(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

One of the main purposes of my writing DemNotes has been to open the curtains of the Democratic Party at all levels: local, state, and national. I’ve wanted to bring people in Colorado a little closer to the way things work within the DNC and CDP, as well as to share how things are working in counties all across Colorado. This concept of opening this Party up and breaking down fictitious walls has been very important to me.

That’s why I’m so excited at a couple of new developments over the past two days that have really shown that the leadership of this Party — and of our presumptive nominee — are in tune to the same kind of thinking.

When Governor Dean announced that the national convention would be coming to Denver, he also made it clear that he wanted this convention to be rather un-conventional. The DNC’s announcement yesterday that the final night of the Convention would be at Invesco Field at Mile High certainly fits that mold. As opposed to another night in the Pepsi Center — which would have been a fantastic night itself — Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President in front of a crowd of over 75,000 just across I-25. What is even more fantastic is that that acceptance will come in front of thousands upon thousands from the Colorado community.

We’ve spent the last year trying to tamp down expectations of the ability to access the national convention. Even most volunteers, we said, wouldn’t see the inside of the Pepsi Center. The average Democratic activist in Colorado would have to be satisfied with watching from one of the community watch parties that are being set up around Denver.

This changes everything. This allows the average Democratic activist — whether in Durango or Sterling; whether veteran or getting involved for the first time — this allows the average activist to watch history live and in person. Here’s some of the DNCC’s press release from yesterday:

“The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention,” said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Senator Obama’s candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama’s positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way.”

“Barack Obama’s campaign for change has inspired millions of Americans and brought people into the political process who might never have been involved,” said Convention Co-Chair Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. “This change in the Convention program will allow thousands of first-time participants a chance to take part. I can’t think of a better Convention finale for our nominee who has made reaching out to voters a hallmark of his campaign.”

“When we said we wanted to ‘bring down the walls,’ open up this Convention like never before and truly speak to the American people, we meant it,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “On August 28, we will offer grassroots Democrats, who have turned out in record numbers this year, the opportunity to witness history shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Americans standing up for the change our country desperately needs.”

“Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention,” said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. “This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign.”

Wow. What a night that will be. We still don’t know all the details on how you will be able to get credentials — that will come soon enough. Just with the other nights, though, it will continue to be a credentialed event — with credentials available to the public called “Community Credentials”. The Colorado Democratic Party has already put a page on our website for those interested in credentials for this historic evening — fill out the form and you will get information when it becomes available:
http://coloradodems.org/content/view/725

I have one last point on this topic: with this new opportunity for Colorado Democrats also comes great responsibility. People will be coming to Denver from all across the nation to attend the Convention, and this announcement means even more people are coming. We must be good hosts to our Democratic friends from across the country. We must also expect a pretty significant spike in visitors that week — even more than previously thought. As an example, in 1992, several dozen friends of mine at the University of Oklahoma scooted off to New York City for convention week, even though none of them had any hope of credentials to Madison Square Garden when they left Norman. Now multiply that by some unknown variable to account for the real possibility that they might get in on Thursday night!

It is going to be one heck of a time to be a Colorado Democrat!

Opening up the Convention on Thursday night is not the only wall being broken down by the DNC this week. This morning, the DNC announced that they were opening up the Platform process, as well. The announcement this morning encourages folks to host their own Platform Meeting in their community. You read that right: you can host your own Platform meeting right here in Colorado. The DNC will try to send as many of its Platform people as possible to these meetings, and the reports from these meetings will go straight to the Platform Drafting Committee.

Here’s some of the DNC’s release on this ground-breaking moment:

Members of the public will be invited to host and attend Platform Meetings in their communities as an opportunity to exchange ideas and share perspectives on the challenges we face. To facilitate the process, the Obama campaign and the DNC will send policy experts and DNC Platform Committee members to as many meetings as possible to serve as facilitators. Each Platform Meeting will produce a written summary that will be reviewed and considered by the Platform Committee.

“From the beginning, we said we were going bring down the traditional walls of the Democratic Convention and make this event more accessible and include as many people as possible,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. “This process will empower Americans in all 50 states to make their voices heard as they help write the document that embodies our Party’s values and vision for the future. Barack Obama will bring real change to Washington, and as we write the Democratic Platform, there will be a clear choice between more of the same failed policies of the Bush Administration with John McCain or real change with Barack Obama who will make the American people, not the special interests, the priority again.”

