| Further Reading: "Platform for Prosperity" "Car Fees Pose a Conflict for State GOP" "Colorado FASTER" "Like a Gordian Knot, State Budget Fit to Be Tied" "Colorado Not Expanding Its Competitiveness, Economic Report Warns" "State Needs a Long-Term Plan for Financial Stability, Chamber Chief Says" "Denver's Talent Dividend" "Bruce A. Benson: A Biography" "CSU Chancellor Joe Blake has a Long Record of Success" "Benson and Blake on Colorado's Higher Education Funding Crisis" | | GOP PLATFORM HAS NO FOUNDATION In an attempt to unify their party around a single gubernatorial candidate, state Republicans have issued their "Platform for Prosperity." In short, the document is a backward-looking, negative list of proposals that are so focused on the past that it fails to give voters a clear vision of the future. No wonder so much of it is about reigniting worn-out debates. If there is a youth movement in the GOP, it will be old by the time the likes of Scott McInnis, Bill Owens and Tom Tancredo step aside. Similar to what is happening at the national level, Colorado Republicans are much more sure of what they are against than what they are for. Of its 30 stances, more than half (17) are about maintaining the status quo, reinstating policies from their past, opposing what Democrats have accomplished and grasping at straw men. Interestingly enough, its first proposal, "keep Colorado a low-tax state," undermines one of its major attack lines, effectively conceding that Democrats over the last four years have done just that. One health-care proposal (as misguided as it is) requires an act of Congress. The governor and state legislature are powerless to do anything about it. Five positions are merely "feel-good goals," with which everyone agrees, but do not include any specifics on how to get them accomplished. To make matters worse, other promises make these objectives impossible to achieve. For example, one platitude, "put a top priority on investing in physical infrastructure," looks like an empty substitute for more specific language that was included in earlier drafts. Apparently, Republicans could not credibly call for an alternative to FASTER, which is currently providing much-needed new resources for transportation infrastructure. The remaining seven positions in the platform are worthy of a genuine, robust public policy debate. However, none of them focuses on voters' top priorities - jobs and health care, exposing two glaring policy weaknesses of the modern Republican Party. First, the GOP has no clue how to generate new jobs in this new economy. In fact, its old mantra - cutting taxes - has been so discredited, it is not even mentioned. Second, the dearth of any real ideas on health care reflects a maddening lack of interest in reform. If Republicans really cared about this issue (and its very real impact on our economic competitiveness), why did they do nothing when they ran Washington and were in charge at the State Capitol? While the GOP platform is woefully lacking, Democrats still cannot count on the strategy of trying to beat something with nothing. If our party is to prevail next year - and more importantly, if Colorado is to continue moving forward - voters must hear ideas that truly tackle the state's big challenges. YOU CAN'T BEAT SOMETHING WITH NOTHING In contrast with Republicans, Democrats must offer an agenda that is about the future. When we do talk about our party's past accomplishments, they only should be brought up as supporting evidence as to why we will deliver better results in the years to come. They should never be presented as the sole reason for why we should get the job for another two or four more years. Elections are always about the future, not the past. The Republican platform has another fatal flaw - attitude. Democrats must be steadfastly optimistic about the future, not repeat the mistake of the depressing pessimism already shown by our opponents. Staying "big" and avoid being "small" are also important. When the inevitable low-blow attacks come, Democrats must fire back and immediately pivot the discussion to what will make a difference in the lives of everyday Coloradans. As much as people dislike bullies, they detest even more those who will not fight back. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, our message must be about a higher purpose, rather than just another shot in a tiresome political slugfest. Democrats must also remember what Republicans, if their platform is any indication, have forgotten. The document does not connect with voters at a gut level. Moral visions, which appeal to people's feelings, are always much more compelling than policy ones, which challenge the mind. Our party must connect with voters' hearts, as well as their brains. Progressives must take their values and communicate a compelling narrative that gets at the roots of people's economic and other anxieties, demonstrating how they will solve the state's challenges. The agenda must include ideas that focus on job creation, a sense of higher social purpose beyond self-interest, a stronger sense of responsibility in our culture, policies that ensure no full-time worker has to live in poverty, much better financial and environmental stewardship, increased tolerance, and greater inclusion and accountability at all levels of society. First and foremost, Democrats must continue to make the case that Colorado's woeful fiscal situation is seriously endangering our economic competitiveness and quality of life. Those on the right, who dismiss such talk as a liberal conspiracy, should listen more closely to the business community. Just recently, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce chief called for a plan to close the state's $1 billion structural fiscal deficit. As a first step, our party can address this crisis by eliminating tax loopholes - like enterprise zones and sales tax exemptions - that do nothing to boost the economy or serve any useful social purpose. The resulting savings can then be poured into initiatives that strengthen the economy and middle class. For example, increased and smarter investment in the state's higher education system, now on the brink of financial collapse, can be used to generate more college graduates, as well as higher numbers of scientists and engineers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, states with the highest percentage of adults with college degrees have the highest growth in income nationwide and the lowest rates of unemployment. A significant percentage of the increased funding can be tied to a combination of desired outcomes, especially how many students an institution graduates, rather than the current way - how many it enrolls. As another way to boost the economy, a portion could target resources to colleges and universities that allow the commercialization of faculty research to be considered in the granting of tenure. Professors could be encouraged to bypass tech transfer offices, let entrepreneurship count toward their service requirements, and permit successful patent applications to count as publications for tenure review purposes. If those on the right still need more persuasion on this front, they should heed the dire warnings of two very credible Republicans, Bruce Benson and Joe Blake, both straight out of the business community. Now heading the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, Benson and Blake have definitively made the case that the current situation is simply not sustainable. In addition, Benson - a former GOP gubernatorial candidate in 1994 and ex-head of the Republican Party for years - is worried that the CU School of Medicine's accreditation is in danger, due to a lack of state resources. Of course, fixing higher education is just one part of a comprehensive policy agenda for Colorado. For more on what Democrats should advocate on job creation, public education, the environment, and other issues, please click here and here. | |
