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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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

Our Thoughts and Prayers

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

UPDATE: Here is the statement from Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak. Her words speak for me, as well:

Chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party Pat Waak issued the below statement in response to the loss of her Arkansas counterpart, Bill Gwatney.

“We are deeply sorrowed by the death of the Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney. While we do not know the motive of the assailant, we do know that a dedicated public servant lost his life today.

“Under the Association of State Democratic Chairs, the chairs, vice-chairs and executive directors of each state form a close bond. We are a family.

“Today we lost one of our members. We send our condolences to Bill’s family and to the people of Arkansas which were long served by him.”

For those of you who have not heard, Arkansas State Democratic Chair Bill Gwatney was killed today by a lone gunman at the State Party headquarters in Little Rock. Gwatney was a colleague of our Chair, Pat Waak, and myself on the ASDC. Here are the details as they are known now by CNN:

The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party died Wednesday, hours after a shooting at the party’s headquarters, police said.

Chairman Bill Gwatney died at 3:59 Wednesday afternoon after a gunman entered his Little Rock office and shot him several times in the upper body, Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.

Authorities confirmed the news shortly after former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton released a statement expressing their condolences.

“We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away,” the former governor and first lady of Arkansas said. “His leadership and commitment to Arkansas and this country have always inspired us and those who had the opportunity to know him.”

I’ve sent a personal note of our thoughts and prayers here in Colorado to my colleague, Arkansas Democratic Party Vice Chair Karla Bradley. Please keep the Arkansas Democrats, their Party leadership, and Mr. Gwatney’s family, in your thoughts as we move into this Convention period. I’ve offered my help to Arkansas Democrats as they are less than two weeks from arriving in Denver; I’m sure everybody will be wanting to do what we can to help Arkansas Democrats through this horribly tragic time.

Posted in DNC | Comments Off

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

patsigweb.jpg

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

Lots of Explanations … And Apologies

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

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

I’ve spent the past few days both recuperating from this past weekend and focusing again on getting some money-generating work done for my clients. But I did stop long enough to attend a Fremont County Dems Central Committee meeting Monday night, and fielded a ton of questions and concerns about the State and Congressional District meetings on Friday and Saturday. Before I get to my thoughts on those, however, I want to be sure you all have the latest news on the results of the balloting this weekend.

State Party staff and volunteers have been very busy counting ballots for the past three days. We finally have results from all seven Congressional Districts. Here are the results we have so far, courtesy of the CDP website:

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

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

DNC Members:
Debbie Marquez, Anthony Graves, Mannie Rodriguez

At-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 Clark

——————————————————————————–

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

——————————————————————————–

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

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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

So, congrats to the many winners over the past few weeks that will comprise our delegation to the National Convention in Denver in August. There was a lot of furious campaigning, and a lot more people ran who were deserving of a position than the number of positions that were available, but I’m confident we are going to have a great delegation to the Convention in August.

The State numbers are still being tabulated as I type this; however, I have learned that the vote at the State Convention was approximately 70% Obama to 30% Clinton, creating an 8-4 split in the At Large delegation for Obama (with 1 alternate to each campaign At Large), and a 5-2 split in the Pledged Party Leader and Elected Official category for Sen. Obama.

The Party is still tabulating / has not released results for the individual At Large delegate races. I just received word that they are looking for more Obama volunteers to count the Obama At Large ballots.

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Now, on to the meetings this weekend.

I spent the bulk of the day Friday at the World Arena, as my job in preparing for this weekend was to deal with most everything that went on inside the arena bowl (i.e., the actual program of the State Convention and Assembly). I worked with the campaigns in dealing with space issues, and supervised the installation of the sound, lighting, and video systems. At about 2:30, I headed back over to the Doubletree to register for and attend my own Congressional District meeting (the 5th CD). As soon as I arrived, I wished I was back at the much less chaotic World Arena.

For those of you who were there, you know that it was a complete mess — lines around and out of the convention area and into the hotel room hallways. I do want to make sure that some explanation is made — this was not what the Party had in mind, nor was it what was proposed to the Site Selection Committee when we selected Colorado Springs. Instead, the original plan was to use both the Sheraton (now the Crowne Plaza) and the Doubletree for the Friday meetings. Under that plan, two of the Congressional Districts would have met at the Sheraton at very ample and spread-out meeting room spaces, while the final of the three Congressional Districts would have still met at the Doubletree. Those of you who attended the State Party Summit in 2005 in Colorado Springs likely remember the Sheraton, as that is where we held that event — and it worked quite well.

