The Associated Press is reporting that Senator Jim Isgar will be appointed by the President to serve as the State Director for Rural Development in Colorado. There are four statewide positions in Colorado that are appointed by the President — this is the first of those appointments. The other three positions are U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshall, and Farm Services Director.

A few of you out there know that I was the other major candidate for this position. I’ve not spoken publicly about my efforts, but I am honored and thankful to many of our elected officials for recommending me to the White House. While I am obviously disappointed that I was not appointed, I will say that I’ve always thought Senator Isgar would make a good State Director for Rural Development. Since he is from the Durango area, he knows about the vast needs of Colorado’s rural areas. The President and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack have made a wise decision in selecting Senator Isgar.

The White House and several cabinet secretaries are going to be spending the next few months on a rural development tour of the country. I’m hopeful we can host one of the stops on that tour here in Colorado. Our rural areas are among the most diverse in America, and we need to be sure that the President’s economic recovery package reaches all corners of our nation. There are a number of rural loan and grant programs that the Rural Development office administers for the government, and Senator Isgar will do a great job making sure that those opportunities are spread throughout our great state.

So, again, congrats to Senator Isgar! And, just as important, good luck to the Senate District 6 vacancy committee in selecting a quality replacement for that seat.

We live in a celebrity-driven society.

I recognize that I contribute to that. The “celebrity appeal” of meeting our elected leaders at the highest levels cannot be overestimated. Indeed, there is now a whole language and methodology to facilitating these meetings — meetings known as “The Clutch,” in political parlance.

Today, I was a part of such a clutch. As most of you know, Vice President Biden was in town, speaking about the importance of implementing “green” strategies to help build a stronger middle class in America, and to help with our economic recovery. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with State Chair Pat Waak, Denver Chair Cindy Lowery, and a few others, to meet the Vice President after the town hall meeting he held today at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Here’s how that happens: first, you get a call a few days before — from out of the blue. You’re asked for certain pieces of personal information (presumably for a background check by the Secret Service). Then a day or two beforehand, you’re given the details of when and where to be. Sometimes, like today, the “clutch” is in conjunction with some other event; other times, it might be at the airport when the airplane arrives or leaves; still other times, it might be at the hotel where the “principal” is staying.

It sounds exciting. It makes for good boasting material. But the reality is that these “clutches” are really an awful lot of standing and/or sitting around waiting for a three-second handshake.

We were brought in to seats to the side of where the Vice President was to be speaking. There were a lot of key Colorado leaders there, including former Senator Gary Hart, former Mayor Wellington Webb, Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien, Treasurer Cary Kennedy, Speaker Terrence Carroll, Senate President Brandon Schaffer, and many, many others.

I’ll write about the speech later in this post, but after the speech, we were led back into a remote hallway of the museum’s office space. There, we stood around waiting for about an hour for the Vice President to appear. We had a nice conversation with a Secret Service agent there, though, who had just returned from accompanying the Vice President to Serbia. Then, the crowd of Secret Service agents reached a critical mass, and the Vice President appeared. Pat was first, and Biden hugged her and thanked her for her work. I was next, and mumbled something approaching, “Thank you for coming to Colorado,” the Vice President shook my hand, we smiled for the camera, and I moved on. That was it.

Was it worth it? You bet!

——————-

I hope some of you are looking at the new DemNotes Twitter feed. (You can find it at www.Twitter.com/DemNotes) Using my cell phone and Twitter, I am able to update folks in “real-time” on what is going on at these different events I attend. I’ll try to keep Twitter postings to Democratic-related things, and usually will only use it when I’m attending events. But to see how I saw things unfold during the Town Hall meeting, check out the feed.

The town hall event was very impressive. We had probably a fifth of the total Cabinet there for the meeting, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, HUD Secretary Shawn Donovan, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. The focus was on using our economic stimulus package to create sustainable green jobs.

Senator Bennet was also on stage with the group, and had a lot to say about the need to ensure that the economic recovery comes to all parts of Colorado. Secretary Vilsack talked about an ingenious program to help veterans returning from the Mideast by training them to work on cleaning and recovery efforts in our National Forests.

There was a lot of discussion about revitalization of the auto industry. There was also a lot of talk about the development of green technologies and manufacturing jobs here in Colorado — including becoming a major manufacturing center for wind generation turbines and related parts.

We also heard a slip about how successful the stimulus package has been in one sector: apparently, it will be released later this week that the Obama stimulus package has already created 100,000 new construction jobs. (Normally, I wouldn’t write about yet-to-be-released facts, but since this statement was made in front of a bank of reporters and cameras, I think I’m safe.)

It was a great event, and another opportunity to show how important Colorado is to this Administration. I remain so incredibly proud to be a Colorado Democrat!!!!

I’m in a rush to get out the door to head up to Denver to greet the Vice President, but I wanted to post a quick note to DemNotes to be sure everybody has heard the news: President Obama has announced his first appointment to the United States Supreme Court, Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

I hope many of you were able to see the President’s announcement this morning. He gave a moving and powerful endorsement of Judge Sotomayor, and her personal story is one that is worthy of the Supreme Court. Sotomayor — who grew up in a housing project in the Bronx — rose to graduate at the top of her class at Yale Law School. She will be an outstanding Justice on the Supreme Court — and historic, as well, as she will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

Here’s what CNN has to say:

Sotomayor, a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was named a U.S. District Court judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, and was elevated to her current seat by President Clinton.

Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, rose from humble beginnings at a housing project in the South Bronx and went on to attend Princeton University and Yale Law School.

She has minimal personal assets compared with many of her judicial colleagues; a 2007 financial disclosure form showed her with a checking and savings account valued at between $50,000 and $115,000.

Supporters say her appointment history, along with what they call her moderate-liberal views, would give her some bipartisan backing in the Senate.

A senior White House official said that Sotomayor was “nominated by George Bush — then Bill Clinton — [and has] more judicial experience than anyone sitting on the court had at the time they were nominated.”

Another senior administration official said that Obama “was looking for someone with a balance of skills: very, very smart; independent thinker; highly regarded for integrity and commitment to the law.”

“He found all of those things with her, including his goal of selecting someone with the empathy factor — real world, practical experience and understanding of how the law affects real people.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, issued a statement calling Sotomayor’s record “exemplary.”

“Judge Sotomayor has a long and distinguished career on the federal bench,” Leahy said. “I believe [she] understands that the courthouse doors must be as open to ordinary Americans as they are to government and big corporations.”

Today at the ASDC meetings in Richmond was primarily about managing state parties and new media communications.

The day began with a breakfast hosted by the AFL/CIO. It was a good event, featuring folks talking about the importance of labor, and the details of the Employee Free Choice Act (which the CDP Central Committee has passed a resolution endorsing). We also heard at the breakfast from our DNC Chair, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (from whom we heard again later in the day).

Next, we attended a number of sessions focused on the true “nuts and bolts” of running a state party operation. There are a lot of things that go into running a successful multi-million dollar business, and they aren’t always the “sexy” things you think about. We had a lot of good discussions about personnel issues, insurance questions, and contracting. Lots of good tips from folks who have been running state parties for ten or twenty years.

We also heard from Craig Smith during lunch about more of the abstract things of leading a political organization. Smith is best-known for being the one-man operation that was the “Clinton for President” exploratory committee long before Bill Clinton was President. He shared some great stories about his work in the Clinton, and then the Gore, leadership inner circle.

