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Bluest of the Blue

Monday, February 9th, 2009

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

Yesterday, mere hours after our return from a very long drive back from Oklahoma, we jumped back on the Reorganization Circuit, stopping in Adams and Denver counties for their reorganization meetings.

As with so many other counties, both Adams and Denver are undergoing some pretty big changes; both counties elected mostly-new slates of officers, including new chairs and vice-chairs.

Adams County was the first stop, up at the Pipefitters’ Hall on North Broadway. The room was packed with precinct committee persons and politicians from all stripes. It was great to see so many new faces there mingling with the familiar ones. We spoke toward the beginning of the meeting, along with Governor Ritter, Congressman Perlmutter, and former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff. We all spoke just before the officer elections; Marty Wisniewski was selected unanimously as the new Adams County Chair. He’s the former Mayor of Thornton; I had a brief chance to meet him on Sunday, and he seems like he will do a good job keeping the county solidly blue.

We had to get down to Denver before the officer elections in Adams, but I’ve heard that Linda Sands is the new First Vice Chair and Julia Hicks (my predecessor as State Party First Vice Chair) was selected as the Second Vice Chair. So congrats to all of the new officers!

We then drove down to Denver for their reorganization meeting. Denver’s Dems run a well-oiled machine, and they had the agenda set forth down to the minute. That was impressive, but what was even more impressive was how frustrated the leadership seemed to get when they got about 5 minutes off of the schedule. That’s a sign that expectations are certainly high in Denver, and the level of activism and excitement continues to impress me every time I visit.

Another thing that impresses me is the youthfulness of the Party leadership in Denver. The outgoing chair and vice chair (Jennifer Coken and Rachel Kienzler) proved that you don’t have to have been involved for 50 years to successfully run a county party. New Chair Cindy Lowery has been incredibly active as a Young Democrat and has proven her ability to organize and plan; joined with Jennifer Jacobson, the new Vice Chair for Denver, they and the rest of the officers should prove to continue to be the dynamic team that keeps the Party in Denver an exciting operation.

The State Party officers spoke in the middle of the officer elections in Denver. Fewer folks were paying attention to our re-election spiels, but that was fine with me; I was just happy to have a chance to talk to the Denver Dems. As for the officer elections, it appears that the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were contested races, and I have not been able to find out any results of those races. (If anybody knows how those turned out, let me know in the comments section.)

I left before the speeches for the open Treasurer’s position; however, in the Secretary’s position, Dan Willis was being challenged by Owen Perkins. It seemed like an interesting race. From the speeches, it sounds like Owen worked hard to campaign to each central committee member individually, while Dan said that he had to focus on planning the reorganization meeting, so he could not campaign as much. It will be interesting to see how all of that turned out.

Tonight, we have our own reorganization meeting here in Canon City for the Fremont County Dems. My wife is running for re-election as the Party’s treasurer, so I will be there all night to support her and the other candidates for the future of the Party down here. Unless plans change, I think we’ll be in Boulder on Wednesday, Pueblo on Thursday, and Durango on Saturday. So I’ll see some of you out on the road!

Posted in Counties | Comments Off

Change is Coming to County Parties!

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

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

Well, its that time: county party reorganizations. Traditionally held between February 1 and February 15 of every odd-numbered year, there are always a couple of counties that tend to go just before the window. The point of a “reorganization”? To elect the party officers to serve for the next two year election cycle.

Wednesday night, I drove up to Sterling for the first of these. Logan County Democrats, like many counties across the state, saw an increase in Democratic votes in 2008. They saw organizational efforts like you wouldn’t believe. And they saw several new faces join the Democratic Party. And on Wednesday night, one of those new faces became probably the youngest county chair in Colorado.

20-year old Cody Engelhaupt can’t buy beer. He voted in his first Presidential election only a few months ago. But he worked so hard and so tirelessly last year that there wasn’t even a pause when the Logan County Democrats unanimously selected Cody as their new County Chair.

For the longest time, especially on the Eastern Plains, the Democratic Party has always looked for new leadership from young people in the communities; however, it often seems like the tasks of running county parties fall to the same people. Now, these are folks like Jennifer Felzien of Logan County, who have all done an amazing job keeping the Party together and working to get out the vote every election. But most of these folks would be glad to give their duties (and for those of you who don’t know, county chairs have some of the most daunting duties, yet go terribly unappreciated) to a new generation of leaders.

How do I know this? Because I was once one of those “new generation” of county party leaders. At Fremont County’s FDR Dinner in January 1999, the wonderful Fremont County Chair, the late Beatrice Kauffman, asked folks to come see her after the dinner if they had an interest in serving as an officer. I approached her, figuring to serve as the secretary or maybe the treasurer. However, after I had walked out of the room, she had recruited me to succeed her as the county chair.

In any event, Engelhaupt isn’t the only young face serving Logan County’s Democrats. 29-year old school teacher Dan Conn was elected unanimously as the Party’s Secretary, as well. In Logan County, the donkey is alive and kicking!

