Disciplining the apostate

One of the things that fascinates me about party politics is the tactics party actors use to punish or threaten officeholders who disappoint them. The ultimate weapon is firing the officeholder, either through the recall (where it's available) or through funding and supporting a primary challenger. But there are a number of other options short of this, including making fundraising more challenging.

Organized labor finds itself in such a situation in Colorado right now, with Gov. Ritter having recently dissed them quite publicly twice, despite their very generous support for him in 2006 and the fact that he's vulnerable in his reelection campaign. Labor is obviously upset. But what to do? Well, one thing they've done is to just be dickish to him. This was in evidence yesterday during a commemoration of the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. Not only did organizers neglect to include Ritter on the program, but when he finally spoke, they turned their backs on him.

The more forceful thing to do, of course, would be to run someone against him in next year's Democratic primary. Arguably, the state has swung leftward enough recently that a more liberal Democrat could still prevail statewide. Hell, "Boulder liberal" Mark Udall pulled that off last year. But who could they get to run for governor?

Denver Mayor Hickenlooper has claimed that he's been approached to run for governor, but that he's not interested. Of course, he neglected to say who approached him. It's a curious article. Is Hickenlooper just keeping his name in the fray? Was he actually approached by labor? Did labor just want to float the idea of Hickenlooper as a threat to Ritter, even if they don't plan to follow through?

And if not Hickenlooper, would anyone else be willing to take on Ritter?