After lunch, we held a joint session with the DNC Executive Committee. We were joined by the other DNC Executive Committee members from Colorado, Maria Handley and Ramona Martinez. We heard updates on voter protection, a briefing from the White House, and finally some more remarks from Gov. Kaine. Gov. Kaine emphasized that “we’ve got this moment, and we don’t know how long it will last.” He talked about how we have to do as much with this time we have in the majority as we can. It will be a challenge, but he emphasized that we needed to lead, and was very energetic in his hopefulness.

After the meeting, I headed over to a workshop on new media communication tools. It was a little humorous — they talked a lot about Twitter and Facebook, all while I was reporting about the meeting on Twitter and Facebook.

Tomorrow is the final day of the ASDC meetings. I’ll report more on DemNotes, as well as on Twitter.

I think I now know why it took the North so long to win the Civil War: it takes forever to get to Richmond. (For those who are history-impaired, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.)

We finally arrived at the Omni in downtown Richmond, where the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) is holding its Spring / Summer meeting, a little after noon today. The meeting started this morning, and we were scheduled to arrive late last night; however, storms in Chicago made our flight from Denver late to Chicago. That, then, made us miss the last flight to Richmond. We thought we’d just fly to Washington and drive down, but that flight was cancelled after a two-hour delay. So we spent the night at O’Hare airport. And we took the first flight to Richmond this morning.

I was able to participate in this afternoon’s activities here. And I’ve got a new way to report my minute-by-minute work here in Richmond to the folks back home in Colorado: Twitter.

In the past, I’ve tried to be near the cutting-edge on technology; DemNotes was among the first blogs by a state party officer in the nation. Before that, when I was the Chair of the Fremont County Democrats, in 1999, the Fremont County Dems’ website was among the best county party sites not just in Colorado, but in the nation. But I’ve not before now adopted this “Twitter” trend. But it seems appropriate when in meetings like these ASDC meetings to use this to report little facts about what is going on here.

What is Twitter? Well, imagine a melding of text messages and blogging. With Twitter, you are limited to 140 characters (characters, not words) to describe what is going on, and you can send your messages out with your cell phone.

If you’re interested, you can sign on to Twitter yourself (www.twitter.com) and follow my Twitter by searching for my Twitter blogs (finding the user “@DemNotes”), or by going directly to www.Twitter.com/DemNotes.

Here’s a taste of what I “twittered” this afternoon (in reverse order):

Okay. So the Alabama Chair knows the exact numbers of county level electeds that are Dems. I’ve never seen that 4 Colo. Good info to have.
about 1 hour ago from txt

In the next session now - “optimizing state party services”. Alabama chair and Oregon exec Dir are leading the discussion.
about 2 hours ago from txt

Utah ED Todd Taylor, just shared an amazing stat with the crowd: 6000 Utahns came to Colo the last wknd of 08 and knocked on over 100k d …
about 2 hours ago from txt

Just heard of a great program in South Carolina. Can’t wait to talk to Pat about it (she is in a different workshop right now)!
about 2 hours ago from txt

Apparently, one of the models for small donor programs is right next door - in Utah!
about 3 hours ago from txt

finally in Richmond - learning about small donor programs right now
about 3 hours ago from mobile web

As you can see, we began with a discussion of small donor fundraising. It was a good discussion, with lots of ideas shared among the state parties there. Then, I went to a second breakout session on how state parties can do a better job being relevant to the people they serve. It was inspiring to hear what is going on in Alabama with the State Party working to help out local candidates more and to keep their 2/3 edge in county and local elected officials.

I’m headed now to hear from the new DNC leadership in an informal session. Tomorrow, we begin again, with work on communication, more fundraising, and a joint session with the DNC Executive Committee. Of course, I’ll write more when I can — and Twitter when I can’t write as much!

I’m planning on writing later today about my trip to the regional training in Durango, but here’s news that more of you will find interesting: I haven’t yet seen it on news sites, but Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic is reporting rumors that Arlen Specter, the heretofore Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, will be switching parties today and becoming (after we swear in Al Franken) the 60th Democratic vote in the U.S. Senate! This is also now being reported on the AP.

Hopefully, a filibuster-proof Senate will help us get more of the President’s agenda passed!

Okay, I admit, DemNotes has not been the most-updated blog around for the past few months. I’ve taken some time to focus on work and family a little more between elections, and so I haven’t gotten to write to DemNotes recently.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing has been going on in the Colorado Democratic Party recently. Indeed, lots is going on.

Of course, there was the State Party reorganizational meeting last month in Denver. All of the incumbent officers were re-elected; I most certainly want to thank you all for giving me another two-year term as your First Vice Chair. The meetings went very well, although for some the time change did wreak some havoc on the schedule. The night before, Paul Begala headlined a very successful (and well-attended) Jefferson-Jackson Dinner for the State Party.

Several counties have also held major fundraising dinners over the past month or so. Here in Fremont County, the Fremont Democrats held one of their most successful and well-attended FDR Dinners in recent memory. Rep. Buffie McFadyen and I were honored to handle the “Live Auction” duties throughout the program. Former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff — after a stint at the dinner in Montrose the evening before — was the keynote speaker, and was as captivating as he always is.

The State Party has also been working on a number of critical Party-building activities. Former Douglas County Chair Paul Thompson has been working with Party staff (especially Mike Weissman) to create a “wiki” for county party leaders. If you don’t know what a “wiki” is, think of it as an informational website where everybody who visits can also contribute information and thoughts to the site — it is a dynamically-changing product. (Wikipedia is the most well-known wiki.) I don’t think that the site is up and operational for all county party leaders yet, but I’ve seen a sneak preview, and it is probably one of the most exciting things to come to county parties from the State Party in a long time (maybe the last time we’ve had something this useful would have been the implementation of VAN / VoteBuilder). Paul and Mike have done an outstanding job putting this together, and I can’t wait until it goes public to the county party leadership across the state.

We have also been working on a number of regional trainings over the next two months. In the past, we have had a “County Chair Summit” where county party leaders from across the state gather in one place to hold a retreat and train on a number of subjects (we’ve been all over the state in centrally-located places in the past: Salida, Georgetown, Glenwood Springs, and Avon, to name a few). This year, though, we are inviting more than just county chairs, and we are going all across the state, including Pueblo, Steamboat Springs, and Durango, to help orient both veteran and new county party leaders to the business of running a county party. Topics will include fundraising, campaign finance, communication, and a host of other subjects.

The first of these regional trainings was to be tomorrow (Saturday) in Pueblo. However, with the weather bearing down on us, the Party has decided to postpone that first training. It looks like we will reschedule the Pueblo training for June 13. Right now, here are the dates and cities for the other upcoming trainings:
April 25 - Durango
May 2 - Steamboat Springs
May 9 - Montrose
May 30 - Fort Morgan
June 6 - Denver Metro

I won’t be able to be at all of the trainings, but where I can make it, I will be doing a session on communications for county parties. If you were around in August of 2005, it will be similar to the one I gave in Colorado Springs at the State Party Summit then.

Finally, there is national stuff afoot, too. A few weeks ago, Pat attended a one-day session of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) at the DNC in Washington DC. Since my kids were in town for Spring Break, I was unable to make it (only the second ASDC meeting I’ve missed in my time as a Vice Chair), but I hear it went very well. We have a much longer and more detailed meeting set for the middle of next month in Richmond, and I’ll be there to report on what is going on with the national party in more detail then.

