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December 30, 2004

Honor Senate President Fitz-Gerald

This has come to me from several sources; it sounds like it might be worth dropping in if you're in the area and have the time:

Frances Koncilja and hosts invite you to a special reception honoring

State Senate President Elect

Joan Fitz-Gerald

As incoming President of the Colorado State Senate and incoming Chair of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee

Wednesday, January 5th

5:30 to 7:30 pm

The Oxford Hotel, Sage Room

1600 17th Street, Denver

Host Committee
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. Mark Udall, Frances Koncilja, Chris Gates, Ted Trimpa, Steve Adams, Lynn Mason, Jenifer Brandeberry, Beth Ganz, Tony Massaro, Mary Alice Mandarich, Collon Kennedy, Peggi O’Keefe, Rutt Bridges,
Gail Schoettler, Cole Finegan, Zee Ferrufino, Michael Bennett, Maggie Fox

This event is not a fundraiser

Please RSVP to DSCF2@qwest.net

Posted by dslater at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Staff Update from the State Party

From Julie DeWoody, Executive Director of the Colorado Democratic Party:

Happy New Year! I wanted to fill you in on some good news here at state headquarters.

Spencer Ross, who most of you have worked with over the past year, is staying on at the Party as our Political Director after he moved over to Victory 2004 for the campaign season. He will be the primary contact for all reorganization matters and, as always, is a wealth of help and information on many other subjects. As before, you can reach Spencer by e-mail at sross@coloradodems.org or here at the office at 303-623-4762.

We’re also happy to announce that Ani Martinez will be staying on board as our Director of Operations and Compliance. Ani has been a great resource for many of you already, and if you haven’t had the chance to meet her yet, you should over the next few months. She can be reached at amartinez@coloradodems.org or 303-623-4762.

Please let any of us on staff know if we can be of help to you. We’ll see you all in March, if not before!

Posted by dslater at 02:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 29, 2004

A few changes to DemNotes

As most of you know, I'm pretty new to this whole blogging experience. As time goes on, I hope for DemNotes to grow and be a constantly changing experience. With that in mind, I've added the following features recently:

Notifications: Now, you can receive notifications when key entries are posted to DemNotes. Just enter your e-mail address in the box to the right.

Photo Gallery: I'll post photos (now that I have a digital camera) when I attend events (when I remember the camera).

Blogroll: There are a lot of really great Blogs out there for Democrats in Colorado and the rest of the West. Take a look at some of these by clicking on the links to the right.

What else is coming?

Well, I really would like to add a calendar feature, but I think that's still some ways away -- I'm still trying to master the software running the blog. At some point in the future, I would like to expand DemNotes to include other contributors.

What would you like to see on DemNotes?

Let me know by commenting on this entry!

Posted by dslater at 12:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 27, 2004

A Couple of Events Coming Up

A couple of Colorado groups have training and/or strategy sessions coming up in January.

From Democracy for Colorado:

Democracy for Colorado Invites You to Respond Now with Your Feedback and to Attend the Open Strategy Meeting

January 22 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Denver, Colorado (Location To Be Announced)


DFC will be a player
in Colorado politics and YOU are
a crucial member of the TEAM.


You can help shape the future for DFC by:
Answering the questionnaire at http://democracyforcolorado.com/feedback2005/ with your ideas by January 7th, 2005.
Participating in the Open Strategy Meeting on January 22nd. Please visit http://democracyforcolorado.com/strategy_meeting/ for more information.


Thank you for your commitment to socially progressive,
fiscally responsible, honest politics in Colorado.

and from Be The Change USA:

Be The Change USA is presenting a workshop to organize and mobilize progressive Democrats. This workshop will not just address what Mike is going to do but more importantly, it will help define what we must do!

Workshop: "Building to Be The Change"

Saturday, January 15th, 2005

Mile High Inn - 6th & Simms

Lakewood, Colorado

Noon Early registration, snacks and networking

2:00 PM Workshop - welcome and keynote

3:00-4:50 PM Small group sessions on issues, organization, strategy,
defining our message and mobilization planning

(Each participant can take part in two
group sessions)

5:00 PM Session reports and mobilization plans

6:00 PM Dinner and Special Dinner Speakers
(tentatively scheduled speakers: Bill Winter, Morgan Carroll, Peter Groff, Ron Tupa, Mike Miles)

Registration fee: $30

Workshop Goal:

We are working to:

. Mobilize the Democratic Party to champion the People's agenda.