A new generation of leadership is coming to El Paso County, too. Thirty-six year old Jason DeGroot was selected as the new County Chair in El Paso County on Saturday. I drove up to Colorado Springs for the event, and it was a crowded hall. Rep. Michael Merrifield reminded folks of the times when El Paso County Democrats could have held their reorganization in a tiny room with 20-30 people there. This time, easily a couple of hundred folks showed up and showed enthusiasm for the changing politics of El Paso County. Pat Waak, Carolyn Boller and I were there on behalf of the State Party, and we made sure folks there understood the importance of El Paso County in statewide politics. I pointed out that when we get close to 40% in El Paso County, we usually win statewide; when we get closer to 30% in El Paso County, we don’t do so well statewide. Getting that 40% number is critical to any statewide victory, and that’s why El Paso County is so important to us. (Outgoing chair John Morris pointed out that 40% wasn’t good enough for him, but that’s understandable.)

In any event, El Paso County has seen an abundance of changes since first electing Michael Merrifield in 2002. They have elected a State Senator (John Morse) and last year elected a second Democratic State Representative (Dennis Apuan). Outgoing party chair John Morris has been a critical part of these changes and this organizational framework that has helped Democrats like Bill Ritter, Mark Udall and Barack Obama statewide. He will be missed, but DeGroot is certainly capable — I worked a lot with him last year, first as head of the transportation committee for the State Convention, then later as an alternate to the National Convention from the 5th C.D.

I’ll try to get to several more reorganization meetings in the coming couple of weeks, but sadly, I will miss several on Thursday and Saturday because I will be celebrating my boys’ birthdays in Oklahoma on Friday and driving back on Saturday. So, to the folks in Jefferson, Gunnison, Eagle, Garfield, Douglas, Larimer, Mesa, Arapahoe, and Broomfield, and Ouray, I send my deepest regrets. As with the other officers of the Party, I am running for re-election, and I hope my absence doesn’t mar your views of me and my re-election bid.

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The Final Push.

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

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

After leaving Gilpin County, I stopped by the Campaign for Change office in Golden, as well as the staging offices in Elizabeth and Castle Rock.

In Golden, the stream of people in and out of the office that I saw everywhere else wasn’t as pronounced. The reason? The Golden office had been transformed into the “boiler room,” serving several staging areas around Jefferson County. So the calmness in the office was a good sign; a Boiler Room is intended to handle any crises that occur at the different staging areas. Since things seemed to be going smoothly, the boiler room was a calm place to be.

When Pat and I were talking about spending today dropping by the various campaign offices, I asked where I should go. The answer from the campaign? Whatever you do, make sure you stop by the Elbert County office — they need to hear how much we appreciate their work.

I dropped by the Elizabeth office — the staging area for Elbert County — later in the afternoon. The sight was probably the nicest I’ve seen. A local restaurant had closed down for two days solely for the purpose of providing the campaign a large enough space to use as a staging area. Dozens of people were doing a variety of jobs — some making calls, some working on data entry, still others working on getting things ready for more canvassing. I arrived just minutes after several others had left to go on a shift of canvassing.

There were enough people in the Elizabeth office that they actually stopped everybody and I gave a short thank-you talk to folks on behalf of the State Party. But I kept it short (really, I did!) so folks wouldn’t be taken for too long from their important jobs of calling and canvassing. And, with the location being a restaurant, the food was top-notch. I had to demur several times the many offers for me to eat dinner there (we’d made plans to have dinner later this evening with my brother).

Finally, I headed over to Castle Rock for an unannounced visit to their main staging area. My last stop was also the busiest stop. The Castle Rock office was HUGE, with every space being taken by a volunteer working hard for the election tomorrow night. I had a great conversation with the Campaign for Change field director for the office and the Udall field director for the office.

We talked about how tough things are for Democrats in Douglas County, and the CFC director told me her goal was — point blank — to win Douglas County. If we were able to do that, there is really no way the Republicans could win the state. They talked about how happy they’d been with the volunteer response so far — they wanted to get to every contact twice in the past couple of days, but instead were able to contact everybody on their lists THREE times in the past couple of days!

Everybody in the offices I’ve visited in the past couple of days has seemed cautiously optimistic (or, as I just heard on the news, “cautiously nauseous”). But there’s also been a nervousness about over-confidence. The key is tomorrow.

The key is tomorrow. Election Day. D-Day. Where all of our work should pay off.

If you show up.

Posted in CDP, Counties, Presidential Campaign 2008 | Comments Off

Democratic Excitement in Colorado Springs — And Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama in Colorado!

Friday, October 24th, 2008

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

Yesterday, I spoke at a couple of great events up in Colorado Springs. The first event was a rally and march to early voting in north Colorado Springs. Some called this the “holy land” because of its high proportion of religious right-wing voters (this is the home to Focus on the Family, after all). But there are plenty of Democrats in “the holy land,” it turns out.

Well over 60 folks were on North Academy when I arrived, waving Obama signs and flags and about every other thing you can imagine at the heavy traffic driving by — and the response was, well, it was Boulder-like. Honks and thumbs up abounded! For a minute, I forgot I was in El Paso County! Barbara Thummalapally described the scene quite well in her e-mail to Colorado Springs Obama supporters:

We had a joyful rally and march to the polls (Starbucks on Academy and Briargate – to Chapel hills mall) for early voting, this evening from 5-6pm.
We had about 60 people show up for the march and it was wonderful!

