OK, so what's the deal with Rutt Bridges?

This guy threw his hat in the ring this month (apparently, judging by the swarm email my work is getting on the matter from his staffers) for the Governor's race.

Anyone ever heard of him? Apparently he's a Democrat, but it's hard to tell from his website.

Oh, and for fun, here's the least creepy/goofy photo I could find:

Judge him by the amount of money he spent on the negative mailings he sent to people to get Democrats control of the legislature.

BTW, when I first met him in 1991 he wasn't that ugly.

Rutt Bridges is a bright guy who made a fortune and then decided to become a force in Colorado politics. He, Jared Polis, and Pat Stryker helped to finance the Dems' state legislative campaign in 2004.

It is problematic when someone runs for a highly visible position for his or her first campaign. Bridges blew his campaign announcement. Rather than get the typical positive press, Bridges' announcement resulted in an unfavorable Susan Greene article in the Denver Post. Bridges said that he was not going to reveal his views on issues quite yet, which made him sound like a dilettante.

Rookie mistakes like that will kill you in a race against a pro like Bob Beauprez.

Also, the word is that Bridges is thin-skinned. Would he be able to stand up to the barrage of negative advertising that Beauprez is likely to unleash -- just like Beauprez smeared Mike Feeley in 2002?

Bridges would do better starting with a run for the state legislature and gaining some campaiagn experience.

The Dems can win the race for Gov in '06, but we need a seasoned campaign veteran (like FitzGerald or Romanoff) to do so.

...specifically, my sticks, where he's stopping this weekend. :)