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November 02, 2005
Open Letter to County Parties
I want to say this morning how incredibly proud I am to be a Colorado Democrat today! The passage of Referendum C yesterday re-affirmed my belief that we have some of the best-organized and well-energized county parties in the country.
A year ago tonight, we were hearing rumblings of a miracle. In the midst of Republican victories nearly everywhere else in America, Colorado lifted itself from the shackles of fiscal irresponsibility and chose a new direction – a Democratic direction. A year ago tonight, Democrats did the unthinkable: we took control of the State House, the State Senate, the Third Congressional District, and a U.S. Senate seat.
After that amazing night, Republican cynics in Colorado insisted that Democrats would follow the lead set by the Republicans and take this state in a radical and frivolous direction. But thanks to the leadership of courageous Democrats in the House and Senate, these cynics were only half right: Colorado would indeed see a radical new direction – one not seen in years. This radical new direction? Fiscal responsibility and a focus on issues that mattered to average Coloradans, like job creation and economic prosperity for our people.
In the middle of all of this, Colorado’s Democrats did what the Republicans could not do: we negotiated a deal with the Republican Governor to lift Colorado out of a fiscal morass never before seen in this state.
Then it was your turn. Our Democratic legislators needed your help – the help of all of Colorado’s 64 county Democratic parties – to make this deal a reality. We all knew it was not perfect. And, just as expected, the extreme right – led by Marc Holtzman and “Both Ways” Bob Beauprez – lied and distorted the realities of this coalition for Colorado.
Buoyed, ironically, by the public’s distrust of politicians fed by the Republican Culture of Corruption, they almost got away with it. But you, the heart and soul of the Colorado Democratic Party, never gave up. Everybody had a part in this victory. Whether you joined Senator Ken Gordon in his biblical walk across this beautiful state, helped bring House Speaker Andrew Romanoff or Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald to your community to lobby for votes, or whether you made phone calls or knocked on doors or simply put out a yard sign, this victory is yours.
Finally, you have sent a message to the nation. It wasn’t simply chance that brought the Wall Street Journal to write an editorial yesterday asking Coloradans to defeat Referendum C. Right-wingers have been fighting heavily to put TABOR on the ballots of dozens of states in the next year. You’ve told the rest of the nation that, while TABOR may be attractive on paper, its execution is imperfect at best. The message to the states considering TABOR: be careful what you wish for.
In the past couple of months, I’ve been all over this state, and I saw the amazing job that Democrats were doing to win this election. Give yourselves a pat on the back and take a day off.
But after that, we’ve got to prepare for the toughest battle we’ve ever seen: 2006.
Posted by dslater at November 2, 2005 10:02 AM
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Comments
Right on, CO!
We're leading the way to a better day!
Posted by: Zappatero at November 4, 2005 08:39 AM