Exclusive Interview: Senators Jack Tate & Jeff Bridges
Running for office, the political climate, and the media environment.
*This was supposed to go out on Monday, July 26th, but alas, Sara and I were too excited to learn the gender of our first child. More on that in my next update!*
I made it clear in my last interview that these would be for paid subscribers in the future, but I couldn’t help it. This one is also going to all my subscribers, but this time I mean it, in the future, these interviews will be exclusive to paid subscribers. So, go give me $5 a month, eh? Coffee fund needs replenishing.
For those that don’t know Jack Tate or Jeff Bridges (not that Jeff Bridges), you can of course just read their Wikipedia pages (Tate here, Bridges here), but here’s the briefest descriptions of each I could possibly manufacture:
I worked for Senator Jack Tate (Republican) from 2017 until he left office in 2020, while I was on caucus staff (I still am). He’s one of the most genuine elected officials I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, let alone work for. Tate served in the Colorado House of Representatives before winning a seat in the State Senate in 2016, where her served for a 4-year term ending in 2021.
As for Senator Jeff Bridges (Democrat), the majority of my public interactions with him involve me disagreeing with him. That being said, we’ve developed a friendship (which he’ll probably deny adamantly) and I have a great deal of respect for him, despite his poor choice of political party. We all make mistakes.
With that being said, let’s get to some interesting questions and answers.
THE SOFTBALL QUESTIONS
Sage Naumann: What has been/was your favorite moment as a state legislator?
Jack Tate: My favorite moment was a tactical moment on May 9, 2018 at 11:40pm, twenty minutes before the end of the 2018 session with Senate Bill 200, the PERA pension reform bill, on the line. I noticed a discussion among some of the opposition party that looked like a plan to filibuster the bill through the stroke of midnight with a motion to reconsider. I preemptively got that motion myself before they could get organized, thus slamming the door on the process.
Jeff Bridges: Passing fully-funded full-day Kindergarten through the Senate with unanimous support.
SN: Was there a defining moment that helped you decide to run for office or was it a gradual process that led you to put your name on the ballot?
JT: It was more of a spur of the moment decision, saying to myself, “hey I could do that,” possibly from a latent desire I might have developed back when I was in grad school in political science.
JB: When I was a junior at Arapahoe High School my principal sold more parking permits than he had parking spaces. Outraged at this, I organized a petition. The principal ignored it, so I ran for Student Body President. Out of nowhere, a constitution appeared that barred me from running. I read it over and figured out how to amend it, but by the time I did it was too late to add my name to the ballot. So I ran a write-in campaign. Then, no kidding, on the day of the election my principal announced a voter ID law—you had to have your student ID to vote. My supporters weren’t exactly the type who kept track of that sort of thing. Ultimately, I lost by nine votes. But I haven’t lost the belief that I can make a difference.
SN: Who is your favorite Colorado politician throughout history and why?
JT: My favorite Colorado politician has been Senator Jim Smallwood because he is my friend.
JB: Obvious answer here: Ralph Carr. You often have to make choices at the Capitol between right and wrong. More often than not, the right choice is the popular one. But it’s those times when what’s right isn’t what’s popular that truly test a person’s commitment to justice.
SN: In your opinion, who is the most underrated American President and why?
JT: I believe the most underrated U.S. President is Herbert Hoover, mainly because his rating is hyperbolically so low. In truth, at that time, the federal government had no experience intervening in the economy in a meaningful way. Furthermore, his innovative policies at the end of his term, though too late for him politically, were what President Roosevelt subsequently built upon.
JB: Least obvious answer: George Washington. Washington is rightly recognized for his contributions to the founding of our nation, and rightly condemned for enabling and participating in our nation’s original sin of chattel slavery. He is underrated, though, for how he contributed to setting the norms of behavior for elected officials. Laws and rules are only part of what holds our politics together—norms and traditions are just as important. From accepting the title of Mr. President, to leaving office after just two terms, to how he spoke, entertained, and even dressed (not in uniform), Washington knew that as the first popularly elected president in world history his actions would set norms and expectations for every president who came after.
YOUR EXPERIENCE
SN: Think back to the day you were sworn in as a state legislator - what expectations did you have? Did those expectations hold true?
JT: The General Assembly is significantly more idiosyncratic than I would have guessed, with asymmetrical information confronting legislators at every turn. Also, I originally believed that the General Assembly would be a much more deliberative body than it really is most of the time. Of course, there were some exceptions. At the beginning I did not really have an appreciation for the power of leadership to determine the outcome of potential legislation. Later, I saw the lawmaking process as a “management by exception” machine, with cogs and sprockets that turn with a certain predictability. Finally, I didn’t realize that many see the normative role of a legislator as a facilitator- meaning the job should be merely to facilitate a policy position that others external to the capitol have negotiated.
JB: I expected my colleagues would be able to put politics aside to do what’s best for the people they represent, and for the most part they do.
SN: Has/did your time in elected office left/leave you more optimistic - or more pessimistic - when it comes to our nation’s political future?
JT: My time in political office has left me more pessimistic. Not so much about the elected officials themselves, but the external political environment which informs, influences, and pressures them.
JB: More optimistic about Colorado, and I started off very optimistic. More pessimistic about Washington, and I started off very pessimistic.
