Editor’s note: Former Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb is a ‘sensei’ to mayors today. Not yet ready to retire, he runs a business and political consulting practice, Webb Group International. His 28th floor office at 1660 Lincoln in Denver’s financial district looks out over the capitol dome to the south to Pikes Peak. Everyday Webb sees the vibrant city he helped to develop. In this article, he weighs in on the political climate in Colorado. Photos by Lorenzo Dawkins
A Conversation with Wellington E. Webb By Charles Emmons
The country is facing another milestone in 2014 as the first nonwhite President of the United States, Barack Obama, winds down his second term. In 2008, we were enthusiastic and elated to contribute to his win. In 2012, we turned out again for his re-election because we believed in his principles. In 2014, Obama is not running but this election should be no less significant than others. In the end, you vote for the candidate that holds values that are important to you.
Changing Colorado Politics In Colorado, we have tight races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. With no candidates having 50 percent in preelection polls, it will be a toss-up. The non-affiliated and independents will decide. “Colorado was primarily a Republican state when I started out in politics in the 70s, and I’ve lived to see it change from red to purple and then to blue,” said Wellington Webb, who served 12 years or three terms as the mayor of Denver. “And I think this upcoming election will determine whether Colorado is purple or blue.” Webb is the sage of Colorado politics, having served in the state house and elected as Denver’s first Black mayor in 1991. He understands the ebb and flow of state’s politics that
elected two Black lieutenant governors, George Brown (D) and the late Joe Rogers (R). We also have had a Black speaker of the House, Terrence Carroll and Black president of the State Senate, Peter Groff. “Colorado, because of its western ethic has been open to a lot of history that has been accomplished here that is beyond what people in other parts of the country can ever imagine,” said Webb, the only mayor in the U.S. to be elected by his peers to be president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Conference of Black Mayors and the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. “If these candidates won, it was because they were good candidates who could be successful. But we also see that we’ve had a climate that has allowed those candidates to win,” said Webb. “But you could have every Black person vote for you – retired, living or dead – and you still would not have enough votes to win. Which means that obviously there were coalition politics involved; which means that Black, White, Brown, Red and Yellow were voting for the African American candidates for the offices they have been successful in achieving.”
The Obama Effect Despite this progress, and now the “Historic 5” Black legislators serving in the State House of Representatives
running for re-election, Webb has seen a backlash primarily against President Obama, but it has a ripple effect. Webb has empathy for the president, himself being a first. “Which is normal for anyone that’s first. All of us who have been first have experienced it,” said Webb, the first African American mayor of Denver. “As the first president of the United States who doesn’t happen to be white, I believe he has experienced more opposition; more lack of respect for the office he holds; more individuals demonstrating outrageous behavior against the protocol and decorum of the U.S. Senate and the House with people calling out, shouting and calling him a liar, which has never been done before.” President Obama has led the country through the worst recession on the road to economic recovery, and foreign affairs and international issues have been challenging. “It kind of goes back to that old joke, which mostly only old people remember…when the government is messed up at its worst is normally when we get the call to go in and fix it,” said Webb. “And that doesn’t just hold true for government. And when you add the high expectations that members of your own community have for you…which you can never meet, he has had a more difficult road.” Friend and foe scrutinize President Obama’s every action or decision, and
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – October 2014
GOP ads are rife with guilt by association. Yet, the president seems undaunted, and Webb sees him as a heroic figure. “The more they beat up on him the prouder I get, because I see him stand up and never flinch, never stoop to the level of the people who are attacking him, and he does it with intellect, and he does it with dignity and he does it with grace,” said the Kappa Alpha Psi and Delta Eta Boule fraternity member.
Voting: Know Where You Are In the shadow of this backlash, what is the impact on Colorado elections and politics? Colorado’s voter demographics have changed. Besides turning to a blue state in the last election cycle, Independents are now the majority party according to Webb. There are more independent and unaffiliated voters than registered Democrats or Republicans. Presidential elections entail more money and resources, which leads to higher voter turnout. “We are going into 2014, the mid-term elections, and for whatever reason, a lot of the people who vote in the presidential election don’t vote in the mid-terms,” said the businessman and philanthropist. “This makes many of the individuals running who come from marginal districts much more vulnerable. And the individuals that tend not to vote in mid-term elections are typically young people, minorities,