What is Bill Ritter Doing?

This happened a few days ago, but it is nonetheless still big news. In a surprising move, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter tapped the head of Colorado state education, Michael Bennett, to finish out the final two years of the departing Ken Salazar who is taking over the Department of the Interior. The appointment was fairly shocking, as Bennett was not on any of the public short lists of candidates being circulated by the media.

What surprises me most is that Ritter picked the unknown Bennett over the very well-known John Hickenlooper, the current mayor of Denver. As we already noted here in a recent post, Hick was head-and-shoulders the best choice for Ritter given his high name recognition, his business-centric personal and professional record, the strong relationships he enjoys with several state Republicans, and his lack of a legislative record. The only polling I saw on prospective 2010 contests had Hick easily beating some of the GOP's best possible nominees including former Govenor Bill Ritter and outgoing congressman Tom Tancredo.

Now, there is no question that Bennett also possesses that final attribute, as he has never served in a state or federal legislative body. Prior to assuming his current position, he was ironically the chief of staff to Hickenlooper. That being said, I think Bennett is considerably weaker than Hick precisely because he has absolutely no name recognition. Hick would have started in his position well known right of the gate, and a very strong candidate to win a full term when the seat comes up in 2010.

Bennett will now have nearly two years to make a name for himself and build up his electoral viability across the expansive state. He will also likely be able to tap the national party and his status as incumbent to raise the boatloads of money necessary to run for U.S. Senate these days. Not to mention that with both Colorado moving further to the Democratic Party -- as evidenced by the Democrats capturing the governorship, both senate seats, the state legislature and the Third, Fourth, and Seventh congressional districts, all in the last few years -- and the shallow Republican bench in state, Bennett should, by all accounts, be able to win a full term without enormous problems.

Still, Democrats should be a little nervous and perhaps taken aback by the selection. Bennett starts his Senate tenure weak and totally unknown. Ritter's passing over Hickenlooper was foolish politically, and if some rumors are to be believed -- some state political observers surmise Hick was passed over because of lingering resentment for his flirtation with running against Ritter in the 2006 gubernatorial primary (in a contest he likely would have won) and then not endorsing Ritter until late --Ritter's decision was colored by the typical petty political vendettas that often dominate the decision-making of powerful leaders who should know better. In other words, all concerns may be moot if Bennett is able to conquer a weak GOP challenger in two years (see Tancredo, Tom), but these fears would not be terribly relevant if Ritter had made the smart political move. Only time will tell on this score, however. In my opinion, it is likely that Bennett was picked in part to preempt a Hickenlooper primary challenge, as Hick and Bennett remain close (at least from what I have read; though that relationship may not become frayed!).

One more thing on the appointment. In all of the articles coming out on the surprise Bennett pick, few failed to mention that Bennett is a Yale Law School alum, and that -- gasp! -- he was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. Can I ask why in God's name this matters? Who the [bleep] cares if this guy worked on a law review and why should this make him qualified to be a United States Senator? This really bugs me, and you see it a lot. One's pedigree is always a nice garnish in life, but I have come to believe that it means just about zero in determining whether he or she should hold something like high elective office. It is a joke, and it should not matter one iota. And all of this is coming from a guy who graduated from an Ivy League college. I am just sick and tired of huge reliance on one's membership on a law journal as some great indicator of brilliance or worthiness of life's success. And having worked on Capitol Hill, I know full well that Democrats are far guiltier of relying on pedigrees and fancy school degrees in making hires. It's awful.