In Post blog entry, Andrews used anonymous critics to attack Ritter, misled on State of the State speech

Summary: Writing on The Denver Post's "Gang of Four" blog, radio host and Republican former state Senate president John Andrews attacked Gov. Bill Ritter by claiming that unnamed "legislators in both parties" regarded Ritter as "[w]eak, indecisive, ineffective," and "directionless." Andrews, who also asserted that "action points were few" in Ritter's State of the State message, did not identify anyone who had made the purported criticisms, and he omitted that the speech outlined a dozen specific legislative proposals.

In a March 25 posting on The Denver Post's "Gang of Four" blog, Republican former Colorado Senate president and KNUS 710 AM host John Andrews asserted that he had heard "legislators in both parties and on both sides of the aisle" describe Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter as "[w]eak, indecisive, ineffective, directionless, no clout, poorly staffed." Andrews also claimed, "Seasoned veterans in the business community and journalism seem to be reaching the same unhappy conclusion" about Ritter. However, Andrews did not identify by name any of the critics whose purported remarks he quoted in the blog entry.

Further, Andrews' post -- which he also posted on his own website -- claimed that "action points were few" in Ritter's "State of the State message for this year." Andrews did not specify what he meant by "action points," but as Colorado Media Matters has pointed out, Ritter outlined a dozen specific legislative proposals for the current session in his January 10 2008 State of the State speech, and identified legislative sponsors of those proposals in an accompanying press release.

From John Andrews' "Gang of Four" blog entry, "Where's the leadership, Gov. Ritter?," on The Denver Post's PoliticsWest website:

Weak, indecisive, ineffective, directionless, no clout, poorly staffed -- those are some of the descriptions of Bill Ritter that this former Senate President has heard recently from legislators in both parties and on both sides of the aisle as Colorado's freshman governor nears the end of his second legislative session.

"Afraid to lead," "out of his depth," and "doesn't get it" are several more unflattering appraisals directed at the Democratic chief executive and his first floor (staff and cabinet) operation by second-floor State Capitol players in the legislative branch.

"This isn't good for Colorado, this ship of state adrift," a leading Republican told me -- even as he admitted it plays to his party's advantage in the 2008 campaign. Transportation, health care, education, and other big issues need a strong hand in the governor's chair, he said, and when that's missing as it has been during Ritter's lackluster 15 months in office, adverse consequences hit the state as a whole, partisanship aside.

Seasoned veterans in the business community and journalism seem to be reaching the same unhappy conclusion about the former prosecutor and professed (but now tarnished) pro-business, pro-life Democrat who swept in on a 2006 landslide. Little of his "Colorado Promise" agenda was realized in 2007, and action points were few in his State of the State message for this year.

Additionally, Ritter's State of the State speech itself contradicts Andrews' comment that the address had few "action points." In the introduction of his speech, Ritter stated, "Fulfilling the Colorado Promise is a long journey. Over the past 12 months we put key building blocks in place," adding:

Over the next 120 days, we must:

• Make real progress on education reform, because too many of our students are unprepared for college or the 21^st century workforce.
• Strengthen our robust economic climate for new and existing businesses by investing in higher education and transportation, because the global economy is getting more competitive every day.
• Move ahead on health-care reform, because escalating health-care costs impact every family and every business.
• Ensure that our election and voting systems work and are fair.
• And continue to secure Colorado's energy future, protect Coloradans from fraud and violent crime, and keep the pressure on Washington to enact meaningful immigration reform as we enforce our own laws in this area.

The governor further stated that:

We must overcome some big challenges if our vision for Colorado is to become a reality. Over the last year, scores of dedicated Coloradans have helped us sort through the issues and potential solutions to some of the toughest challenges we face: how to fund a 21^st century transportation system; how to make sure all Coloradans have access to affordable, quality health care; how our schools and colleges can accomplish their missions.

These are all high-priority issues, as is continuing broad-based discussions on how best to address conflicting provisions in our state's Constitution. But we aren't going to come up with big fixes in all of those areas all at once. It would be a fool's errand to even try. We must make steady progress across the board, doing what we know is right and what we can afford.

And, although Andrews did not specify what he meant by "action points," in the "Legislative, Policy and Budget Agenda" section of his address, Ritter named the following specific actions to be taken in 2008:

• "[F]ix the problems we face because of decertified electronic voting machines for the 2008 elections";
• Develop "[a] Colorado Carbon Fund, a voluntary carbon offset program that will support new, clean-energy and greenhouse-gas-reduction projects to be built right here in Colorado";
• Institute "a 'Go Solar' incentive program to put clean solar power within reach for all Coloradans";
• Create "an 'Insulate Colorado Program' to make home heating more affordable and efficient";
• Create "a net-metering, or home-grown energy, program" that will provide energy credits to people who put "energy back into the grid";
• Implement "an economic-development package" that will "simplify how businesses calculate taxes," "exempt 30,000 companies from the Business Personal Property Tax over time," and "increase state investments in bioscience and clean energy projects";
• Plan "a long-term funding strategy" for higher education;
• Consolidate "the state's splintered IT [information technology] operations";
• Launch "the new School Safety Resource Center," which "will be identifying sites around Colorado to conduct vulnerability assessments, train faculty and students, and provide additional violence-prevention measures to keep students and teachers safe";
• Enroll "17,000 more eligible children into CHP+," the state's health plan for uninsured children and pregnant women; and "undertak[e] major efforts to enroll more eligible families in Medicaid by simplifying, streamlining and modernizing the application and administrative processes";
• Launch "five new disease-management programs and fully fund[] the Childhood Immunization Information System, two steps that will yield significant savings over the long run";
• Eliminate the "current wait-list for the Colorado Preschool Program and extend[] full-day kindergarten to 22,000 more children statewide"

Additionally, in tagging Ritter with the derogatory nickname "Stumbling Bill" in his blog posting, Andrews echoed a March 18, 2007, Post column in which he referred to the governor as "Easy Bill" and misleadingly suggested that Ritter wasn't following through on his Colorado Promise campaign agenda.

—C.H.