Ten Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … Gov. Bill Owens threatened that he would be forced to call a special session on immigration matters later in the summer if the Colorado Supreme Court didn’t reverse its decision throwing out a proposed ballot measure that would deny government services to undocumented immigrants. “In my opinion, the court’s decision was inconsistent, it was inappropriate and, yes, I believe it was arrogant,” Owens said one day after the high court ruled that Initiative 55 violated the state’s single-subject rule. Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez called the ruling “an egregious instance of judicial activism” and took aim at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter, leaving GOP primary foe Marc Holtzman unmentioned. “Finding solutions to the issue of illegal immigration is one of the most important jobs facing the next governor,” Beauprez said. He followed up the attack with a radio ad blasting Ritter for his initial “no comment” reaction to the ruling, and the Trailhead Group, a 527 campaign organization founded by Owens, slammed Ritter for his “opposition to the proposed ban on in-state tuition and welfare benefits for illegal immigrants” in a robo-call that went out to thousands of voters. Ritter fired back, calling Trailhead’s message a blatant lie and reaffirmed his opposition to providing undocumented immigrants with welfare benefits, driver’s licenses or any benefit prohibited by state and federal law. The situation was trickier for Holtzman, who was embroiled in a legal battle of his own to determine if he had collected enough signatures to qualify for the August primary ballot. A ruling a week earlier had put his name on the ballot, but votes cast for Holtzman might not be counted, depending on how judges decided on his appeal. Complicating matters, Holtzman’s attorney in the ballot case was Democratic super-lawyer Mark Grueskin, the same attorney who had won the case getting Initiative 55 tossed. Holtzman was faced with condemning the immigration ruling without attacking his own attorney, who was presenting a case before the same court. He chose instead to go after the General Assembly: “Unfortunately, asking the Democratic-controlled Legislature to end taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants may be as likely to happen as (Mexican) President Fox stopping illegal immigrants entering the U.S.” Former Senate President John Andrews, a co-chair of Defend Colorado Now, the group behind Initiative 55, and a Beauprez supporter, ripped Holtzman for “consorting with the enemy” by employing Grueskin. …

… Former President Bill Clinton brought down the house at a lunch-hour fundraiser for state Democrats at the Colorado Convention Center. The way to win back the White House, control of Congress and the governor’s mansion was to reach voters who wanted “reality-based politics, not ideologically based politics,” Clinton said. “There is a Republican Party in Washington which is extremely ideological and different than us in values, policies and results,” he told the crowd of more than 600 who paid $100 a plate for chicken Caesar salads. Democrats, Clinton said, were the party of fiscal responsibility and investing in people. Republicans, he added, “believe in permanent deficits and tax cuts which primarily benefit wealthy Americans.” Nostalgia for the 1990s was thick enough to cut with a knife. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, lauded by Clinton for forging bipartisan coalitions to get things done in a “crazy partisan” Senate, recalled that the Clinton years saw “the lowest unemployment rate in modern times, the lowest inflation in 30 years, the highest home ownership in the country’s history … and the first balanced budget in decades and a budget surplus.” State Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, enthused, “Under Clinton we had all the things we’re now trying to get back. Things like peace, allies in the international community and budgets surpluses.” Clinton didn’t linger at the luncheon, heading straight to a groundbreaking and dedication ceremony for a memorial to the victims of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School. …

… The Colorado Republican Party was pursuing a lawsuit against the Colorado Republican Caucus, a group of activists the GOP claimed was poaching the state party’s name. The saga began months earlier when the caucus started using the name and “outed” Mesa County Republican delegates who had supported Democrat Bernie Buescher in his 2004 House bid. The group seemed to have scored a victory, as the vast majority of its targets failed to win reelection at the county GOP assembly. Then the state party got involved, asserting its copyright to the name – “Colorado GOP” was also off limits, state Republicans maintained – and eventually filing the lawsuit. The state party’s legal counsel, John Zakhem, said he’d expected the “rogue” group and its shadowy leader, someone named Dan Green, to comply, but Green and the group were digging in. “This suit is an outrage on two counts,” Green said as he asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit as frivolous. “First, the idea that the state party has exclusive rights to the commonly used terms Republican and GOP is ludicrous. Second, the state party has not lifted a finger to go after ‘Republicans for Salazar,’ ‘Republicans for Matsunaka,’ or the numerous other groups who make a mockery of our Grand Old Party.” Zakhem scoffed: “The defendants are viewing First Amendment rights under the wrong perspective.” But Green stood firm. “State party chairman Bob Martinez is simply releasing his pack of lawyers to intimidate grassroots activists who disagree with the way he is coddling Democrat activists within the GOP.”

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com