2009 brings changes to Colorado's liberal political infrastructure

Face The State Staff Report

After successfully helping to shift Colorado from red to blue over the course of the last three election cycles, the state's liberal political infrastructure maintains a strong presence. Now, in preparation for the state's 2010 elections, parts of the model are shifting and even being exported to other states.

The Colorado Democracy Alliance, a membership organization that steers millions of dollars toward "progressive" organizations, brings together the state's most influential liberal politicians, consultants and fundraisers under a single umbrella. Leading founders formed a small activist cadre commonly chronicled in the national media as the "Gang of Four." It included Jared Polis, who now represents Boulder in Congress, Pat Stryker, the Fort Collins heiress to the Stryker medical devices fortune, software guru Rutt Bridges, and gay rights activist Tim Gill.

An October Face The State investigation revealed a confidential internal memorandum outlining a roster of CoDA "operatives" who worked for state's Democratic victories in the 2006 general election. The document articulated specific tasks for various participants, including a campaign to "educate the idiots," a responsibility assigned to the state's AFL-CIO union. Among the operation's intended targets: "minorities, GED's, drop-outs."

In March, National Review magazine published an analysis by Rob Witwer, a Genesee Republican and former state Representative. The piece provided details on how Colorado's highly restrictive campaign finance structure has “for all practical purposes killed political parties, leaving a vacuum that could be filled only by nonprofit entities." While both major party structures substantially declined in power over the last three election cycles, CoDA thrived. In addition, CoDA was joined by other liberal advocacy organizations, including Colorado Media Matters, Colorado Ethics Watch, the online Colorado Independent news site and the left-wing ProgressNow.

In 2009, many of the organizations are reevaluating their strategies, with at least one shutting down, and another significantly cutting back its staff.

LIBERAL MEDIA WATCH DOG SHUTTERS ORGANIZATION

In March, Colorado Media Matters, the liberal web-based watchdog of the state’s news outlets, ceased operation. The site's editor Bill Menezes told The Denver Post that the Media Matters parent organization in Washington, D.C. plans to expand into additional states. No visible movement has been made into other states thus far, and representatives did not return a request for comment.

Political strategist Sean Duffy said he wasn't surprised to see Media Matters downsize in Colorado. "They were criticizing good reporters, and that wasn’t very effective," he said. "Mike Roberts at Westword does 10 times a better job. When you take on [9News reporter] Adam Schrager, one of the best political reporters in Denver, and slap him around - it won’t get you anywhere."

In 2007, the Gill Foundation gave Media Matters for America, CMM’s parent organization a $400,000 grant. That money was funneled primarily to the Colorado operation where Menezes earned an annual salary of $112,425 and managed a staff of five. Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Gill Foundation, said the money previously given to Media matters likely be allocated for another purpose.

According to Sainz, a quarter of the foundation’s $16 million budget is given to Colorado, while the rest of the money is focused on national organizations. “This is Tim Gill’s home, so I think Colorado will always be a priority for the Gill Foundation,” he said.

The left also has a well established network of online bloggers, with ColoradoPols.com leading the pack. The blog is regularly supported by union dollars and displays a banner ad for the United Food and Commercial Workers union on its front page. This year, liberal blogs have focused their efforts on attacking Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, of Grand Junction, and former Congressman Scott McInnis, both named as possible Republican gubernatorial candidates in 2010. Penry said that while CoDA is well funded and "force to be reckoned with" he's seen liberal blogs become increasingly "shrill."

"The press doesn’t pay a lot of attention to them," said Penry. "ColoradoPols and [ProgressNow's executive director] Michael Huttner used to drive media coverage. They drop a bomb and it shows up in the local papers, but they’ve gotten so shrill and transparently partisan that they’ve lost of a lot credibility."

Also attempting to drive media content is the liberal on-line news site, Colorado Independent. Formerly known as Colorado Confidential, the site is under the umbrella of the non-profit Center for Independent Media, which now has operations in New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Washington D.C. While CI ramped up its operations before the 2008 election, six employees were laid off just days after November's election day. CI is still publishing, but after the layoffs, relies more frequently on syndicated reports produced by its sister operations.

“We are restructuring our sites to be more efficient," David Bennahum, CIM's president and CEO, told Westword at the time. "This reorganization will help us to grow to more states in the next 2 years. Our plans are 4-6 by the end of 2010.”