Unfortunately, in a turn of events that has never been fully explained, the Sheraton / Crowne Plaza backed out of a commitment to host the Friday meetings about two months ago or so. At that point, it was too late to move the State Convention and Assembly from Colorado Springs — and pretty much any venue we would have chosen would have still had space issues. The Party explored using other last-minute venues to replace the Crowne Plaza, but the solution would have cost tens of thousands of dollars more — money that the Party simply could not afford (the State Convention and Assembly was already costing much more than planned). So we were stuck not only with holding everything at the Doubletree, but also with holding three Congressional Districts back-to-back-to-back.

In a normal year, that would be a daunting proposition. In 2008, that was a recipe for chaos. At the CD assemblies in previous weekends, we had already seen where some bottlenecks lay, and the Party staff worked quite valiantly to try to address those issues before the 16th. But some institutional bottlenecks remained, and those simply drove the process into a process that doubled the amount of time alloted to hold the 5th CD meeting, making everything else run even later.

Compounded on all of this was the fact that, in the 5th CD and in the 4th CD, the numbers coming out of the caucuses and county assemblies were such that the Clinton and Obama campaigns were within a couple dozen votes of gaining or losing a national delegate position. That focused an awful lot of intense heat on Party staff and volunteers, as campaign staff scrutinized every decision and every delegate credential awarded. How alternates were seated was, quite literally, going to decide how many national delegates each campaign was awarded. In 2008, in our national atmosphere, that slowed everything down even further.

With all of that in mind, though, I don’t want to make you all think that I believe what happened on Friday night was excusable. It was not. But I also want folks to realize that there isn’t a single villain or a single problem that caused all of the registration and alternate seating issues. The issues were caused by an amalgam of issues and mistakes — and I do know that the State Party officers and staff are well aware of those issues and mistakes. Dana Barker of Garfield County has rightly suggested that Chair Pat Waak form an ad hoc committee to review the state convention procedures and to make recommendations for changes in future years. I know Pat is going to work on doing that, and that is to be commended. The best thing that can come from this past weekend is a review and self-analysis to figure out how to ensure that — even though we may never see the same kinds of crowds again — we never subject Democrats to what happened on Friday night again.

As for Saturday, I must admit that all I’ve heard about are second-hand reports. I spent the entirety of the day stage right, handling the production (yes, the music and videos were all my doing (except for the Udall presentation), so address any complaints about those to me). I never got out onto the concourse to see what was going on. We heard occasional reports, and I assure you we were very frustrated with the slow pace of seating alternates, but it sounds like that process ran a little more smoothly on Saturday than it did on Friday. Many delegations organized to have their alternates sit in the arena until they were called back for seating, but I understand that some others were stuck out there most of the day. Again, for that, I don’t think there is any good excuse.

Enough about the problems.

If you missed the State Convention, I think you missed a really great event, even with the alternate issues. I loved how the crowd reacted to the music, and to the speakers. Both the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters had plenty to cheer about — and everybody there had plenty to cheer about when Mark Udall came in the room from the back. The Udall campaign did an outstanding job re-introducing Mark Udall to Colorado Democrats, and Maggie Fox brought a tear to more than a few eyes in the room when she talked of her love for her husband.

You may not be aware of it, but we actually draft a “script” for these things. No, the votes aren’t scripted, but most of the day is pretty well timed out and scripted. In the past, we kind of have hoped to stay no more than an hour behind the script. Saturday, we finished the program and got to the balloting nearly an hour AHEAD of the script! For most of the day, indeed, we were running ahead of schedule. I know many of you appreciated that we started on time (actually, Pat ribbed me that we technically started with Rep. Merrifield and Rep. Morse going on stage four minutes late, at 10:04), and that was a big goal of mine.

In fact, some of you may recall that the last state assembly to be held at the World Arena went much, much worse. In 2006, the rancor and division within the Republican Party caused the Republican State Assembly to run well into the evening. Voting began by around 4 pm for the Democrats this year, and the last vote was cast by around 6 pm — and that was with us running out of Obama ballots!

Oh, yeah, we couldn’t end the State Convention without one last crisis. We ran out of Obama ballots. It appears from the preliminary analysis that our printer mixed up the orders for Obama and Clinton ballots, as the Party ordered several hundred more ballots of each than we would conceivably need. Thankfully, Billy Compton has worked in elections before (he was the head of the Secretary of State’s elections division before coming to the Party), and had some one-page write-in ballots ready just in case of a worst-case scenario. The last few hundred Obama supporters were given these write-in ballots and shared a few lists of candidates to ensure they knew who was running for each office.

Was it messy? Yep. Did it seem disorganized? You bet. Did we get through it and elect everybody we needed to elect? Absolutely.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the messy business we call democracy this weekend.

