Face The State Staff Report
In the last two weeks, Gov. Bill Ritter has publicly come out against two ballot proposals, worked behind the scenes to knock a few more off the ballot, and has continued to serve as a key spokesman for another. And now with recent polls showing the Democrat's approval ratings at under 50 percent, his diluted stamp of approval is being dismissed by his political opponents.
Ritter speaks against Amendment 46FTS Staff Photo
On Tuesday, Ritter joined pro-choice activists on the west steps of the state Capitol in Denver to rally against Amendment 48. The “Personhood Amendment” would define a fertilized human embryonic egg as a person, with the egg entitled to all legal constitutional rights afforded to humans. A week earlier, Ritter stood at the same spot on the Capitol steps to voice his opposition to Amendment 46. The measure, known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, would ban the government from granting preferential treatment based on sex or sex in public hiring, education and contracting. At that press conference, Ritter faced reporter questions that his administration had broken the law by advocating against the measure. While he initially denied the allegations, his economic development chief later admitted the illegal advocacy.
While those opposed to the ballot measures backed Ritter in his efforts, packing behind him at press conferences and photo opportunities, it increasingly appears that ordinary voters may not show the same enthusiasm for their governor.
A year ago, according to a poll conducted by Ciruli Associates, Ritter enjoyed a 71 percent approval rating from Colorado voters. In the aftermath of his decision to sign an executive order that imposed collective bargaining on many state employees, however, his support has fallen dramatically.
A Rocky Mountain News/CBS4 poll conducted in August found that just 50 percent of voters approved of Ritter’s performance. And most recently, a Sept. 24 Rasmussen poll found that just 44 percent of voters think that Ritter is doing a "good" or "excellent" job as governor.
CU Regent Tom Lucero, who is heading up the Amendment 54 campaign, was dismissive about Ritter's impact. Amendment 54, if passed by voters, would prohibit entitities holding no-bid government contracts from making political donations. Ritter is opposed to the measure.
“At the end of the day as far as initiatives are concerned, Ritter’s endorsement or opposition doesn’t really matter,” said Lucero, who pointed to a multitude of other factors he identified as more important, including financing and media exposure.
Over the last month, Ritter was instrumental in brokering a deal between labor unions and the business community resulting in the unions pulling four measures from the ballot. In exchange for pulling the measures, business leaders agreed to raise $3 million to help the unions fight Amendments 47, 49, and 54. Some Republicans likened the deal to extortion.
"I think endorsements matter only at the margins and this is true of Gov. Ritter’s as well," said political strategist Eric Sondermann. "With respect to Amendment 46, the governor simply joins the cacophony of establishment voices already public in their opposition. But there were very similar opposition coalitions in California, Michigan and other states in which such measures were heartily approved [by voters] to get government out of the business of racial classification."
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer says Ritter's opinion still carries weight among voters.
"The supporters or opponents of certain measures have certainly felt that Gov. Ritter’s endorsement or opposition was helpful – including those fighting Amendment 46 and Amendment 48," Dreyer said. "That’s why they sought his public opposition against those measures."
Ritter is also a chief spokesman for Amendment 58, a measure that seeks to increase severance taxes paid by oil and gas companies by $321 million. Opponents of 58, including representatives of the energy industry, have gone on record saying it's a risky move on Ritter's part to back the proposal . Energy companies have committed milllions of dollars to combat the initiative.
"When your opposition has $10 million against you, your approval numbers have nowhere to go but down," Lucero said.
Dreyer agrees and says that kind of money definitely has a significant impact on Ritter's public approval ratings.
"Oil and gas companies have unleashed a $10 million barrage of false, misleading and deceptive negative attack ads against Gov. Ritter," he said. "There is no way anyone could withstand such a blistering, personal and sustained attack and not see an impact. But Gov. Ritter is supporting Amendment 58 because he believes it’s the right thing to do for Colorado’s economy, Colorado’s communities and Colorado’s future."
Recent polls show mixed results about how much public support the initiative has among likely voters.
Sondermann agrees that Ritter's popularity has definitely taken a dive recently, but still believes his opinion matters to many voters who have not yet decided how they will vote.
"The governor’s popularity certainly has taken a few hits of late," said Sondermann. "But he remains the chief executive of the state and a person of stature to whom some undecided voters will listen in trying to figure out complex ballot questions. But neither Amendments 46 or 48 are all that complicated and most voters have strongly-held, visceral views on both issues."