“Barack Obama believes that every American should be able to contribute to the Democratic Platform, just as record numbers have participated in this campaign,” said Steve Hildebrand of Obama for America. “It’s not the lawmakers in Washington who live the day-to-day reality of our policies–it’s workers, teachers, parents and first responders–everyday Americans who just want to the best for their families. What better way than to incorporate their voices into the process than to have them help shape the Democratic Platform, the statement of our ideals, values, and proposal for change.”

Registration is available at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listening/ , starting today through July 15th. The Platform Meetings will occur across the country from July 19th through July 27th.

Sign up soon! Never before has your voice as an individual activist meant so much to the Democratic Party as it does today!

 Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention.  We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Finally. We’re finally at that point where we are actually electing delegates to serve our Party in Denver. Until Saturday, we’ve only known who our “superdelegates” in Denver will be. But this messy process of democracy that started on February 5 in schools, churches and homes across Colorado is finally winding down this month with the final selection of the National Convention Delegates representing Colorado.

Our first stop on this final leg was at Dakota Ridge High School. On Saturday, Democrats from across the Sixth Congressional District gathered there to put candidates on the ballot and, yes, to elect our national convention delegates from that district.

Now, one of the reasons you haven’t heard much from DemNotes is that I’ve been very busy on two tracks. First, I’ve been busy preparing for the State Convention on the 17th. The planning committee in Colorado Springs has been furiously and steadfastly working to prepare for a massive influx of people like we’ve never seen before at a State Convention. I’m sure there will be hiccups — there always are — but I’m convinced that the planning for this State Convention is going as well as it possibly could.

The second reason I’ve been so busy is because I’ve been working with the Obama campaign and the Party in preparation for these delegate selection meetings. It’s been a somewhat stressful time, one that’s involved more than a little yelling and cursing, and lots of back and forth among Party staff, the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign. In any event, what I’ve been doing has mostly been things that I can’t really write about. Even with all of the stress in our Democratic family leading up to Saturday, Saturday was (mostly) civil, especially once it was underway (there was a lot of tension early in the morning, resulting in at least one inexcusable instance of mild assault by one campaign volunteer on another campaign’s volunteer).

What made me proud, though, was the civility that I saw among the delegates. Clinton delegates respected Obama delegates, and vice versa. As I’ll explain below, it was a long day, and things could have easily gotten over-heated. But they didn’t. Folks kept their heads and the day went pretty smoothly.

The day started with a great influx of people. We arrived just after 7 am — the time that campaign volunteers and staff were told to arrive. However, there were already lines snaking to the doors — one for delegates and one for alternates. People were in a good mood, and it was a pretty sunny, if chilly, morning. Campaigns were handing out donuts and other snacks and drinks to keep delegates and alternates happy. Candidates for national delegate — there were over 300 in the 6th CD alone — were busy campaigning for votes to all of the different people out there.

Inside, preparations were going pretty well. The Sixth CD was a kind of test case — the State Party has put a lot of new plans into place to process the record numbers of delegates. Credentials were bar-coded and sent out beforehand. Problems with credentials were sent to a separate area, and were dealt with quickly. Once registration opened, the lines — that weaved all the way to the street — moved fairly rapidly and orderly. There were separate lines for Obama alternates and Clinton alternates. Most everybody agreed that the Party had a pretty clean registration operation.

The biggest snag of the day was the seating of alternates. Due to some issues with numbers and lists, alternates were not seated until about Noon (the assembly was supposed to start at 10 am). While delegates went into the gymnasium, where the Convention and Assembly was to be held, alternates were sent to wait in the auditorium. There, we did our best to keep alternates energized and engaged. I spent about an hour to an hour and a half emceeing an impromptu program which included speeches by just about every candidate for the State House, some county commissioners and county commissioner candidates, and various other dignitaries and candidates. When I ran out of folks to speak, I asked candidates for national delegate from both campaigns to come up and speak about themselves briefly. We alternated between Obama and Clinton candidates until we were visited by Jennifer Herrera, who is the Chair of the 6th C.D. She asked that the alternates have some more patience, as the alternate seating was about to begin, and encouraged folks to talk amongst themselves and to get to know each other as they waited.