Posted in CDP, DNC, National Convention 2008, Presidential Campaign 2008, US Senate Race 2008 | 2 Comments »

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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DemNotes: MIA?

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

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

I haven’t posted to DemNotes since the end of the county assemblies and conventions. That’s been a few weeks now, so I’m sorry that I’ve not gotten any more posts out since then. In the interim, I have been busy on a number of things, including preparations for the State Convention and Assembly in Colorado Springs, working on delegate selection, the national convention, and a few other things.

I’ve also taken some time to get some work done at my “real” job that had been piling up.

The one thing I did that I really do want to write about was emceeing the announcement for Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who is our candidate for Congress in the 5th CD. There was a great turnout at the Penrose Library in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago — well over 100 people showed up in the middle of a weekday to witness a great American announce his candidacy for Congress. Hal is a wonderful candidate — smart, funny, personable — and he will really make a run at this seat, building on the foundation set by the great run of Jay Fawcett in 2006.

State Chair Pat Waak was there, as was Mark Udall’s niece, Taryn Udall (who announced Congressman Udall’s endorsement of Hal). There’s even already a “Veterans for Bidlack” group out there working to build up support for Hal throughout this military-minded district. Many Republicans are realizing their mistake in electing Doug Lamborn to Congress, and they’re coming over — most for the first times in their lives — to support Hal Bidlack in his bid for this seat.

Hal could use some help all across this state. Take a second to go over to his website, and if you can afford to, drop him a donation or two:
http://www.bidlack2008.com/

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On a completely other note, the Denver 2008 Host Committee announced tonight where the fun spots will be for the Sunday night immediately prior to the National Convention. The Host Committee is responsible for the delegation welcoming parties for each delegation. I’ll post the full list below, but here are some highlights:

– In one of the worst-kept secrets around, it was confirmed that Colorado’s delegation party will, appropriately, be at the Governor’s Mansion.
– If you’re interested in rubbing elbows with those closest to the nominee, you will need to find a spot near the Denver Art Museum (Illinois) or the Pinnacle Club (New York).
– Or how about a party at Red Rocks? If you’re in the delegations from North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia, you’ll get it!
– Gov. Dean is likely going to be at the Phipps Mansion, where the Vermont and New Hampshire delegation parties will be.
– Want a world-wise atmosphere? Check out the Blair Caldwell Library, where the Democrats Abroad (as well as the Virgin Islands) will be hanging out.
– The District of Columbia has a pretty large delegation due to all of the At-Large (and influential) superdelegates they have (think Donna Brazile); they’ll be at the Museo de las Americas.
– Only twelve states have their own welcoming party: The aforementioned Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, and New York, as well as South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Iowa, California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas. The rest of the delegations share parties with other delegations.

Now here’s the full list from the Host Committee:

List of State Delegation Party Venues:
Belmar Center – Alaska, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee
Blair Caldwell Library – Democrats Abroad, Virgin Islands
Botanic Gardens – South Carolina
Center for the Visual Arts – Georgia
Colorado History Museum – Arkansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin
Denver Art Museum – Illinois
Denver Chophouse – Kansas
Denver Public Library – Iowa
Denver Zoo – Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota
Downtown Aquarium – Connecticut, Delaware, Missouri
Exdo Event Center – California
Grant Humphries – Minnesota
Governor’s Mansion – Colorado
Hudson’s Gardens – New Jersey
The Lab at Belmar – American Samoa, Guam, Idaho, Hawaii
Museo de las Americas – District of Columbia
Museum of Nature & Science – Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
Palazzo Verdi – Nebraska, Oklahoma
Phipps Mansion – New Hampshire, Vermont
Phipps Pavilion – Mississippi, Montana, Wyoming
Pinnacle Club – New York
Red Rocks – North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Wildlife Experience – Texas
Wings Over the Rockies – Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Washington

Let me make one thing clear, though. While I joke about where “you” want to be that night, these will be open only to the delegations listed, and guests of those delegations. You can’t just walk up, say, to the Denver Art Museum and get in.

Anyway, I’ll try to write a little more frequently; see you all around!

Posted in CDP, Congressional Races, DNC, National Convention 2008 | Comments Off

On The Road Again

Friday, March 14th, 2008

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

Wednesday was quite a day for driving.

I began the day with a drive up to Boulder for the monthly luncheon of the Boulder Democratic Women’s Club. State Chair Pat Waak and I were speakers. It was a robust crowd — over 200 present, including Joan Fitz-Gerald and Jared Polis, who are running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District. A number of local candidates and elected officials were also present.