Dan Slater, CO Democratic Vice Chair, fired us up with some inspiring words of encouragement and advice and then we marched… ~ whooping, hollering, whistling and chanting…. to the polling place at the mall!

People mostly honked their support when they passed and we all had a great visual effect in Northern Colorado Springs. You would all have been proud to see such a display of Obama presence in “Focus country” or the “holy-land,” as someone put it! )

Since Vinai had managed to get in early, he set up some tables and chairs at 6pm so that some of us marchers from HD 14 were able to congregate at the office after the march, to do a phone bank!!

It was a great scene. And there WERE a lot of people. I know some of you out there may not believe me, but maybe this will change your mind. Those of you who have heard me speak know that I can get loud. Microphones are usually not necessary. But for the folks in the furthest corners of the crowd to hear me, I actually had to use a BULLHORN! Yep, that’s when you know the crowd is big.

I then hurried down the Interstate to the main Colorado Springs office on Limit Street, around Old Colorado City. As I drove up, I realized that I had an ironic relationship with this particular location. You see, in January, when Sen. Obama came to Denver for the pre-caucus event at D.U., our car broke down in Colorado Springs on the way up. Rather than miss the event, we dropped the car off at the Saturn dealership and rented a car to drive up to see Sen. Obama. The car rental place? Well, that is now Obama headquarters in the Springs! (By the way, thanks to our renting of the car, we did make it up to Denver on time, and I not only got to meet Sen. Obama, but I also helped talk Rod Smith into publicly endorsing Obama at the rally!)

Anyway, I was scheduled to talk to a group of veterans doing a phone bank that evening. The operation in the Springs is massive, and it is impressive. When I arrived, every computer terminal along the wall was filled with a volunteer entering data — easily nine or ten people alone doing that. Alongside the computers, in the middle of the room, was a set of tables for phone banking, with the seats filled with another dozen or so folks calling voters. And that was just one room. All around the office you could find staffers, interns, and volunteers busily making phone calls or welcoming the steady stream of volunteers coming in and out of the office.

When it was time for me to say a few words, I actually felt pretty guilty. I had been asked to come in and give a pep talk, but I’m not really sure that anybody needed a pep talk. When I was introduced by the coordinator, he said I would speak for a “few minutes”. I grinned rather sheepishly — “I’m not going to talk for a ‘few minutes’ – just a minute or two. Because I know that every minute I talk to you is a minute that isn’t being spent making calls or entering data.” So I gave a shortened version of my talk about the importance of what they were doing. I was well-received, but as soon as the applause was over, the friendly command was given: get back on the phone. And they did, happily.

In talking with the coordinator, I did find something a little concerning. Even though the place was buzzing, there were still a few volunteers that didn’t show up for their shifts last night. It was a problem of overconfidence. I’ve heard some anecdotes of this before, and so it was concerning to see it in person.

Let me be clear: the polls show this is still a VERY CLOSE race — maybe still within a point or two, according to the latest polling — in Colorado. Don’t buy the misinformation that the McCain campaign is leaving Colorado: Sarah Palin and John McCain were both here this week. They wouldn’t be wasting their time here if they didn’t still think they could win Colorado.

Our job is clear: sprint, not coast, to the finish line!!!!

———————————

If you needed more inspiration for how important the sprint to the finish is, just take a look at who’s coming to Colorado from our side. You may be getting this too late, but if you haven’t heard, Senator Hillary Clinton is coming to Colorado today. Come by the event this afternoon, if you can. Here are the details:

General’s Park
1561 North Quentin Street
Aurora, CO 80010
Gates Open: 3:30pm

Also, Sen. Obama will be in Denver and Fort Collins on Sunday. Here are the details for his visit:

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26
EARLY VOTE FOR CHANGE RALLY WITH BARACK OBAMA IN DENVER
Civic Center Park
Central Denver Park District
Denver, CO
Entrance: Greek Theater on 14th Avenue Parkway between Bannock and Broadway. No entry via Colfax Ave.
Gates Open: 10:00 AM

EARLY VOTE FOR CHANGE RALLY WITH BARACK OBAMA IN FT. COLLINS
The Oval on the Colorado State University Campus
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Public Entrance: University Ave. and West Drive
Gates Open: 1:30 PM MT

Limited public parking is available around the Jack Christianson Memorial Track and surrounding areas. Again, car pooling and public transportation are recommended.

Tickets are not required, but it is requested that you RSVP to: www.co.barackobama.com

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Finally, I do have more pictures up online. I’ve added photos from the Rural Policy Tour stops in Salida and Canon City, as well as the Biden events a couple of days ago in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. I have more pictures from yesterday in Colorado Springs, but have not been able to get them up yet. If you want to see the pictures that are online, go to:
www.demnotes.com/photos

Posted in Counties, Presidential Campaign 2008 | Comments Off

El Paso is Hot!!

