(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 daysâ€.
We 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