WATCHDOG GROUPS & LITIGATION

While all of these groups are not necessarily unified on Democrat ideology, they are clearly devoted getting Democrats elected. Colorado Ethics Watch is a local litigation shop, using legal action to target Republican officials and candidates. CEW is another organization that benefits from the Gill Foundation. In 2007, the Gill Foundation gave $150,000 to CEW'S parent organization, and according to 2007 IRS forms, $104,442 of this was used to pay executive director Chantell Taylor. According to political insiders, Taylor has recently been seen shopping her resume around to Denver lawfirms, suggesting that CEW may also be preparing for a shakeup in its strategy. Taylor, however, denied the rumors.

HuttnerFTS File Photo

ProgressNow originally started in Colorado as a grassroots advocacy group frequently critical of Republican office holders and candidates. PN is responsible for the anti-energy and “Big Oil Bob” campaigns that attacked former Republican Congressman Bob Schaffer and the state's energy producers during Schaffer's 2008 U.S. Senate contest against Democrat Mark Udall, who ultimately won the election.

The organization’s national Web site says PN is about “building the online progressive movement state by state.” While PN started in Colorado, the model has since been exported to 10 additional states. PN is focusing its current efforts on maintaining liberal grassroots momentum from President Barack Obama's successful 2008 campaign.

"They finished their job here in Colorado," said Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute. "They turned a red state blue, so they’re reallocating resources to other states. The entire model has worked so well that it’s being exported."

Michael Huttner, executive director of Colorado’s PN chapter, did not return FTS’s request for an interview. He did, however, explain PN's strategy in a 2008 NPR interview. "We'll put out a press release for the mainstream media, and then literally hours later, we'll send out an e-mail on the same topic to tens of thousands of people," he said. "The press actually get those e-mails sent to them. And then the press decides to write a story. And then when people read the story, then they go to the Web site and even take further action."

While the strategy was effective over the past three election cycles, he has more recently been mocked in the media, including The Denver Post editorial page for his tireless ability to send out press releases.

Duffy described the left's non-profits largely as "creatures of their executive directors." He said Huttner is the perfect example. "Huttner's passionate and good at what he does," Duffy said. "There aren’t many people in town who will show up in a pea pod suit at events."

Last summer, ProgressNow organized a rally protesting GOP Presidential candidate John McCain when he was in town campaigning. Members of ProgressNow, one of whom was wearing a pea costume to illustrate the “two peas in a pod” message referencing McCain’s ideological similarities to President Bush, were holding signs and standing outside the event.

MOVEMENT WITHIN CODA

Face The State was able to reach former CoDA chair and Stryker political advisor Al Yates, who would not comment on the state of Colorado’s liberal infrastructure. He suggested contacting Doug Phelps, current chair and president of U.S. Public Interest Research Groups, a national progressive lobbying organization with local operations in 26 states, including Colorado. At the University of Colorado, CoPIRG benefits from the collection of mandatory student fees, using the funds to pay staff who lobby on behalf of liberal causes. Phelps did not return FTS’s request for an interview.

While some organizations are downsizing, there are also job opportunities to be found in Colorado’s liberal infrastructure. CoDA, for example, is looking to hire a new coordinator to “manage day-to-day operations." Job responsibilities include "[playing] a key role in implementing CoDA’s strategic vision, and be responsible for helping to grow the organization. CoDA is a collaboration of donors working to build and fund a permanent, progressive statewide infrastructure in Colorado.”

In addition, Progressive Majority, a national organization dedicated to recruiting and electing candidates who fight for progressive causes, is currently seeking a Colorado state director. According to a job announcement, the position has also been beefed up “to take on more organizational development responsibilities, including fundraising.” Progressive Majority has a central office in Washington, D.C., and state programs in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.

EXPORTATION OF CODA'S MODEL

A liberal infrastructure very similar to that seen Colorado is also emerging in New Mexico and Minnesota. New Mexico is home to a Democrat governor, two Democrat Senators, and an all-Democrat U.S. House delegation of three. Minnesota has a Republican governor, one Democrat U.S. Senator, a close recount pending for the state's other U.S. Senate seat. Five out of eight Congressional representatives are Democrats. See FTS’s interactive map to see the extent of the nation's liberal political infrastructure.

"Other states should recognize what happened in Colorado," Caldara said. "A handful of rich people leveraging their resources can turn a state."

Caldara added that because of the down-turned economy, money on both sides of the aisle is tight. Still, he predicted CoDA will still funnel millions into legislative and statewide races in 2010.

Penry, however, noted that being a CoDA target does not automatically equal defeat for Republicans. He pointed to Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, and Rep. Laura Bradford, of Grand Junction, as examples. "Shawn was public enemy number one for CoDA," Penry said. "He is an unapologetic conservative in a swing district."

Mitchell is well known as a strong social and fiscal conservative. His position against gay marriage made him a prime target of top donors, including Gill. Mitchell ultimately won re-election in 2008, 54 to 46 percent.