Fifty Years Ago This Week: Democratic State Chairman Fred Betz Sr. told a gathering of the Loveland Jane Jefferson Club that good government was about bringing prosperity to Colorado.

In his remarks, Betz aimed a few verbal barbs at Republican critics of the Democratic state administration, “They need help sharpening up their rearview mirrors,” Betz said.

Adding that while Republicans always seemed to complain that new taxes were driving industry away from Colorado, Betz said he had figures showing Colorado leading the nation in economic growth.

“The president of the Hewlett-Packard firm, David Packard, told Gov. McNichols that his company chose locations at Loveland and Colorado Springs because they believed institutions of higher learning in the state are outstanding,” Betz exclaimed.

Betz said that new industries, like Hewlett-Packard, were going to be good for Colorado schools and roads through the tax revenue they generated for state coffers.

“They know that it takes money to provide these facilities,” Betz said. “Consequently low taxes are little attractive to them. Our great program for higher education – supported by a realistic state income tax program – is not only strengthening secondary education but is building three great colleges and universities within a few minutes of Loveland.”

In other news, U.S. Sen. John Carroll told The Colorado Statesman not long after his flight touched down back home in Colorado that inflation had replaced war as the chief concern of U.S. voters.

“The wise leadership and calm toughness of President Kennedy has substantially reduced the fear of war which people had a year ago,” Carroll said. “People are gravely concerned about consumer problems currently. They fear renewed inflation and are expressing strong hopes that he president’s programs in the field of economic action will bring price stability. Many of them are also very concerned about large federal deficits.”

Thirty-Five Years Ago: Less than a month after he’d announced his candidacy for president, Colorado U.S. Sen. Gary Hart withdrew from the race. Democratic National Committeeman Michael Muftic said that he was deeply saddened by the circumstances that had forced his “good friend” to withdraw.

“I knew him a couple of years before he ran for U.S. Senate,” Muftic said. “And I was one of the first to tell him in 1984 that he was presidential material. I worked hard and contributed to him, and I thought he had a great chance at winning the nomination. I’m very sorry for his wife and children.”

Hart’s presidential bid quickly derailed after reporters, who were camped outside his Washington D.C. townhome, said that a woman – later identified as Donna Rice – had entered Hart’s home at midnight on Friday and not leave on Saturday evening.

Hart’s campaign manager, William Dixon, said that Hart wouldn’t dignify the allegations with a comment because it was “character assassination and harassment.”

Muftic however, told The Colorado Statesman, that he was not taken aback by what had transpired when Hart’s wife was conveniently in Denver.

“There was a lot of talk in 1984 about questionable behavior that people were collecting about him,” Muftic said. “There were lots of hearsay, rumors, but nothing concrete. I didn’t know of anything myself, but there was lot of talk about his personal life. You take a chance as a frontrunner. If there was something going on between him and Donna Rice, then his judgment wasn’t the best.”

While Muftic said that he believed Hart should’ve confided in his close friends about the situation, he said that as a physician, he’s learned to be “cool, calm and collected.”

Less than twelve hours after Hart’s withdrawal from the presidential race, Muftic threw his support behind Delaware U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s campaign for the Democratic nomination.

“We can either do nothing and dream for the rest of our lives,” Muftic surmised, “or we can get on another bandwagon. Joe Biden has those qualities. He is a thinking man of Jeffersonian charisma and a better speaker.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.