. We will produce programs and a message of:

Common Sense. for the Common Man.. for the Common Good.

This is your opportunity to help build a statewide organization of
progressives rising from Mike's impressive Senate campaign. The agenda will
include training to take a leadership role in your community and in your
Democratic party. You will also have an opportunity for you to have input
in defining our message.

The keynote speaker will be Mike Miles, with other speakers already confirmed to cover various aspects of the progressive agenda! This workshop will be the cornerstone of a great grass roots movement! We hope you can make it!

Please reply to the following email within the next week as to whether you
would be interested in attending or not. Your prompt registration will help us with workshop planning. Reply via email by completing the following form
and sending it to:


Workshop-signup@BeTheChangeUSA.org

Posted by dslater at 11:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Who's Running for Governor?

Who's running for Governor? Well the Rocky had a "short" list of possible candidates:

Republicans


• U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, 61, of Fort Collins, whose term expires in 2008. He's known as plodding but solid. "I simply have no plans to seek the governorship, but I'm careful to never to say never in politics," Allard said.

• U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, 56, of Arvada, who was just elected to a second term. The former state GOP chairman has been promised powerful committee posts in Congress. "I've been approached by some very influential people," he said.

• U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 71, of Ignacio, a controversial, colorful figure who hated living in Washington, D.C., and called it quits this year. "He's considering it," said his daughter-in-law, Karen Allard Campbell.

• State Treasurer Mike Coffman, 49, of Arapahoe County, for years has attended local GOP functions to court votes in case he runs for higher office. "I have the leadership, the experience and the courage necessary to solve Colorado's toughest problems," he said.

• U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, 51, of Grand Junction, is retiring after six terms in Congress. A lawyer, he has joined a Denver firm. He could not be reached for comment.

• Beer magnate Pete Coors, 58, of Golden, lost the U.S. Senate race to Democrat Ken Salazar in November. He said he loved campaigning but hated the media scrutiny. He could not be reached for comment.

• University of Denver President Marc Holtzman, 44, of Carbondale. The former banker and political boy wonder served as Gov. Bill Owens' secretary of technology for five years.

"I'm giving it serious thought," he said.

• Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, 50, of Englewood, who was chosen by Owens to be his running mate in his second term.

"I am really weighing my options," she said.

Democrats

• Entrepreneur Rutt Bridges, 53, of Denver, founder of the Bighorn Center for Public Policy, a Denver-based think tank.

"Obviously I'm thinking about it but it's a big decision," he said.

• Former state Sen. Mike Feeley, 51, of Lakewood. The quick- witted attorney ran for governor in 1998.

"I have to check with my daughter, Grace," he said. "She turns 2 in February."

• Mayor John Hickenlooper, 51, a brewmeister elected to his first political office last year. Although Coloradans traditionally have resented Denver mayors, numerous polls show he is very popular. "Seriously though, it's difficult to imagine leaving a job where one can get so much done that directly improves people's quality of life," he said.

• Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, 48, is leaving office because of term limits. The Colorado native grew up on an Arapahoe County farm with 11 siblings. "I'm considering it as one of my options," he said.

• U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, 54, of Eldorado Springs, was just elected to his fourth term in office. "It's no secret that he would like to serve the entire state of Colorado in some capacity," said his spokesman, Lawrence Pacheco.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on these possibilities (pro/con, Dem or GOP)? Who did the Rocky exclude that should have been on the list? Use the comment link to let us know your thoughts.

Posted by dslater at 10:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

What the other side is thinking

I received an unexpected Christmas present on Christmas eve in my mailbox -- a letter "From the desk of Mike Rosen!" Now, Mr. Rosen isn't as reviled here down in the southern part of the state as he is up in the Denver area -- not because his right-wing blather is more accepted; instead, we just don't get Denver radio stations all too well.

Anyway, Mr. Rosen was extending an invitation to me to join the Independence Institute. Oh, what joy! I felt like I was soaring with the eagles; I was flying on the clouds. I was invited to join this oh-so-exclusive club (I think their previous name was "the flat earth society")!

After I came down from my high, I read the eight-page letter that he had sent. It provides a lot of insight into the GOP psyche post-election. I'd like to share a bit with you:

So while we conservatives can feel good about the presidential results, on a statewide level we have to get our act together.

No, Mike, Coloradans are much better off with your act not together.

You and I can't just stand aside while liberals raise taxes, increase the size of government and further meddle with our state's businesses and out citizen's rights. Though liberals are quite giddy with the way elections went this time around, we can't afford to let them press forward with their agenda without putting up a good fight.

