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Scott Tipton: Seeing Red |
Glenn Walsh | 6/12/09
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Cortez state representative Scott Tipton spoke at the Archuleta County Republican Women’s luncheon Tuesday afternoon. Tipton, a long-time party activist and first-term legislator, called for the party to exercise “Colorado common sense” and regain control of the General Assembly.
Tipton, a favorite amongst party faithful, is fairly classed as a Reagan Republican. Not unlike the former president, Tipton is an easygoing and conversational speaker who punctuates his talks with some uncompromising claims. The longtime party official and successful entrepreneur — Tipton owns Mesa Verde Pottery — surprised many by winning nearly sixty percent of the vote in the 58th District race last November against a strong Democratic challenger. Continued...
State representative Scott Tipton addressing the Archuleta County Republican Women's Luncheon Tuesday afternoon. |
Upcoming races in 2010 are key, according to Tipton, for Republican prospects for the rest of the decade: “Republicans will have no voice at the table ... Democrats will gerrymander the district lines to favor Democrats in future elections.” Tipton left unmentioned Republican attempts at a mid-decade gerrymander of state district lines a few years ago.
Currently, Democrats enjoy large majorities in both state houses. Yet, the General Assembly is a relatively small body, with only 100 members, and Republicans can retake the Senate and House with pickups of four and six seats, respectively.
Five years ago, it was the Democrats in the political wilderness, with Republicans controlling the governor’s mansion, both houses of the General Assembly, both U.S. Senate seats and five of the state’s Congressional districts. Democrats had one state officeholder, then-Attorney General Ken Salazar.
Tipton expressed optimism about Republican gains in 2010: “I saw in this last election cycle the seeds of regrowth. In a Democratic year, when Colorado voted for Obama ... here in Colorado we picked up two seats in the state House of Representatives. We are going to be able to take back the House in this next election with your help.”
Yet, what voice and tone will regain the voters’ ears? When Tipton was first scheduled to speak before the luncheon, there was widespread speculation he was planning a run for Jim Isgar’s Senate seat. A primary face-off with Representative Ellen Roberts, a pro-business moderate, seemed possible. Tipton has reportedly assured Roberts and state party heads that he will not enter the race. For those who believe the party needs more chorus and less voice to win a majority, the move is a positive, leaving Roberts free to focus on a very winnable race for the GOP, and Tipton free to gain a leadership position in the House.
 Tipton expressed a willingness find bipartisan solutions — “In my campaign, with pure heart I was saying I don’t care whose idea it is. I care what the idea is. To me, that makes common sense. No one has a monopoly on good ideas” — but faulted Democrats for party line votes in the recent legislative session — “The bottom line is the only bipartisanship we saw in the state legislature this year came from the Republican side. ... What you hear from Democrats is ‘Democrats are the party of hope and Republicans are the party of nope.’ It is not true. We put forward very valid and worthwhile ideas which were summarily voted down by the Democrat party.”
Tipton then departed from bipartisanship to give his characterization of the state Democratic party: “Their idea of dealing with issues is to take more money out of your hip pocket in order to grow government and to expand government’s influence in our lives.”
Some of the lowlights of the recent legislative session for Tipton were cited: fee and tax increases, new oil and gas regulations — “They are actually punitive and reach into private property rights” — and the majority party’s decision to shelve the six percent limit on growth in general government spending: “How many of you receive a guaranteed six percent raise each year? ... There probably is not a person in this room who has not had to tighten their belt. Well the Democrats decided to increase government by 1400 new state employees and we get to pay for it with our taxes in a down economic cycle. Is that responsible government?”
Tipton severely criticized the Democrats for raising property taxes on seniors: “The Democrats decided that one of the methods of balancing our budget was on the backs of our senior citizens. They repealed the homestead exemption for senior property taxes.”
This should be an effective political talking point for Republicans in Archuleta County, though it has been Republican leadership in both the County Courthouse and Town Hall which has created higher property taxes, development fees and endless sets of regulations which dominate the local economy.
Tipton was uncompromising about the need for mandatory sentencing for sex offenders — “Laws are indeed on the books, but the judges are just not enforcing them” — but carefully supportive about creating a nationwide database of DNA — “It is not going to be on arrest. I have Fourth Amendment concerns. I want ‘Bob Bad Guy’ off the streets but I don’t want a dragnet society either.”
On health care, Tipton characterized Democratic initiatives as “socialized medicine” and quipped “How solvent is Medicare and Medicaid as a model for 300 million Americans?” Instead, Tipton proposed tort reform, tax reform — “Make insurance costs deductible off the top” — and a state program to subsidize medical school tuition in exchange for public service.
The Cortez Republican closed by urging the party to “Reclaim those values that used to be commonly associated with Republicans: Fiscal responsibility and keeping government small.” Values which many critics — many of them Republican — contend were abused by the national Republican party during the Bush administrations.
“Every two years we have an American Revolution, a peaceful revolution,” Tipton stated with confidence. But Tipton then returned to his opening concern for the critical 2010 election and the need to retake the state legislature: “Ten years from now are we going to be able to recognize the country we live in today?”
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