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

In the past four days I have been to El Paso County three times! I was in Manitou Springs on Sunday where I was the surrogate for the Obama campaign. I arrived in the morning to hear the drums coming from outside of Soda Springs Park.

Nate Hundt is the Regional Field Director for the Campaign for Change. He had a voter registration table, a volunteer sign-up table and tables set up for canvassers.

Mike Merrifield gave one of his rousing and funny speeches. Pete Lee, the SD 12 candidate and Mayor Eric Drummond gave their own great speeches. Then I had a chance to pump up the crowd for their day of work.

Nate says that over 200 people participated in the days’ events. They canvassed neighborhoods and then returned to the park for food and music. Once again I am amazed at the young people coming out to work on this campaign.

Yesterday, Sept. 23, 2008, I had the joy of spending the day with the Faith and Politics staff from Obama for America. Mark Linton, in charge of Catholic outreach, and Joshua DuBois, responsible for Christian outreach, joined many of the ministers and lay workers who are involved in faith outreach for coffee and breakfast at Bogey’s on the Park. Our special guest for the day was Don Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What. Don is an evangelical who writes about Christian spirituality.

After breakfast we went to meet with Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance. Tim Karpoff and the local organizer for the Campaign for Change were already there talking about the need to register voters. Don had a chance to talk about his own story and how he became convinced that Barack Obama needed to be president.

From there we visited Pastor Imogene’s Sharing and Caring mission. She serves so many of the working poor out of her little facility. However, we were amazed at how large it really is. Victoria Scott Haynes guided us through and then we discovered that the car battery was dead. So our guest ends up working with the mission staff to get us on the road again.

We made a stop at M & D’s for a quick lunch of fried okra, fried green tomatoes, and catfish (at least that is what Don and I had). Then we were off to Colorado Springs for a political clutch, some press and a community forum. Over 120 people crowded into the room to hear Don tell the story of how he came to support Barack Obama. He also did a great job of explaining why Christian evangelicals need to support Senator Obama, even though there are some issues they might disagree on. The crowd was really captivated.

My job was to ask questions submitted by the audience and then pose one of my own. It was something I wanted Don to share. He rode his bicycle across the country to raise money for a charity. The people he met made a deep impression on him.

As we raced back to Denver to deliver Don to the airport, I really understood what a great person he is. The young people that Senator Obama has attracted to this campaign are tremendously talented. Having said that, I don’t want to forget Natasha Somer. She was with us as well and serves as Victoria’s assistant on faith outreach. And she is a great organizer and advance person.

So this morning, Sept. 24, 2008, we were back down in Colorado Springs. We went urge El Paso County election officials to ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot.

An email that the office of El Paso County Clerk Bob Balink sent to the office of the Colorado College President warned out-of-state students that they are ineligible to vote if their parents claim them as dependents. The Clerk also urged the President to publish the letter in the student newspaper and the information was added to the school’s website. Approximately 75 percent of Colorado College students are from out of state, and they are, in fact, eligible to register to vote in the state.

Martha Tierney, the CDP attorney said that Mr. Balink was wrong on the letter of the law and disseminated false information to students.

In addition to sending false information to Colorado College, Balink removed an early vote location in Fountain, Colorado, and has reportedly failed to process thousands of otherwise legitimate voter registration forms — actions that could disenfranchise Colorado voters.

State Senator John Morse also expressed concern that Clerk Balink removed an early voting location. He was joined by Rev. McMearn, a local pastor, is requesting that this site be restored.

Finally, Colorado College student organizer Ben Slaughter talked about the situation on campus and his commitment to ensuring that students on his campus have the correct information about their right to vote in Colorado

Every day is filled with events, and I hope you are attending as many as possible. We can win this election with your help.

Pat Waak

Posted in CDP, Counties, Democratic Issues, Presidential Campaign 2008 | 1 Comment »

Bent County Picnic, and Pix are Finally Up!

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

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

Saturday, we drove down Highway 50 a couple of hours to Las Animas, where we attended the Bent County Dems’ picnic at city park there. It was a nice bit of memories for me; I grew up just a block away from the park, and spent a lot of my childhood there.

For a small county like Bent County, the turnout was fantastic. About 50 people gathered for a potluck lunch with grilled burgers and hot dogs on the menu. After everybody had a good chance to eat, we heard from candidates and their representatives — the Party is really active with good volunteers this year. We also heard from Representative Wes McKinley, whose style always engages people. The day was capped by Wes auctioning off several pies, with the proceeds to go to the Party.

What was even more impressive was what happened after the picnic: several folks got together with the regional field person and spread out across town to canvass precincts. In southeast Colorado, walking door-to-door doesn’t often happen, so it was extremely exciting to see the level of interest in helping out among the people there.

————-

I took some pictures in Las Animas, and I’ve finally gotten those up on the DemNotes website, along with all of my photos from the National Convention, several hundred in all. You can take a look at them all at:
http://www.DemNotes.com/photos

Note that many of them are pretty poor quality, usually due to the low light, but also due to the fact that I’m often hurriedly trying to get the camera out and snap a photo while I’m in the middle of something else….

