This year’s J-J dinner is of special note. It is the 75th anniversary dinner, and we are holding it on February 29, 2008 in the Korbel Ballroom at the Convention Center. We will be celebrating so much, including the fact that 100 years ago Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention.

Senator Jim Webb, who soundly defeated George Allen in Virginia, will be our keynote speaker. And we know he will be a tremendous voice on behalf of the Democratic Party.

We will also be honoring some great Colorado Democrats. We will be publicly announcing those names in the next few days. So join us in kicking off the 2008 campaign season.

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

What an exciting night last night for the Democratic Party! Again, we saw record numbers of people vote in the Democratic Primary in New Hampshire. And again, we saw a close race among some amazing candidates for the Democratic nomination.

As most of you know, I’ve endorsed Senator Barack Obama (and was proud to welcome yesterday the second Colorado SuperDelegate to the Obama Campaign, when Congressman Perlmutter endorsed Senator Obama, as well). So it was with some mixed emotions that I watched the votes come in last night. Obviously, I would have liked to have seen Senator Obama win the New Hampshire Primary; however, such a win would probably have meant that there would be a lot less riding on the Colorado Caucus on February 5. Now, when the candidates roll into town next month, Colorado will matter.

There’s a lot of speculation about what will happen in the two contests between now and February 5, but one thing is for certain: regardless of the outcomes in Nevada and South Carolina, we won’t have a “presumptive nominee” by super-duper-tsunami-Tuesday in February. That means candidates for President will have to come to Colorado in the next month to stump for votes. That means that staffers will have to spend time organizing precincts in Colorado. That means that each of you in Colorado will be asked — perhaps by multiple campaigns — to help get your friends and neighbors out for your candidates.

We’ve already seen a lot of this. Senator Clinton has a state office with staff and a very competent state director, Tyler Chaffee. They are doing caucus trainings statewide. Senator Obama was the first candidate with staff in Colorado (Ray Rivera is his energized and amazing state director), and has opened a number of offices statewide (there will be several new offices holding grand openings tomorrow — I will be in Colorado Springs for their grand opening, but they are also opening offices tomorrow in Pueblo, Boulder and Fort Collins — with more to come on the Western Slope, from what I hear). Both campaigns have been active phone-banking, making tens of thousands of calls and identifying tens of thousands of people for the caucus. While I have not yet heard of staff in Colorado for John Edwards, he has several chapters of his volunteer “OneCorps” around the state. Governor Richardson, Senator Gravel and Representative Kucinich all also have a presence in Colorado, with state coordinators for each campaign in place.

Historically, we’ve usually had between ten and twenty thousand Democrats statewide attending caucus — in a good year. I’ve been telling people to expect somewhere around forty to fifty thousand Democrats statewide, but now, I’m not sure we shouldn’t be looking at numbers closer to 100,000. Such a turnout would be beyond historic — it would be phenomenal (that would be about one in every 8 or 9 Democrats attending a caucus)!

So, here’s my message: get ready! In the next few weeks — especially the last week of January and the first few days leading up to February 5, you are going to see a lot of activity in the Centennial State. You are sure to see Senators Clinton and Obama make stops in Colorado, as well as the other candidates. And I’d bet you’ll even see a few television ads hit the airwaves. In the end, we’ll come together and support our nominee, but until then, get out and support your favorite candidate and help make February 5 a ground-shaking event in Colorado that will be heard across the nation!

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

Saturday, we drove up to Fort Morgan — in terrifyingly heavy winds along I-25 — to do caucus training for counties in Northeast Colorado.

When I arrived at Morgan Community College, I was heartened by the turnout. We had a nice crowd, including folks from Logan, Lincoln, Washington and Yuma Counties, and several folks from Morgan County ready to help out with the precinct caucuses on Feb. 5.

I spent about an hour and a half discussing the caucus process with the folks there and going through my PowerPoint presentation to show exactly how caucuses work. There were a lot of really good questions from all over the room, and we had a good discussion not only about the way caucuses work, but also about some strategies different folks might use at the caucuses.

