Thirty Years Ago This Week: Notorious political strategist James Carville landed in Denver and soon after took to the podium at the annual Colorado Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, in large part to help bolster Gov. Roy Romer’s re-election campaign. He held no punches in disparaging Romer’s challenger, Colorado Republican Party Chairman Bruce Benson, saying; “We’re not going to let a political hack spend $5 million and take this governorship away from the school children of Colorado.”

Benson brushed off the targeted attack. “Oh, come on, I didn’t know Roy was in school,” he said, laughing off Carville’s swipe. “I guess I’m flattered. I think it’s wonderful that Carville would come in here and take a poke at me. It tells a whole lot about what our friend Gov. Romer’s thinking. It sounds like he’s a little nervous.”

Having put together an impressive campaign team including Kathy Arnold, former executive director for the Colorado Republican Party, Katy Atkinson who was press secretary for Sen. Hank Brown’s 1990 campaign, and Shari Williams who worked on Terry Considine’s 1986 campaign for Senate and headed Considine’s Americans Back in Charge quest to pass term limits in all 50 states, Benson had a veteran team at his side.

It had also just been reported that Benson’s campaign had also sent out over a thousand invites to Republicans around the state to join the “Benson for Colorado Statewide Advisory Committee.”

“We can turn Colorado around, but it won’t be easy,” Benson’s invitation read. “It’s going to take the help of people like you. For my part, I’m committed to running the toughest, most unique campaign this state has ever seen. To lead that effort, I need Republican leaders like you.”

Ten Years Ago: The infamous tension between JBC members Reps. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, and Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen, stalled a House Appropriations Committee meeting, leaving over a dozen bills in need of funding as the Senate began debating the state budget “Long Bill.”

Frustrations had been simmering between the two representatives, and, after much needling, Duran accused Gerou of filibustering the meeting.

“Until you are called on,” Duran told Gerou, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t interject.”

“Questions are always in order in a democracy,” Gerou said. “I’m not sure if I’m part of the democracy … there could be little area around my seat that puts me and my constituents in the I-don’t-deserve-democracy zone.”

While discussing the fiscal note for House Bill 14-1013, which would allow the state to reimburse a business for one-half of its expenses related to a qualifying internship, Gerou noted that the bill sponsor, Rep. Dave Young, D-Greeley, did not have funding for fiscal year 2015-16 and said “Can we work together? Can I get my second year funding? I can make a deal with you if you can make a deal with me.”

Duran interjected sharply, stating that “quid pro quo” was not in compliance with the law. A tweet then surfaced on Duran’s Twitter account suggesting that an ethics investigation into Gerou’s statement was in order. Meanwhile, Gerou told reporters for The Colorado Statesman immediately following the meeting that she was furious because the House Democratic caucus had predetermined what bills before the Appropriations Committee would live or die.

The House committee had been scheduled to hear nineteen bills in order to get ahead of Senate budget negotiations and allow time for Joint Budget Committee staff to work with Senate leadership.

The breakdown during the committee meeting meant that only one bill was voted on, HB14-1001, which would offer a tax credit to victims of natural disasters for property destroyed.

House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, would not wade into the furor but agreed that the political drama was holding up the process of bills and hinted at a willingness to make changes in certain member’s appointments to the committee.

“This has been a challenging issue for a while,” Ferrandino said. “We’ll see Friday if the process starts to move, and if it doesn’t, then there might need to be some things resolved or changed.

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.