(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!

—————

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).

Because of the intense interest in unpledged delegates, I asked Phil McNamara of the DNC to give us a little history. His comments follow:

“Super delegates — or as they are technically known ‘unpledged delegates’ — were first introduced by the Party in 1982 for the 1984 nominating cycle.

These individuals serve as delegates because of some prominent office they hold or have held. While unpledged delegates probably do have a presidential preference, this is not a factor in why they are delegates. Rather, they serve as delegates because the Democratic Party wants the important perspective they bring to the decision-making process at the National Convention.

In recommending the creation of unpledged delegates the Commission on Presidential Nomination (the Hunt Commission) sought a way to more effectively bring elected official and Party leader participation back into the Convention. The Hunt Commission found that elected officials made up just 14% of the total delegates at the 1980 Convention.

Political scientist William Crotty wrote about the super delegates in 1983 and said the following:

‘As presented to the Hunt Commission, then, the gains from increased participation in nomination decision-making by party professionals would be substantial:

These leaders and officials, as experienced politicians, would bring seasoned and sensitive judgment to the selection of a nominee and to the conduct of other party business.

Convention participation would create stronger ties between the party and its officeholders, promoting a unified campaign strategy and teamwork in government.

The inclusion of more elected officials would strengthen the party’s ties to their constituencies and its broad mainstream approval.’

Also DNC member Elaine Kamarck has a pretty good historical background of super delegates on the Harvard Kennedy School website. Link is:

http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/ksgnews/Features/opeds/021408_kamarck.htm

(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 folks in the audience who wondered if they’d stumbled onto the “Dan Slater Show,” because it seemed like I was being called up to the stage to talk for the first half of the meeting. As in Gunnison, I was honored to welcome folks to the meeting on behalf of the Colorado Democratic Party — I think I sure helped in warming things up and getting folks a little more fired up. Then, only a few minutes later, the agenda called for the Presidential campaigns to have their representatives speak, so I gave a brief talk for Senator Obama. Then, shortly after that, they were taking some time seating some remaining alternates, so Chair Sandy Briggs had me just “keep the audience entertained” while they seated the alternates. For the first time in a long time — maybe ever — I ran out of stuff to say.

Once the alternates were seated, they held the Presidential preference vote — neither my speech nor the Clinton campaign’s speech swayed a single vote. The delegates voted the same as they came in: 58 Obama, 38 Clinton. This resulted in 25 delegates for Obama and 13 for Clinton from Summit County. As in prior assemblies, everybody wanted to be a delegate, so it took both camps a while to figure out who would be delegates and alternates. While they were doing this, the caravan from Eagle County arrived: Jared Polis, Joan Fitz-Gerald, DNC Field staffer Kim Phillips, and DNC Training Director Parag Mehta. I greeted everybody and then headed back to my car in the snow — for the two-hour drive home.

In case anybody’s wondering, they did the preference poll for the CD-2 race shortly after I left. Senator Fitz-Gerald won the preference poll, with 56 votes to 17 votes for Jared Polis. This led to a delegate split of 29-9 in favor of Fitz-Gerald.

Debbie Marquez has been kind enough to send me her narrative of what happened in Eagle County to put in place of my absence. Here it is:

Last night was the first assembly elections for our CD2 Congressional candidates. Both Eagle and Summit Counties voted for the CD2 race. We were fortunate to have candidates Jared Polis and Joan Fitz-Gerald address our assembly with passionate speeches. Jared Polis received 62 votes and Joan received 63 and there were about a dozen uncommitted that didn’t achieve viability. They will split the delegates even Steven with 23 each. Both candidates spent a lot of time in the county and phoning delegates, but with our two of our commissioners lending their support to Joan, I thought she would get more votes at assembly. But Jared seems to have attracted undecided voters to vote for him. (For disclosure sake, I [Debbie] am the treasurer for the Jared Polis for Congress campaign.)

Thanks to Debbie for that narrative.

————————

After about 5 hours of sleep, I got up and headed up to Denver for the Denver 2008 Host Committee meeting this morning. On the way, I ran into about everything imaginable: rain, snow, fog, ice — I even think I may have seen the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse out there! (That’s the only explanation for one of the slow-downs near Castle Rock.)

