Jon Caldara is used to being the underdog. It's where he's at his best.
And while his Amendment 49 has suffered from a lack of financial support in a crowded ballot year, Caldara has managed to gain incredible support from Colorado's always finicky media establishment. With ballots shipped out in a matter of days, the timing couldn't be better.
On Monday, The Denver Post, Longmont Daily Times-Call and Loveland Reporter-Herald all endorsed Caldara's measure.
The nods come as Caldara's shoe-string campaign, recently chronicled by Peter Blake, rolls out a series of billboards around the metro area. If passed by voters this November, Amendment 49, known as Ethical Standards for Public Payroll Systems, would prevent private organizations from using public payroll systems to deduct dues from government employees’ paychecks.
While recent opposition ads proclaim that “evil” multinational corporations support Amendment 49, Caldara laughs, jokingly wanting to know when those evil corporate checks will start rolling in.
Last Tuesday, Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, offered to withdraw his ballot measure if Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter repealed an executive order from last year that implemented collective bargaining mandates on state employees. Ritter rejected the offer and his spokesman, Evan Dreyer, called it a “publicity stunt.”
But Caldara had 'em right where he wanted them and by Wednesday, Ritter’s rejection of Caldara’s peace offer was ripped apart by the Colorado Springs Gazette, which has endorsed the measure.
And to cap off a great week, Mark Grueskin, the Dems' favorite litigator, was forced to withdraw a campaign finance lawsuit against Amendment 49 because it lacked any sort of merit (Grueskin was also forced to withdraw similar complaints against the Amendment 46 and 47 campaigns earlier this month).
While we wouldn't take Caldara's odds based on his checkbook alone, his persistence is unmatched in Colorado politics. It is perhaps just enough to take his Amendment 49 over the finish line this November.