So, that’s a quick update on what is going on right now. I’ll try to write a little more often and a little more consistently from now on….

Yesterday (Wednesday), I woke up at 5:00 a.m. Mountain Time to ride a bicycle down a 10,000 foot mountain. Now that I write that, I realize how crazy that may sound. It gets crazier.

You see, I’m not in the Mountain time zone. We are in Maui, in a first “real” (i.e., no meetings, no family holidays, etc.) vacation in a long time. Maui is three hours behind Colorado. You do the math. That’s right: I woke up at 2 a.m. to ride a bike.

And, by the way, I enjoyed it.

Even though this is supposed to be a real vacation — a chance to get away from the hubbub of my job(s) — we so enjoy this Party and the work of the grassroots that we couldn’t stay away. When looking at a calendar of events here, we noticed a meeting of the local Democratic Party. It was no question — we showed up at a Hawai’i version of a local reorg meeting.

Things work a little differently here in Hawai’i. There aren’t as many counties; Maui County includes the islands of Lana’i and Moloka’i as well as Maui. They have a county party here, but the house districts are more prevelant in their organization (a lot like they are in Denver and a couple of other large counties).

After resting from our morning bike ride, we got back in our car and drove into a very non-touristy area: the town of Pukalani. We then headed over to the local swimming pool, where a group of about 20 people met in a small community meeting room adjacent to the pool.

At this point, it was a little like a caucus in Colorado. Tables were set out for each precinct in the house district (I’m thinking the precincts are larger and the house districts are smaller, because there were only 7 precincts in the district). Each precinct elected their own “President” and “Vice President”, as well as other officials. Then, the district elected its own officers.

We were also met by Maui’s county chair, Lance Holter. Lance is a passionate environmentalist; he lives in the Maui town of Pa’ia, which is known to tourists as “Hippie-town”. However, Lance is very well-spoken, and gave the group a good rundown of the issues facing the Party in the coming cycle, especially the need to elect a Democrat to replace Republican Governor Linda Lingle.

Both Brandy and I spoke briefly, as well. I talked about how Colorado had changed, and gave some insight into how we had become a “blue” state, and how much work that took. I also thanked the Hawaiians for helping give us a President we could be proud of again. There was a lot of pride in the accomplishments of the Party, both locally and nationally.

It was a refreshing evening. Party politics in “upcountry” Maui is not a whole lot different than in a lot of rural areas of Colorado. People showed up in droves for their caucuses, just like Colorado. They have seen a drop-off in turnout since the massive caucus turnout. And, just like in every community in Colorado, they know that the key to winning elections is to effectively work on talking to neighbors in a methodical, planned, door-to-door format.

Visiting Maui has been a reminder in the diversity and beauty that is America. I’ll be happy to be back in Colorado, but this is certainly another reason why protecting our precious places is so important.

I’ll see you all at the J/J Dinner next week!

This morning, I drove up to Denver to attend the meeting of the Colorado Democratic Party’s Latino Initiative at State Party Headquarters. It was a good group — as people kept arriving, they had to keep bringing in more chairs into the room — a good problem to have.

First, let me say that I halfway expected a pretty confrontational meeting. Nearly every face in the room that I recognized was somebody with whom I’d butted heads on the Presidential campaign during the caucuses and assemblies. But I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. Pat Waak and I were both there to speak to the group and answer questions. While the questions were certainly not softball questions, they were very thoughtful and respectful. I know that Pat and I both left the meeting with more to think about and to work on in the next election cycle.

One of the biggest concerns — and one I’ve heard a lot about lately — is the paucity of elected Hispanics in office in Colorado. The Democratic caucus in the Legislature, as Andrew Romanoff put it accurately at the meeting, does not look as much like Colorado as it should. While we’ve been making incredible gains in the Legislature, the number of Latinos in the Legislature has actually gone down. So much of the discussion this morning was on the need to go out and affirmatively seek out quality Hispanic candidates for the Legislature across the state of Colorado.

Another valid concern that was raised was that the relationship between the Colorado Democratic Party and the Hispanic community in Colorado needs to be more of a two-way street. We are good at asking the Latino Initiative for its help in reaching out to the Hispanic community; we are not nearly as good at attending Latino Initiative meetings and asking for input at key points in the process from the Initiative.

I don’t want to make it seem like this meeting was one where people were complaining; quite the contrary: there was a reasoned dialogue about the future of our Party and the importance of continued outreach. Ideas were just as plentiful as concerns. And there was definitely a recognition of the State Party’s efforts to make diversity an important goal when hiring staff and making appointments.

Like I said, I went up there a bit trepidatious about the meeting. But I left the meeting excited about the discussion, and convinced that we need to have more discussions like this, and more often than once every two years. Several local parties have active chapters, including Arapahoe County (which has a game night coming up next week), Adams County, and El Paso County. Check with your county party to see how you can get more involved with the Initiative, or e-mail DNC Member Mannie Rodriguez, who is the Chair of the Initiative, at jmrod91850@aol.com.

——————

Also, last night we hosted our House District Reorganization. The Democratic Central Committee from House District 47 (Pueblo and Fremont Counties) met at our house last night to elect officers and conduct business. It was a good meeting; we re-elected our District Chair, Joan Parker of Canon City. I was elected as the District’s Secretary-Treasurer. Plus, we had a nice snack of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies (I only burned about a third of them), and a good evening of discussion and fellowship with old friends.

Next up: The J/J Dinner and the State Reorg on the 7-8 of March. See you there!

We have some exciting news that was just released this afternoon. The Colorado Democratic Party announced today that Paul Begala will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, to be held on Saturday evening, March 7. Here are the details from the Party’s press release:

Democratic state party chair Pat Waak announced today that the keynote speaker at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner on March 7th will be Paul Begala, CNN political analyst and former top aide to President Bill Clinton. “We are delighted to have Mr. Begala join us and give us his unique, well-informed insights on the historic election just passed,” Ms. Waak said.

Paul Begala served as Counselor to President Clinton in the White House, where he helped define and defend the Administration’s agenda, from the State of the Union Address to the economic, domestic and international issues the White House faced each day. He has helped direct the political strategy of numerous other campaigns across the country and around the world, including advising politicians in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.

The Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner is the highest profile and largest fundraising event held by the state party each year where almost every major elected official in the state can be found. This year is the 76th annual edition of the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner and is being held in the Korbel Ballroom of the Colorado Convention Center. For more information on the dinner, visit www.coloradodems.org. Reservations for the dinner can be obtained by e-mailing 2009JJ@coloradodems.org or call 303-623-4762.

As noted in the release, some tickets are still available, so get yours today!

I began this latest season of county party reorganization meetings by going to the far northeast corner of the state, in Sterling. Yesterday, I closed the central committee reorganization season by visiting the opposite corner, in the southwest, in Durango. (Yes, I know folks in Julesburg and Cortez may quibble with my descriptions as being the “far” extreme corners, but you get my point.)

We drove down to Durango on Friday night for the Saturday morning reorganization meeting of the La Plata County Democrats. Despite some pretty heavy snow (and icy roads that nearly spelled my doom in the one-mile drive from our hotel to the fairgrounds), the crowd was full for the reorganization meeting. Incumbent chair Jean Walter (who was elected to fill out a term at a meeting when she was out of the state) was unanimously re-elected to lead La Plata Dems for another term.

