For being a veteran politico, Evan Dreyer sure is easily surprised these days. At least three times in the last two weeks, the spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter has expressed his “surprise” to reporters—and not always in the most consistent fashion.
His first surprise was reported in the May 31st Rocky Mountain News, when Dreyer responded to a ruling by Denver District Judge Christina Habas that a Ritter-backed mill levy freeze was an unconstitutional tax increase under the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
While Ritter took his time to respond to the ruling, Dryer chimed the same day Habas issued her holding. "We're really a little surprised at her ruling.”
The next day, however, Dreyer’s tone had changed when he told The Denver Post of the ruling, "It's not a surprise...We knew all along that this was going to be decided by the Supreme Court regardless of what happened at the district court level."
Now, as Republicans criticize Ritter for refusing to cut $272 million for next year’s budget in light of the prospect that the Supreme Court may not overturn the lower court’s ruling, Dreyer again returns to the rhetoric of “surprise.”
In the Post’s June 6th edition, Dreyer told a reporter (via email) that he was “surprised” that Republicans had taken so long to respond (less than a week, by the way) with their call for Ritter to reformat budget projections based on the ruling. “They are doing what they’ve done on this issue for over a year: playing partisan politics,” he continued.
Of course, perhaps using the term “veteran politico” to describe Dreyer may be a bit of an overstatement. He was, after all, not always a political animal. Before coming to Ritter’s camp, he previously worked as a city editor at the Post. There, we’re sure, he was as objective as objective could be.