Colorado Though the Progressive Party

¶ … Colorado

Though the Progressive Party did not become an official national political party until 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt lost the Republican Party's nomination for the Presidency and formed the party along with many other Republicans and independent political figures, the progressive movement had a long history leading up to this split. Fears that the inordinate influence of big business were keeping Colorado behind the rest of the nation as far as progressive politics went fueled certain liberal elements of the Republican party in the state, and early rhetoric used to sway voters to the progressive movement was less extreme than it was in other areas, for fear of alienating voters if the language used to condemn the current system was too strong.

Edward P. Costigan, later a Democrat appointed to office by President Woodrow Wilson and eventually serving as a United States Senator for the same party, helped to found the Colorado Progressive Party in 1912, but lost his bid for the governorship of that state. The major platform of the Progressive Party included major governmental reforms at almost every level of government, from election reforms that included women's suffrage to the redefining of the judicial role away from dependence on oral arguments and precedents in favor of careful consideration of the factual information on hand, and even extending down to the reorganization of city and local politics to prevent the "boss" system that existed in so many localities. In Colorado specifically, many the Democratic governor elected in 1908, John F. Shafroth, incorporated much of the Progressive platform into his campaign and the actions of his administration, which is at least partially responsible for the incumbent's defeat of Edward P. Costigan. The reformative requirements urged by the progressive party were given serious consideration and much implementation in Colorado's state government during this time; under Shafroth's administration, corruption was heavily cracked down on and brought to very low or non-existent levels, and both primaries and the election of senators were moved to a direct process.

These were all things that were a part of the national, state, and local Progressive movements. Though many of the prominent figures of the Progressive Party were looking for personal achievement in addition to the governmental reforms they stood for, part of the Progressive strategy was also to force the major parties to deal with the issues that the Progressive Party was raising. This role of the third party has been cited many times throughout this nation's history, and Colorado during this time is a prime example, on a smaller scale, of exactly how this strategy worked. By engaging voters in the idea that government could be changes, and that in a democracy there were still many choices to be made that were up to the voters, the Progressive Party was able to gain enough statewide support that the Democratic governor, who had already proved himself to be fairly progressive, was forced to incorporate even more drastic and extensive reforms into his campaign promises as a way of maintaining power.