Lamm Chooses ‘Risk-Taker’ As Running Mate

He’s a risk-taker and a Republican, the two prerequisites Richard Lamm wanted in his running mate.

That’s why Lamm, the former Democratic Colorado governor and now a contender for the Reform Party presidential nomination, officially announced Monday that one-time Silicon Valley golden boy Ed Zschau is his selection for vice president.

At a news conference at San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation, Lamm said he tapped Zschau, a two-term GOP congressman in the mid-1980s and a high-tech businessman, because “we really want to form a bipartisan coalition. We think it’s immensely important at this point in American history that a reform movement starts, grows and prospers. … He is a risk-taker.”

And there’s one other reason, acknowledged Lamm campaign managers: Zschau can raise money.

Of course, Lamm and Zschau first must win the Reform Party nomination, a two-step, bicoastal process that starts with a convention in Long Beach on Sunday.

Their opponent is Texas billionaire and Reform Party founder H. Ross Perot.

That seemingly unwinnable setup caused Silicon Valley political observers on Monday to label Zschau’s latest venture “quixotic” and an “exercise in futility” - but not out of character for the moderate Republican who has eschewed elected office since narrowly losing a U.S. Senate bid in 1986.

“There is no such thing as a lost cause in pursuit of truth, reform and renewal,” Zschau said, when asked to explain his decision to join Lamm and re-register last weekend as member of the Reform Party.

Zschau, a Nebraska native with an Ivy League education, said he and Lamm will emphasize fiscal responsibility and campaign reform.

Zschau, 56, served in the House from 1983 to 1986. He had little name recognition outside Silicon Valley when in 1986 he sought to unseat U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston. He lost to Cranston by fewer than 115,000 votes out of 7.1 million cast.

Disappointing his political supporters, including Hewlett Packard founder David Packard, Zschau returned to private business and refrained from seeking public office - until Monday.