I got the chance to interview Senator Penry today down at the capitol. He was very gracious and generous with his time. And he comes across as a down to earth person. I can see why he's a rising star in the GOP.
The big constant through all of the discussion is that the Democrats are in charge, they are going to do it their way, and the Republicans don't have the votes to affect that. This wasn't a "we're whipped" response. And there was zero whining about it. Rather it was just facing the fact that in our representative government we Dems have the votes to pretty much do as we want. In other words, Josh Penry is dealing the hand he has been dealt.
He also gives major credit to Brandon Shaffer in how he has run the Senate for the Dems just about perfectly. He clearly has great professional respect for how well Brandon does his job. I'm also guessing he's taking copious notes so he can do the same if the GOP gets the majority.
We started off with him asking about my mom. I guess Colorado doesn't look that bad for the GOP compared to the GOP's seats in Hawaii. I think he appreciated that things could be a lot worse. And he then asked me about my blogging and if I do that for a living. That is a common question on these interviews – I think most politicians don't realize that 99.9% of us bloggers have real jobs and we just do this for fun because we have no life.
Ok, so what did he talk about? He jumped in about the Governor's race. He clearly sees Ritter as being very beatable. He sees Ritter's two big weaknesses as Ritter's rolling over for the unions and his fighting the Oil and Gas companies. He understands that is not sufficient to beat Ritter, but he sees that as bringing Ritter within range. And he says the entire GOP sees Ritter as vulnerable and that is why McInnis and others are looking to run.
He also talked about how he still needs to discuss this with his wife and if it is worth the financial and emotional hit that comes with running. We discussed how it is usually worse for the family than the candidate when the mean things get said. I think the odds are that he is going to run, but I don't think it's a done deal yet. With that said, I do think the one issue remaining is his family.
So then we got into the legislative session. And in terms of major initiatives coming from him – not there. This is where Josh dived in to what I discussed above, that we Dems are running things and the Democratic side is not willing to compromise far enough for the Republicans to get onboard on much of the major legislation. He clearly is willing to compromise if it's a compromise of equals. And he understands that there is no need for the Dems to compromise that extensively as they have the votes without it.
But he then did dive into many of the specifics. On transportation, A/B and a couple of other issues he discussed what the Repubs proposed and clearly would have preferred to do it their way. But accepted that "them that has the votes gets to pass the legislation." This impressed the hell out of me because if I was in his position I would face that with less equanimity – a lot less.
But he then dived into areas where the Repubs are able to have an impact. And there were quite a few. The issue on which he spent the most time and that clearly had the most importance for him was education. He was very complementary of Peter Groff and Chris Romer and not just the great work they have done on education, but that they have challenged the overlords (no he didn't use that word) of the Democratic party – the AFT. He is very positive about the improvements in education that the legislature is working on.
And it did sound good to me. I think education is where we desperately need bi-partisan efforts. And it's good to hear that we have a number of people, from both parties, concentrating on improving the terrible state of our schools rather than using the issue for partisan advantage and leaving the kids to a life of educational failure. Here's hoping this remains a focus of everyone figuring out how to improve things.
He also talked about the Oil & Gas industry. Ok, we all have our blind spots. Josh Penry clearly feels that the Oil & Gas industry is getting short shrift in this state. Yes the Oil & Gas industry has tremendous sway over the GOP but this was not someone paying homage to those that pay the bills – this was clearly emotional. For whatever reason, this is a hot button issue for Josh.
His other major issue he wants to address is getting the rainy day fund institutionalized. He sees right now when there are no taxes available for it as the perfect time to set it up, because the funding is in the future. And I think that makes a lot of sense. He prefers this to lowering taxes when we hit the good times again and with this stance he is clearly standing up to a significant chunk of the GOP base on one of their core issues. One good measure of a politician is will he disagree with his base on a key issue – and Josh Penry passes on that measure.
So what do we have with Josh Penry? We have someone who is doing a good job as Senate minority leader, both opposing the majority party and remaining an opponent looking for chances to compromise rather than as an enemy looking for every advantage. And I think Josh's realization that it is the Dems ballgame until the next election means they are left mostly as the party of no (although he never put it that way).
And I do think he will be a good candidate for governor in terms of the GOP primary. He clearly is willing to speak up on the issues he cares about and so it would be a robust discussion. And boy does the GOP need that.
