Rant: Social Conservatives, Your Time Has Passed

In 2004, after beating challenger John Kerry by 50.7 percent–48.3 percent in the popular vote and 286-252 in the Electoral College, President George W. Bush famously said, “I have a mandate, and I intend to use it.” In this year’s election, President Obama won a second term by 50.9-47.4 and 332-206 and has yet to say anything publicly about governing the next four years with a similar decree from the populace.

This is relevant in Colorado because, regardless of how one might quibble with the math, if anything was made clear by the 2012 election, it’s that socially conservative politics of fear no longer work in the modern world. That’s why it’s troubling, not to mention politically puzzling, that State Representatives Chris Holbert and Justin Everett, both Republicans, have said that they’ll continue to oppose a civil unions bill in the coming legislative session that’s widely considered a lock to pass.

Democratically elected officials have every right to stand up for policies they and their constituencies believe in. But if the recently concluded campaign wasn’t an across-the-board mandate, it absolutely was a social one in which diversity in all its forms demonstrated its newfound power. Those who cling to outdated worldviews and intractable stances on issues of inclusiveness risk being left behind as we Coloradans—along with the rest of America—finally begin to embrace long overdue progressive social perspectives.

Rave: A Super Bowl in Denver?

This week, Mayor Hancock’s office announced that Denver will formally pitch itself to the NFL as host city for a future Super Bowl. The target date for the game would be sometime around the end of this decade. Count us as huge fans of this move for a variety of reasons: Denver has long been one of the NFL’s jewels, both in terms of our facilities and our local enthusiasm; with all-star games in 1998 (MLB), 2001 (NHL), and 2005 (NBA), we have an excellent track record of hosting showcase pro sports events; and the early-February contest would be played in weather that might range anywhere from 5 degrees and snowy to 60 and sunny. (We’d root for the former, though this being Denver, we won’t have any idea what the conditions will be until about 12 hours before kickoff.) The NFL will stage its first outdoor, cold-weather championship game in New York in 2014, so we probably won’t know until then how favorably the league will view Denver’s bid. Regardless, Coloradans already know that we do winter better than anyone.

—Image courtesy of Shutterstock