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

Last night, I was in Pueblo, attending the Pueblo Dems’ annual picnic, and this was my message to the 100 or so Democrats gathered at the Pueblo Greenway and Nature Center:

All Hands On Deck!

Throughout the media this morning, you’ve probably heard that we have 60 days until the election. Not in Colorado. In Colorado, folks start voting in less than 30 days! Ballots will be printed and could be sent out by county clerks as early as October 3. By my calculation, that’s 28 days.

28 days to change the world.

By 45 days from now, at least a third of Coloradans who will vote will have already voted. Based on what we’ve seen in 2006 and in the primaries this year, it is safe to assume that less than half of the voters will actually vote in the traditional manner by showing up on November 4th at their precinct polling place.

If you were waiting for the “sprint to the finish line” to get involved, well… we’re there.

Colorado is razor-thin close, and many national experts estimate that Colorado will decide the Presidency. But we don’t only have a Presidency on the line; Mark Udall is facing blistering attacks from those who fear his Colorado values coming to the U.S. Senate, and his vote may be the critical one that gets us to a 60-vote filibuster-proof Senate that can help a President Obama. We have a great opportunity to finally be rid of Marilyn Musgrave in the 4th Congressional District, with Betsy Markey leading most recent polling. And a wave of hard work from volunteers could make Colorado the focus of national attention when we finish with a clean sweep by bringing in Hal Bidlack and Hank Eng to Congress. Finally, the Colorado Republican Party is focused like a laser beam on the 2011 redistricting, and they know they have to take out key Democrats in the State House and State Senate to do so; we’ve got to work hard there.

So, like I said, it’s all hands on deck time. Now, I wouldn’t ask any of you to do something I don’t do myself. Longtime readers of DemNotes know that I spent 2006 criss-crossing the state walking precincts with local candidates. We’re going to do that again this year, walking with candidates all over Colorado, helping with our sweat and shoe leather. And I’ll be staffing phone banks — we’re going to be doing some phone banking tonight at our local party headquarters right here in Canon City.

It’s time.

Knock on doors. Stuff some envelopes. Make some calls.

Without the work of every single Democratic activist, we won’t be able to do this. But if we all work together, we will change the world, and we’ll look back on 2008 as the year Colorado did something pretty darned amazing.

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

The Pueblo Chieftain today has quite an interesting piece on John McCain that — in one article — gives reason enough why Coloradans can’t afford to support John McCain. In the Chieftain, McCain supports opening up the Colorado River Interstate Compact to renegotiation:

The water compact that Colorado and other upper basin states have with California and Arizona should be renegotiated, U.S. Sen. John McCain said Thursday.

In a telephone interview with The Pueblo Chieftain, the presumptive GOP candidate for president said the water sharing agreement reached in 1922 between seven Western states doesn’t take into account increases in population and the changing water needs.

Here’s the folly with that argument: renegotiating likely means less water for Colorado and more water for thirsty growing downstream states like Nevada and California. Right now, the Interstate Compact truly provides protection for upstream users in Colorado. A renegotiation would only diminish those rights.

If Ken Salazar knows anything, he knows water law. Ken Salazar probably understands water issues better than any elected official in the United States; indeed, it was his work with water law and negotiating water agreements that was key to electing him as our Attorney General in the 1990s. And Senator Salazar knows exactly what McCain’s water proposal would do. Here’s Salazar’s response:

“Senator McCain’s position on opening up the Colorado River Compact is absolutely wrong and would only happen over my dead body,” Salazar said. “It’s an anathema to the fundamental principles of Colorado’s water rights and our compacts.”

The senator said that when the state’s compacts with the lower basin states were negotiated, everyone knew at the time that those states would grow in population faster than Colorado. As a result, the upper basin states’ water rights needed to be protected.

“We did not want California to gobble up all of the water supply on the Colorado River, and they would have done that under the doctrine of equitable apportionment,” Salazar said. “In my view the compact is sacrosanct. I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that it is not opened up.”