As I told the group, La Plata county Dems have been very successful because their Party organization truly depends on everybody working together as a team. Nobody seems to do the work in La Plata County for their own glory; they seem to work hard because they know the stakes. That, I think, is a very important key to success for a county party: teamwork. You could see that same teamwork on display in their elections, especially for their executive committee and bonus members to the state central committee. When more people volunteered for the jobs than there were positions available, veterans deferred to allow new activists to get more involved. It was an impressive display of the importance of teamwork and renewing the vitality of a central committee.

And La Plata Dems have much for which to be proud. One of the great stories of the election last year happened in Durango. I don’t know if I’ve written about this before (I may have), but when John McCain visited Durango about two weeks before the election, the Democrats in Southwest Colorado put together an amazing “welcome” for Senator McCain. National reporters said it was the biggest counter-rally they’d seen in McCain’s travels. Obama supporters lined the streets of the town with signs, and respectfully showed America that La Plata County was Democrat Country. It is said that there were lots more Democrats rallying that day than folks actually attending the McCain rally.

La Plata County is simply a wonderful place, with some of the most welcoming people around; if you haven’t been down there yet, you should make a point of spending a weekend down there.

—————–

Earlier in the week, on Thursday, I went to Pueblo to attend the Pueblo Dems’ reorganization meeting. It was a masterful show of efficiency. All of the officers were re-elected without dispute (hmmm… a good model for the State Party reorg?), and Terry Hart, the county chair, kept the meeting on track and on schedule.

Pueblo Democrats had a good year. As most of you know, Pueblo is a wonderful blue-collar steel town — and the color of the collar also describe the color of its votes. Democrats did well in Pueblo in 2008, and it was a big part of our statewide wins.

Former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff was also in Pueblo to speak, and — like he’s received statewide at these reorganizational meetings — he received the warmest welcome and applause of anybody there. He talked about the successes of Democrats in the Legislature and how important Pueblo has been to those successes.

As always, I have so many great friends in Pueblo, and it was good to see so many of them once again.

—————-

Finally, even earlier in the week, we held our own reorganizational meeting here in Canon City for Fremont County Democrats. Gloria Stultz, who ran an amazing campaign for county commissioner last year, was unanimously elected as the new Chair for the Party. My wife was unanimously re-elected to the position of Party Treasurer (though, for the life of me, I don’t quite understand why she would want to be — treasurer is a thankless job with hours of work each week in a county like this that raises a lot of money in small contributions).

Well, that’s the end of the county reorganization meetings. There will be some district meetings in the weeks to come, and I’ll be back in Denver on Saturday for the Latino Initiative meeting with all of the State Party officers. Then, we’ll have the Jefferson Jackson Dinner on March 7 (do you have your tickets yet?) and the State Central Committee meeting on Sunday, March 8. See you there!

Yesterday, mere hours after our return from a very long drive back from Oklahoma, we jumped back on the Reorganization Circuit, stopping in Adams and Denver counties for their reorganization meetings.

As with so many other counties, both Adams and Denver are undergoing some pretty big changes; both counties elected mostly-new slates of officers, including new chairs and vice-chairs.

Adams County was the first stop, up at the Pipefitters’ Hall on North Broadway. The room was packed with precinct committee persons and politicians from all stripes. It was great to see so many new faces there mingling with the familiar ones. We spoke toward the beginning of the meeting, along with Governor Ritter, Congressman Perlmutter, and former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff. We all spoke just before the officer elections; Marty Wisniewski was selected unanimously as the new Adams County Chair. He’s the former Mayor of Thornton; I had a brief chance to meet him on Sunday, and he seems like he will do a good job keeping the county solidly blue.

We had to get down to Denver before the officer elections in Adams, but I’ve heard that Linda Sands is the new First Vice Chair and Julia Hicks (my predecessor as State Party First Vice Chair) was selected as the Second Vice Chair. So congrats to all of the new officers!

We then drove down to Denver for their reorganization meeting. Denver’s Dems run a well-oiled machine, and they had the agenda set forth down to the minute. That was impressive, but what was even more impressive was how frustrated the leadership seemed to get when they got about 5 minutes off of the schedule. That’s a sign that expectations are certainly high in Denver, and the level of activism and excitement continues to impress me every time I visit.

Another thing that impresses me is the youthfulness of the Party leadership in Denver. The outgoing chair and vice chair (Jennifer Coken and Rachel Kienzler) proved that you don’t have to have been involved for 50 years to successfully run a county party. New Chair Cindy Lowery has been incredibly active as a Young Democrat and has proven her ability to organize and plan; joined with Jennifer Jacobson, the new Vice Chair for Denver, they and the rest of the officers should prove to continue to be the dynamic team that keeps the Party in Denver an exciting operation.

The State Party officers spoke in the middle of the officer elections in Denver. Fewer folks were paying attention to our re-election spiels, but that was fine with me; I was just happy to have a chance to talk to the Denver Dems. As for the officer elections, it appears that the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were contested races, and I have not been able to find out any results of those races. (If anybody knows how those turned out, let me know in the comments section.)

I left before the speeches for the open Treasurer’s position; however, in the Secretary’s position, Dan Willis was being challenged by Owen Perkins. It seemed like an interesting race. From the speeches, it sounds like Owen worked hard to campaign to each central committee member individually, while Dan said that he had to focus on planning the reorganization meeting, so he could not campaign as much. It will be interesting to see how all of that turned out.

Tonight, we have our own reorganization meeting here in Canon City for the Fremont County Dems. My wife is running for re-election as the Party’s treasurer, so I will be there all night to support her and the other candidates for the future of the Party down here. Unless plans change, I think we’ll be in Boulder on Wednesday, Pueblo on Thursday, and Durango on Saturday. So I’ll see some of you out on the road!

Well, its that time: county party reorganizations. Traditionally held between February 1 and February 15 of every odd-numbered year, there are always a couple of counties that tend to go just before the window. The point of a “reorganization”? To elect the party officers to serve for the next two year election cycle.

Wednesday night, I drove up to Sterling for the first of these. Logan County Democrats, like many counties across the state, saw an increase in Democratic votes in 2008. They saw organizational efforts like you wouldn’t believe. And they saw several new faces join the Democratic Party. And on Wednesday night, one of those new faces became probably the youngest county chair in Colorado.

20-year old Cody Engelhaupt can’t buy beer. He voted in his first Presidential election only a few months ago. But he worked so hard and so tirelessly last year that there wasn’t even a pause when the Logan County Democrats unanimously selected Cody as their new County Chair.

For the longest time, especially on the Eastern Plains, the Democratic Party has always looked for new leadership from young people in the communities; however, it often seems like the tasks of running county parties fall to the same people. Now, these are folks like Jennifer Felzien of Logan County, who have all done an amazing job keeping the Party together and working to get out the vote every election. But most of these folks would be glad to give their duties (and for those of you who don’t know, county chairs have some of the most daunting duties, yet go terribly unappreciated) to a new generation of leaders.

How do I know this? Because I was once one of those “new generation” of county party leaders. At Fremont County’s FDR Dinner in January 1999, the wonderful Fremont County Chair, the late Beatrice Kauffman, asked folks to come see her after the dinner if they had an interest in serving as an officer. I approached her, figuring to serve as the secretary or maybe the treasurer. However, after I had walked out of the room, she had recruited me to succeed her as the county chair.

