America's Best Governor: For Republicans, a Rocky Mountain high - Bill Owens

National Review, Sept 2, 2002 by John J. Miller

Owens has gone on offense as well. Since Colorado's constitution prevents the state from financing abortions, Planned Parenthood has segregated its abortion division from the rest of its organization, which receives state funds. Or at least that's what it claims. When an outside auditor discovered that the group was secretly subsidizing abortions through a set of accounting gimmicks, Owens -- a pro-life Catholic -- cut it off last December. Planned Parenthood hissed and screamed and the decision caused a stir in the local press, but the governor has stood firm.

Owens also has provided paycheck protection to Colorado's 50,000 public employees, which means that their union dues are no longer automatically withheld by the state and channeled into union accounts. "If the members have to sign up each year, it's going to make labor leaders much more responsive to the rank and file," says Owens. "They won't focus on ancillary things like politics, but on retention and marketing." They'll have to work harder, too. They've already lost thousands of members and have suffered a severe blow to their finances because of Owens's policy.

The smart politician who is also a principled conservative is a rare breed, which is why the conservative movement should take advantage of those few who come along. Which leads naturally to the question: What's in the cards for Bill Owens? He'll win re-election this year handily, but then he's term-limited. There's a chance that Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a 69-year-old Republican, won't run again in 2004. Barring an Owens candidacy, the early favorite to succeed Campbell would be Rep. Mark Udall, a Democrat. Asked about the seat, Owens says, "I expect to fill out my term as governor." Convincing him to abandon his current office probably would take heavy lobbying from the White House.

Of course, there aren't many pols who have been both governor and senator who didn't prefer being governor -- and Owens knows it. So what else might he do? At the end of his second term, in January 2007, he'll be 56 years old and looking for a job.

One can't resist asking the Big Question, even though Owens is just a first-term governor and 2008 seems far away: Would he ever consider running for president? Owens immediately mentions his kids -- he has three of them, and the youngest will still be at home in 2008. The governor is serious enough about his family life that he and his wife quit the governor's mansion after a year and a half because their children were unhappy there.

But would he run for president? "I haven't been asked that before," he finally says. "I've always tried to do a good job, and I've learned the future takes care of itself. It also rewards you."

A good enough answer. For now.