Pat and I both spoke about a number of issues, and then we took several questions from the audience after our talks. Most of the questions surrounded the Presidential race, and our roles as Superdelegates. Pat reiterated her long-standing view that her role as the chair of the host state party for the National Convention is to stay neutral for as long as possible. We faced questions about the tenor of the campaign, about Michigan and Florida, and about our two remaining candidates. It was a very refreshing and stimulating discussion, and a nice change of pace from all of the different county assemblies and conventions we’ve been attending lately.

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After Boulder, I headed back to Canon City — literally just long enough to stop at my law office and check the mail — before getting back on the road to head south to Walsenburg. There, I attended the Huerfano County Democratic Assembly and Convention.

Walsenburg hosted another good crowd of Democrats. I kicked off the meeting with a short speech, and then they moved into the convention portion of the program. Several people spoke about their choices for President before taking the preference poll — most were very respectful of the other candidates, although there was one who tried to quote from a supermarket tabloid in opposition to one of the candidates. In the end, the vote was 30 to 20 in favor of Sen. Obama, giving him 7 of the county’s votes to 4 for Sen. Clinton.

County Chair Cindy Campbell, who was leaving the post due to health reasons, did an outstanding job getting through the county convention, and there seemed to be a truly positive atmosphere there when I left.

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But I wasn’t done yet. After leaving Walsenburg, I raced up to Pueblo, where I was the guest on the CSU-Pueblo student radio station’s political talk show. “Rev 89,” as the station is called, is not your average college radio station. I don’t know the current ratings, but when I first moved back to Southern Colorado a few years ago, it was the top-rated station in the Pueblo market, beating out all of the commercial radio stations.

The show was very interesting — the three co-hosts are pretty equally divided: one is an Obama supporter, one is a Clinton supporter, and one is a McCain supporter. Over the hour that I was on the show, we talked about a number of issues, and I used every opportunity to point out the differences between Sen. McCain and our two candidates. We talked about the state of the Presidential race, and my role as a Superdelegate and DNC Member. The co-hosts were unbelievably well-prepared, with notes on a number of very divergent issues on which they wanted to talk. I was impressed, and the hour went quickly, and was very entertaining.

By then, it was late, and I had to head home to Canon City — bone tired. Tonight, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m off to Southeast Colorado for a pair of assemblies / conventions. Maybe I’ll see you there!

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

Unpledged Delegate History

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

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

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Posted in DNC, National Convention 2008, Presidential Campaign 2008 | 2 Comments »

Twelve Feet of Sandwich: Not Enough for San Luis Valley Dems!

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

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

Last night, I drove down to Alamosa to give caucus training to the San Luis Valley counties. While I did not take a roll call, I recognized folks from pretty much every county in the Valley: Alamosa, Saguache, Costilla, Conejos, and Rio Grande were all well-represented there. The crowd was huge — about 100 people packed the standing-room only conference room at the Alamosa Recreation Center.

Prior to my caucus presentation, Sky Gallegos with the DNCC spoke about the Democratic National Convention in Denver. It was a “Convention Conversation,” which has been taking place statewide. Originally, Chair Pat Waak was to assist Gallegos, but Pat was in Texas due to the death of her father. After Gallegos’ presentation, she took a number of questions from the audience, many of which focused on what folks in the San Luis Valley could do to help the convention effort and to draw conventioneers to the Valley either before or after the Convention.

I missed the first half-hour or so of the convention presentation, primarily because MapQuest (and Google Maps, and BlackBerry Maps) all sent me about six miles south of Alamosa, to some remote, dirt-road location. I don’t know how, but after driving back into town, I just came across the Recreation Center and made it on time for my presentation.

Between my presentation and Sky’s presentation, folks heard from Darryl Grant, who is the DNC’s Field Organizer for the Southwest portion of the state. Darryl showed the group a video from the DNC explaining the 2008 field program and the role of neighborhood volunteers in that program.

Also before my presentation, there was a break for snacks. Among the things available were two six-foot long Subway sandwiches. One would have imagined that would be enough. One would be wrong.

The crowd was so big (and hungry, apparently) that the sandwiches were devoured in a matter of minutes. When I finally got to the refreshment table to grab a bite myself, I was greeted with a couple of crumbs of bread and some lettuce remnants.

