It may be as hackneyed as holiday fruitcake and watching It’s A Wonderful Life while making Christmas cookies, but looking back at the political year that was is a tradition that I fully intend to uphold this year.

Looking back at 2011 is not just a good idea because it is simply tradition. It’s important to look back at the political year of 2011 because it will very likely set up the political Battle Royale that will be 2012.

So, without further adieu, here are my top three political moments of 2011, in no particular order of importance, and how they will affect the craziness that will be 2012.

The Underdog Winning Streak Stays Intact – Denver Mayoral races in recent memory have included various characters, issues and controversies. But the one thing that has remained true for more than a generation is that it is always good to be the underdog.

Michael Hancock continued the winning streak for the early Mayoral underdogs with his come from behind win in June. However, in this year’s case, it may be more accurate to say that Chris Romer was more successful in his come from the front defeat effort.

But no matter how you define the win, the reason this issue will be a big deal in 2012 is that the Mayor of Denver is extremely influential in Colorado politics. An example of that influence is how Mayor Hancock, and his newly appointed Chief of Police Robert White, handle the Occupy Denver protests. How they handle those protests may define how the movement will influence or be ignored in 2012.

Denver Gets Preoccupied with Occupy – The Occupy Denver protests, an unaffiliated spin off of the Occupy Wall Street protests, displayed everything that’s good and bad about protesting in the United States. On the bright side for the movement, protesters successfully placed “99 percent” into the political lexicon and garnered a new base of supporters critical of corporate welfare and bailouts.

But on the negative side, the Occupy Denver protests failed to find a focus or practice much discipline and the movement eventually became what The Denver Post editorial page called, “a caricature of themselves”. The actual “occupy” part of the protests may have come to an end this week when the aforementioned Chief White evicted the protesters from Civic Center Park and vowed not to allow any more temporary structures.

The impact this movement can make on 2012 all depends on its ability to focus. It has a message that resonates and a base of support in Colorado that frankly would like to see it succeed. But if that message isn’t focused, the movement may fall apart as quickly as the shanty town did this week.

New Legislative Reapportionment Maps Draw New Lines and GOP Anger – Every ten years, the state government must not only redraw Congressional district lines, but also the lines of our legislative districts. The process in 2011 was originally decided by a bipartisan commission whose tie vote was broken its one unaffiliated voter. However, the State Supreme Court dismissed those maps and new ones were adopted that clearly give Democrats the advantage.

It will be up to voters to decide if the new lines truly give the Dems the advantage they seek. But this issue may impact our state government and our Governor more than Dems realize.

If the Dems take back the State House from the GOP, and use their majority to send progressive bills to Governor Hickenlooper’s desk, it will likely put him in an uncomfortable position of appearing highly partisan. Having a Democratic majority did no favors for Hickenlooper’s predecessor, Former Gov. Bill Ritter and I imagine Hickenlooper would secretly like to keep the balance that allows him to be a popular bipartisan moderate governor.

2011 arrived with very little political fanfare and few pundits predicted much would happen. However, between new leaders, new protests and new maps, 2011 was not only interesting to watch, but it also set the stage for an even more exciting 2012.

Speaking of 2012, I’ll be off on holiday next week, returning on Wednesday, January 4th, just in time to talk about the results of the Iowa caucus. Until then, I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.
About The Blogger

- Dominic Dezzutti, producer of the Colorado Decides debate series, a co-production of CBS4 and Colorado Public Television, looks at the local and national political scene in his CBSDenver.com blog. Read new entries here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Dezzutti writes about federal, state and local matters and how our elected leaders are handling the issues important to Colorado. Dezzutti also produces the Emmy winning Colorado Inside Out, hosted by Raj Chohan, on Colorado Public Television.