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

Friday, I drove over to Montrose for what has become a pretty regular trek to their annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. I attended my first JJ Dinner in Montrose in 2000, when I was running to be a national convention delegate from the Third CD. Since then, I’ve been to several, including one where I first donned the white hair and suit to perform as Harry Truman, co-keynoting with then-Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

This was easily, though, the most well-attended one of them all. Each year, it seems they have to find a larger and larger venue for the dinner. This year’s was at the Montrose Pavillion, a wonderful facility with the capacity to handle the 200+ on hand to hear several great speakers. Montrose Dems, led by Chair Randy See, did a great job getting participation from surrounding counties. I sat with the Delta County Chair; Sen. Gail Schwartz and Reps. Bernie Buescher and Kathleen Curry all attended and helped boost the crowd.

The keynote speaker was Andrew Romanoff, who did a wonderful job (as usual) combining humor with policy discussion to entertain the crowd. The crowd was buzzing with one key point: it is finally okay to hold your head high as a Democrat in Montrose again. The county Dems have worked over the past several years to make progress, and the crowd made it clear that the tipping point had been reached.

The big talk in Montrose lately has been an effort by GOP Rep. Ray Rose to bring down Montrose’s only Democratic County Commissioner, Bill Patterson. Bill and I both served as county chairs together, and I know what kind of man Bill is — an honorable and decent public servant. Apparently, Montrose residents know this too — that’s why every single letter to the editor submitted to the Montrose paper has been in support of Bill. That may also be why the Montrose Republicans voted 10-2 against supporting Rose’s efforts to recall Patterson. (FYI, the two votes came from Rose and his wife!) This appears to be part of a larger coordinated effort to smear Democratic county officials across the Western Slope. I’ll write more about that in a separate post.

Ray Rose’s craven partisan attacks may turn out to be one of the best things for the Western Slope. People are coming out of the woodwork to bring common sense to the Legislature from that House district. And, it appears that they are going to have a GREAT option in 2008: Montrose City Councilwoman (and former Mayor) Noelle Hagan announced her candidacy Friday night! Indeed, the biggest and longest ovation Friday night was not given to Speaker Romanoff; instead, that honor was bestowed on Hagan when she made her announcement!

Western Slope voters deserve so much better than Ray Rose is giving them. For the longest time, Western Slope leaders — from either party — eschewed partisanship in favor of getting things done. Leaders like Bernie Buescher, Jim Isgar, and Kathleen Curry still have that work ethic. But too many of our Western Slope Republican elected leaders like Rose and Rep. Josh Penry simply do not. Bill Patterson is my friend, and he’s a member of our Democratic family. When you attack my family, you better be ready for a fight. I’ve pledged to come back to Montrose, Delta and the other counties in HD 58 as often as it takes to elect Noelle Hagan, and to send Ray Rose into an early retirement next year. Whether it makes other targeting lists (and it very well should), it has made the top of MY targeting list!

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Saturday morning, I made my way just a bit up the road to Delta for a breakfast rally for Delta Democrats. Many of the same folks (Schwartz, Buescher, Curry, and Romanoff) who had been in Montrose the night before stuck around to come to enjoy pancakes and fruit in Delta Saturday morning.

I had already felt a little guilty in that Delta may very well have been the largest county in the state that I had not been to for a Democratic Party event. After the warm welcome I received in Delta, I felt even more guilty. Delta Chair Eric Jessen and his wonderful team did a great job planning for the event and were very ready for the 100+ that showed up.

Delta is another one of those counties going through a transformation. Delta Dems shocked the state when they delivered just over 5000 votes for Bill Ritter last year, earning them extra seats on the State Central and Executive Committees for the first time in anybody’s memory. Then, just last week at the July 4th parade, their enthusiasm and excitement earned them the top prize for the nonprofit / political category, and third place overall among parade entries!

Anyway, when I apologized for taking so long to visit Delta, there was some hissing. But when I promised to come back as often as it takes to elect Noelle Hagan and help Delta Democrats, the crowd was placated and cheering. So I’ll be back.

 UPDATE: I made a HORRIBLE error and forgot to mention that Senator Gail Schwartz, a rising star in the Senate, was also in both Delta and Montrose.  Sorry!