Not long after that came the process of seating and credentialing the alternates. Party staff came in with credentials and called names. It was a longer process than most had anticipated, and I know that the Party staff and representatives from the Congressional districts will be working over this next week to streamline the alternate seating process for the three Congressional districts holding conventions and assemblies next weekend.

Once the CD Assembly started, people were happy to get down to business. While there were three candidates for Congress on the ballot, only one of those three ended up with the 30% necessary to make it to the ballot: Hank Eng. Eng did a great job organizing his supporters, and it apparently paid off. He’ll be a great nominee for us in the 6th CD, focusing on the issues facing the voters while the Republicans focus on beating each other up in their own primary.

Another nice surprise was the unopposed nominee for C.U. Regent — A.J. Clemons. Clemons is bright, personable, and an extraordinary speaker. Her presentation brought laughs and cheers — I can’t imagine a better candidate to represent us in the 6th C.D. than Clemons.

After the balloting for the Assembly, there was another brief period while the Convention alternates were seated. After introductions of the Presidential elector candidates, the convention split up into caucuses for the two candidates — Clinton delegates went across the hall to the auditorium while the Obama delegates stayed in the gymnasium. After all of the candidates for National Delegate were introduced, the two groups voted. Voting ran pretty smoothly, even though they were presented with ballot “booklets” several pages long due to the number of candidates.

What was very interesting was that after all was said and done, after all of the positioning and re-positioning of the campaigns, nothing changed. The delegate count was just what everybody thought it would be — 3 delegates and 1 alternate for Obama; 2 delegates for Clinton. Senator Clinton received 262 votes to Senator Obama’s 481 votes.

And, yes, we finally elected delegates. So, congratulations to our first pledged delegates: for Senator Clinton: Rebecca McClellan and John Petty; for Senator Obama: Robert Kihm, Marzette Bedford-Billinghurst, and Paula Noonan. And congrats also to our first pledged alternate: Carmine Iadarola for Senator Obama. By the way, Don Strickland was selected as the Presidential Elector for the 6th CD, as well.

Next weekend: we take what we learned from the 6th CD and apply it to three more CDs: The Seventh, the Second and the First. If you’re a delegate or an alternate to those meetings, be sure you show up!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Saturday night, I was honored to co-emcee the annual F.D.R. Dinner for the Fremont County Democrats. My co-host was our great candidate for Fremont County Commissioner, Gloria Stultz (who just finished a very successful stint as the President of the Canon City Chamber of Commerce). Gloria is a great example of the wonderful successes we are seeing across Colorado in recruiting some of the best candidates for 2008 that the Democratic Party has ever seen.

The F.D.R. Dinner is certainly very meaningful to me. When I first moved back to Colorado after law school, the first event I attended for the local Dems was the F.D.R. Dinner. I met a lot of people who have done much since then. That’s where I met Tim Knaus and Chris Gates, who were running against each other (and the incumbent, Phil Perrington) for State Party Chair. In the end, both served terms as State Chair. I sat next to Margaret Atencio, who is now the Second Vice Chair of the State Party, and who was exceedingly nice to me. I also saw this energetic young Democrat who I’d met a couple of weeks earlier in Pueblo at a Young Democrats of Southern Colorado meeting — someone named “Buffie” McFadyen. Looking back, I’m amazed at the potential that existed in that room in February 1999.

During that dinner, the county chair, the late Beatrice Kauffman, announced that the local party needed people to volunteer to run for county party officer positions. Afterward, I went up to Beatrice and introduced myself (I’d just moved to Canon City about two months prior as a new attorney at a local law firm). I told her that I’d been heavily involved in politics at my college, and had worked on a number of campaigns, so I’d be happy to help out as, say, the county party secretary or treasurer. Beatrice responded, “You know, I really don’t want to be the county chair any more. I’ve been doing this for too long. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be the county chair, would you?” And the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast-forward to 2008. The crowd was easily more than twice the size of the 1999 crowd. The faces were different in many respect, but the energy level and potential were not. There were still candidates for Party office (Ray Plumery, who is running for the Democratic National Committee, along with three or four who are running for National Convention delegate slots). Buffie was still there — but this time, she’s a senior-level State Representative.

