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Mary Estill Buchanan describes and reflects on a long career in politics in Colorado as a moderate Republican. Her career has included campaigns for University of Colorado regent, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Senate. She served as Colorado Secretary of State from 1974-1983. She also served on the Colorado State Board of Agriculture and the Colorado Commission on the Status of Women. She tells behind-the-scene stories about her campaigns for office and about a near-appointment as chair of the Federal Trade Commission that was scuttled at the last minute due to the impending appointment of Sandra Day O'Conner to the Supreme Court. She also details the reforms she pursued as Colorado Secretary of State and the ways in which the Commission on the Status of Women sought to increase women's participation in politics.

Former Congressman David Skaggs is a member of a legal team which has filed a lawsuit in federal court to restore representative democracy in Colorado, the argument being that the constitution mandates a "republican form of government", not a direct democracy. This lawsuit is aimed at undermining TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, passed by initiative in 1992, which strips Colorado's legislative bodies of the power to raise revenue; revenue may only be raised by a direct vote of the people. Referring to the study by the DU Center for Colorado's Economic Future, Congressman Skaggs maintains that by sometime during the next decade, under the current tax structure of the state, revenues would be sufficient to deal only with Medicaid, prisons and a reduced amount of support for K-12 education. He discusses the value in having governmental policy created by legislators with knowledge and skills to evaluate complex governmental issues.