Posted in Counties | 1 Comment »

D Minus Three Days — And a Slew Of Information!

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

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

Today’s post to DemNotes feels like the original DemNotes. For those who don’t remember, or who weren’t involved with the Party back then, DemNotes began during the 2004 election cycle as an e-mail newsletter from me as State Party Secretary to everybody on the then-small State Party e-mail list. After 2004 — where I first blogged during the Democratic National Convention in Boston — I turned it into the blog demnotes.com that is in use today. In any event, when it was a newsletter format, there were several posts all at once, and there’s so much to report today that it seems a lot like that again.

D Minus Three Days. Or two days. Or one day. Depends on your point of view. Tomorrow, Saturday, is the first day for official convention-related activities in Denver. The Rules Committee meets in the morning, and the Media Party is in the evening. Sunday is the first day for delegation events, with an Interfaith Service and all-delegation party during the day, and the Green Concert with Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews at Red Rocks in the evening. But the gavel doesn’t officially come down to start the convention until around 3:00 Monday afternoon at the Pepsi Center, so that’s why I say “three days”.

Pepsi Center StageWe saw today the first public look at the Pepsi Center’s interior, and it looks fantastic! If you haven’t seen it, go online to the Denver Post or Rocky, or CNN, or any other news site and take a look. It is colorful, bright, and stunning. If you’re looking at this by e-mail, I’ve put a picture up on the website at www.DemNotes.com.

If you’re not going to be able to get into the Pepsi Center, don’t worry. There will be PLENTY to do in Denver without getting into the Pepsi Center. I’d encourage you to attend the Caucus meetings during the day at the Convention Center if you can. Here is the schedule of caucus meetings. On Monday and Wednesday, the following caucuses will meet from 10 am to Noon: African American Caucus, Asian / Pacific Islander Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Native American Council, and the Ethnic Coordinating Council. From Noon to 2 on Monday and Wednesday, the GLBT Caucus and the Senior Council will be meeting. Finally, from 1 to 3 on Monday and Wednesday, the Rural Council will be meeting.

On Tuesday and Thursday, there are more caucus and council meetings. From 10 am to Noon, the Women’s Caucus — the largest DNC Caucus — will be meeting. From Noon to 2 on Tuesday and Thursday, the Disability Caucus, the Faith Council, and the Youth Council will be meeting. Finally, the Veterans and Military Families Council will be meeting from 1 to 3 on Tuesday and Thursday.

If you’re not a delegate, you can definitely attend any of these caucus meetings, but you need to pre-register online for the caucus meetings BEFORE 5 PM ON SATURDAY! You can pre-register for the caucuses at:
http://www.demconvention.com/caucus-meeting-preregistration

I will try to keep DemNotes updated during the week with the activities; however, I’m not sure yet how regular that will be. The calendar is already looking pretty packed each day from about 7 am to about 2 am, so I’m not sure when I will find a computer to write, but I promise to try. I will say that it seems like there are an awful lot more things to be done as a superdelegate than when I was a pledged delegate in 2000 and 2004.

———————————–

Folks are already arriving in Denver for the Convention, as you may have noticed if you’re in Denver. Governor Dean is here — and if you get this e-mail in time, you can attend a rally with Governor Dean at Noon today (Friday). He will be at a “Register for Change” event at the Auraria College Campus, St. Cajetan’s Chapel, Lawrence Way in Denver. There are sure to be other key Colorado leaders there, so stop by during your lunch hour if you get a chance.

———————————–

Looking for a yard sign? Tired of waiting for the campaigns to get your own in? There’s a great promotion out there that we as Democrats should take advantage of before the other side does: a sign-making company is offering free signs that you can design yourself. Go to www.buildasign.com and you can design your own sign that they will make for you for FREE. They’re giving away 100,000 of these signs as a promotion of their services.

Note that these signs are NOT union-made, so I would not endorse you buying their services, but if you can get a sign for free, I’m not sure how you can complain. I’ll also make a caveat that I only heard about this site on the radio yesterday, so I don’t really know much more about it than I’ve already indicated.

———————————-

Last Saturday, we headed up the road to a great event in Coaldale. For those who don’t know, Coaldale is in the heart of the mountainous portion of Fremont County, and the more sparsely-populated area of Fremont County. It’s also historically been a heavily Republican area. When I was county chair, we tried to do a couple of events out there, and the best turnout we had was maybe 20-30 people.

Saturday did not look good for an outdoor rally for Democrats. It was raining. It was a bit chilly. Parking along Highway 50 could get dicey. And did I mention that this was a heavily Republican area?

About 150 people showed up.

150.

Last year, we had a traditional summer picnic for Fremont County Democrats in Canon City, the population center of the county. It was a beautiful day — sunny but not too hot. No rain in sight. We didn’t see even close to 150 people there.

It was a truly great event — people huddled under umbrellas and tents to hear great candidates like Hal Bidlack (5th CD), Cal Cali (HD60), Gloria Stultz and Walt Myers (County Commissioner). Even Rep. Michael Merrifield came down from Colorado Springs to speak for Mark Udall. The wet crowd was enthusiastic — and did I mention it was a large crowd? Even State Chair Pat Waak briefly stopped by to say hello and deliver Invesco Field tickets to the county chair.