And so was our next United States Senator. Mark Udall came down to Canon City with his campaign manager, Mike Melanson (who served, by the way, as the State Party’s Executive Director under the aforementioned Tim Knaus). Congressman Udall did a great job talking about his positive vision for America’s future. He focused on the need for a better national security and foreign policy agenda, and he also spent a great deal of time talking about the need for a common-sense energy agenda that focuses on new technologies and renewable resources. Congressman Udall was a huge hit, exciting the crowd so much he received two rousing standing ovations.

We also heard from other candidates. Hal Bidlack (candidate for Congress in the 5th CD) spoke at the beginning of the agenda, and he was funny, heart-warming, and insightful as usual. He seems to be a natural candidate, and he’s doing a good job of getting all around the district and meeting folks. Anna Lord, who is one of the most tireless campaigners out there, was present to talk about her follow-up bid for HD21. Cal Cali, who is a candidate for HD60, was also there to explain his thoughts and his campaign. Finally, we heard from Buffie McFadyen, who is running for her final term as a Representative for HD47. So far, the Republicans have not been able to field a candidate to run against her — they’ve run heavily targeted campaigns the last two elections only to come up losing by larger and larger margins each time. She brought down the house in her usual style — and even brought a tear or two by remembering Beatrice Kauffman and that first FDR Dinner we both attended in 1999.

In the end, Fremont Dems raised a great deal of money, and will have a good treasury to go into 2008 with. When combined with a great ballot of candidates, the Fremont Dems are looking to continue the transformation of this Republican county just the same way we’ve transformed what used to be a Republican state!

(Cross-posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

I haven’t posted to DemNotes since the end of the county assemblies and conventions. That’s been a few weeks now, so I’m sorry that I’ve not gotten any more posts out since then. In the interim, I have been busy on a number of things, including preparations for the State Convention and Assembly in Colorado Springs, working on delegate selection, the national convention, and a few other things.

I’ve also taken some time to get some work done at my “real” job that had been piling up.

The one thing I did that I really do want to write about was emceeing the announcement for Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who is our candidate for Congress in the 5th CD. There was a great turnout at the Penrose Library in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago — well over 100 people showed up in the middle of a weekday to witness a great American announce his candidacy for Congress. Hal is a wonderful candidate — smart, funny, personable — and he will really make a run at this seat, building on the foundation set by the great run of Jay Fawcett in 2006.

State Chair Pat Waak was there, as was Mark Udall’s niece, Taryn Udall (who announced Congressman Udall’s endorsement of Hal). There’s even already a “Veterans for Bidlack” group out there working to build up support for Hal throughout this military-minded district. Many Republicans are realizing their mistake in electing Doug Lamborn to Congress, and they’re coming over — most for the first times in their lives — to support Hal Bidlack in his bid for this seat.

Hal could use some help all across this state. Take a second to go over to his website, and if you can afford to, drop him a donation or two:
http://www.bidlack2008.com/

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On a completely other note, the Denver 2008 Host Committee announced tonight where the fun spots will be for the Sunday night immediately prior to the National Convention. The Host Committee is responsible for the delegation welcoming parties for each delegation. I’ll post the full list below, but here are some highlights:

– In one of the worst-kept secrets around, it was confirmed that Colorado’s delegation party will, appropriately, be at the Governor’s Mansion.
– If you’re interested in rubbing elbows with those closest to the nominee, you will need to find a spot near the Denver Art Museum (Illinois) or the Pinnacle Club (New York).
– Or how about a party at Red Rocks? If you’re in the delegations from North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia, you’ll get it!
– Gov. Dean is likely going to be at the Phipps Mansion, where the Vermont and New Hampshire delegation parties will be.
– Want a world-wise atmosphere? Check out the Blair Caldwell Library, where the Democrats Abroad (as well as the Virgin Islands) will be hanging out.
– The District of Columbia has a pretty large delegation due to all of the At-Large (and influential) superdelegates they have (think Donna Brazile); they’ll be at the Museo de las Americas.
– Only twelve states have their own welcoming party: The aforementioned Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, and New York, as well as South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Iowa, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas. The rest of the delegations share parties with other delegations.