In any event, Engelhaupt isn’t the only young face serving Logan County’s Democrats. 29-year old school teacher Dan Conn was elected unanimously as the Party’s Secretary, as well. In Logan County, the donkey is alive and kicking!

A new generation of leadership is coming to El Paso County, too. Thirty-six year old Jason DeGroot was selected as the new County Chair in El Paso County on Saturday. I drove up to Colorado Springs for the event, and it was a crowded hall. Rep. Michael Merrifield reminded folks of the times when El Paso County Democrats could have held their reorganization in a tiny room with 20-30 people there. This time, easily a couple of hundred folks showed up and showed enthusiasm for the changing politics of El Paso County. Pat Waak, Carolyn Boller and I were there on behalf of the State Party, and we made sure folks there understood the importance of El Paso County in statewide politics. I pointed out that when we get close to 40% in El Paso County, we usually win statewide; when we get closer to 30% in El Paso County, we don’t do so well statewide. Getting that 40% number is critical to any statewide victory, and that’s why El Paso County is so important to us. (Outgoing chair John Morris pointed out that 40% wasn’t good enough for him, but that’s understandable.)

In any event, El Paso County has seen an abundance of changes since first electing Michael Merrifield in 2002. They have elected a State Senator (John Morse) and last year elected a second Democratic State Representative (Dennis Apuan). Outgoing party chair John Morris has been a critical part of these changes and this organizational framework that has helped Democrats like Bill Ritter, Mark Udall and Barack Obama statewide. He will be missed, but DeGroot is certainly capable — I worked a lot with him last year, first as head of the transportation committee for the State Convention, then later as an alternate to the National Convention from the 5th C.D.

I’ll try to get to several more reorganization meetings in the coming couple of weeks, but sadly, I will miss several on Thursday and Saturday because I will be celebrating my boys’ birthdays in Oklahoma on Friday and driving back on Saturday. So, to the folks in Jefferson, Gunnison, Eagle, Garfield, Douglas, Larimer, Mesa, Arapahoe, and Broomfield, and Ouray, I send my deepest regrets. As with the other officers of the Party, I am running for re-election, and I hope my absence doesn’t mar your views of me and my re-election bid.

Yesterday, we held our Association of State Democratic Chairs meeting, along with our Winter DNC meeting.

The morning began with a somewhat chaotic meeting of the ASDC. There was a contested race for ASDC President (who also serves as a DNC Vice Chair). Incumbent Mark Brewer of Michigan was running against Ray Buckley of New Hampshire. Well, that was what most folks thought coming in. The two had reached a “compromise” that required a rules change (one would serve as President; the other would serve in a newly-created post of “Chairperson”). Only problem: the ASDC membership wasn’t exactly sold on the rules change. It was overwhelmingly tabled.

So we moved forward: to nominations. Ray was nominated. Mark was nominated. Then, a surprise: Florida Chair Karen Thurman was nominated. Then, Brewer of Michigan withdrew. We voted. The winner, with about 3/4 of the vote: Ray Buckley. I know Ray pretty well; I supported him in this run. I’m confident that state parties will be well-represented in this effort.

We elected a few other positions, as well. Our Chair, Pat Waak, was re-elected to serve on the DNC Executive Committee from the Western Region. It was a long meeting - we did hear from a few others, including those involved in planning for redistricting in 2011.

But the main business of the day, for most, was the DNC meeting in the afternoon here at the Marriott Wardman Park. There, we held the formal change-over from the administration of DNC Chairman Howard Dean to the new chair, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Governor Dean saw an impressive display of sustained applause — nothing he could do seemed to stem the standing ovation and hooting and hollering.

Governor Dean singled out two states as success stories, but not ones you’d think about: Utah and South Carolina. He spoke about how our efforts in those two states led to impressive results in some of the reddest states in the country (we only lost South Carolina by single digits in 2008). And he continued to press that our next targets are to flip Missouri and Texas in 2012.

DNC Member and leader of the Native American Caucus Frank LaMere had one of the most emotional moments of the day. He spoke of a saying in many Native American tribes that translates into “We are all related. We are all important.” He emphasized that Governor Dean’s leadership could best be described in those terms. Then, he and a couple of other Native American DNC Members presented Gov. Dean with a traditional Native American blanket and draped his shoulders with the blanket. Gov. Dean seemed very moved by the efforts.

Our next — indeed, our most important — piece of business was to elect our new DNC Chair. Gov. Kaine was unanimously elected, and nailed down his challenge this way: “I feel like I’ve taken over for somebody who just won three Super Bowls in a row!” His address to the DNC included a significant segment in Spanish discussing the importance of outreach to all communities. Most important for many of us in the room, Gov. Kaine reaffirmed his support for the 50-state strategy: “We will never again be a Party that writes off a state or a region. The 50-state strategy has worked and it is here to stay!”

After the meeting, we held a reception here at the hotel for Gov. Dean and Gov. Kaine. For such a short meeting, it was a nice way to re-connect with fellow DNC members. Several Coloradans were here for the meeting, including Anthony Graves, Mannie Rodriguez, and Debbie Marquez.

The evening before, we attended the Western Inaugural Ball. Celebrities abounded — we mingled with folks like Tom Hanks, Tyra Banks, Blair Underwood, Halle Berry, and even Ron Howard. And there were plenty of Colorado celebrities: Ed Perlmutter, Ken Salazar, Jared Polis, Peter Groff, Rollie and Josie Heath and more. It was a great opportunity to celebrate our new Administration and our successes.

Today, we head back to Colorado. And back to work. See you there!

I’m in a bit of a bind here. It’s unusual when I sit down to write DemNotes: I’ve got no earthly idea how to write about this day here in Washington DC.

Our President. Such a phrase bears so much meaning today.

President Obama.

Just typing it — typing it without it being a hope, without it being a mere possibility, without using it as something that “could be” — just typing it in such a concrete fashion brings goosebumps and almost makes tears well up.

But to write about today — the President really gave such a speech of our challenges, of our hopes and of our future, that there is no way for me to describe what it was like. You just had to see it.

I can write about the mass of humanity. I hear 2 million or so attended the Inauguration today, a new record. I was blessed enough to have a seat toward the front, but the views down toward the Washington Monument, and beyond, took our collective breaths away. Of course, the mass of humanity has its drawbacks. We were packed like sardines in the subways coming down this morning, and Brandy’s ticket to the event proved to be worthless, as she bravely stood in a line for hours without moving. She missed the event, as did many who had every different variety of ticket to see the swearing-in.

Folks here who have been jaded by decades of inaugurations say they’ve never seen anything like what has happened here in Washington today. I’ve been to a couple of inaugurations myself, and I must agree. Something new is happening, something exciting is happening here in Washington.

Change is here.

And it takes your breath away.

We’re headed out to the Western States Ball now. I’ll try to write about that when I can, but tomorrow will be filled with ASDC and DNC meetings, so we’ll see when I can get to it.

Last night was an impressive display of excitement from Colorado’s Democrats. The “Colorado Ball” was held yesterday evening in the Washington Westin City Center. Hundreds of Coloradans — and folks with links to Colorado — gathered to celebrate the inauguration of our new President today.

When we first decided to hold a Colorado ball in Washington, there were some who thought the State Party would end up losing tons of money; that there simply wouldn’t be a whole lot of demand for such a thing. But it turned out there was plenty of demand. Ticket sales were stopped last week, and I’m told something like 800 people attended last night. Very impressive.

