Friday, April 28, 2006

Rep. Dan Schaefer 1936-2006

Mom often sends me political clips from my former home state of CO, and I was saddened to hear of Rep. Dan Schaefer’s death in the most recent batch. Schaefer was the longtime Congressman for our suburban Denver district. He was a real Reagan Republican, not a NY pretender. As his former district director told the Rocky Mountain News: “He felt he’d gone to Congress to strengthen national defense and help end the Cold War, and he did.”

Schaefer’s district was staunchly Republican, but I volunteered for his campaign the year he was thought to have a competitive race. A RINO state legislator had switched to the Dems in order to challenge Rep. Schaefer. The local media was delighted to hype her candidacy, but on Election Day Dan Schaefer rolled up 60-some percent of the vote.

Rep. Schaefer deserved the smooth sailing he had from then on, until he retired from Congress in 1998. He wasn’t a flashy political figure preening on Crossfire, but a legislative workhorse. What a contrast to NY State’s publicity craving Congressionals. In retrospect, I’ve come to appreciate his quiet ethical leadership more and more.