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THE POLITICAL CLIMATE
SN: If somebody asked you if it was worth it to run for office, what would your honest answer be?
JT: That is hard to say for me personally. At this point, it seems I’ve made some pretty significant sacrifices from which I probably will not find a recovery. That being said, I am very proud of my legislative record, and I believe that in the spirit of sacrifice I delivered for people of Colorado. In retrospect, I should have run for office 10 years earlier or waited 10 years later.
JB: Absolutely. And learn the serenity prayer.
SN: We see a great deal of commentary, studies, polling, etc, about how polarized our nation has become and how politically divided we are as a people. Most of that seems to come from national politics, but I’m interested in your thoughts on how that affects state and local government? Or perhaps how it doesn’t?
JT: It affects both state local government because citizens take the heuristics and interpretive lenses that are tossed around nationally and apply them to local political actors and local political issues. The results are false assumptions and false expectations. A cloud of cynicism. And a posture of pointing fingers rather that working to understand complexity. In some ways the mode by which information is gotten is creating the problem and the local level is not immune.
JB: While some activists see any kind of willingness to compromise as disloyalty to the party and its values, the majority of Coloradans just want their government to work. In most legislative districts, that includes a majority of primary voters, too. This desire carries over to the legislature—most of my colleagues work across party lines to find the right solution for the people of Colorado. Partisanship certainly impacts our work, but it’s not determinative. It’s just one of many hurdles we have to overcome as part of the policy making process. Some of my best friends are on the other side of the aisle, and that’s how it should be.
SN: Over the last few decades, it seems that the line between politics and pop culture has blurred a bit. Fueled by television appearances, social media engagement, etc, politicians at every level - and in both parties - have begun to resemble celebrities. Would you agree with that and do you believe that this has been a productive transformation?
JT: I agree that national level politicians are looked at as celebrities with lots of power. Unfortunately, people make similar assumptions about the capabilities of local politicians. Individual legislators are frankly not that powerful and the media should be looking elsewhere in terms have how things become law….or don’t. When celebrity becomes the focus, no one asks about what the person actually knows or can do.
JB: Political celebrity is a double-edged sword. Used for good, a strong earned and social media presence makes it easier for constituents to connect with their elected officials and get a behind-the-scenes view of how their government actually works. On the other hand, a person’s capability—not their social media presence or reality show celebrity—should determine their electability. Or to put it another way, with great power comes great responsibility.
SN: The word "bipartisanship" seems to get thrown around a lot - what does that term mean to you in a practical sense?
JT: Bipartisanship just means working with and mediating between your political faction in the opposing political faction to try to deliver as many win-wins as possible for all sides. Until one party starts winning with 90% of the vote, we should expect some minimal level of bipartisanship.
JB: When I say, “Every bill I’ve ever passed had bipartisan support, except for the one requiring safe storage of firearms,” what I mean is that every bill I’ve ever passed had at least one Republican vote—and most of the time it’s not just Kevin Priola. 😁
THE MEDIA
SN: I’d like your unfiltered thoughts on the media - national and local. How do you believe the media industry has transformed over the last few decades?
JT: The media has evolved in its notion of objectivity. Years ago, the media used to strive to provide a factual objectivity it is reporting of events, with a rendering of facts – who said or did what where – as the core mission. I think subsequently that objectivity morphed into a notion of neutrality which consisted of a balanced reporting between rival partisan groups expressing rival opinion. Finally, however, the media is now wanting to report what they collectively believe is an objective narrative truth, with rival voices presented in that narrative framework. However, this framework is informed by a completely ideologically biased (and wrong-headed) postmodernist interpretation of culture and events. For the media to operate as it once did with a hyper-focus on factual reporting, it requires many more reporters to be employed and deployed onto much less interesting matters.
JB: A media that holds elected officials accountable is crucial for a healthy democracy. While some folks blame our current partisan divide on the development of cable news and social media, I don’t think that’s quite right. Partisan news anchors and dystopian algorithms certainly fan the flames, but it’s hard to hate someone you know. With the exception of Thanksgiving—and there are a plethora of self-help guides on how to deal with that—most people rarely spend time talking to other people they disagree with politically. I blame partisanship far more on the loss of America’s social capital over the last few decades than on any changes in the media landscape. We have far too little Tocqueville, and far too much Bowling Alone.
SN: If you could snap your fingers and change how the media reports the news - whether that be regarding state politics or national politics - what would that change be?
JT: I would have the media report more good news showcasing the triumph of individual human agency and initiative.
JB: One easy change I’d like from Colorado editors is as much coverage of a bill in its final form as in its introduced form. Bills that get the most media attention are introduced in what I call their Cadillac version, with spinning rims, leather interior, and terrible gas mileage. These bills almost always get amended into something more like a Chevy—lower cost, less flashy, but still gets the job done. That legislative process of compromise is very complicated, usually very bipartisan, and very, very boring. But not covering it leaves voters with the impression that all we pass are crazy bills! At a time when too many people believe that government doesn’t work and politicians can’t work together, it’s especially important to cover the incredible way our legislature does work here in Colorado.
Thanks for reading. If you missed my last interview with Twitter personality Shoshana Weissmann, click here to read it.
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