I think I was most impressed by how, more than any CDP event I can recall attending in Colorado, this event truly seemed to represent the whole state of Colorado. When you hold an event in Colorado (usually the Denver area), the attendance is often dominated by folks from that area. Last night, though, everybody had to come from far and wide to get there. I’m told that Durango alone had a contingent numbering in the twenties. I saw folks from Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Denver, Greeley, Aspen, Douglas County, and so much more. It was truly a good night to be a Colorado Democrat.

One of the oddest parts of the night was when I heard the band strike up the tune “Sweet Home, Alabama”. That’s a song that, at least on its surface, seems to celebrate a time (and a Governor) who would be, let’s just say, less than friendly to today’s festivities. (Apparently, the song is a little more complex than that, at least according to later statements from Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd.) In any event, the song was turned on its head as a celebration of a blue state turning bluer — the words were changed to “Sweet Home, Colorado” — and the crowd really got into it.

Out in the hallway, it was a mob scene. Senator Udall could hardly move; folks were crowding him for photos and to catch a word with our new Senator. Governor Ritter and Congresswoman Markey saw similar crowds. One surprise: I don’t think folks were expecting the new designate for the Secretary of Agriculture position, fmr. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, to show up. So he wasn’t as well-recognized. But it was an honor to have him there, and I did get to speak to him for a couple of minutes.

It is a little after 6 a.m. here in D.C. There has been a bit of a hysteria built up among D.C. residents over what to expect today. I’m not sure yet whether it is warranted. We’ve been told to expect chaos on the Metro, and that the Metro is essentially the only way to get around. The television is reporting that most of the “park and ride” parking lots along the Metro have already filled up. Thankfully, we have a ride to the nearest Metro station.

So, I’m off to bundle up, try to stay warm, and head over to the Capitol. There, I’ll watch history. More later.

I’m in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this morning. Yep, Harrisburg. Yesterday, we spent the entire day hopping from airport to airport to end up here — just a couple of hours north of our final destination: Washington DC.

It is a little reminescent of my first trip to Washington DC, way back in January 1993. Back then, a few of us Young Democrats from my school packed into a compact car and made the 20-hour drive from Norman, Oklahoma to watch the President we helped elect become, well, President. It was a breath-taking and exciting experience. But it was nothing like this time.

This time, I’m feeling a lot more emotional.

I wasn’t this emotional on election night — mind you, I was excited, happy, cheerful, just like on any other successful election night. But the sense of history this week seems much more palpable; it seems even more palpable than when we stood there in the Pepsi Center and nominated Barack Obama with tears streaming down so many faces.

I think, perhaps, this is more emotional because of the mass travel — from all colors, from all stripes of society — to Washington. Yes, it truly seems like a “pilgrimage”.

Heck, my presence in Harrisburg this morning is emblematic of that mass movement. Airline tickets here were about a third the cost of tickets to any of the three DC-area airports. It was a whole lot cheaper to fly here and rent a car to drive to DC than to fly directly there.

And we are not alone. On the final leg of our flight, from Chicago (how appropriate!) to Harrisburg, our flight was full - not a seat to be found - and it was full of folks whose final destination was not Pennsylvania nearly as much as it was Pennsylvania Avenue.

So, I’m getting emotional. Reading the special section of the Rocky on the plane yesterday — reading about those who are also making this trip, whether as a journey of personal fulfillment, or because they’re in the parade — I became a little teary-eyed. This is why we get involved in politics. Indeed, this is why we are Americans: the peaceful transition of power; the orderly transition from the status quo to an era of Hope. This historic nature of this is not lost on anybody around here.

Thanks to our wonderful Fremont County Vice Chair, Alain Chamot, we are staying with his incredibly hospitable and generous mother in her home in Northwest D.C. I’m not sure whether we will have Internet access, but if we do, I’ll try to write about what we do and see for the next few days. Tomorrow night, we attend the Colorado Ball here in D.C. Tuesday, of course, is the Inauguration and the Western Inaugural Ball. Finally, Wednesday will be filled with official meetings, both of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (in the morning, where we will elect a new President of the organization) as well as of the Democratic National Committee (where we will formally elect Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as our Chair).

But you don’t have to be in Washington to celebrate this history. Celebrations are going on in nearly every community in Colorado. Go to DemNotes.com and use the comments section for this post to let everybody know what you’re doing and what this week means to you!

This afternoon, the State Executive Committee of the Colorado Democratic Party met at the Pipefitters Hall on North Broadway. In general, it was a happy crowd — one with only one real responsibility today, to pass a budget for 2009.

Every December, the State Executive Committee — a group of around 120+ people from across Colorado — meets to adopt a budget for the State Party for the following year. Sometimes, there are numerous changes and questions and challenges. Other years, like this year, members seem to be more content to accept the judgment of the officers who drafted the budget.

There will be some changes, staff-wise, in this budget. Our Party Chair, Pat Waak, has yet to announce whether she will seek re-election. However, the budget provides that she will serve as a hybrid Chair / Executive Director beginning in January, and beyond March if she is re-elected as Chair at the Party reorganization in March. The universal sentiment I heard at the meeting today (and one I whole-heartedly share) is that everybody needs to do what we can to talk Pat into staying for another term. I’ve seen Pat grow into one of the pre-eminent Party chairs in the nation, and we would be well-served by her continuation as our Chair.

Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff (he’s still the Speaker for a couple more weeks) was also present and did a good job working the crowd. As one might imagine, there was a lot of buzz about the possibility that he could be our next U.S. Senator — he seems to be on everybody’s short list of candidates to fill the vacancy that will be created by Senator Salazar’s ascention to President-elect Obama’s cabinet.

An hour or so after the meeting, the Second Congressional District Vacancy Committee met to fill the vacancy created by incumbent Evie Hudak’s election to the State Senate. I didn’t stay for the meeting, so I don’t know how that turned out — if somebody wants to post the winner on DemNotes.com as a comment to this post, that would be great!

Finally, I was approached by a couple of Larimer County Democrats about an important project in Northern Colorado requiring public comment. Democrats in Larimer County would like your help in providing public comments in favor of an option for expansion of transit capacity in Northern Colorado. The Colorado Department of Tranportation is accepting comments on proposals to handle increased transportation needs in Northern Colorado.

Two packages are being considered. “Option A” provides for better transit options in already-populated areas. It ensures that any new growth that comes from this expansion primarily comes in already-populated parts of Larimer County. “Option B” provides primarily for more lanes on I-25 — expanding in areas that are currently vacant land; in other words, guarantees more sprawl in Larimer County. Larimer Dems are pushing for folks to comment in favor of Option A.

If you’d like to help, please send your comments to CDOT no later than December 30 by using the form at the following site:
http://www.dot.state.co.us/NorthI25eis/contact.cfm#form

Have a great holidays!

Governor Ritter has just announced his choice to replace Mike Coffman Colorado’s Secretary of State: Grand Junction Rep. Bernie Buescher.

A panel had narrowed the Governor’s list to three: Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Rep. Buescher, and Sen. Ken Gordon. Any of the three would have been outstanding choices for that position. But the choice of Rep. Buescher certainly shows the importance of rural Colorado to this Governor, and it is a good choice from a practical standpoint, too.