I know a little about water issues myself. And from my travels across this state, I can also tell you that Democrats and Republicans alike are highly distrustful with politicians like John McCain that play fast and loose with our water. The phrase, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’, water’s for fightin’!” has much truth for it in Colorado — especially in parts of rural Colorado McCain needs to win heavily in order to compete in Colorado.

John McCain either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care how important water is to Colorado voters. Either way, that is reason enough for many to vote for Barack Obama in November.

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

They’re whistling past the graveyard down at Republican headquarters in Colorado Springs. They’ve got themselves convinced that the Fifth Congressional District is theirs, and there is no way the Democrats have a shot. Heck, they’ve even been successful in convincing some in the media that’s true, too. They’re so convinced, they may be about to nominate Doug Lamborn for a second term in Congress, even though he’s proven to be about, oh, 435th on the list of most effective members of Congress.

Don’t be surprised, though, if you hear the name “Bidlack” shouted out in anger by those same folks at GOP headquarters after November 4. Jay Fawcett certainly paved the way for a Democrat to be competitive here, and let me tell you, Hal Bidlack can win the 5th CD.

Friday night, we came up to Denver to attend a fundraiser for Hal, which I co-hosted. The primary host of the fundraiser was Senator Ken Salazar, and Senator Salazar was introduced by Mayor Wellington Webb. Senator Salazar was clear and unequivocal in his support for Bidlack, and pledged to raise several thousand more dollars to help Hal Bidlack win. The room was packed with several key funders from the Denver area (and beyond), and it was an impressive showing for Hal’s campaign. He even had several folks drive from Canon City and Colorado Springs attend, including El Paso Democratic Chair John Morris and Canon City Councilmember Pat Freda. State Chair Pat Waak was on hand to show her support, as was the Chair of the State Party’s Finance Committee, Frances Koncilja.

Hal gave a stirring and wonderful talk about his values and the key issues in the race — and while I’d heard much of what he said just a couple of nights before at a campaign forum in Canon City, it never gets old. His support for the Constitution alone (he does give President Bush credit for preserving the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution — none of us has had to worry about British soldiers quartered in our homes… yet) is reason enough to support Hal Bidlack.

I want to take this moment to encourage you to stop what you’re doing and donate what you can — even if it is only a few dollars — to Bidlack’s efforts. Here’s a few reasons why your doing so will help Hal win:

The 5th CD is Winnable in 2008:
The winds of change in 2008 are even stronger than in 2006. Just look at the results a couple of months ago in Mississippi, where a special election in the First Congressional District resulted in a lopsided Democratic win. In Mississippi’s First CD, President Bush beat John Kerry by a 62-37 margin — not too different from the margin of victory for the Republicans in Colorado’s 5th CD. More importantly, the victory in Mississippi wasn’t even close; Childers won handily by a 54-46 margin.

Fifth CD Voters Were Malleable in 2006:
In 2006, a couple of key independent polls about a month before the election showed Jay Fawcett and Doug Lamborn in a dead heat. And the internal polls of the Republican Party showed that, too. That’s why the RNCC — the national arm of the Republican Party focused on winning Congressional races — spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking Fawcett during the last month of the election. They even sent in Vice President Cheney to help prop up Lamborn. In the end, that effort worked primarily because Fawcett did not have enough money to respond to the grim attacks on him by the Republicans; while he’d raised more money than any Democrat before him in the Fifth CD, the RNCC simply drowned him with their ability to spend in this cheap media market. But I don’t think anybody doubts that the polls showing a tight race were real, and reflected that voters in the Fifth CD had serious doubts about Doug Lamborn.

