J-J dinner, Elbert, Broomfield, Clear Creek and DNCC Lakewood
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 6:32 PM by Pat WaakOn Friday, February 29, 2008, we hosted the 75th anniversary Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner at the Denver Convention Center. It was one of the largest dinners in the history of Colorado. We were also celebrating the fact that the Democratic National Convention is coming to Denver for the first time since 1908.
The highlight of the evening was the keynote address by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia. Senator Webb was the last of the 2006 Democratic races we won. He was the “tipping point” for control of the U.S. Senate. Also his was the race that swung Virginia into the “blue” category.
The Senator gave a speech that focused on national security, economic fairness and a return to the traditions of the Democratic Party. I particularly enjoyed talking with him as we made our way through the back halls of the Convention Center. He is smart, funny and personable.
The other highlights of the evening were awards. Rep. Rosemary Marshall was presented with the Democrat of the Year award. Rep. Ed Casso, Jr. received the award for the Rising Star. We gave out two Lifetime Achievement awards to Wally Stealey, who gave a feisty speech and to Ernie Duran, whose daughters Crisanta and Carol received it on his behalf. The Volunteer of the Year went to Jennifer Trujillo Sanchez.
I had the honor to give the Chair’s Award to Rep. John Salazar. He dedicated so much time to helping the party this past year, and we are deeply appreciative. Meanwhile the Colorado Young Democrats gave awards to Cindy Lowery, Leah Daughtry, Elbra Wedgeworth and Sen. Peter Groff.
This year I did not hold an after party reception because it was an early morning for the next day. I started the day by going to Elbert County. Now I have been in Elbert County at the Carlson Building many times. Usually there are maybe 20-25 people in attendance.
On that Saturday morning the room was packed and there was standing room only.
The Elbert County Chair, Rick Brown, gave me a wonderful intro, and I had the pleasure of addressing an enthusiastic and excited group of county assembly/convention attendees. My challenge, as always, is for everyone to stay involved in all of the party activities. We need their help through the year to make this a great election for the people of Colorado and the nation.
From Elbert County I drove to Broomfield. Over 160 people attended the county assembly/convention. It was Chair Kevin Kreeger’s first, and he was doing a great job. I arrived to hear Joe Whitcomb, who is running for Senate District 23, my district. He was followed by Don Quick, District Attorney for Adams County.
I want to mention that Don and I talked before we each spoke. We often do not pay enough attention to the District Attorney races. As a result we do not have enough Democratic D.A.s. Don is the example of one of our finest, and we need to not only get him elected, but to find many more like him who will run.
It was my chance to speak and of course, one of my first questions was “how many of you are here for the first time.” Like Elbert County and last weeks’ counties, most of the audience raised their hands. So I talked about our chance to win back the White House and all of the other races, including Rep. Diane Primavera’s re-election.
From Broomfield I headed to Clear Creek County. So many times I have had to cancel my trips to Idaho Springs because of snow and ice. Saturday was a beautiful and sunny day. And Clear Creek’s assembly/convention was filled. Becky Cook and Tim Mauck are the co-chairs, and they had a great team helping them get everyone registered.
Clear Creek had many new people participating, so my same message went out to them. It was thrilling to see their excitement.
Next weekend we are racing from Larimer to Weld, then Adams to Denver, and finally Arapahoe. These counties will be huge gatherings so I look forward to continuing the opportunity to talk to as many of the participants as possible.
On Monday, I met with the new communications director for the coordinated campaign, Lauren Rose. We will have more to announce in the next week or so about our communications team. However, it was a good planning session.
Lauren and I headed for Lakewood to attend the latest DNCC community conversation. Rep. Ed Perlmutter from CD7 and Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee were the main speakers. They mostly talked about the logistics of the upcoming convention. The DNCC is using 7 hotels in the Lakewood area.
Some of the questions related to delegate selection. I had an opportunity to talk about the next steps in the delegate process. One person asked about “superdelegates.” Both Rep. Perlmutter and Leah Daughtry explained the history of automatic delegates. For more on this, you might want to go to Colorado Matters and listen to the interview taped by Rep. Perlmutter, Maria Handley and me. It was aired on Feb. 28, 2008.
There were questions about getting the arts involved. President of the Denver Host Committee, Elbra Wedgeworth, stepped up to talk about some of the plans for spotlighting Denver arts and culture. Business opportunities were high on the list. Leah Daughtry said that one possibility would be to set up activities for children and child care.
Over 200 people came out on a Monday morning. This is another indication of the excitement for Colorado around the upcoming convention.
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