I had a nice lunch with Jared Polis today. We ate at Tom's Tavern - great burgers. And the bottom line? I think he clearly would make a good Representative. Mostly I let him talk (politicians seem to be happy to talk, and talk, and...) and so this is what I got from him mostly unsolicited.
Being a U.S. Representative is one of the most thankless jobs in politics. You have very little impact as there are so many in the house. At the same time you are expected to take care of a million constituent requests that come in. I did ask about this and he had a very realistic view of what the job would be like.
He is also essentially doing that now. Every night he is at one or more community events. And he talked about them in a manner that made it clear he finds the events interesting. Running gives him an incentive to go get more involved and he enjoys that.
He was also very realistic about the limits on a freshman Representative and what they can accomplish. He knows he will not write the new health plan legislation or set the direction on Iraq. So what he laid out as what he will work on was both reasonable and, I think, really good choices.
First for Jared is clearly education. That shows in his efforts to date and it was clear in how he talked about it today. What he would do, what he has thought about, what all of the problems are. At root a vote for Jared is a vote to have this seat focused on improving education in this country. And a single Representative can make a difference on this issue. Because almost everyone is in favor of improving education.
Second is intellectual property issues. Patents, copyrights, and how all of this should work in today's world. I did not expect this. But our intellectual property system is beyond broken, especially for software and drugs. And as he said he both has a lot of knowledge and experience on this issue and it is an area where a single Representative can make a difference. This impressed me because it shows a good balance making use of his knowledge and doing so on an issue where a freshman Representative can have an impact. This to me shows very good judgment.
Third is health insurance. He realizes that he will have little to no impact on what is written. But this clearly does matter to him. And he is a strong supporter of single payer. So he will pay attention to this issue, influence it as much as he can, and be a clear vote in favor of single payer.
And that is the Jared Polis I met today. There was some discussion of other issues (can a political discussion occur that does not mention Iraq?). But the above are the main points. And while part of what was discussed was Jared selling himself, this is what he is selling about himself. And this is what we will get.
Bottom line - he understands the job, appears to embrace the constant contact required of campaigning and holding the job, and shows a very sensible decision on what he would do in Washington. And his number 1 job will be education - which I think is the biggest issue facing this country today.
I haven't decided who to vote for but I definitely would not be upset if he were to win.
Coming next - coffee with Will Shafroth on 8/20