Now here’s the full list from the Host Committee:

List of State Delegation Party Venues:
Belmar Center - Alaska, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee
Blair Caldwell Library - Democrats Abroad, Virgin Islands
Botanic Gardens - South Carolina
Center for the Visual Arts - Georgia
Colorado History Museum - Arkansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin
Denver Art Museum - Illinois
Denver Chophouse - Kansas
Denver Public Library - Iowa
Denver Zoo - Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota
Downtown Aquarium - Connecticut, Delaware, Missouri
Exdo Event Center - California
Grant Humphries - Minnesota
Governor’s Mansion - Colorado
Hudson’s Gardens - New Jersey
The Lab at Belmar - American Samoa, Guam, Idaho, Hawaii
Museo de las Americas - District of Columbia
Museum of Nature & Science - Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
Palazzo Verdi - Nebraska, Oklahoma
Phipps Mansion - New Hampshire, Vermont
Phipps Pavilion - Mississippi, Montana, Wyoming
Pinnacle Club - New York
Red Rocks - North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Wildlife Experience - Texas
Wings Over the Rockies - Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Washington

Let me make one thing clear, though. While I joke about where “you” want to be that night, these will be open only to the delegations listed, and guests of those delegations. You can’t just walk up, say, to the Denver Art Museum and get in.

Anyway, I’ll try to write a little more frequently; see you all around!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

I just wanted to briefly write about the last weekend of county assemblies and conventions. While, technically speaking, the window for county parties to hold their county assemblies and conventions concluded on Tuesday, the last actual meetings were on Saturday. While the focus last weekend was primarily on Boulder and Jefferson Counties, I spent my time in a couple of Southeastern Colorado counties.

Normally, I would have been in Boulder and/or JeffCo, but my kids were coming home for Spring Break, and I went to Amarillo to retrieve them on their trek from Oklahoma. So on Friday night, on our way down to Panhandle country, we stopped briefly at the Cow Palace Inn in Lamar to say hello to the folks at the Prowers County Assembly and Convention.

Prowers Dems have a nice tradition — they hold a sit-down dinner in conjunction with their county assemblies. I attended their assembly in Grenada in 2006, and was impressed at the family atmosphere of the county Dems. This year, I could not stay for dinner, but I did say a few words of thanks to the folks on the Kansas border who don’t see much attention at times from the state-level folks (although, ironically, Gov. Ritter and Betsy Markey did visit Lamar the following day). Since I grew up in a county neighboring Prowers County, it certainly did not feel unusual for me to be back in this part of the state.

Rep. Wes McKinley was there, and was well-received. I also had a chance to briefly chat with their candidate for District Attorney, who struck me as a very well-spoken candidate with the experience that is needed to do that job well.

————–

The next morning, on the way back from Texas, I stopped in Springfield to attend the Baca County Assembly and Convention. Again, it was a nice mix of familiar faces and new blood in the room. I arrived just after the Presidential preference poll, which was won by Sen. Clinton, who ended up with two of the county’s four delegates. Sen. Obama received one delegate and “uncommitted” received the final delegate.

Every county meeting is a little different — Baca County’s was marked by a bake sale in the back of the room, filled with a great trove of home-made goodies. It was difficult to keep my kids’ hands off of the food, but we succeeded. I spoke briefly to the group, said hello to several people that I knew already, and then headed back home to Canon City. I understand that Betsy Markey was able to make it down there just after I left.

———————

Whew. It has been a whirlwind few weeks, with all of these county assemblies and conventions. In the end, I was able to make it to 14 county assemblies / conventions (15 if you count the stop I made in Douglas County after they had adjourned). It is truly a great experience, and one I always look forward to doing. This is a wonderful state, and our Democrats are such a diverse and energetic crowd. Whether packed into standing-room only crowds in a school auditorium in Arapahoe County, or gathered around a couple of tables in Lincoln County, or neatly organized in a lecture hall in Pitkin County, Democrats are most certainly alive and well in 2008 in Colorado. And we all know that we have to continue that activism if we want to see this nation and this state — and our communities — change for the better.

Thanks to all of you who have been so kind and hospitable during this period. I’ll look forward to seeing you out on the campaign trail in months to come. Now, it is off to planning a pretty amazing State Convention and Assembly for all of you in May!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Wednesday was quite a day for driving.