Change is in the air in Colorado — even in the most Republican of areas of our state!

————————————

Last night, I drove down to San Luis to attend and assist with the Costilla County Dems’ Central Committee meeting. They were filling some officer vacancies, including that of the county chair. Congrats to their new chair, Ubaldo Padilla, who was elected last night. In addition, Natalie Cisco was elected Treasurer, and Raphael Maestas was elected the Second Vice Chair.

After the elections, the central committee — along with several guests — had a great discussion about how they can help out in the local and state races. It was an enthusiastic and inspiring session of people understanding how important it is to get out and walk and help all of the candidates on the ballot. I told them it was a wonderful way to kick off convention week, as I head for Denver this afternoon.

—————————————-

Finally, this morning, I was on the radio in Sterling to talk about the Democratic Party, our candidates, and the National Convention. The half-hour interview went well, I think, and I worked to make sure that folks in Northeast Colorado understand that Republicans like Marilyn Musgrave are not standing for Colorado values and issues that are most important to Eastern Colorado. I hope to be on again in the near future.

Well, that’s enough for one post. Hopefully, I’ll see you around Denver in the next week

Posted in CDP, Counties, DNC, National Convention 2008, Presidential Campaign 2008 | Comments Off

A Weekend on the Western Slope

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

After a week of enduring a lot of flack for doing our job, it was refreshing to hit the road with packets for counties that will get them into some of the Democratic convention functions next week. Of course, like any journey, it was fraught with its on little adventures.

I was an hour late getting started because the packets were not ready. My hat is off to all of the people who worked to get lists reviewed. At the Campaign for Change office, no one seemed to have slept on Thursday night. However, they were cordial and helpful, especially Paul Schnaitter and Ray Rivera.

And of course, it was pouring down rain. I am not complaining. We need the water. It just made a slower go of the travel. I met Becky Cook, co-chair for Clear Creek, at a parking lot in Morrison. We damply went through her packet of instructions and documents.

By then I knew that the Eisenhower Tunnel was closed. Charlene Smith from Lake County called me along the way. She was on the other side waiting for her packet. We decided to hope and pray that the tunnel would be clear by the time I got there. It was, but I was greeted with a five-mile back up and some light snow. In August!!

Charlene waited for over an hour and then met Sandy Briggs from Summit County at Frisco. We counted out documents and information. All in good spirits so I could be off to Edwards.

DNC Committeewoman Debbie Marquez and her daughter, Francesca, met me at the exit 163. We once again went over documentation for Eagle County and discussed upcoming events.

Next stop was Glenwood Springs. I got off I-70 and arrived at our drop off point to meet Camilla Auger from Pitkin and Pat Tamasko from Garfield. Once again we counted documents, went through instructions, and I headed up the road.

By now, I was running one and half hours late. So I called Rep. John Salazar’s chief of staff, Ron Carleton so he could pass on the word to the attendees of the Montrose County barbeque. Did I say that was where I was heading?

And I did arrive around 7pm. Everyone had stayed to hear me speak so I made it short. They had a great turn out. I had little mini-meetings with John Hollrah from Ouray County; Frank and Pat Ventura from Gunnison County; and Dick Unruh’s representative from San Miguel. More packets distributed and documentation reviewed. I gave Ron Carleton packets for the counties of Montezuma, La Plata, San Juan and Archuleta since he was meeting Rep. Salazar over there the next day.

Kim Wille was there taking her great pictures, and she filled up a plate of barbeque for me. It was cold but delicious. While I ate, Steve Dooley entertained me with stories about local characters. Steve is an attorney in Montrose County.

I went home with Karen Connor, former Montrose County Democratic Chair, for the night. Jayne Bilberry came over to pick up packets for Montrose and Delta. Jayne is also a member of the Colorado delegation so we talked about the upcoming convention.

Saturday morning I was on the road again. I did stop in Gunnison to buy a new cowboy hat and then headed to Salida. Tom Thomas met me at Bongo Billy’s to pick up Chaffee County’s packet. And Terry Hart was waiting, with his lovely daughter, to get Pueblo’s information. They talked to me, while I ate a quick lunch, about what is happening in their county.

By this time I am back in a deluge of rain. I arrived at Coaldale, where a big rally was occurring at Itty Bitty Campground. Dan Slater was there, as was CD5 candidate for Congress, Hal Bidlack. (BTW, Hal was at Bongo Billy’s earlier in Salida). I was able to give Kevin Bradley the packet for Fremont County.

Then I headed for Woodland Park. The Democratic dinner in Teller County was held for the first time in 11 years. Over 100 people attended. I gave the keynote speech and could feel the electricity in the air as these dedicated people gathered to celebrate new activism in the county. Laurie Glauth did a wonderful job as the emcee. Hal Bidlack gave a great speech. Attendees got to hear from Joe Alsup, who is running for State Senate; Holly Gorman, candidate for State House: and their local candidates for county commissioner, Rev. Saunders, and Charles Olson. And yes, Laurie got a packet for Teller.

