolultion on this?

[paulk]

11. well, it's not really so cut and dried

Ritter vetoed the legislation not because he disagreed with it, but because of the way the Democratically controlled Congress rammed it through without much in the way of debate. His argument was that he didn't feel that the people of the state put Democrats in control so that they would act just like the Republicans did when they were in power. Since the largest voting bloc in the state is the independent voter, he could very well be right. What people here in Colorado want is good government, not ideology.

[upi402]

12. agreed

:toast:

[Silvermint]

8. It's forward-thinking

After the 2010 census, folks are projecting that the electoral college map will look even worse for us than it does currently. For example, if a 2012 dem wins every state Kerry got PLUS Ohio, they'd still lose. So, we need to turn some red states blue, and that's not going to happen in the deep south. The southwest, on the other hand, really is balanced like you mention. And let's not forget that the Denver media market feeds into local coverage in Arizona, New Mexico, and so forth.

[MaineDem]

5. The only choices were Denver and New York

Cities bid for the conventions and the choice is made from those that bid.

[stonebone]

kick

[stonebone]

7. kick

[David Dunham]

13. If we drop Colorado for the 08 convention we will definitely lose the state

It would be a huge insult to Colorado residents if the Dems pull their convention out of Colorado.