I began the day with a drive up to Boulder for the monthly luncheon of the Boulder Democratic Women’s Club. State Chair Pat Waak and I were speakers. It was a robust crowd — over 200 present, including Joan Fitz-Gerald and Jared Polis, who are running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District. A number of local candidates and elected officials were also present.

Pat and I both spoke about a number of issues, and then we took several questions from the audience after our talks. Most of the questions surrounded the Presidential race, and our roles as Superdelegates. Pat reiterated her long-standing view that her role as the chair of the host state party for the National Convention is to stay neutral for as long as possible. We faced questions about the tenor of the campaign, about Michigan and Florida, and about our two remaining candidates. It was a very refreshing and stimulating discussion, and a nice change of pace from all of the different county assemblies and conventions we’ve been attending lately.

—————–

After Boulder, I headed back to Canon City — literally just long enough to stop at my law office and check the mail — before getting back on the road to head south to Walsenburg. There, I attended the Huerfano County Democratic Assembly and Convention.

Walsenburg hosted another good crowd of Democrats. I kicked off the meeting with a short speech, and then they moved into the convention portion of the program. Several people spoke about their choices for President before taking the preference poll — most were very respectful of the other candidates, although there was one who tried to quote from a supermarket tabloid in opposition to one of the candidates. In the end, the vote was 30 to 20 in favor of Sen. Obama, giving him 7 of the county’s votes to 4 for Sen. Clinton.

County Chair Cindy Campbell, who was leaving the post due to health reasons, did an outstanding job getting through the county convention, and there seemed to be a truly positive atmosphere there when I left.

—————-

But I wasn’t done yet. After leaving Walsenburg, I raced up to Pueblo, where I was the guest on the CSU-Pueblo student radio station’s political talk show. “Rev 89,” as the station is called, is not your average college radio station. I don’t know the current ratings, but when I first moved back to Southern Colorado a few years ago, it was the top-rated station in the Pueblo market, beating out all of the commercial radio stations.

The show was very interesting — the three co-hosts are pretty equally divided: one is an Obama supporter, one is a Clinton supporter, and one is a McCain supporter. Over the hour that I was on the show, we talked about a number of issues, and I used every opportunity to point out the differences between Sen. McCain and our two candidates. We talked about the state of the Presidential race, and my role as a Superdelegate and DNC Member. The co-hosts were unbelievably well-prepared, with notes on a number of very divergent issues on which they wanted to talk. I was impressed, and the hour went quickly, and was very entertaining.

By then, it was late, and I had to head home to Canon City — bone tired. Tonight, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m off to Southeast Colorado for a pair of assemblies / conventions. Maybe I’ll see you there!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

I’ve been swamped here at the office with my mortgage-paying job the past couple of days, so I have not yet had a chance to write about my incredibly busy weekend traversing the state. So here it is.

We began on Friday night, driving up to Hugo in Lincoln County for the Lincoln County Dems’ Convention and Assembly. Chair Jim Bowen is well-known on the Eastern Plains, and he does a great job running the county party. Over 40 people showed up for the meeting at the Hugo Community Center — a pretty impressive increase from 2004, when I had last stopped in Lincoln County for their Convention and Assembly.

As I’ve seen in most places, there was a respectful discourse about the Presidential race. In the end, the preference vote was a dead even tie, sending 2 delegates each for Sens. Clinton and Obama to the State and 4th CD Conventions. In the U.S. Senate preference poll, while there were a couple of votes for Mark Benner (he had served a couple of years ago as Lincoln County’s vice-chair), only Mark Udall reached the 15% viability point in the preference poll.

It was a wonderful atmosphere, with some homemade cookies and coffee off to the side, and wonderful informal discussion of the candidates and issues. What was particularly touching was that Jim had ordered some little stuffed donkey goody bags for all of the delegates — his wife arrived just in time to deliver them to all of the folks there.

————————

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

This has been quite a whirlwind of a weekend -- and it was only about half as busy as next weekend promises to be!