After the training, several of us went out for lunch at a local restaurant near Fort Morgan. There, we continued a really lively discussion of a number of issues. We were joined by Mark Benner, who is the Washington County chair and who is contemplating a run for U.S. Senate (he indicated on Saturday that he would be “making it official” that night). He and I did talk at length about the impacts, from a Party perspective, of his running (such as the fact that the assembly preference poll at caucuses will be on the U.S. Senate race if he runs). I tried to neither encourage nor discourage his run, but instead focused on answering his questions about the real impacts of a decision to run.

It was a good trip to the northeast part of the state, and I’m looking forward to getting back there soon to help elect more Democrats in this critical area in the completion of the transformation of our state from Red to Blue!

Last night’s caucuses in Iowa really sets the stage for this year’s activities. Reports that 229,000 people attended the Democratic precincts, a record number, also suggests that Colorado will have a record turnout on February 5, 2008.

The excitement about the 2008 election cycle promises to re-energize long time voters and new first time caucus participants. We want this to be a great experience for everyone. For that reason, CDP officers are continuing to work with county officers on caucus training, organizational questions, outreach and even convention updates.

On January 23, 2008, Sky Gallegos and I will conduct another community conversation in Alamosa. We will let you know the site, as soon as the logistics are finalized. Our part of the program will be scheduled from 5-6pm.

Following this chance to talk about the upcoming DNC convention, Dan Slater will conduct caucus training for attendees. He has a great powerpoint presentation which takes everyone step by step into organizing their caucus.

And finally, I will be presenting the Neighbor to Neighbor program. This powerpoint presentation will explain how we are recruiting neighborhood leaders across the state.
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Another event coming up is the Engaged Spirituality Seminar at Iliff School of Theology on January 12. Rev. Jackie Conley, Rev. John Petty, Pastor Ted Fritschel, Joey Medrano and Teri Nilson Baird have done a fantastic job organizing the event. To follow is the agenda and instructions for participation.

Registration is 9:30 a.m. Program begins at 10:00 a.m.
End time: 4:00 p.m.

The event is at the Iliff School of Theology, 2201 S. University Blvd.
Denver, CO 80201. The meeting will take place in the Great Hall to the right as you enter the main entrance.

Agenda to follow:

Engaged Spirituality Forum
Faith and Politics Project of the Colorado Democratic Party
Hosted by Iliff School of Theology
January 12,2008

10:00 a.m. Native American Meditation: George Tinker

10:15 a.m. Welcome: Iliff President David Trickett

10:30 a.m. Greeting and Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Pat Waak, Chair, Colorado Democratic Party

Keynote Speaker: The Rev. Leah Daughtry, Chair of the 2008 Democratic Convention

11:00 a.m. A panel discussion: Exploring the Constitutional Mandates: Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause
The Rev. Ron Stief of “Faith in Public Life”
Taj Ashaheed: Executive Director of the Colorado Muslim Council
Representative Morgan Carroll, Colorado General Assembly

12:30 p.m. Lunch with Governor Bill Ritter

1:30 p.m. & 2:30p.m. Break-out Workshops
Faith and Immigration: American Hospitality and Economic Necessity
Representative Terrance Carroll, Colorado General Assembly
Dr. Miguel de la Torre

Faith and War: Superpower for Conquest or Common Good
Larry Howe-Kerr, Catholic Social Justice Activist
Pastor Ted Fritschel

Faith and Healthcare – Life-Health Issues in a Broader Context
Representative Jim Riesberg , Colorado General Assembly
The Rev. Dr. Michael Attas, Medical Ethics Professor at Baylor

Faith and the Environment – Making the Connections
The Rev. Peter Sawtell, Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, UCC
Eileen Regan, Environmental Scientist and Spiritual Director

Registration fee is $20, which includes a box lunch. You can register online at www.coloradodems.org

Contact for information: Pat Waak, Chair, Colorado Democratic Party, pwaak@coloradodems.org

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

Just yesterday, I received four e-mails from individuals who wanted to know where their precinct caucuses will be held on February 5. For those of you who are new to the process, Colorado will be holding precinct caucuses for both the Democratic and Republican parties all across the State of Colorado on Tuesday night, February 5, at 7:00 p.m.