Okay, so we know the GOP is going to "put up a good fight" over the next two years. Partisanship, anyone? Anyway, take a close look at that previous paragraph -- while Rosen talks of wanting to think of new strategies, their strategy in this letter is to use the same tired old mantras -- that all Democrats are inherently "liberals", and that liberals are only concerned with raising taxes and increasing the size of government. Never mind that some of the "meddling" with businesses Rosen is talking about is protecting the vibrant ecology of the most beautiful state in the Union -- if environmental protection means "meddling with our state's businesses," Rosen and his ilk won't stand for it.

We need to show how private philanthropy, individual efforts, and free enterprise can do a far better job of bringing more prosperity and helping the less fortunate than can new government programs.

Oh, really? Did the private prison riot in Crowley County (or in Kentucky) recently show the advantage to "free enterprise" over government-run programs? How does introducing profit into an historically government-run operation reduce costs? And if private philanthropy and individual efforts can solve Colorado's escalating health care costs, why haven't the conservatives already done that? Do they need the government to help them do it? Isn't that just another government program?

The truth is that the GOP has never really cared about reducing health care costs because profits for insurance companies and HMOs are too high. The truth is that the GOP stands for the almighty dollar, and the "less fortunate" mentioned in Rosen's letter can be damned, for all they care.

Finally:

With the exception of President Bush's reelection, we conservative Coloradans didn't have much to smile about on Election Day. Whether as a result of liberal campaign spending, anti-incumbency, or the changing face of our state, Colorado's voters gave us a lot to think about.

You and I can't afford to lick our wounds much longer, though. We have to press forward right away, to counter the inevitable burst of left-wing activism, fiscal profligacy, and high taxes that will no doubt follow over the next two years. We need to present a conservative alternative to this type of thinking, and do a much better job of it than we've done in the past.

Again, I can't emphasize it enough: we won't catch the GOP sleeping on the job this time around. Our preparations for 2006 must begin earlier, and be more intense, than ever before. 2006 will be a pitched battle, and we have to prepare ourselves for the mud that the conservatives are mixing for us as we speak.

Posted by dslater at 09:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 23, 2004

GREAT Political Resource!

I think I must have too much Holiday-juiced free time on my hands today, but I've found another GREAT resource for Democrats online.

Daily Kos, a blog that I thoroughly endorse (it is my homepage on Internet Explorer), has created the dKosPedia, which is an online community-created encyclopedia of issues and subjects.

dKosPedia can be found at http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Main_Page. From there, you can pick an issue (such as Hydrogen Energy, or Health Care, or Bush's "Ownership Society"), and view arguments for and against each, as well as helpful tips on how progressives can better address each issue to the undecided public.

I came across a similar resource in 2000 at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles (in printed format), and found it to be incredibly instructive and insightful. As Democrats, we need to explore how to talk about issues in ways that connect with the average Americans, as well as to knock down the horrible ideas of which the Republicans seem to have an endless supply.

Common sense. Wow, what a concept. Take a look for yourself...

Posted by dslater at 01:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Some Good Commentary about Colorado's Results

Colorado Luis has an interesting analysis of the Colorado elections here: http://coloradoluis.typepad.com/blog/2004/11/lessons_from_co.html An excerpt:

But the fact is, we did win a lot, and we did it by appealing to moderates .... Long term, this doesn't mean "running to the center" DLC-style, it means pointing out that our positions, leftist or centrist, are closer to what most people value than those of our opponents. And this includes not being afraid to go negative to show how out of touch the Pete Coorses of the world are. That's how we were successful this year.

I just stumbled upon Colorado Luis' Blog, and it seems to be pretty intriguing. The most recent note is that he is taking a hiatus from the Blog for a while; I hope he returns soon, as I'm looking forward to reading more from this site.

Posted by dslater at 09:33 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Happy Holidays!

As 2004 begins to wind down, this holiday season is a time for reflection. What a year! It seems like so long ago that the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary were the top stories in the political news cycles.

The State Convention in Pueblo, which I worked so many hours on, seems like it happened years ago. This has been a bruising campaign season, and I think we've all aged.

But at the end of the day, as you sit down to your holiday dinner with your loved ones, the political divides seem to often fade away. We turn instead to hope -- and our families.

What we do as Democrats is all about that. It is all about being able to sit down with your family during the holidays and reflect on a year that has been better than the year before. Our job as Democrats is to build a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Happy holidays to all Colorado Democrats out there. My best wishes to you all for a happy and successful new year!