I spent a day walking precincts in 2006, and as I said then, it was one of the best days I had during the 2006 cycle — and that’s saying a lot, because there were a lot of good days walking precincts that year. But Bernie Buescher is a special person, and his selection as Colorado’s Secretary of State is a wonderful recognition of his intellect, his bipartisanship, and his hard work. We will be served well by Secretary of State Buescher.

Now, it is time to look at the next major appointment: U.S. Senator. Governor Ritter wants to hear your thoughts: if you have input, call the Governor’s office at (303) 866-2471. We Democrats have a massive bench for this job, and — like the SOS job — lots of qualified people who would make excellent U.S. Senators.

We arrived back in Colorado from San Diego late Sunday night. Well, technically speaking, we didn’t get to our hotel in Denver until the wee hours of Monday morning. And, boy, was it cold! We stayed in a hotel in Denver because I was to be at the State Capitol Monday morning, and it didn’t make sense to drive back to Canon City only to come straight back up the next morning.

I’m thankful I stayed, because I was able to witness something that has not happened for 16 years in the Centennial State: electors casting their votes for Democrats for President and Vice President.

Our Party Chair, Pat Waak, stayed over in California for a few days to enjoy some well-deserved and much-needed vacation and rest time with her husband. So I was there at the Governor’s office to represent the Colorado Democratic Party. Even to the end of this exciting election cycle, there was a little drama. State Party Second Vice Chair Margaret Atencio, who was one of Colorado’s two at-large electors, was sick in the hospital and unable to attend. The statute regarding presidential electors says that the remaining electors elect a replacement.

Thankfully, the chair of our African-American Initiative, Vivian Stovall, was there and ready to vote. The electors unanimously selected Vivian to take Margaret’s place, and, with Margaret on the phone, the Governor thanked Margaret for her lifetime of service to the Party.

The meeting was handed over to a somewhat dour-looking Mike Coffman, who — as the Secretary of State — was tasked with chairing the meeting of the electors. His staff handed out separate ballots for President and Vice President, and both were filled out and signed with much fanfare and excitement in front of the capacity crowd and media (there was even a television set out in the hallway for a feed of the proceedings for those who could not fit inside the Governor’s office).

Not much suspense: as expected, all nine of our electors officially cast their votes for Barack Obama for President and Joe Biden for Vice President. Original certifications of the vote were sealed in envelopes in front of us and sent on their way to Vice President Dick Cheney (as President of the Senate), the National Archives, and U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado Chief Judge Wiley Daniel. It was truly inspiring to see democracy and the peaceful transfer of power work as it is supposed to work.

After the vote, the State Party held a reception at the Blair-Caldwell Library and Museum. It was a small affair, attended mostly by electors and their families, and national convention delegates. But it was a great opportunity to celebrate the last leg of this journey in Colorado, one that will be officially certified on January 6th, when the votes are tallied in Congress and Barack Obama is officially declared the President-Elect.

Tonight, we’re not resting, but we’re staying close to home. We’re participating in what many of you have participated in the past couple of weeks: the traditional county party Holiday party. Fremont County Dems are meeting at the local VFW to celebrate our wins and commisserate over our losses, and to generally enjoy each other’s company. I’ll try to write about that tomorrow.

One of the critical parts of being a successful party leader, I think, is the ability to recognize that there are ideas out there that you haven’t seen or thought of that just might work. (Conversely, some of the party leaders that I think have the most problems are those who are unwelcoming to any kind of change.) Pat and I get to attend a number of meetings and trainings, but easily the most helpful to us have been these ASDC meetings like the one we just concluded here in San Diego.

This morning, we spent several hours discussing many issues — and a key topic was how things will change now that we have control of the White House.

We began with several pieces of standard business — approving minutes, adopting a treasurer’s report, etc. But we soon moved into a much bigger discussion of the national voter file and how we can work to make the voter file work better for us in 2010 and 2012. We heard from DNC Technology Director Ben Self, DNC Voter File Director Katie Allen, Obama For America Technology Director Michael Slaby, and Keith Goodwin, who developed the “neighbor to neighbor” tool used by the DNC and OFA this year.

In the end, there was a universal sentiment that while the voter file worked better than ever in 2008, there are still significant areas identified where changes can, and should, be made.

We then heard from a couple of more veteran state party leaders about what the transition to a new DNC will look like. As many of you know, when we have the White House, the President essentially gets to select the DNC Chair (Governor Howard Dean has indicated he does not intend to seek a second term). But on the flip side, the DNC is responsible for all of the political costs of the White House, including all political travel costs, which are pretty large.

These folks — New Hampshire Chair Ray Buckley (who apparently occasionally reads DemNotes) and South Carolina Executive Director (and former Oklahoma Chair, and former college classmate of mine) Jay Parmley — talked about exactly how that transition will work, and the complications of dealing with a White House political office where we have normally been used to dealing with the DNC political office only. It was an incredibly informative and interesting discussion, and probably the most lively discussion of the day. They were later joined by David Strauss, who was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Vice President Al Gore. Strauss also talked about some tips to make life easier for the state parties in dealing with the White House.

After some discussion of new fundraising techniques that should help us raise a bit more money for 2010, we had a very interesting — and Colorado-based — presentation from the co-founder of Democrats Work, Thomas Bates. His presentation did quite a bit to prove to the chairs and vice chairs that establishing a community service component to our field plan is actually a good move, politically. His proof included a detailed case study of work that the group did this year in Arapahoe County, and was very compelling. I didn’t know the extent of Democrats Work’s efforts in Colorado, but I’ve got to tell you, I’m incredibly convinced that we can win more elections in Colorado if we put together a community service component in place properly.

The family and I are headed back to Colorado tomorrow afternoon. But I feel like I’m a lot more informed about what we can do in Colorado — as I am after every ASDC meeting — than when I arrived here in San Diego.

See you soon!

This afternoon was chock full of information — and was a very long and crowded meeting.

Here in San Diego, the DNC’s Executive Committee met in a joint session with the ASDC. The day begain with an address from Governor (and DNC Chair) Howard Dean. He talked about the progress we’ve made over the past four years. In particular, one focus of many speakers was the new-found success among younger voters. For the first time in a long time, more people under the age of 35 voted than people over the age of 65 — a pretty stunning statistic. He also talked about how the DNC has been able to erase the technological advantage the Republicans once had.

But Governor Dean was not all positives. “With this extraordinary victory comes extraordinary responsibility. We have a lot of promises that were made and we have to keep those promises.” He spoke of the challenges to keep young people involved, and how we need to keep showing up and asking people in all reaches of the country for their support.

And Governor Dean made a bold statement: Texas is next.

That’s right, the buzz here is about our next big hurdle: winning in Texas. If we can win there, the back of the Republican Party nationally is truly broken.

After Gov. Dean spoke, we heard from several state party leaders about the success of the 50-state strategy and the importance of continuing to build on this historic program. Ray Buckley of New Hampshire talked about the amazing turn-around in New Hampshire and nationally, and presented Gov. Dean with a resolution from the ASDC. The numbers are pretty amazing — we’ve gained 6 Governorships, 14 seats in the Senate, 55 seats in the House, 6 state senate chambers, and 9 state house chambers under Gov. Dean’s chairmanship. We’ve gone from a 3% registration advantage for Democrats in 2005 to a 9% advantage today. Buckley was followed by Sam Lieberman, the Nevada chair, Larry Gates, the Kansas chair, and Caroline Valand, the North Carolina Executive Director. All had similar stories of successes due to the investments made by the DNC in our state parties.

