Romanoff on tippytoes

Speaker Andrew Romanoff edged a bit closer to declaring himself a bona fide candidate for governor this morning on 760AM. Romanoff admitted that he had been thinking about the race, which in politics is basically the same as jumping on a park bench and screaming, "I wanna be the guv!"

Host Jay Marvin is a big fan of Romanoff. And I am too. But there a couple of things Dems need to consider.

1. If the race boils down to Romanoff and former D.A. Bill Ritter, expect the Republicans to start whispering the phrase "Denver liberal." The charge sticks like glue to Romanoff. But Ritter's working-class roots and anti-choice views make him seem downright rural in comparison.

2. Romanoff has amazing name recognition among political wonks who live in LoDo condos. But in 2004 I learned that many wealthy, educated suburbanites aren't even aware that there is a Colorado State House and a Colorado State Senate. And even those that were couldn't tell me the names of their district representatives. Everybody, however, knows that Denver has a district attorney whose job is to lock bad guys up.

There's still time for me to hop on the Romanoff train. But that time is fast running out.