Wake me when a governor’s news conference ends
Modern governors aren’t much fun. They tend to be more timid than a wounded fawn, even after they announce that they have something important to say.
This was the case Friday. Three Democratic governors called a news conference at the Hilton hotel. Their collective message was that voters are wildly enthusiastic about supporting Democrats in gubernatorial elections this fall.
Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington told of an electorate ready to crawl across broken glass and “chomping at the bit” to elect Democratic governors. He probably meant voters are champing at the bit, but it’s difficult for anyone, even a professional politician, to use clichés correctly while in a state of excitement.
Govs. Dan Malloy of Connecticut and John Hickenlooper of Colorado joined Inslee in predicting a fine fall showing for Democrats in races for governor.
They were united in delivering the party line, which is what everyone expects.
But all three governors buttoned up when asked for particulars on which Democrats they believed would break through in the general election.
Thirty-six gubernatorial elections will be contested this fall. Republicans hold 26 of those seats. Democrats have a chance to pick up a half-dozen or so.
Inslee, Malloy and Hickenlooper all ducked any specifics. They wouldn’t name names when asked who would take back statehouses run by Republicans.
This was especially odd, given the setting the three governors are in.
They have come to Santa Fe for the National Governors Association convention, and New Mexico’s Democratic congresswoman, Michelle Lujan Grisham, is better than even money to win the governor’s office after eight years of Republican control.
Stranger still was that Inslee then went out and campaigned with Lujan Grisham. He then said New Mexico, of all the states, has the best chance of flipping a governor’s office from Republican to Democrat.
Perhaps Inslee and the others wanted to sound confident before national media at the convention while depressing expectations in specific races. Perhaps they wanted breakfast, not questions.
Either way, their unwillingness to speak candidly shows how gun-shy governors have become. That is a sea change in American politics.
America’s governors, the worst of the lot and the very best of them, used to leave no doubt where they stood.
One of the great profiles in courage was exhibited by Ralph Carr, governor of Colorado in the early days of World War II.
Carr, a Republican, spoke against the tactics of the federal government when it forced Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast into wartime camps. His stand was as unpopular as could be, coming after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
But Carr spoke up as a matter of conscience. He was a politician brave enough to challenge the overriding mood and hysteria of the country.
Ross Barnett of Mississippi was at the opposite extreme of candor. I rate him as the most repugnant governor in U.S. history.
Barnett, a Democrat, was governor of Mississippi from 1960-64. He was a rabid segregationist, perhaps best known for trying to stop a black student from enrolling at the University of Mississippi. Desegregation led to rioting on the campus. In trying to block a schoolhouse door, Barnett was typical of Southern governors of that era.
But he went beyond the norm. Only a month after leaving office, he walked into a courtroom in hopes of influencing a murder trial.
Barnett made a show of shaking