Fremont County’s FDR Dinner and Mark Udall
(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!