The meeting this morning at the Colorado Convention Center was for all of the various committee members. While I arrived an hour late, I must say that it was extraordinarily impressive. When I helped kick off the concept of bidding for the Convention, I had dreams — but some of these things that are planned for Denver exceed my wildest dreams.

Throughout Denver during and around the Convention, we’ll see all sorts of artistic expressions of various media — object art, musical art, and performance art will be seen throughout the city. There will be a focus on so much citizen involvement from now through the Convention. For instance, the Denver Film Society is working on a project that will launch on March 1, called Filmocracy. People can submit their 5 minute (or less) videos that focus on democracy and what we’re doing in Denver.

Others are encouraged through another program, called America - Live and In Person, to submit their essays, artistic works, etc. for use surrounding the convention. More details about this will be released as they become available.

We also heard about the amazing work “greening” the Convention. Mayor Hickenlooper has pledged to make this the greenest Convention ever, and the Host Committee and DNCC are working to keep that commitment.

The Pepsi Center had a representative there, too. He spoke about the collaboration between the Pepsi Center staff and the DNCC / Host Committee. He also pointed to the “mojo” they expected from the convention. What mojo? Well, in 1996, the Chicago Convention led to the Chicago Bulls winning the NBA Championship. In 2000, the LA Lakers won the NBA Championship the same year as the LA Convention. And in 2004, the New England Patriots had a Super Bowl-winning year the same year as the Boston Convention. So, maybe Forsberg is just what the Avs need for the “mojo” to happen here!

Finally, we heard from the Downtown Denver Partnership. They spoke about their work to make sure Coloradans know that Downtown will be “open for business” before, during, and after the Convention. There are a lot of different activities planned for downtown, and they are working hard to keep area residents involved in getting out during the Convention and having fun.

Well, that’s all for now. I had planned on heading down to another county assembly tonight, but exhaustion from the driving and lack of sleep is kicking in, so I doubt I’ll make it. I’m off to Colorado Springs tomorrow night for meetings on the planning for the State Convention — I’ll write more about that when I can.

Rep. Gagliardi Helps with Understanding Options and Strategies for Foreclosure Prevention

When:
Saturday, March 1st
10:30-noon

Where:
Susan M Duncan YMCA
6350 Eldrige St, Arvada

Sponsor:
Representative Sara Gagliardi, HD 27

What:
Community members are invited to join Rep. Gagliardi for a panel discussion on foreclosure counseling and prevention, the foreclosure process, and how local officials and real estate professionals can help. Foreclosure counselors will be present for those seeking assistance.

Panel discussion:
What can be done about the high foreclosure rate?

Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.
Colorado Division of Housing
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
State Housing Board
Department of Regulatory Agencies

Who’s Invited:
Homeowners, borrowers facing foreclosure, real estate professionals, and anyone seeking information on the foreclosure process and foreclosure prevention.

For more foreclosure information: www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.org

Saturday morning we left Erie, Colorado for Colorado Springs at 8am. Arriving at the El Paso County convention/assembly, we discovered a line outside, a lobby crammed with people, and an auditorium filled into the balcony. I had the opportunity to open up the events by asking how many people were at the convention/assembly for the first time. Most of the people raised their hand.

El Paso County had over 7,000 people at their precinct caucuses. John Morris, the county chair, is seeing a new interest in party politics. Between 1600 and 1700 participants were at the meeting on Saturday. It was great to see Hal Bidlack, candidate for the 5th Congressional District. Also Sen. John Morse and Rep. Mike Merrifield were enjoying this huge turn out.

From there we drove to Pueblo. Pueblo County precincts had almost 2500 participants on Feb. 5. Out of 600 delegates elected to the county convention/assembly, 520 participants were there on Saturday. We listened to the nominations for Pueblo County Commissioner. Commissioner John Cordova and State Rep. Dorothy Butcher both gave campaign speeches.

Terry Hart, Chair of Pueblo County Dems, introduced me and once again I asked for a show of hands on “first-timers.” Most of the participants were new. I talked about the excitement around the Presidential campaign but how important it is to be active on all the campaigns. Rep. Mark Udall arrived after me and really got the crowd cheering.

It was great to see my old friends Deann Martinez and Matt Pujol. They used to live in Fort Collins and moved to Pueblo some time ago. Deann was my campaign coordinator in 2005, and it is great to see that she is so involved in Pueblo County politics.