Posted by dslater at 08:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 22, 2004

Did Bush really win Colorado in a Landslide?

There's something that's been bugging me a lot lately. I'm sick and tired of the media talking about how big Bush's victory in Colorado was. Usually, it is put in some sort of context of our Democratic success elsewhere, such as: "Even though Bush won Colorado handily, Attorney General Ken Salazar was able to pick up a Republican U.S. Senate seat," yada, yada.

What's wrong with that? Well, the facts simply don't show a big landslide here for Bush. The Secretary of State's official numbers http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/general/COLORADO-CUMULATIVE.htm indicate that Bush won Colorado by LESS THAN FIVE POINTS! In any state, that can't be qualified as a landslide, or big margin, or anything of the sort. But for Colorado, a state that was supposedly safe for Bush at the beginning of the year, a five point margin has to be seen as a razor-thin victory.

The problem is compounded more when our friends parrot the "landslide" talk. On Friday, I received an e-mail from the Colorado Progressive Coalition, which is a great organization committed to progressive ideals that Democrats stand for. But in that e-mail, the CPC said Bush won "by a 7% margin," with the inference being that Bush's "big win" was an anomaly.

As Democrats, we have a duty to inform our peers about the truth. While election night returns looked pretty grim for the Presidential race in Colorado, they did not include several Democratic strongholds -- in particular, Boulder County. The final numbers were much closer than the early numbers, and we should be very proud of our work in Colorado at every level, including the Presidential race.

That's my two cents, at least.

Posted by dslater at 10:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 16, 2004

Executive Committee Pictures

Pictures from the December Executive Committee meeting are now up! Click on the link on the bar to the right (on the main page) to view them.

Again, sorry they are so blurry -- I bought a cheap camera over Thanksgiving, and apparently I need to read the manual more closely...

Posted by dslater at 09:58 AM | TrackBack

USA Today focus: Colorado Dems' Success

Sorry I'm a bit delinquent on this, but USA Today had a focus article a couple of days ago on the Colorado Comeback for Democrats. Here's a couple of excerpts:

Bernie Buescher is no John Kerry — and for that, Colorado Democrats are grateful.

Newly-elected Colorado Rep. Bernie Buescher in the State Capitol in Denver.
David Zalubowski, AP

The businessman from Grand Junction, Colo., won 55% of the vote to become a Democratic state representative in a county that supported Republican President Bush by a 2-to-1 ratio.

And Buescher was not alone.

Democrats had great success in state legislative races this year, even as they performed poorly in the presidential race and campaigns for Congress. Many Democratic gains came in the heart of Republican territory.

Colorado Democrats took control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1974.

...

In Colorado, conservative and moderate Republicans feuded on issues ranging from school vouchers to the budget. "Fratricide in the Colorado GOP" is how a Denver Post columnist explained Republicans losing power in both legislative chambers.

...

Julie DeWoody, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, says the recruitment of strong candidates and voter anger over state budget problems also played a big role in her party's success.

Buescher's race is a good example. He was chairman of the local hospital and a well-known businessman whose family had been in Grand Junction for three generations. Leading Democrats, including state Attorney General Ken Salazar, who won a U.S. Senate seat Nov. 2, urged him to run.

The seat was being vacated by a moderate Republican who left because of term limits. In a divisive Republican primary, a social conservative who stressed opposition to abortion and gay marriage defeated a moderate. Many Republicans refused to endorse their candidate. Some actively supported Buescher.

"Voters want legislators who are going to craft practical solutions to real problems," Buescher says. "In my race and throughout the state, there was a rejection of ideological-based candidates."

Amen! The full article can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/2004-12-14-dems-hidden-election_x.htm

Posted by dslater at 08:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 15, 2004

The Denver Post on the "Golden Rule"

The Denver Post this morning has a blurb about the "Golden Rule's" application to the Colorado Legislature. Very interesting blurb:

In January, Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, predicted it would be difficult to get things done in the state legislature in that session because he feared the Republican majority would kill Democrat-sponsored bills.

An encounter with House Majority Leader Keith King of Colorado Springs did not help matters. Merrifield noted that a jovial King said to him: "How does it feel to know none of your legislation is going to pass?"

At the time, King said he was "probably joking."

But now the tables are turned, and the Democrats have control. So what does King say now about the Dems?

"I'm hoping they're going to be as fair as I was in how I ran the floor of the House," he said. "I hope they treat us like we treated them for the last few years."

