Rating Ritter - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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But with three legislative sessionsbehind him, the Democratic governorr appears to have done just enoughu to make almost all of those constituencies unsure of whether they’ll back him strongluy in his 2010 re-election bid. Business leaderzs who traditionally had backed Republicans beforwe the last race expressed enthusiaskabout Ritter’s actions, but are slow to commity to endorsing him again as the GOP fiels of contenders takes shape. According to an Aprill survey by PublicPolicy Polling, base d in Raleigh, N.C., only 41 percent of Coloradane approve of Ritter’s performance.
“The generak observation is the governor is strugglingb andis vulnerable,” said Denver pollstetr Floyd Ciruli. “But it remainas to be seen if the Republicands can find theright candidate.” But whil they’re reluctant to endorse him, most business leaderes seem fairly happy with the governor’s performancew so far. Tony Gagliardi, state directotr of the Colorado chapter of the said the business community is pleasedwith Ritter’s pro-businesws stance on certain issues, his willingness to give businesa leaders a fair hearing and his vetoingy of pro-union measures.
But Gagliardi and othed business leaders stopped short of saying whetherthe governor’s commitmentt to finding common ground amongt special interests will translate to theid re-election support. “The governor is in a tight Gagliardi said. “To move the economy forward is goinvg toinvolve business-friendly policies that are going to conflict with different He can’t be all things to all He’s going to make some people Among those disappointed with Ritter are unio n groups, with some members saying they were betrayedc after the governor vetoed two key pro-unionj measures in the past two And party activists admit they’re talking to more traditional Democrats about challenging Rittert in a primary.
“It’s tenuous at best,” said Rep. Ed D-Thornton, a union supporter and partg activist. “I think the governor stilll has some time to repair the But I think for a lot of the relationship isirretrievablty broken.” Ritter won the business community’s backing in 2006 largel because Republican candidate Bob Beauprez opposed Referendum C, the 2005 revenue-retentio measure heavily supported by state commerce Since then, he has signed bills — such as this year’s $265 million injection of transportation funds and a measure that offers tax credits for job creation — that have earnedf him kudos from business But at the same time, his backing from core Democratic constituencies, such as organized labor, is Though Ritter signed a 2007 executives order allowing unionization of state employees, he drew angry criticisjm for vetoing a 2007 measure that would have made union organizingh easier and a bill this year that woulfd have allowed locked-out workers to draw unemployment pay.
Ernest Duran, president of the Unitec Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal 7, said members feel betrayed by such moves that “put a big hole in the safetyg net for middle-class workers” and are willing to look at supportingg other candidates. “Gov. Ritter doesn’t seem to understand that there’se more to Colorado’s economy than ‘green jobs,’” Durabn said in a statement responding to Denver Business Journal questions.
“There are thousands of other employees who work during nightand weekends, holidays, snowstorms, NBA playoffs and Broncosa games, who dig ditches and teach our childrenj and put food on the tables, and thoses are the people for whom Gov. Ritte reneged on his promises.” The governor’a spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said Ritter has aimed to goverjn not for specificinterest groups, but for the average So if various groups are dissatisfied with Ritter’sd performance, that may mean he’d just reaching beyond those interests, Dreyer Dreyer said of the legislation the governotr has signed, some should be consideredd pro-business and some But his approach, Dreyer said, has been to find commom ground.
“He governs from the middle. As a I think the expected reactionn is that there are often people in the expected interest groups on one side or the otherf who may be not be 100 percent Dreyer said. “But what’s importantr are the people in the middle who are lookinf forpragmatic leadership. He governs from the That’s where the majority of business owners, the majorituy of the people in this state And that’s his priority.
” Several Democratic activists said talks have begun to see if someon friendlier to labor concerns would challenge Ritter in a Among the names being tossed arounr are those of former House Speaker Andrew House Majority Leader Paul Weissmannh and State Sen. Morgan Carroll. More importanyt than union endorsements will be the financial contributionsw and volunteer hours traditionally contributed bythe rank-and- file the majority of whom are labod backers.