The GOP Won’t Be Able to Buy This Race in 2008:
In 2008, the Republican Party had a lot of money to throw at last-minute races like the Fifth CD. This year, the Republicans have had immense difficulty keeping their heads above water financially, and are facing some pretty serious financial abuses in their organization that are under investigation. Meanwhile, their counterparts, the DCCC, have had an amazingly good cycle raising money, and will be able to protect last-minute attacks on challengers in a way they simply were unable to do in 2006. Just as important, a hard-fought Republican primary will leave Bidlack as coming out of August with more cash on hand than his Republican opponent (likely to still be Lamborn). In fact, when you count the loans and debts owed by campaigns, of all of the candidates for the Fifth CD, Hal Bidlack has the MOST cash-on-hand of anybody. His Second Quarter haul of over $100,000 surprised nearly every political observer in Colorado and across the nation, and people in DC are starting to whisper about the 5th CD as a possibility. Here’s the cash-on-hand of all four candidates (minus loans and debts), as of July 23 (the last reporting period):
Lamborn: 64,752
Crank: -20,588
Rayburn: -43,880
Bidlack: 68,368

Of course, if he can’t keep up that financial steam, it won’t matter. That’s where you come in. Go, right now, to Bidlack’s website and donate:
http://bidlack2008.com/contribute.php

If you’re still not convinced Hal can win, think of this. Even if Hal doesn’t win, every dollar spent in his race will result in a rate of return that helps everybody. It means that more Republican money has to go to help Doug Lamborn (or whomever is the GOP nominee). And it means that money won’t be going to people like Marilyn Musgrave, Bob Schaffer, or Republicans running for key State House and State Senate races. It also means that more money goes into organizing a field campaign in the 5th CD — a district where, if Barack Obama or Mark Udall can pull just 40%, it pretty much becomes mathematically impossible for the Republicans to win statewide. By motivating more Democratic-minded voters in El Paso County and the other counties in the 5th CD, it helps build a base that guarantees Democratic victories across the board.

So, once again, I implore you to head over and help Hal:
http://bidlack2008.com/contribute.php

——————————–

One other quick note: I want to welcome Matt Farrauto to the Colorado Democratic Party family. I’ve known Matt for a few years now; he’s been the Executive Director of the New Mexico Democratic Party for several years. His joining the CDP is quite a coup, and we are honored to have him with us. I’ve always been impressed with how Matt thinks and what he has done in New Mexico; his handling of our Communications duties is going to help put us over the top in November. Here’s some of the CDP press release announcing Matt’s new position with the CDP:

“Because Colorado is hosting the Democratic National Convention and has become a competitive battleground state, we are enjoying a new degree of media attention. I am pleased that we could find someone like Matt Farrauto, who brings a unique set of qualifications and experience to the job of Communications Director,” said Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak. “He has steady hand and a passion for Democratic politics.”

Matt Farrauto comes to Colorado from New Mexico where he served as the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico from 2005 until late 2007. Prior to being promoted to Executive Director, Farrauto served as spokesman for New Mexico’s Democratic Coordinated Campaign.

Welcome aboard, Matt!

(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!

(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/

——————————-

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

I just wanted to drop two quick notes today on DemNotes. First, I forgot to mention one other thing I heard on Saturday. We all are seeing the intense interest on the Democratic side of this election. We are also hearing about the lack of interest on the Republican side. Nothing could show that further than what happened here in Fremont County over the past couple of weeks.

You may recall from my reporting that Fremont County had over 200 delegates to its Democratic Convention and Assembly. Historically and demographically, Fremont County is a Republican county. There are nearly twice as many Republicans as Democrats in Fremont County. Yet, they only had just over 170 delegates elected to their Republican County assembly. More importantly, when they actually held the assembly last weekend, we have heard that only 86 — that’s right, less than half of what the Democrats had — only 86 Republicans showed up! (In case you’re worried about quorum, don’t — the GOP has vastly different views on quorum than the Democrats.)

Something is happening in Colorado and in America!

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Also, I’ve been lax in getting photos up to the photos page of DemNotes lately, but I’ve finally gotten pictures from several county assemblies up there today (not all of them, though — I didn’t bring a camera to a few). You can see all of the photos at:
http://www.DemNotes.com/photos

Note, of course, that I’m not a professional photographer (that should be evident!). Many of the photos are grainy or blurry due to the poor lighting at most of these things (and my older digital camera). I don’t just pick out the best photos to upload — you pretty much see them all, so don’t expect the best-quality pix. (By the way, if you’re in a picture and you don’t want it up on the website, or you don’t think it is flattering, just let me know and I’ll take it down.)

See you all soon!