From Pueblo we traveled to Fremont County. I had not been to Fremont in a while, so it was great to get over and see the Chair, Kevin Bradley and the other officers. Fremont County had 660 attendees at the precinct caucuses and over 200 attended the county meeting. Once again most of the participants were there for the first time.

Rep. Udall’s niece spoke on his behalf. Hal Bidlack gave a great speech for his CD5 campaign bid. I was delighted to see so many friends in Canon City before we headed out.

The last stop was Parker, Colorado. Douglas County Democrats held their Clinton-Carter Annual Dinner. The attendance was 235 strong Democrats who came to listen to Sen. Lois Tochtrop, Rep. Alice Borodkin, Speaker Andrew Romanoff and me. I talked about the pride they were all feeling in Douglas County because they had a turn out of over 5,000 people on Feb. 5. it was over 1,000 more than the Republicans. Earlier in the day Douglas County Democrats had to change meeting sites because their central committee had grown so much.

Paul Thompson, Chair of the Douglas County Democrats, has done a fantastic job of getting the county organized, along with
Ron Clark, Ralph Jollensten and so many others. We had the chance to hear from Mike Collins and Hank Eng, who are both running for CD6. Imagine that. Two Democratic candidates for CD6.

We returned home at 10:30pm, weary but exhilirated. The excitement we continue to see just is a reminder of the energy acrosse the country. We will win the White House, and I believe add another Democratic Senator from Colorado, pick up some more Congressional seats, and add to our state house and senate majorities. We will change the face of America and be able to provide what is best for Coloradans and the rest of the country.

Pat Waak

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

This morning, we drove through some pretty heavy snow over Monarch Pass to attend the Gunnison County Convention and Assembly. Several delegates to the meeting also braved some pretty heavy weather, but a truly full house greeted the delegates when they arrived.

Before the convention began, though, Gunnison Dems did what they always do — they celebrated the cattle-growing traditions of Gunnison County by hosting a barbeque for delegates. We had a great choice between beef and turkey, and folks enjoyed the company of each other as they connected with both veteran activists and newcomers to the process. This was the third time I’ve been to a Gunnison County Assembly, and I’ve truly enjoyed each visit.

As in so many places I’ve visited so far, I found that the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters were respectful of each other, and had a genuine debate about the merits of each others’ candidates.

What was also nice about Gunnison was the immense interest in the community in the process — there were at least as many people there who were not delegates as there were delegates.

I did something unusual — I spoke twice. I had the pleasure of welcoming the delegates, on behalf of the State Party, as the opening speaker of the convention. I then was the designated speaker for the Obama campaign — there seemed to be a lot of concern that I couldn’t stick to the three-minute time limit (in case you’re wondering, I did).

In the end, the folks in Gunnison supported Senator Obama in the preference poll - the vote was something like 45 to 16; giving Obama 17 delegates to Clinton’s 6 delegates. There were several key dignitaries there — Ron Carleton from Congressman Salazar’s office was there, as was Senator Gail Schwartz and Gunnison’s own Representative Kathleen Curry. Former key electeds in Gunnison have also stayed active, including former Lt. Governor Mike Callihan and former State Senator Linda Powers, and they were both there.

Tomorrow night, I head up to Eagle and Summit counties for their meetings in Eagle and Frisco. If you’re in one of those counties, maybe I’ll see you there!

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

Today was another amazing day of record-breaking numbers for Colorado Democrats. We began the day today in Colorado Springs, where the El Paso County Democrats held their county assembly and convention. I knew that there was something pretty historic going on when we drove up to Palmer High School to find lines out the door to the street.

When I finally got into the school — after having to park several blocks away — I learned that folks began arriving for the 9 am convention and assembly by 7 am, and by 8 am, there were lines literally around the school. It was a mass of humanity — people packed into every corner and every room of the school. The auditorium, which holds around 1700 people was packed beyond capacity by the time they started the meeting — standing room only.

Folks were excited all over the place — there was a real electricity in the air. Senator Ken Salazar arrived first, and he fired up the crowd before they even began the meeting. State Chair Pat Waak was there, too, and very excited about the crowds at the meeting.

Then, both Presidential candidates had an opportunity to have people speak for them. The Obama campaign went first; I had been asked to address the crowd on behalf of Senator Obama. Mike Maday, the amazing organizer who had led the Obama campaign in El Paso County, introduced me.

Look, I’ve spoken to a lot of large crowds, and I’ve seen a lot of excited people. But I can rarely recall talking to a group as fired up as this group in El Paso County. At one point, I had to just stop and let the crowd chant — “O-Bama! O-Bama!” It was a very surreal moment, and thinking about the excitement in that room gives me chills still now, here at home writing about today.

After I spoke, DNC Member Ramona Martinez also spoke. She did an impressive job of firing up the crowd for Senator Clinton. After Ramona, Congressman Mark Udall had arrived, and he kept the energy and excitement going strong, moving the crowd in support of his Senate bid.

I had to leave after that to get back to my home county of Fremont County for our county assembly and convention, but I’ve heard that the vote went 69% Obama, 31% Clinton, with Senator Obama winning 269 of El Paso’s 390 delegates.

In Canon City, Fremont County Democrats faced a much more even battle. Fremont County decided to hold their meeting in the afternoon, and nearly every delegate showed up for the convention and assembly. Coming into the Fremont meeting, only about one or two delegates separated the Clinton folks and the Obama folks.

We heard from several folks, including Waak and 5th Congressional District candidate Hal Bidlack. Then, we heard from both Presidential campaigns, as well (with me again giving the presentation for Senator Obama). In the end, Senator Obama picked up a few votes, and won in Fremont County 107-95, winning 20 of Fremont’s 38 delegates.

What was so inspiring was what happened next. Normally, Fremont County simply has to take volunteers for the state convention delegates — we generally fill all of our slots, and everybody shows up, but there really isn’t much of a question. This year, though, over 70 Obama supporters wanted to serve in the 20 delegate and/or 20 alternate slots for Obama. We had another true example of democracy — every person spoke for about 10-15 seconds each and the Obama supporters all voted on delegates to represent them at the State and 5th Congressional District conventions.

It was another really wonderful day filled with standing-room only crowds and tons of new people excited about being Democrats. Things just keep getting better and better every day!

Tomorrow, we’re headed over Monarch Pass to Gunnison for the Gunnison County convention and assembly. I will, of course, write about that as soon as I can. I also took several pictures today, and I will post those as soon as I can — maybe Monday, though.

Dear friends,

We are now two weeks out from the caucuses and still processing the results. I have heard from so many about you the vote, the caucus process, and the super delegates.

First, all of our predictions about voter turnout were very low. We should celebrate the fact that 120,000 plus people chose to come out and participate. In a conference call with county chairs last night, we heard stories of their caucuses and the ongoing verification of affirmation forms and entry of delegates into the system.

I have received many messages over the past week about my status as an unpledged delegate. They have been encouraging, requesting, admonishing, and even demanding. I appreciate the fact that so many people care deeply about the election process and want to share your views with me

In the interest of fairness, I made a commitment three years ago to remain
neutral in all contested races. As chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, I
believe that you would expect no less of me. Espeically in light of the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

My intention is to maintain that neutrality until all voters have spoken through
the primary/caucus process. I believe the race will be decided by the voters. I look forward to watching Colorado’s historic process continue.

From Don Kellogg, Democrat from Ridgway, CO

I moved to Colorado from Michigan last July after working almost 40 years in the auto industry. I left behind tens of thousands of families laid off from Ford, GM and Chrysler, many thousands of whom also lost their homes. The first thing that hit me here in SW Colorado was the overwhelming presence of foreign cars and trucks. It was like Colorado was another country – detached from Americans suffering in the heartland.

What was particularly distressing was that many of the ToyoNissHondarus were decorated with bumper stickers that clearly represented Progressive causes. As a lifelong Democrat, I was glad to see that. But why were they pasted on foreign, mostly Asian, cars and trucks?

Which brings me to the point of my appeal. There is almost no Asian vehicle that doesn’t have a GM, Ford or Chrysler counterpart. In the past, there was a clear quality reason to buy foreign. But that, based on many surveys, is no longer true. But rather than use persuasion, let me instead appeal to the Democrat in you.