He can probably bet on it.

But while the press wants to focus on the Democrats' visceral (and probably somewhat justified) desire for revenge -- remember the flap over Senator Ken Gordon's short-lived proposal to make some GOP members committee vice-chairs -- we need to be careful about the power we've recently acquired.

At the Executive Committee meeting a couple of weeks ago, Chair Chris Gates made the point that we have got to work to show we can govern. We've had brief periods of legislative control in the past half-century, but they've all only lasted about two years.

Part of our issue has got to be about changing the tone under the Golden Dome. We need to set a precedent of civility.

Does that mean I'm suggesting that we cave in at the possibility of a fight? No, of course not. We have a great opportunity to shape Colorado's future, and we need to use our power as the majority to take advantage of that opportunity. But with this power comes great responsibility. When we must fight, we should do so vigorously -- but fairly.

Colorado deserves no less than that.

Posted by dslater at 08:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 13, 2004

It's Going to Get Tougher in 2006

We've all heard by now how successful Colorado Democrats were this year. The Republicans know it, too. In 2006, we lose a very important part of our victory this year: the element of surprise.

Outgoing Republican Senate President John Andrews understands that one of the main reasons we won is because we had a great message, and the Republicans didn't. The Larimer Democrats recently circulated an article by Andrews, and here's a key excerpt:

It won't be as easy next time. We've got to deliver in these next two years on our promises; we've got to make sure Colorado is better off because Democrats are in office.

We've proven that we're hungry enough to win. Now we've got to be smart enough to govern...

Posted by dslater at 02:13 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 10, 2004

Race for DNC Chair

Well, I've already gotten one e-mail this morning about the DNC Chair's race. On the surface, it seems so "inside baseball" that I wonder if the average person cares who the DNC Chair is? But, more than previously at least, it seems more important to Party activists this year.

At the Executive Committee meeting last weekend in Denver (pictures will be put on DemNotes shortly, I hope), all of the Colorado DNC members who attended and discussed the race indicated that they were uncommitted (except Mannie Rodriguez, who announced his support for former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb). But it seems that a lot of Colorado's DNC members like the idea of a Colorado DNC Chair. I can't imagine it would be bad for Colorado to have our own DNC chair... Can Webb do it? The only polling I've seen puts him running third in the race. But it is early, and Webb has a lot of friends in big cities (from his time as a Mayor) who may be able to pull more votes for him. But Howard Dean, who may be the front-runner at this point (where have I heard that before?), has an awfully big groundswell of grassroots support, too.

Who knows? The campaign has only begun.

By the way, Matt Stoller of MyDD has an interesting exchange with Mayor Webb in Orlando last night at a "Colorado Delegation" party. (We don't have an abundance of members of the DNC, so it is nice to know that we're large enough to be considered a delegation.)
http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/12/10/0253/3162

Posted by dslater at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 09, 2004

Welcome to the NEW DemNotes!

Welcome to the new era in communication for Colorado Democrats! This site is the natural evolution of DemNotes, which has been (until now) the almost-monthly newsletter I've put out to keep folks informed.

Information is still the primary goal of DemNotes, but we're also going to include more opinion as well. I've always felt that communication is key to success with Colorado Democrats, and we need to continue down that road.

Who knows whether this will succeed or flop? I don't. Basically, that's up to you. If you find the site informative, useful, or (not as likely) insightful, please let me know. And feel free to comment on any of the entries using the "comment" link.

One more thing: while I'm a State Party officer, this Blog has been created using my personal funds, and no State Party funds have been used to create or maintain it. As such (and here comes the lawyer in me), the opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors of those opinions only, and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Colorado Democratic Party (except, of course, where explicitly stated).

Come back often!

Posted by dslater at 02:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The DLC - Help or Hindrance?

I'm not sure the first real post to this Blog should be setting this kind of tone, but DailyKos has really hit the nail on the head today on the DLC's problems. Check into it here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/9/143724/624

In Colorado, we noticed similar problems. The Colorado DLC has recently had a tendency to support really bad ideas (remember how wonderful the elimination of "no-fault" insurance was supposed to be?), and throw bombs for no specific reason.

Now, I'm a moderate Democrat, and I was even once a member of the DLC. But the DLC of the early to mid-90s is no more. Instead of working to expand the reach of our party to those in the middle, the DLC seems to be working to restrict the reach of our party to those in the middle.

Inclusion needs to be the goal of the DLC, not exclusion.

Posted by dslater at 01:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack