Thread: Owens may put Dems' backs against border wall

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3938308
denver and the west
Owens may put Dems' backs against border wall
By Chris Frates
Denver Post Staff Writer


If Republican Gov. Bill Owens makes good on his threat to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to address immigration reform, he will put Democrats in a political pickle, observers say.

A special session would force Democrats - who will be struggling in November to keep their slim margin of statehouse control - to strike a tough balance between appeasing their liberal base without looking soft on immigration.

"They're going to have to oppose what Owens is going to do, but ... they can't come out in favor of illegal immigration. He's put them in a tough spot," said Bob Loevy, a Colorado College political science professor.

Owens threatened a special session this week unless the Colorado Supreme Court reverses its decision that banned a citizen-sponsored November ballot measure to eliminate state services to illegal immigrants.

The court ruled the proposal was so broad that it violated the constitutional requirement that ballot questions deal with a single subject.

It said that the measure dealt with at least two subjects: decreasing funding that benefits illegal immigrants and denying the group administrative services.

Even so, House Republican leader Mike May said Wednesday that he pushed Owens in a conversation Tuesday evening to limit the session to approving a similar ballot question and not open a broader immigration debate. He said the governor seemed to agree with that notion.

Michael Kanner, a political science instructor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the move could "be a real boon" for Republicans because polls show voters favoring tougher enforcement.

Democrats, Kanner suggests, might want to hold their noses and allow the initiative to get on the ballot and let independent political groups fight it out. Even if it passes, the legislature would craft the details.

"This is your best bet, and it's risky because you're betting that you'll be able to fight the initiative and you're betting on keeping control of the state Capitol," he said.

But Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said she doesn't know how the legislature could pass something that has been proved unconstitutional.

"I don't think we get to abdicate responsibility for the content," she said, noting that voters assume a measure approved by the legislature is good public policy.

John Straayer, a Colorado State University political science professor, said the court decision was "a gift to Owens" because it gave him an opportunity to jam the Democrats. And while immigration won't be a determining factor in statehouse races, it will play a role, he said.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter will also have to contend with the issue, as will Democratic state Rep. Angie Paccione, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.

Republican state Rep. David Schultheis, an immigration hard-liner, said he thinks immigration will be a major issue in November but will hurt Democrats only if they "don't get their act together."

"It will help Republicans if they don't get on board," he said. "It's up to Democrats if it helps Republicans or not."

Kanner put it this way: "It's one of those great opportunities for both parties, but the home- field advantage is with the Republicans because they're the ones that got the issue on the table."

Good for Owens, I wish all our governors were like this.