There were a lot of wonderful moments, but one of the best came in Woodland Park, at the Teller County Convention and Assembly on Saturday afternoon.  Chair Laurie Glauth kicked off the meeting by announcing that there were 96 possible slots to be filled, and there were 95 delegates seated in those slots.  Then, in a mastery of understatement, she announced, "I think we have a quorum!"

Teller County was another of the pictures we've been seeing across the state -- rooms filled beyond capacity, with people standing along the edges of the rooms and peering through the doorways because the capacity had been met.  Everyone there was clear:  this was the largest county assembly Teller Dems had recalled ever seeing.  I kicked off the meeting by talking about how important it was to keep people involved beyond March, and into September and October.  Hal Bidlack, who is running for Congress in the 5th Congressional District, continued to impress everybody he meets by giving a great speech filled with humor, hope, ideas, and experience.

Then, something amazing happened:  people started running for office.  Laurie Glauth had not expected to be able to field a candidate for either of the County Commissioner seats.  Instead, two people volunteered to run -- one for each seat -- and both proved to be amazing speakers, with experience and ideas to match.  For the first time in a long time, Teller Dems will be fielding a full ballot of Dems -- and not just place-fillers; these are folks who will give the Republicans a real run for their money here.

After the nominations, the Presidential preference poll was taken.  The vote was 61 for Obama, and 33 for Clinton, leading to 12 Obama delegates and 7 Clinton delegates.  But regardless of the outcome, it was an inspiring day to be in Teller County!

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It was an inspiring weekend to be a Democrat, and if you weren't at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on Friday night, you missed a great show at our annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.  Virginia Senator Jim Webb did a great job talking to the audience about his lifetime of work, as well as the challenges facing us in the U.S. Senate, and in the 2008 elections.  Beyond Webb, we honored a great number of leaders -- both for lifetimes of work, as well as for the promise that they show for a lifetime of service. 

Heck, even the food was pretty decent!  It was wonderful, most of all, to see so many friends and people who are working hard across the state to win elections in November.  Kudos obviously go to the dinner committee, as well as to the State Party staff (led by Sherry Jackson) for their tireless dedication to making this a wonderful event.

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Saturday morning, I drove back up to Denver, and after attending a brief meeting at Adams County Dems' HQ on their county assembly rules, I stopped by in Broomfield to briefly speak to their county assembly and convention.  Broomfield Dems had an excited full house of delegates as well (158 in all), and Chair Kevin Kreeger was running a tight ship.  I spoke to the crowd as they were finalizing some credentials issues, and it was great to see so many energetic Democrats in Broomfield. 

I was there just in time to witness the allocation of the convention delegates.  Broomfield is one of those counties that elects the majority of their convention delegates on caucus nights, so they were only electing a few "at large" positions.  For the 2nd Congressional District convention, they elected 5 more Clinton delegates and 10 more Obama delegates; for the State Convention, they elected 3 more Clinton delegates and 6 more Obama delegates.

Again, it was a truly great weekend.  Wednesday, I head down to Walsenburg for the Huerfano County assembly, and Friday I head over to Hugo for the Lincoln County assembly before heading to a number of counties on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.  Maybe I'll see you on the road!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Last night, I went to Colorado Springs to attend a couple of events for the planning of the upcoming State Convention and Assembly there on May 16-17. What is happening is pretty incredible.

I first attended an informational meeting held by a group of local businesspeople who are looking to really showcase Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region as Democrats arrive in May. They have all sorts of events planned. In particular, they are working on three tours (so far) — a tour of “progressive Colorado Springs,” including open space areas and areas of interest to progressives (sending the message that not all of El Paso County is a monolithic “Focus on the Family” group); a tour of the many El Paso County military installations, led by former 5th CD candidate Jay Fawcett; and a tour of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They are also working on arranging for a “Progressive Night for Progressives,” featuring a street party with a “progressive dinner” — food from several different restaurants downtown. There is an incredibly intense interest in showing Colorado Democrats a good time when they visit Colorado Springs.

In addition to those efforts, the local Democrats and the State Party are working hard to make sure that delegates and alternates are treated well, and plans are being made to do just that. After leaving the first meeting, I attended a meeting of local committee chairs. As I told the committee last night, there is simply no way we can over-estimate the crowds we will see in May. Plans are being made to double the estimates of the crowds we usually have (and the crowds we usually have are pretty big), but we really could see a lot more than that even. We are working to make sure that the State Party learns from the crowds seen on caucus night and at the county assemblies, and that we make sure that the plans are in place to deal with those crowds effectively and efficiently.

