The lighter side of the Capitol, usually…

This may be the best idea ever

If you are not a Perry Will Fan Club member, what’s stopping you???

With the invention of the Senate GOP comms guy, Josh Bly, the fan club is growing by leaps and bounds. Or at least, it has more followers on the Instagram page than there are lawmakers, so that’s something.

Will displays a distinctive voice most vigorously when someone celebrates a birthday in the upper chamber. After everyone else sings “Happy Birthday,” he continues his rendition.

That’s prompted the fan club to seek big-time recognition for the senator from New Castle: changing the voice for the Denver International Airport train from Denver Mayor Mike Johnston to Will’s. 

If you’re interested, there’s a change.org petition, although it’s woefully lacking in support at the moment.

“With popularity levels exceeding 100%, State Senator Perry Will is a natural choice to be the voice welcoming all to Colorado,” the petition claims.

There’s even a suggested script. Sen. Will was kind enough to give us a sample (with a h/t to Bly for incredible work!). [To hear this, go to https://shorturl.at/eGOW2]

Sen. Perry Will’s announcement for Denver International AirportMarianneGoodland, Colorado Politics
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
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Will had ideas for his own script, but this is a family paper, and such things cannot (or should not) be printed. But his script put Capitol M into a fit of laughter.

The impetus for the Perry Will Fan club, which includes “Perry Will Friday,” started with someone on the Democratic side of the Senate chambers who came up with “Paul_Lundeen_Everyday” page, also on Instagram. That fan club posts the same picture of the Senate Minority Leader every day except on Friday’s, when it switches to Will.

For more on the Lundeen club, check out Hannah Metzger’s column in Westword from last month. (Capitol M is proud as can be about this, given that Metzger was with Colorado Politics until last year and was subjected to all kinds of Capitol M nonsense. Apparently, it rubbed off on her.)

The Perry Will fan club also includes Perry’s Pearls of Wisdom, a regular feature on Perry Will Friday in which the affable senator recites something we should all know. 

From Friday, Feb. 23:

“A great society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit.” Words of wisdom, indeed.

There’s even an attempt to replace the brand-new portrait of President Joe Biden with Will’s mug.

The car in which he is pictured above is replica of a 1933 Jaguar SS. It’s actually a “kit car,” built on a Ford Pinto four-speed chassis. 

Sign that petition, folks!

Odds and ends and the odds are getting odder

A few weeks ago, Rep. Manny Rutinel had the honor (?) of seeking the morning motion to approve the previous day’s House journal. His efforts included impersonations of President Obama, Christopher Walken (not bad) and Yoda (pretty darn good).

He saved the best (?) for Friday: his impression of Donald Trump.

Not surprisingly, the motion got VERY enthusiastic “yea” votes from Republicans, and lengthy “no” votes from the Democrats. 

Rep. Gabe Evans this week reminded us why grammar matters.

He offered a third-reading amendment to his bill with Majority Leader Monica Duran, a bill on child welfare system tools (HB 1046). 

Punctuation is important, he informed his colleagues. A single comma is all that separates “let’s eat, grandma” to “let’s eat grandma.” This pertained to a stray bit of punctuation, a period where it shouldn’t be. “In the name of grandma, I ask for your ‘aye’ vote.”

Permission to offer the amendment was adopted on a 62-2 vote. While there appeared to be a handful of anti-grammarians in the House, the amendment itself passed unanimously. 

Grandma must be so relieved.

Perry Will and the DIA Train

MarianneGoodland, Colorado Politics
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
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