“We can’t hold him back,” a Ritter campaign worker complained. “He’s running us ragged.”
At an early Thursday breakfast fundraiser in Glenwood Springs, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Bill Ritter was socializing with at least 50 locals. He looked fresh and relaxed. It was 7:30 a.m. after a late night before to battle his opponent, Bob Beauprez, at an oil and gas debate in Rifle.The debate was preceded by a day filled with a tour looking at drilling activities around Rifle, a trip from Denver, at least one newspaper interview in Grand Junction, and…and….
“Bill just can’t keep going at this pace,” Rep. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison) said to the 20’ish campaign worker at the fundraiser. “He’s got to last five more weeks…”
“I know, I know,” replied the worker. “I’m trying to get Bill to relax a little-I need the time off to breathe, too, but there’s no way. Can you talk to him?” he asked her.
Earlier, one of the stories Bill Ritter told supporters was when he and his wife decided to take a long weekend off a few months ago. “The first day was great,” he said. “But then Beauprez said something stupid, and I had to go back to the campaign to take advantage at it,” Ritter laughed.
He rattled off the places on the Western Slope he was going to visit in the near future. “We’ll be down in La Plata and Alamosa to look how gas drilling has affected their areas,” he said addressing the crowd. “I know how important this issue is to you and them.”
The breakfast was followed by another interview with the Aspen Daily News and Colorado Confidential. The beleaguered campaign worker came in with some water for Ritter and gave him “the look” that it was close to the time to leave. “I think I’ll take that cup of coffee now, too, please,” Ritter said to his aide.
Ten minutes later, Ritter was posing with local candidates and supporters for photos. Bright eyes, big smiles. Maybe it took another 15 minutes to head down the road for another full day.
