Monday Morning Politicking with Betsy Markey

Markey

EDITOR'S NOTE: "Monday Morning Politicking" is a weekly interview on PolitickerCO featuring a prominent figure in Colorado politics. 

This year's  4th Congressional District race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) and Democratic challenger Betsy Markey may well turn out to be the only competitive two-party race in Colorado.

Though they've come somewhat close to toppling Musgrave the past two elections, the Democrats this time are relying on Markey, a Fort Collins businesswoman and State Department official with no prior political experience, to deliver the knockout blow.

In this week's Monday Morning Politicking, Markey talks about why she thinks 2008 is a good year for CD-4 to go blue, her strategy for upsetting Musgrave, and her top-secret work for the State Department in the 1980s.

PolitickerCO: Why is now the time for a Democrat to take the CD-4 race? They haven't been successful the past couple years - what makes this year different?

Markey: I think [there are] a couple of reasons that 2008 is a great year. Number one, it's a presidential year and people are excited. I know we've got a lot more younger voters that I believe are going to be coming out, a lot more indepenedent voters, unaffiliated  voters, and that's always good for Democrats.

Secondly, the demographics in this district are changing every year, and they're favoring a Democrat. The smaller communities on the Eastern Plains are losing some population, and a lot of the communities along the Front Range in Larimer and Weld County are growing very, very fast. A lot of these people are young families, they're commuting to Boulder and Denver, and they're moderate voters. And they're concerned about bread-and-butter issues like health care and education and transportation which are the issues that I want to talk about. So I think that favors us as well.

And the third thing, the last two cycles: when Stan [Matsunaka] ran in 2004 [as a Democrat], there was a Green Party candidate in the race [Bob Kinsey], and when Angie[Paccione] ran in 2006 [as a Democrat] there was a third-party candidate in the race [Eric Eidsness] who got 11 percent of the vote. Marilyn Musgrave won in 2006 with the lowest winning percentage of any member of Congress that year - she just got 46 percent of the vote. I think clearly people were looking for another option. So I think that those things bode well.

P: You mentioned that the Eastern Plains are losing people. So is your strategy, then sort of to rely on Fort Collins and Larimer County?

M: Not at all, not at all - in fact, just the opposite. I think it's really important not to forget any of those smaller communities. Sometimes in the past candidates have felt like that's been Marilyn Musgrave's strong point or the more rural areas of the fourth Congressional district. And I don't think you can discount any of those counties. There's 18 counties in the 4th CD. I've been to all of them, and, you know, I might not win many of them, but I'm certainly hoping to cut the margins in all of those counties. So I think that's an important piece for me.

Less than two weeks ago, I was in a bar in Springfield, which is in Prowers and Baca County, the most southeastern part of the state. And people are excited about the election down there and certainly ready for change.

And back in December I was in Yuma County, I was in Yuma, Colorado and for an event someone said to me, ‘You know, it's December before the election, and I've seen you in Yuma twice. We've never seen a Democrat here." I try to get out to those areas as much as I can.

P: So is that person going to vote for you then?

M: Is what?

P: The person who said that to you, that "I've never seen a Democrat twice--"

M: I believe so, I believe so.

P: You better go three times to make sure.

M: Yeah, make sure I've got that one. (laugh)

But I think part of it is just showing up, and letting people know that I care about the issues - every issue in the fourth Congressional District. If people, you know, if they live in Fort Collins or if they live in Holyoke or Cheyenne Wells, their issues are important and I need to listen.

P: This year it seems the NRCC is not going to put as nearly as much money - if any money - into Marilyn Musgrave's campaign. How much of a difference do you think that's going to make, and are you expecting a lot of money from the DCCC?

M: Well, I think that will make a big difference, and certainly in Marilyn Musgrave's race. I mean, each time she has run for this seat she has outspent her opponent. And the fact that there's a record number of Republicans in Congress retiring, it's going to be hard for them to pour as much money into defending their seat as they have in the past. So I think that certainly bodes well for our campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has us as one of their races to watch right now - races to watch list. It's on their radar screen. They have been telling other people around the country that this is a race to watch which helps us out in our fundraising as well.

P: Are you expecting any other kind of help from the national Democrats in addition to money, like staff or anything like that?

M: You know, it's early to tell right now, but I know that this is a race that on many people's radar screens. A couple of months ago, the Washington Post said this is one of the top 10 races in the country likely to switch parties in 2008, so I know that a lot of people are looking closely at the race, and I think that we'll get national support.

P: I've been told that your background is actually in defense security. I was wondering if you could talk a bit about that.

M: Well, computer security. Back in the 1980s, I worked for the U.S. Department of State, and I was the director of computer security policy and training. And so it was my job to go to our embassies and consulates overseas and develop the first computer security training protocols - you know, taking a look at the different threats and vulnerabilities of our computer systems overseas.

P: So you were essentially in charge of making sure that there was no terrorist hacking of an embassy abroad?

M: That's right, we would take a look at that, and if there was potential for that to happen, we would - part of it was to inform the staff there, the ambassador and the chief, deputy chief of mission what we saw as threats to the system and ways that they could make sure that those things didn't happen, additional precautions that they should take to protect their computer system. And it was, in turn, my job to take a look at these - you know, we would see some vulnerabilities across the board and then make sure that all embassies and consulates were taking precautions and safeguards and putting policies in place about the kind of data that you should be able to put on your computers.

P: Did you have any specific crises where there was a lockdown or anything like that?

M: Well, you know, I had a top-secret security clearance and anything like that would have been classified information and I couldn't discuss it.

P: That's the correct answer (laugh). How long have you lived in Fort Collins?

M: I came here with my family in 1995. I have family here in Colorado, and we moved when my three children were young: my husband and I decided it was the perfect place to raise our family. And now two of them are in college, and one's in high school, and it's a great place to live and work and raise your family. That's why we moved here.

P: Of all the places you went in your security job, what's your favorite country you've been to?

M: You know, I love Thailand.

P: Why Thailand?

M: I love the culture there. You know, the people were so friendly.

P: How long were you there?

M: Well, most of our trips were two weeks, usually two weeks at a time. I have to say it was up there as one of my favorite places just because I love the friendliness of the people. It's very polluted - that's the drawback. But it's a really good place to go, and I love the food.