Of course, the fun of the night was when Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff conducted the live auction, raising several thousand dollars.

I arrived home last night exhilarated and exhausted. However, it was a great trip for two main reasons. Connecting with local Democrats who are doing the important work to register voters, rally their communities and raise dollars is always a reminder that they are the essential core of our party. We constantly look for ways to motivate and reward them. Often that is just about “showing up.”

Secondly, I traveled over some of the most beautiful parts of our state. Mountains, valleys and streams that fill me with so much spiritual renewal. I saw a big horn sheep, young buck, lots of birds and just the wonder that is Colorado.

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I don’t always have time to post comments, but I wanted to share this with you.

Pat Waak, Chair, Colorado Democratic Party

Posted in CDP, Counties, National Convention 2008 | 1 Comment »

Post State Convention Ad Hoc Committee

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Dear Democrats,

The State and Congressional District Conventions and Assemblies last weekend in Colorado Springs constituted an unprecedented gathering of Colorado Democrats. During the events of the weekend many of you were immersed in confused circumstances and experienced time-consuming difficulties during the registration and credentialing processes since we were unable to complete the credentialing-by-mail process in time for the conventions/assemblies. Facilities for the weekend were under contract eighteen months prior to the event before we had any idea of the overwhelming interest that would be displayed in the caucuses and county conventions and one of the local hotels where meeting were to be held cancelled at the last moment. We were also caught by surprise by the shortage of Obama ballots, we intentionally over-ordered both Clinton and Obama ballots so we would not run out of ballots – and we have now heard that the ballots were on the loading dock and not delivered to the main hall. This combination of events was regrettable and we must undertake steps to improve our procedures for future conventions and assemblies.

On the bright side, the appearance of thousands of attendees, their enthusiastic participation, and their demeanor in dealing with these untoward circumstances were marvelous. You are all to be applauded.

As a consequence of the events of the convention weekend we are appointing an ad hoc committee to be charged with reviewing and improving registration and credentialing processes. Examples of measures that may be considered are greater involvement of counties in the credentialing process and earlier recruiting and training of volunteers. The committee so far consists of Judi Butz, Jefferson County; Jim Spehar, Mesa County; Dana Barker, Garfield County; Karen Teja, El Paso County; and Teri Baird, Elbert County. We would like to have a volunteer from one of the Eastern Plains counties. The committee will be composed of no more than 15 members. Please use info@coloradodems.org as the contact point and title the email as Convention Input. We encourage you to submit comments and suggestions to the committee. We are asking them at the same time to interview staff and volunteers to get background information.

PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, ELECTOR, AND DELEGATE SELECTION RESULTS

Counting of votes has been completed and final results are available for selection of delegates to the Democratic National Convention by presidential preference and presidential electors. Attached is a spreadsheet of all the delegates and alternates

State Convention Results
Barack Obama:8 At-Large National Convention Delegates, 2 National Convention Alternates5 Pledged Party Leader / Elected Official (PLEO) National Convention Delegates

Hillary Clinton:4 At-Large National Convention Delegates2 Pledged Party Leader / Elected Official (PLEO) National Convention Delegates

DNC Members:Debbie Marquez, Anthony Graves, Mannie RodriguezAt-Large Electors:Polly Baca, Margaret Atencio

Obama PLEO National Convention Delegates:Veronica Barela, Terrance Carroll, Vivian Stovall, Paul Lopez, Rosemary Marshall

Clinton PLEO National Convention Delegates:Mona Merchant, Jessica ClarkUnpledged

Add-on National Convention Delegate:Federico Pena

Obama At-Large National Convention Delegates:James Tucker, Julia Hicks, Jon Singer, Erica Hixson, Dunbar Watson, Jeffrey Hart, Susan McMahon, Jacqueline St. Joan

Clinton At-Large National Convention Delegates:Polly Baca, Richard Gonzales, Sonya Jaquez Lewis, Gordon Williams

Obama At-Large National Convention Alternates:Jay Barry, Morgan Carroll

CD Convention / Assembly Results

CD 1 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
4 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates

CD 1 Presidential Elector:
Wellington Webb
CD 1 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Anthony Graves, Crisanta Duran, Seth Masket, Allegra Haynes
CD 1 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Mark Thrun
CD 1 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Awilda Marquez, Daniel Kagan
CD 1 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Diana DeGette
State Board of Education:
Elaine Berman

CD 2 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
4 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates
CD 2 Presidential Elector:
Terry Phillips
CD 2 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Jessica Wittmer, Shawn Coleman, Richard Gardner, Sarah Kihm
CD 2 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Wendy Wilson
CD 2 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Odell Barry, Sacha Millstone
CD 2 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Joan Fitz-Gerald 61%
Jared Polis 39%
CU Regent:
Joe Neguse

CD 3 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
3 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates
CD 3 Presidential Elector:
Camilla Auger
CD 3 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Blanca O’Leary, Brian O’Donnell, Jayne Bilberry
CD 3 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Neil Isenberg
CD 3 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Joe Torres, Mary Beth Pyle
CD 3 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
John Salazar
State Board of Education:
Jill Brake

