The strangest thing happened to me on the way to watching Squirm Night on Grassroots TV last night: I saw Torre come of age right before my eyes.

Here’s what I mean: Torre–the City Councilor, Mayor Pro Tem, tennis pro, and television host–has been heretofore universally liked as a person and universally dissed as a serious candidate for Mayor of Aspen. Is that fair? Probably not, but in four years on City Council he has failed to convince people that there is substance behind his charismatic style.

The pre-Squirm turning point, I think, came when the Aspen Times called unexpectedly and unfairly for his resignation by saying he should get out of the Mayor’s race and go back to City Council. Fair? Absolutely not, but the paper was preying in unprecedented fashion on the broad perception that Torre had no traction in the race.

My own perception of the man and the candidacy actually changed a few hours before Squirm Night at the Zele Community Table on East Hopkins Avenue in Aspen, where Torre took part in a forthcoming interview on Aspen Post that was open to the public. His rapid-fire response to the editorial in print and during the interview showed the unkind words were nothing less than a cold hard slap in the face.

He was energized and even more animated than usual. The charm was still there, but style and substance were in equal balance. Torre showed a much greater command of the facts than I had ever seen before. He was articulate, thoughtful, open, and engaging–and it was clear he had thought long and hard about the issues on the table before us.

I was impressed and genuinely surprised, but by the time Torre appeared as a candidate on GrassRoots TV with Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau, I knew what was coming: a powerful performance that said: “You have to take me seriously.”

What I saw at Zele’s in the afternoon was no mirage, and now I do take Torre seriously as a candidate. At the end of the night, when he reminded everyone that his youth was to be embraced–he’s actually 37, not young by any measure–I knew beyond a shadow that Torre had finally arrived in local politics. He may not win the race–he’s still a long shot–but he’s in it to stay and risked his existing sinecure on the City Council to pursue his dream. In many ways, you could say he’s come to represent the great potential the average citizen has to change the world around him.

Torre, Tim, and Mick–let the games begin.