There is probably no group more loyal to the Democratic Party than U.S. autoworkers – members of the UAW and other unions. Most would sooner cut off their right arm than vote Republican. When you buy a foreign vehicle, these are the folks that lose their livelihood. You say your Toyota is built in the U.S.? Maybe. But it wasn’t built with union labor. In fact, you’re playing directly into the hands of the Southern Red States who have enticed foreign auto plants with huge tax subsidies and NO UNION LABOR.

Another point worth stating is that even if your Nissan was built is the U.S., the design and testing was most likely done overseas. The parts were probably bought from an Asian-based supplier that set up shop in the South. And the profits flow back to Japan.

Which brings me to my most critical point. The future of the auto industry undoubtedly lies in plug-in hybrids, fuel cells or some other new technology. Profits are the engines that enable companies to fund research. If you want the U.S. to be the transportation technology leader and create jobs for our children, buying American is essential. Helping Toyota skim huge profits from the U.S. to send back to Japan only guarantees future Japanese jobs.

My closing point is that, love it or hate it, the Prius is built in Japan. When you buy one, no U.S. jobs (other than at the Toyota dealer) are created. And another Union worker (and fellow Democrat) loses his/her job. Consider this: the General Motors hybrid bus program has saved more fossil fuel than all the Priuses ever sold. And with limited to no profits, GM is acknowledged by many to be ahead of Toyota in the race to plug-in hybrids and fuel cells.

As Democrats, let’s help them out!

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

Lines snaked. Cars were towed. Traffic was jammed. People voted. Delegates were elected.

And Colorado Democrats proved their mettle.

I’m so proud this morning to be a Colorado Democrat. And, no, it isn’t because my candidate won.

No, I’m so proud because of how revitalized this Party is today. In 2004, we had between 10,000 and 15,000 people show up to caucus. Last night, we had about ten times that number — a 1,000% increase in attendance!

I’m proud because the Democratic Party — with fewer registered Democrats than registered Republicans — had over twice the turnout of the Colorado Republican Party. Not in percentages, but in raw numbers of people.

I’m proud because that turnout came even though Democratic caucuses are more complicated beasts than the Republican caucuses (from what I can tell, you just show up and cast your secret ballot at Republican affairs). Dick Wadhams must be trembling with what he saw in Colorado last night.

I’m proud because, for the most part, our county parties handled the massive influx of new people pretty well. As I predicted yesterday, there were periods of chaos, but we still made it through without any complete breakdowns of the system.

I’m proud because — even with the longer meetings and the heavier turnout — the Colorado Democratic Party reported its results much faster than the Republicans. At every stage last night, we were at least 20% ahead in terms of precincts reporting — by about 10 or 10:30, we had around 95-98% of the precincts reporting to the 70-75% of the Republican precincts reporting. We gave county chairs as close to a mandate as we could: have your results to us by 9:30. I’ve spoken to some who say the Republican mandate was to have their results reported no later than 7:30. This is just more proof that you can’t trust elections to Republicans — they have proven time and time again they can’t even run their own elections efficiently!

I’m proud of the county chairs and other county party officers and leaders out there who worked their rear-ends off to pull off this historic evening. I’m also proud of the State Party staff and my fellow officers, who have spent the last few weeks tirelessly answering phone calls and e-mails and taking questions from voters about this process. Because of the intense interest in the caucus, the CDP put in nine new phone lines — and they were constantly lit!

———————

Last night, from the very beginning, something was different. I showed up at Washington School a little after 5:00 to help set up, along with the other key Fremont County Dems who had been planning the caucuses. Already, three people were sitting down in the lobby of the school waiting to check in two hours early. School officials advised that they had at least a dozen Democrats stop by during the day looking for the caucuses — they eventually had to put a sign out in the front door to keep people away.

By 6:00 — an hour before the beginning, the line stretched to the door. Parking was at a premium. Already, more people were at the school than had attended all of the caucuses in Fremont County in 2006 or 2004. Thankfully, Fremont Dems had planned for this well. They had a dozen people to check folks in, and the line moved smoothly. Volunteers for Clinton and Obama greeted people at the door. Beyond the registration table was a classroom set up as a “hospitality suite” for the Obama and Clinton campaigns, with both offering water, cookies, and other treats for caucus-goers.