CD 4 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
3 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates
CD 4 Presidential Elector:
Pam Shaddock
CD 4 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Sharon Malloy, Nathan VanDerSchaaf, Paul Anderson
CD 4 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Pam Shaddock
CD 4 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Stan Matsunaka, Kathleen Ensz
CD 4 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Betsy Markey

CD 5 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
3 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
1 National Convention Delegate
CD 5 Presidential Elector:
Jennifer Trujillo-Sanchez
CD 5 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Mike Maday, Benjamin Taber, Lynn Young
CD 5 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Jason DeGroot
CD 5 Clinton National Convention Delegate:
Brenda Krause
CD 5 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Hal Bidlack

CD 6 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
3 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates
CD 6 Presidential Elector:
Don Strickland
CD 6 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Robert Kihm, Marzette Bedford-Billinghurst, Paula Noonan
CD 6 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Carmine Iadarola
CD 6 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Rebecca McClellan, John Petty
CD 6 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Hank Eng
CU Regent:
AJ Clemmons

CD 7 CONVENTION
Barack Obama:
3 National Convention Delegates, 1 National Convention Alternate
Hillary Clinton:
2 National Convention Delegates
CD 7 Presidential Elector:
Ann Knollman
CD 7 Obama National Convention Delegates:
Joe Beaver, Allison Cotton, Dorian DeLong
CD 7 Obama National Convention Alternate:
Saorise Charis-Graves
CD 7 Clinton National Convention Delegates:
Monisha Merchant, Jere Kennedy
CD 7 ASSEMBLY
U.S. Congress:
Ed Perlmutter
CU Regent:
Patrick Mulligan
State Board of Education:
Jane Goff

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Posted in CDP, Counties, DNC, National Convention 2008 | Comments Off

On the Road – Montezuma, La Plata and the Tri-counties of Otero, Bent and Crowley

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Continuing with my weekend catch up visits to outlying areas, I was down in the Southwest in late April. On Saturday, the 26th, I met with about fifteen good Democrats in Cortez. In addition to the officers, like chair Toni Gurnea, Hazel Perkins, chair of the Dolores County Democrats, drove over with husband, Delano. We had a great morning talking about the statewide turnout for caucuses and all the work going forward for the campaigns in 2008.

Montezuma County Democrats are growing again and excited about rebuilding their local party after some rough times. They sent a table full of people over to Durango for the evening dinner.

In Durango, the La Plata County Democrats filled the room with tables and enough excitement to raise the roof. Jean Walters, Chair of the local Democrats, led off an evening of speeches. Wally White has launched his campaign for re-election as County Commissioner. And Peter Tregillus is also running for another commissioner seat. I know that Joelle Riddle, who won in 2006, is eager to keep Wally and have another Democrat on the county commission.

State Sen. Jim Isgar had a chance to talk about the accomplishments of the current legislative session. U.S. Rep. John Salazar also gave an update from the U.S. Congress. But the highlight of the evening was former Texas Agriculture Commissioner, author, and radio show celebrity, Jim Hightower. He gave his usual humorous assessment of the issues, even though he is quite serious about the need for us to “agitate.”

I got to say my words and then ran in to Jim Hightower the next morning. We talked about the changes going on across the country.

On my way to Otero I stopped off at the CD6 Assembly and Convention. The turnout was great but put huge demands on the credentialing system. We learned a lot and elected our first delegates to the national convention.

CD6 also nominated Hank Eng as the Democratic nominee for Congress. Steve Clark and Ivan Botvin were candidates as well, and we thank them for stepping up. Hank received an overwhelming 88% of the vote, which is a tribute to his hard work over the past few months. Hank has a great background, including some similarities to mine – former Peace Corps Volunteer and former USAID employee. He will work hard to earn the support of voters in the district.

This past weekend I attended the annual Tri-County JFK dinner in La Junta, along with 160 other guests. Otero County Democrats presented a check for $500 to me for the state convention. Hooray for Otero County Dems!!! They also gave checks to State Rep. Wes McKinley and the local commissioner candidates.

Rep. McKinley was the evening emcee. Speaker Andrew Romanoff talked about the state legislative session. He did his usual great job.

Betsy Markey talked about her Congressional race in CD4. We are so lucky to have Betsy as our candidate. She will be officially nominated on May 16, but she already is working really hard across the district.

I followed Betsy and talked about the process, the upcoming state and national conventions. It was a message that Democrats in this part of the state were eager to hear. Then Sal Pace addressed the group about his House District race. Finally we heard from Ronnie Carleton on behalf of U.S. Rep. John Salalzar.

Thanks to Ed Morris for his fine work organizing the dinner. It was great to see Otero Chair Diane Ritkoff. I also had a chance to talk to Crowley Democratic Chair, Tom Flores, about the fires around Ordway. And I sat between Mayor Lawrence Sena, former Bent County Chair, and Alex Netherton, current Bent County Chair. It is the best part of being CDP Chair, being able to spend time with hard-working Democrats throughout the state.
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Posted in CDP, Congressional Races, Counties, DNC, National Convention 2008, State Legislative Races | Comments Off

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