The race in CD2 like the Presidential Race shows how Liberals and Progressives act. We have a great slate of Presidential Candidates and we have a great choice of candidates in CD2. The disputes among Democrats are about how good their candidates are and how much they can do for the country. The Republicans in contrast are choosing their candidates based on which candidate or group of people they hate or fear the most.
I have a high regard for the candidates in CD2 that I know, Jared, Joan, and Will (in alphabetical order) I can't speak to Larry Johnson personally.. Let me say that I understand the arguments Joan's supporters make for her. They say that the superb work for the DLCC (Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee) and as Colorado Senate Majority leader would give her the inside track to leadership in Congress while any other candidate would have to pay their dues. I know the importance of political friendships but I am modestly skeptical as to how much that will outweigh the beloved seniority based system in Congress. Will's strong environmental knowledge and stance would be an important voice in a region which all too often has a limited extraction viewpoint.
Jared on the other hand represents a unique opportunity for Boulder, Colorado, and for this country.
More below the fold.
Just as Al Gore was the only Senator who understood the potential of the Internet and wrote and passed the enabling legislation to turn a Government experiment into an Industry, Jared understands the technology and the science that will be critical to this nation over the next century. There are a passel of issues, from networks, new media, intellectual property, broadband infrastructure, medical information interchange, privacy, oversight, to the encouragement of research. I can't even provide a complete list because no one can anticipate the pace and direction of technological developments.
Beyond specific issues, Congress needs to understand and encourage the whole process of taking scientific insights in new areas (like energy storage, nanosolar technologies and biogenetics ) and turning them into industries the way Al Gore did for the Internet. We have seen all too often how benign regulatory neglect or crony capitalism has inhibited growth. For example, that's why we are being outstripped in affordable broadband access by Korea, Japan, France and increasingly much of Europe. Congress and the regulator agencies have favored the existing players and obstructed new suppliers. We have no national broadband plan.
We need understanding, vision and leadership solving the problems of how information infrastructure affects our political process, both positively and negatively all of which Congress will have to understand and deal with.
Jared, is uniquely positioned to understand these issues, and provide leadership and vision. He got net neutrality before the phrase was defined. It took the Democratic party years and they still aren't sure about it. (If someone had said, we are going to let three or four companies, determine which newspaper articles they will allow to be printed, Congress would understand but the Intertubes ?).
I say uniquely because although I know a lot of congressmen who exercise leadership in technology, he is the only individual with real experience in technical industries and because I know at least part of the extent of his knowledge. His knowledge is complemented by the ability he has to get ideas across. Anyone who reads his Iraq diary entries knows this. As my mother would say, he sure can write good.
The leadership he could provide would be critical for this country. But parochially, because all politics is local, the future of Colorado is intimately tied to technologies from Renewable energy and building an industry on it to Bioengineering and research. Boulder because of the University and the National Labs as well as all the hi tech companies here is especially dependent on good governance of science and technology.
I think Jared can provide a unique voice and leadership for this country, Colorado, and Boulder.