Happy Warrior no Don Quixote

As Governor Gloom threw his hat into the presidential sweepstakes, he became the Happy Warrior. From his Denver announcement to Larry King Live, Dick Lamm wasn't just cursing the darkness, he was lighting candles with an uncharacteristically upbeat, can-do message.

He was asking Americans to establish priorities. He signaled a campaign that would focus first and foremost on getting our fiscal house in order -- fixing the budget deficit, the trade deficit and entitlement spending. He said it would require tough choices, including changes in how we tax and spend for Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements. By these words, Dick Lamm not only touched, he cheerfully took a ride on the third rail of American politics.

Dick Lamm also asked us not to be sidetracked by other issues. Women's issues, abortion, school choice, crime, corporate welfare and all the others that are part of the rich fabric of American politics would have to take second place to fixing the fiscal mess. According to Lamm, the entitlement time bomb, which threatens intergenerational strife and economic chaos, is a federal responsibility and that's what a presidential campaign should be about -- federal priorities. Otherwise, he says, we won't have the luxury of fighting about all these other issues.

To those in Colorado and elsewhere who have known and watched Dick Lamm over the years, this was not a new message. In fact, if a presidential campaign is about "staying on message," as Michael Deaver, Ronald Reagan's communications guru would say, then Dick Lamm is off to a good start. Here's a guy who has been "on message" for 20 years -- and over those 20 years he has been more of a lighthouse than a mirror.

In the 1960s, as a Colorado legislator, he was the chief sponsor of the nation's first liberalized abortion law -- half a decade before Roe vs. Wade. In 1972, he led a grassroots movement that forced the Winter Olympics out of Colorado -- and in the process gave early voice to an awakening environmental movement. In 1974, he walked the state to the governor's mansion, honing grassroots strategies and tactics that are now widely used. In the 1970s and 1980s, he led Western governors to establish new regional institutions in order to bargain more effectively with Congress and the president to ensure a balanced approach to rapid energy development in the West.

Dick Lamm has been ahead of his time on many issues: choice, population growth, urban growth management, runaway health-care costs, immigration reform and the environment. He has too many achievements advancing his views to call him Quixotic. Those who think that way should ponder the trail of wrecked windmills in his wake.

There may be an audience for "a no-pollsters, no-nonsense candidate," for one who says, "I always tell the truth. It has served me well." It's a long shot, but Dick Lamm's life is a history of long shots, with more hits than misses. In an election contest between an incumbent with no character and a character that people don't seem to like, a likable and straight-talking David fighting the established Goliaths may get a long look from the media and the American public.