There are a number of efforts already underway. We have a committee working to ensure that transportation issues within Colorado Springs are handled well. Another committee is focusing on accessibility issues, and working to keep focused on planning for delegates and alternates with disabilities. Yet another committee is working to be sure that registration runs smoothly; another committee is focused on being certain delegates and alternates are warmly welcomed to Colorado Springs and questions are answered quickly (and correctly). We even have a committee focused entirely on “greening” the convention — making sure our efforts are as environmentally-friendly as possible. And that’s just a handful of the committees. The planning is going very well!

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A couple of days ago, I mentioned the Denver Film Society’s “Cinemocracy” efforts in conjunction with the National Convention. Well, the Host Committee has issued a press release this morning with more details. Here is some of that release:

Building upon the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee’s Call to Democracy effort, the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) and Denver Film Society (DFS), producers of the Starz Denver Film Festival, are pleased to announce the creation and launch of the Cinemocracy Film Festival, an open source film festival to coincide with the 2008 Democratic National Convention. As an official event of the Host Committee, Cinemocracy calls for open participation in the political process.

Info at a Glance:

– 2008 Cinemocracy Film Festival addresses the topic of “How do you define Democracy?”
– Top-ranked films will be publicly screened in Denver during the week of the 2008 Democratic National Convention (August 25-28).
– For submission guidelines and official rules, visit www.denverfilm.org/cinemocracy.

During a year of monumental change, the Host Committee, DOCA and DFS invite citizens of the world to speak out and share ideas on what democracy is (or isn’t) through the creation of short films. All films submitted via free upload will be judged by the online public and the top 10 will be screened at a free public event in Denver during the week of Aug. 25-28.

Additionally, the winning film will be screened as part of the official program of the 31st Starz Denver Film Festival (November 13-23). The film festival is one of many events planned that underscore the Host Committee’s Call to Democracy efforts, encouraging public engagement and civic awareness in the democratic process.

Submitted films can be up to five minutes long and can be uploaded from March 1 through July 15 to www.denverfilm.org/cinemocracy. Voting will remain open until Aug. 1.

If you’re an amateur (or maybe even better-than-amateur) film-maker, take a look at this and do your submission ASAP. And, heck, you might even see your submission in May at the State Convention if you get things done and submitted early enough! I have had a preliminary discussion with the Denver Film Society, and we may be able to show a few of their submissions at the State Convention on May 17 (if you attended the State Convention in 2004, you may recall we used some Moveon.org submissions in a similar contest during that convention).

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Last night, I headed up to the mountain counties to attend the Eagle and Summit county conventions. The two counties had coordinated to allow folks from outside of the counties to attend both — Eagle was set to start at 6 pm, with Summit an hour later, at 7 pm.

Sunday night, after my last post where I mentioned my plan to head up there, I received several e-mails from folks who warned me that the weather would be bad. I spent Monday monitoring road conditions and weather forecasts, and it seemed like the drive would be passable. I was mostly worried about the two-lane road over Hoosier Pass on Highway 9. I drove up, running into some heavy snow just before getting to Hoosier Pass, in the small town of Alma in Park County. The roads were a little slippery, but I made it over the pass just fine.

As I was almost to Frisco, I tried to call Debbie Marquez in Eagle County to let her know I’d be a few minutes late due to the snow. I left her a message — just as I noticed a lot of traffic and flashing lights ahead. As I got to I-70, it became clear: they’d shut down the interstate going West. I tried the other Frisco exit, but there was no use — nobody was getting through. I had to call Debbie and let her know I would not make it.

On the positive side, I did make it to Summit County’s Convention and Assembly in Frisco plenty early!

In Summit, folks there were grappling with the snow. One delegate told me about his 5-mile, hour and a half ride from Silverthorne. Sen. Dan Gibbs called and said he was going to try to drive south around Dillon Lake to make it to Frisco via a very circuitous route. (He made it with time to spare.) In the end, folks planned well, and nearly every delegate made it to the meeting — I guess they have some experience with snow in Summit County.

Once the meeting started, there had to be some f