First of all, to find out your caucus locations, many counties already have their locations online at the Colorado Democratic Party website:
http://coloradodems.org/content/view/616

If you don’t see your county’s locations there, try the county party’s website, if they have one. You can see a list of all of the county parties, including their websites if they have one, here:
http://coloradodems.org/content/view/484/76/

Finally, if your county party does not have a website, use that latter page to find out the county party officers, and give one of them a call or e-mail. They should be able to answer your questions. But, be aware, some counties are still finalizing a few caucus locations; I heard that Douglas County was just finalizing their last caucus center location yeterday. (By the way, if you are a county party leader, be sure to send the locations of your caucuses to the State Party, as well as to your county clerk, as many voters may go to one of those two sources to find out where to caucus.)

After figuring out where you go, you need to make sure you clear your calendar for the evening of February 5. As we saw last night in Iowa, Democrats are more “fired up” this cycle (sorry, couldn’t avoid the reference for those who get it) than in years past. Even in Iowa, where voters had seemingly become jaded with the attention they receive, turnout nearly doubled from 2004.

Here in Colorado, we need to be ready for a record evening in our precincts. We have a “double-whammy” here: first, we’ve moved up the caucuses to February 5, which means that our caucuses actually will be meaningful for the first time in decades. Throw out the historical turnout at your precinct caucuses — that fact alone could triple or quadruple turnout itself. But last night was the other canary in the coal mine for county parties: in addition to the increased turnout that comes from being on February 5, Democrats can expect a wave — perhaps a tsunami — of new people on caucus night. Young people turned out in unbelievably record numbers. If that is replicated again for Democrats (the Republicans saw heavy turnout, but nothing like the Dems last night) in Colorado, holding caucuses in the same places could prove to be rather tight quarters. In other words: plan accordingly, county parties.

All of this spells good things for Democrats in 2008; the new blood that turns out on a cold evening in February 5 will hopefully be transformed into precinct-walking, voter-calling, envelope-stuffing machines in September and October!

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

Yes, I know, you haven’t heard from DemNotes in a while. Don’t worry — it is still here, and now that we’ve gotten through the holidays, it is time to work off all of that turkey and other food that we’ve stored for the winter…

2008. Just typing that year brings to mind all sorts of promise, all sorts of potential. This is the year we could build a real majority in the U.S. Senate — in part by electing a Democrat from Colorado to replace Wayne Allard. This is the year that we could continue our reinvigoration of Colorado’s government by adding to our historic majorities in the State Senate and State House. This is the year that we could finally be rid of Marilyn Musgrave, and the year we ARE finally rid of Tom Tancredo.

Finally, in what may be the most important part of 2008, this is the year that the candidate who gets nominated in Colorado will be elected as a President who will lead our nation out of the mess that we’ve seen over the past 8 years and finally into a 21st century that is about hope and optimism instead of division and cynicism.

For us in Colorado, this begins on the evening of February 5, a night that will look a lot like (but not identical to) what you will see on the television from Iowa tonight in terms of procedure.

If you’re a county chair or a county party leader, there are a number of things you NEED to do in the next few weeks to be sure your county — no matter how big or small — is ready for caucuses on February 5, as well as to be ready for the county assemblies and conventions in the weeks to follow.

First of all, your county central committee should have already met — prior to yesterday — and determined a formula for allocating delegates from the precinct caucuses to the county convention and assembly. The formula must be uniformly applied and must take into account Democratic performance of each precinct. Each precinct must have at least two delegates. If your county party has NOT done this yet, you should schedule a central committee meeting as soon as possible to get this done.

At that meeting, you also NEED to vote on the date, time, and place for the county assembly and convention. The meeting must be between February 20 and March 17.

Finally, you need to determine where your precinct caucus locations will be. The locations must be accessible, and you need to post a sign at each location at least 10 days prior to the caucuses.

If you are a county party leader, and have questions about any of this, please let me know. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to seeing so many of you at the various caucus trainings I’ll be conducting in nearly every corner of the state. I’ll write about those as I do them, beginning with the training for Northeast Colorado counties in Fort Morgan this Saturday at 11 am at Morgan Community College.

See you there!