While Gov. Bill Ritter didn’t actually ask for applications for the U.S. Senate position vacated by Ken Salazar, who will now serve as secretary of the interior, there were quite a few people who still threw their hat in the ring.
Ritter is known for being an indecisive guy, and after he asked for applications to fill the open secretary of state position, who can blame people for being confused? In the 3,000 e-mails made public — about 10 percent of the total received — there were nearly two dozen people who asked Ritter to appoint them to Salazar's seat. Some are well known politicos, while others are average citizens just looking for a better job. Nowhere to be found in the documents, however, is an application or any support for the man ultimately chosen for the job, former DPS superintendent Michael Bennet.
The most comprehensive application came from Swanee Hunt, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria. After a three page cover letter, Hunt includes her nine page CV and an assortment of clips from her days as a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News.
Hunt is the daughter of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt and in her application, she argues that her personal wealth in no way means she is “out of touch,” writing, “I am as comfortable in an Alamosa diner as I am at the Palace Arms.”
A biography from Hunt’s Web site reads, “Swanee Hunt’s mission is to achieve gender parity, especially as a means to end war and rebuild societies, as well as to alleviate poverty and other human suffering.”
Speaking of achieving gender parity, there was a stack of e-mails advocating Ritter appoint a woman, in some cases no woman in particular, to the U.S. Senate. “Please tell Gov. Ritter that it would mean a lot to the women of Colorado if he would appoint one of the many very qualified women in this state to fill the vacancy created by Ken Salazar’s appointment as Secretary of the Interior. It is hard to believe but Colorado has never had a female U.S. Senator!” writes Star Waring, a Boulder attorney.
Coincidentally, Joan Fitz-Gerald’s resume also found it’s way into the pile, although it was curiously unclear who submitted it for consideration.
Other Highlights:
- Paul C. Ferch says he is best qualified because of his experience “solving problem’s (sic).” Except, he admits his “ultimate goal” is to become a "Security/Operations or General Manager." Ferch goes on to say he will consider “ANY other position or offer.”
- Unaffiliated voter and retired soldier Stephen French says he worked in Army intelligence and is responsible for the capture of more than 20 terror suspects. Now that’s just cool.
- Chuck Michaels, former legal counsel for the Colorado Democratic Party, took the opportunity to remind Ritter of life before political office. “You might recall that I was one of the two Democratic Committeepersons to come to a meeting you set up at your residence when you first joined elective politics,” he wrote in his cover letter.
- Bill Derby of Colorado Springs admits he’s a registered Republican, but says he would not bring party politics to the position. “It is my earnest desire to serve our state, to serve the wonderful people of Colorado, my home, my birthplace, my third greatest love,” he writes. “God and my wife are one and two, in that order."