Each week it seems that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to make progress on ballot access. It is a monumental task that requires incredible diligence and navigation of arcane laws and rules that are designed to minimize the chances of any candidate outside of the duopoly, getting on the ballot for an election. It takes gathering petitions, working with political parties with current access and being bombarded by nefarious characters posing as lawyers who want to tie up every new access in long, drug out court battles.
Set aside the fact that all of it feels very un-democratic, the task itself has required incredible resources - both in time and money and forces the Kennedy campaign to spend its funds on access to the ballots, frivolous lawsuits, and paid petition gatherers.
In the land of America where the modern version of voting, democratic voice, and representative republicanism took a hold of the world, we might be more inclined to have more voices at the table than less. But as is the case in so many things, our institutions and ideals are in name only.
This week, ballot access opens up in my beloved home state of Colorado. The thresholds here are not insurmountable and I genuinely think that Mr. Kennedy will be on the ballot rather quickly. If there were ever a candidate that embodied the spirit of Colorado, Mr. Kennedy is the perfect balance of what makes our state tick. I was born in 1975, the year before the Olympics that never happened in Denver. Even though our state has changed while the towns kept their names, the spirit of Colorado can still be felt within the choice to deny the Olympics of 1976.
Coloradoans are a strange people - we are hearty group who love the habitats and the wild places of our most precious resource - the mountains. But we are not monolithic in our thinking. We are a massive agricultural state, where the farmers and ranchers of the eastern plains have a rugged spirit that tends towards conservatism and the agrarian life. Our mountain people still wish to be left alone by government and their neighbors. We rely on oil and gas for many of our jobs and economic tax base for education and roadways. We are urbanites along the front range of the Rocky Mountains who love great food and healthy living. We are academic in our thoughts with amazing higher education institutions like Colorado State and the University of Colorado. Our western slope is filled with wine and fruit growers who feel forgotten by the more frenetic and fast paced world of the population centers. We’ve also grown, exponentially, in my lifetime. From 2 and a half million people to nearly 6 million in less than 50 years. It has put tremendous pressure upon our resources - the rivers and the mountains now have people exploring and enjoying them daily.
But despite the growth, we have uniquely remained a similar people. We elected Pat Schroeder and Gary Heart in the 70’s to represent us - people who at the time were considered liberal in their views about the environment and social topics.
Ben Knighthorse Campbell was a Democrat who switched to a Republican later in his career because the Democratic Party had left his Colorado sensibilities behind. We have a tendency towards political schizophrenia - we still vote for less taxation in ballot referendums, but legalize marijuana and social spending bills. We currently have Diana DeGette, a very liberal urbanite from Denver, and Lauren Boebert formerly from Rifle as representatives in congress. There may not be 2 more divergent people in thought or action. We have been under both Democratic and Republican governorship with nearly equal representation in my lifetime. Even our current governor has been described as a libertarian by some - although his response in Covid might leave much to be desired in that naming. So our denial of the Olympics then, are the same reasons that I believe that Mr. Kennedy has a great chance to be the voice for Colorado. Perhaps it is anecdotal, but my enthusiasm for him comes not because he’s somehow politically calculated his positions to be in line with the spirit of Colorado, but because his positions ARE the same ones I feel a kin to as a Coloradoan. The Olympics of ’76 were declined by ballot referendum by the people. Representative Dick Lamb led the charge and gave exemplary rationale as to why having the Olympics was not a good choice for our state. The economic burden, that has been well documented in other Olympic cities, was something that he felt was irresponsible. He didn’t think that the sales tax payoff was going to be what everyone promised it would be. Lamb understood that there was no economically responsible way to build the infrastructure required for that event. He turned out to be very right in his assessment. Lamb, who would later become governor of the state, also described the detriments environmentally that would come from an influx of people, concentrated over a 2 week period. He may selfishly have known how incredible this place was and didn’t want a massive explosion of growth during that period of our state’s history. His efforts may have delayed what now feels inevitable but it was a sentiment that so many of us feel about this glorious spot in the Rockies.
It seems in hindsight that denying the Olympics in 1976 was the right choice. We still grew at a breakneck pace, but we had been fiscally responsible with our monies. While the last few elections have seen our state trend towards dark blue, I still believe that the heart of our state is a unique balance of good hearted people who don’t want wild government intervention, but have to reconcile the use of resources across a wide spectrum of users. The water we use in our state is limited. After all, we are one of only 2 states that does not have water that flows into the state. Every drop of water we use comes from our aquifer or the snow on our peaks. Our cities have wildly different interests than a rancher in Meeker and we have had to work through those incongruent intersections of interests. It makes for complex relationships but ones we have worked our way through for nearly 150 years.
2024 has brought us an election of epic uniqueness. Two, nearly 80 year old men at the top of their party’s, but near the bottom of their political games, are running in what could promise to be the most vitriolic and divisive election at least since… 2020.
Which is exactly the point. No one wants this particular song stuck on repeat - but it is what we have become. We have leaned into the worst instincts and let fear and self interest become the driving force behind everything. Yet in this wilderness of horribleness, there’s a voice that compels the Coloradoan inside of me towards a better conversation. I think so many of us in this state feel the same way. Robert Kennedy is a compelling figure who understands the complexities of this 21st century vortex we have created. He speaks with rational commentary and has precision driven ideas as to how to get those deeply competitive interests to the same table to find a solution. He has his own convictions about nearly any issue, but also will talk to anyone to find out the diversity of ideas that sparkle upon the American landscape.
I genuinely believe that Colorado is the best representation of the greater turmoil’s upon the fruited plain. We live daily in a world that requires compromise - but also are more than aware of the nature and wilderness around us that indicates our smallness.
Allegorically the Olympics of 1976 seems to be a similar choice to the election of 2024. As a country we have the opportunity to elect a sane choice - one that will be better for our nation in the long run. It is a choice that doesn’t sacrifice fiscal responsibility for fantasy empires and empty political promises, or destroy the habitat of our national discourse. Colorado is the kind of place that once led others to decipher the boondoggle of empty promises surrounding the Olympics. I hope that they can lead the way again with the selection of the best candidate of my lifetime.
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