Sunday, December 01, 2013

Quitters Incorporated

I'm not a big fan of quitters. Generally speaking, I would just as soon try and do my best rather than giving up. This is precisely what puts me at odds with someone like Sarah Palin. The other problem with quitting is that it becomes a habit. I'm talking about you again, Sarah. So, how am I going to feel when the shoe is on the other foot? What if there was a high-profile Democrat who up and quit their post just when the going got tough?
Evie Hudak, a former educator who represented Denver's northwest suburbs in the Colorado state senate is resigning her seat in the face of a potential recall election. Two other Democratic senators were unseated in September recall elections, leaving that party with a one vote majority in the state Senate. These three lawmakers were targeted, if you'll pardon the pun, when they supported a package of laws to strengthen gun control following the mass shootings last year in a suburban Denver movie theater and at a Connecticut elementary school. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Evie.
Except Evie is actually doing something quite clever. First of all, in her resignation letter, she wrote that she was stepping down to spare taxpayers in her county from having to pay for a special election, after budgets have been slashed for mental health and senior citizen programs, among other services. What she didn't mention was that by resigning she opens the door for Democrats to appoint a successor, who will take over until the general election next year. Pretty crafty. It also means that she can take a few, pardon the pun again, take a couple pot shots on the way out: "Most Coloradans believe that the convenience of high-capacity ammunition magazines is less important than saving lives in tragedies like Sandy Hook, Aurora and Columbine," she wrote.
And so the wheel keeps turning, and go back to maintaining my stance against quitters. But Evie Hudak may be the exception that proves the rule.

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