Here, most of the classrooms were open, with each room serving as the caucus location for either one or two precincts, depending on the size of the precinct. Long-time Democrats showed up and their jaws just dropped. The crowds of Democrats were unbelievable. Later on in the evening, I caught up with former State Representative Bob Shoemaker. He just smiled and shook his head. “Back in my day, this would have been the whole county’s turnout for the Democrats,” motioning to the packed room serving as a caucus site for two precincts. “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

At 6:30, organizers asked people to gather in the school’s auditorium. While quite ample, it still was not big enough for the crowd of Democrats (at the end of the evening, we learned that about 450 Democrats caucused at this location alone). I kicked things off by pointing out that we were told Fremont County did not have any Democrats. “If we can get this kind of turnout at caucus for the Democratic Party in Fremont County, we can sure get this kind of turnout in September and October, when we need your help to elect a Democratic President in Fremont County!” The crowd cheered, and there was real excitement in the air about Democrats.

Then, at about 10 minutes to 7, we dispersed into our precinct rooms. I was in Precinct 9, and as one of the larger precincts historically, we had been assigned the school’s library. Nearly 50 people gathered around the library tables, and we read the rules and elected our officers. We then heard about 20 minutes of discussion about the candidates. I spoke for Sen. Obama. A wonderful lady I had never met gave a moving speech for Sen. Clinton. Then a few more folks said a few words about Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton. After a straw poll determining that both candidates would meet viability, we voted. The results (I think - this is from memory): Obama 27, Clinton 18.

We then went on to elect delegates and do the other things required at caucus — the vote for Sen. Udall was unanimous. A few people left after the Presidential vote, but to my surprise, most people stayed through the end.

In the end, Obama narrowly won in Fremont County with record turnout, 336 to 319. There was a great cheer among those who remained at the school when the results were announced.

As we left around 9:30, a gentleman drove up looking for the Republicans. We smiled. “We think they’re at the Abbey, or maybe the High School. Anyway, they’ve probably been finished for quite a while now.”

It was an AMAZING night to be a Democrat!

—————————————

A few statistics from the results reported last night in Colorado.

The tally now stands at Obama - 79,344 (66.2%) to Clinton 38,587 (32.2%), with 3165 of 3208 precincts reporting.

Denver had the highest vote for Obama, at 17,942, followed by Boulder with 13,100.

Denver also had the highest vote for Clinton, at 7806, followed by Jefferson with 5,208.

Cheyenne and Sedgwick both had the lowest votes for Obama, with 7 votes, followed by Jackson and Kiowa, with 8 votes apiece. Hinsdale had the lowest vote for Clinton, with 7 votes, followed by San Juan with 8 votes.

Percentage-wise, Obama had his best night in San Miguel, Ouray, La Plata, Pitkin, Hinsdale, Archuleta and Boulder, with a range in those counties from 86% (San Miguel) to 74% (Boulder). Clinton did best in Sedgwick, Kit Carson, Jackson, Costilla, Prowers and Las Animas counties, with her percentage in those ranging from 67% (Sedgwick) to 57% (Las Animas).

Clinton won 14 counties; Obama won 49 counties; one county (Bent) was an exact tie. I have created a map of the counties won by each and it is in the web version of this post at www.demnotes.com.

The highest turnout counties were: 1. Denver (26,096); 2. Boulder (17,910); 3. Jefferson (14,595); 4. Arapahoe (12,224); and 5. Larimer (8,637).

The lowest turnout counties were: 1. Jackson (20); 2. Kiowa (23); 3. Cheyenne (24); 4. Washington (29); and 5. (tie) Sedgwick, San Juan, and Hinsdale (30).

Statewide, Democratic turnout was at 13.61%. The highest turnout percentage counties were: 1. Hinsdale (25.42%); 2. Boulder (23.81%); 3. Ouray (22.82%); 4. San Juan (19.48%) and 5. Larimer (17.20%). The lowest turnout percentage counties were: 1. Rio Grande (4.53%); 2. Otero (5.69%); 3. Pueblo (5.76%); 4. Baca (5.77%) and 5. Logan (5.94%). Other large counties: Adams - 8.08%; Arapahoe - 12.83%; Denver - 15.91%; Douglas - 16.54%; El Paso - 11.39%; Jefferson - 14.28%; La Plata - 14.74%; Mesa - 11.97%; Weld - 8.90%.