The vanishing sandwiches were another reminder of what I’ve seen this year in Colorado. This was my last scheduled caucus training — we have 12 days left now until February 5. One thing has been confirmed: the phenomenon of Democratic interest in the caucuses in 2008 is a statewide phenomenon. Whether in Estes Park, Canon City, Rocky Ford, Montrose, Frisco, Pagosa Springs, or Pueblo, there is an intensity about things that we’ve not seen in recent years. I spoke briefly yesterday with CDP Executive Director Sherry Jackson — I say “briefly,” because she did not have time to talk. The phone at the State Party headquarters is almost literally ringing off the hook. There is now talk of needing more lines at headquarters to deal with all of the phone calls in recent days dealing with the caucuses. I’ve never seen anything like it.

One last point: Nevada is a good comparison to Colorado. In 2004, when their caucuses did not matter, they had 9,000 people attend statewide. In comparison, Colorado had around 12,000-15,000 Democrats attend statewide in 2004. In 2008, caucus attendance in Nevada spiked to around 144,000 Democrats! If Colorado saw even half of that kind of spike, we’re in for an exciting year!

The real test, as I’ve been telling groups in caucus training, will be whether we can keep these new people after February 5. If we can keep these new people involved, active, and interested through September and October, we will have an ability to change the debate and the elections in November. If we can pass that test, we truly will be turned completely blue in 2008!

Posted in Counties, DNC | Comments Off

My Own Technical Difficulties Won’t Stop Caucus Training in Summit County (or Otero, for that Matter!)

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

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

Monday night, I drove over Hoosier Pass (and back) to conduct caucus training for Summit Dems (and a couple of folks from Lake County, as well, including Lake County Chair Joe Fattor). Maybe I should have known that I was in trouble when I walked in and former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald made fun of the bag I was carrying — a leopard-print computer bag that resembles a purse awfully closely. (My laptop, while an awesome machine, apparently has a graphics card problem that causes it not to work when attached to a projector; therefore, I have to use my girlfriend’s computer to do presentations.)

In any event, soon after arriving, Sandy Briggs, the Summit County chair, asked if I was ready to go. I then asked if he had a projector for me. His response was a blank look.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of these caucus trainings lately. Indeed, I have been so busy, I’ve had to turn down recent requests to come up to Clear Creek County and Kit Carson County later this week because of other events. These trainings usually happen one of two ways: either the county contacts me directly to arrange for the training, or it is arranged by one of the DNC Field Organizers, such as the great trainings in Larimer and Weld Counties on Friday and Saturday that were arranged by DNC Field Organizer Robin Van Ausdall. However, in Summit County’s instance, the discussion was started by the Northwest Field Organizer Kim Phillips, but I made the final arrangements (or so I thought) with the county party.

And I dropped the ball — I forgot to mention that I’d need a projector.

Thankfully, Flo Raitano was on the ball. She immediately left to go home and grab her own projector from her home in Frisco. I began the presentation, and by the time I needed the projector for the more complicated math portions, Flo had returned and seamlessly set up the projector and the computer so I went right into the caucus math portion of the presentation without a pause. There were easily 50-60 folks there (or at least that’s what I’d estimate — as you will see later, my estimates have sometimes been waaaay under), and we had a great discussion of the various intricacies of caucus night.

Summit County already has local representatives for the Clinton, Obama, and Edwards campaigns. After my presentation, folks then gathered with each of the representatives to sign up and help each of the campaigns prepare for the caucuses.

———————–

By the way, in a recent post, I think I mentioned that there were around 150 people in attendance at the Larimer Dems training in Loveland. I was wrong. The county party did an actual head count, and the number of people there was much closer to 300, not 150. So much for my math skills!

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Last night, I headed east — to Rocky Ford. There, I conducted a caucus training at the Otero Dems’ central committee meeting (with a couple of Crowley Dems in attendance, as well). It was another good training session, with about 30 people present to hear about caucuses. As always, there were some great questions, and First Vice Chair Larry Daves did a wonderful job running the meeting.

After my presentation, our new DNC Regional Field Organizer for Southeast Colorado, Sal Pace, spoke about the DNC’s field efforts. He did a great job describing the new neighborhood organizer program, and he even got over half of the people in the room to sign up to serve as neighborhood leaders! Our DNC Field Organizers have very specific goals for getting people involved in this program — and we need your help to make it successful. The DNC is committed to having the most effective field organization in the history of the Democratic Party in 2008, and its success depends on the involvement of all active Democrats.

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Tonight, I get to stay in Canon City — but I don’t get to rest. Instead, I will be speaking at a very special Drinking Liberally event in Canon City. We’ll have representatives from several campaigns there to speak and answer questions; here are the details:

What: Drinking Liberally: An Evening with the Campaigns
When: Wed, January 16th, 5:30-7:30, presentations begin at 6
Where: McClellan’s Grill & Brewing Company, 413 Main St

If you get a chance, come on down to Canon City and enjoy an evening with us!

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