"Groff's lofty call in stirring last stand," is the latest from Denver Post columnist Mike Littwin.
It wasn't Lincoln at Gettysburg. It wasn't Henry V at Agincourt. And it certainly wasn't King anywhere near a mountaintop.
We were at the Colorado legislature, after all. If you spend any time there, you learn quickly that the oratory bar is set, uh, well, um, low.
But then there's Peter Groff, the outgoing Senate president, who occasionally gives a speech sufficiently riveting that, as he speaks, some on the floor actually listen.
On the session's last day, on what would be Groff's last day on the job, Groff didn't simply clear the bar. By the standards of the legislature, he practically leapt from the building.
And:
For you aspiring orators out there, the speech accomplished at least three things: It was a heartfelt call to end the death penalty in Colorado. It was, in what would be Groff's valedictory speech, a call for Democrats to act, as he put it, like Democrats. And, finally, it was a speech that actually changed minds of some on the Senate floor. You don't know how rare this is.
Arms get twisted. Lobbyists whisper in ears. Constituents bombard legislators with calls and e-mails. Talk radio talks. Editorialists and columnists editorialize and columnize. But speeches are, for the most part, just what you put in the record.
And:
He talked about race and how rarely DAs ask for death for a white killer of a black or Latino male. He said he believed in life, from conception to death, an argument appealing to conservatives on the floor. But he added that he didn't want to leave this decision to "some district attorney trying to score political points," and the argument switched back.
He then called out Democrats who, he said, would claim credit in the post-session wrapup for "what we did for working people, what we did for the least of these, what we did with those who struggle day to day."
And here was the challenge: "We will say we did what's right because that's what we're supposed to do. This is our opportunity, yet again, to actually be the moral voice in this state, to actually rise above the politics of the moment, to rise to that one moment where we say, 'You know what, if this costs us the majority, so be it. If this costs us our seats, our titles, our gavels, so be it, because this is the right thing to do.' "
He conceded that it was easy for someone like him, from a safe seat, to make this vote. But he said this was not about saving your, uh, seat, but about "one of those moments when a leader has to rise above politics, when morality has to rise above what is safe and convenient."
You could feel something happening. If the vote had gone to abolish the death penalty, it would have meant a trip back to the House, where the bill had passed by a single vote before. If it passed there, it would have gone to the governor, and no one was sure whether the governor would sign the bill or veto it.
At least one Democrat, maybe two, switched sides after Groff's speech. A predicted close vote drew even closer. In fact, the drama didn't end until the voting did. You know how it turned out: Four Democrats voted with all the Republicans, and the bill went down, 18-17. But Groff could take this much with him on his trip: Though the voting is over, I'd bet Groff's last speech helped assure this debate in Colorado isn't over at all.
Today's Post also carries the news article, "Ritter keeps death-penalty view to himself," by Tim Hoover and John Ingold.
Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday that he has an opinion on the death penalty but won't say what it is.
Ritter spoke about the death penalty at a news conference to discuss the 2009 legislative session, which ended Wednesday.
House Bill 1274, which ultimately failed, would have eliminated the death penalty in Colorado and used expected savings to pay for the investigation of unsolved homicides.
Supporters argued that by repealing the death penalty, the state could save $1.5 million a year in legal costs, creating funding for eight state investigators to reopen more than 1,400 cold-case homicides.
The House had already narrowly approved the bill, but it failed in the Senate on a 17-18 vote Wednesday, the last day of the session. With two Democratic vacancies in the Senate — and a potential third — the vote count could change if the issue returns next year.
This session marked the closest the Democratic-controlled legislature had ever come to repealing the death penalty.
Still, Ritter has never said whether he would have signed or vetoed the bill, saying only that he would listen to the arguments on both sides.
Asked Thursday if that meant he didn't have an opinion on the death penalty, the former prosecutor did not clarify his stance.
Earlier coverage from Colorado is here.
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