Finally, the ASDC “presented” Gov. Dean with a token of our appreciation: a chair. A chair for the chair from the chairs. A Massachusetts chair-maker is hand-making a chair for Gov. Dean engraved and embossed with his name and title. He seemed genuinely surprised.

After a few more reports, we went into an informal “closed” session to hear some polling data and to have a conversation with representatives from the Obama transition. Steve Hildebrand, the deputy national campaign director for the Obama campaign, spoke about some of the things we learned from the campaign. He noted that Sen. Obama ended up with the largest popular vote margin in American history for any non-incumbent, and the 6th-largest popular vote margin overall.

He also noted the success of our voter registration efforts, singling out the importance of those efforts in Colorado. In Colorado, we were able to register 202,000 new voters; we won by 192,000 votes. We saw similar importance of the efforts in states like Florida, Indiana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Another key statistic from Colorado: voters age 18-29 made up a larger share of the electorate than those age 60+ — a pretty stunning statistic! We were able to win Colorado’s hispanic population by 61-38. And our success among younger voters showed not only in the electorate, but also among the registration rolls — there are now more registered voters in Colorado age 18-29 than voters age 60+.

Finally, we heard a wonderfully detailed discussion from the DNC pollster, Cornell Belcher. Since this was a closed session, I don’t want to reveal too much of his data, but one very key point: in 2004, the vast majority of Kerry voters polled said they were voting AGAINST George W. Bush rather than voting FOR John Kerry. As one Democratic strategist said, “We will never win an election like that!”

However, the tables turned in 2008. In 2008, 76% of Obama voters said they were voting FOR Obama, while only 4% said they were motivated to vote AGAINST McCain, and only 17% said they were voting AGAINST Bush policies. It was a very positive voting population for us!

One last encouraging point from Sam Lieberman, the Nevada Chair: apparently, in Nevada, the Republican Party office has had to close down, and the only employee is the state’s Executive Director, who is — get this — working out of his parents’ basement. Literally.

Nice.

Tomorrow morning will be solely for ASDC meetings. I’ll try to write more tomorrow afternoon.

I’m on a lunch break here in San Diego, where I just returned from an “informal session” with the other state party chairs and vice chairs. We had a nice discussion of both the successes in 2008 as well as a long discussion of the importance of keeping the State Partnership Program (a/k/a the “50-state strategy”) in place. Here are some brief reports from the other states:

– In Idaho — yes, Idaho — Vice Chair Jeanne Buell was proud to report that they’ve finally elected a Democrat to represent the state’s First Congressional District in Congress. But they’ve also heard they’re the number one target for the GOP in 2010.
– The Chair of Democrats Abroad, Christine Schon-Marques, reported that the 2008 campaign resulted in an amazing new ability of people being able to do phone banking from abroad, especially using Skype. Indeed, the campaign even had field staffers in some countries assigned to generate turnout among American citizens living abroad.
– Our chair, Pat Waak, talked about the good communication work among the organizations (Campaign For Change, Coordinated Campaign (Forward Colorado) and the Party), and the 51 CFC and 15 FC offices in the state. She was asked about the effect of holding the Convention in Denver, and reported that it certainly helped generate more excitement and volunteers.
– In New Hampshire, Chair Ray Buckley talked about the concerns about melding the new volunteers that were brought in by Obama and the long-time Party volunteers — and also reported that they melded perfectly. He mentioned that there would normally be some jealousy and infighting, but the volunteers for Shaheen (their Senate candidate) were happy to support Obama, and vice versa — and they all were happy to support all of the down-ticket races. In 2004, they had a record 2,000 people on election day working on GOTV. In 2008, 12,000 people worked on election day GOTV in New Hampshire.
– Karen Thurman, Chair in Florida, reported on the massive mobilization there. They had 57 field offices and 600 paid staff, just to pull all of the volunteers together.
– In Maryland, Chair Mike Cryer reported how they dealt with the challenges of being a solidly blue state. Nearly one-fourth of the volunteer calls into battleground Virginia originated in Maryland. Maryland Democrats were able to identify and mobilize 230,000 volunteers, an immense number. He reported being able to ably define a role that Maryland could play in this election that contributed to the overall success of Democrats.
– Missouri Vice Chair Yolanda Wheat followed up on that. She had great words of thanks for the volunteers that poured into Missouri from places like Kansas, Oklahoma and Illinois, but wondered how those states handled the “brain drain” of volunteers working on races outside of their blue and red states.
– In Washington, they had a very tough, but successful, race for re-election of their governor, according to Chair Dwight Pelz. He said the Obama campaign helped by “semi-targeting” the state.

At this point, Governor Dean walked in the room and talked to the crowd. He certainly got the mood right when he began by saying, “Doesn’t it feel much better than it felt four years ago?” He took a number of questions, and lots of kudos for a successful term as DNC Chair from everybody. Even one-time cynics, such as the Chair from Delaware, gave him credit for a successful 50-state strategy and true partnership with the state parties. Many noted that his role in the 2008 wins has not been fully appreciated by the press or the pundits. He did take several questions, and was very frank — and, at times, funny — in his responses.

Once Governor Dean left, the topic remained on the 50-state (or, as the territories like to remind us, the 56-state) strategy. I think it is a universal sentiment among all of the state party chairs and vice chairs here this weekend that keeping that program in place for the next DNC chair is going to be critical.

DNC Secretary Alice Germond came into the meeting toward the middle of the meeting, and briefly thanked all of the state parties for their work in making the National Convention in Denver “the best convention I’ve ever seen” — and she’s been around since the mid-70s!

In addition to the 50-state strategy, the other major concern seems to be a desire to avoid a repeat of 1993 and 1994, where a Democratic victory in a Presidential year led to a huge backlash just two years later, and major legislative failures. I spent some time talking about that last night, and the New Hampshire Chair, Ray Buckley, also echoed the same thoughts today. We’re still trying to figure out how we do it, but one thing is clear: we have got to give President Obama as much support in his efforts to change America as we possibly can, and we have to do that in all 50 states.

Well, I’m headed off to the joint meeting of the DNC Executive Committee and the ASDC, which will take up all afternoon. There are a couple of receptions after that. So, if I don’t get to write about this afternoon later today, I’ll be sure to do it before I head out in the morning.

Change is good.

Not only is change good, it is what we spent the past year clawing and scratching our way to get. So, now we’ve got it. The problem with getting change, though, is that there is a lot of uncertainty attached to change.

This afternoon, here in San Diego, the Association of State Democratic Chairs Executive Committee met to discuss — for the most part — all of this uncertainty. There were about a dozen people here for the Executive Committee meeting — of the 15 or so members of the ASDC Executive Committee, only Colorado has both its Chair (Pat Waak) and its Vice Chair (myself) serving on the committee. Not California, not Illinois, not New Hampshire. Just Colorado. I know it is a point of pride for both Pat and me.

Because it was a closed meeting, I don’t want to reveal too many details. But I think it is safe to say that we have a lot of questions about what the DNC will look like in the near future, and what the partnership between the DNC and the state parties will look like. We’ll get those answers in the next month or two, but for now, that uncertainty has led to a lot of discussion among the state parties here in San Diego, and it is likely to dominate the conversation in the coming couple of days of meetings.

We were joined at the beginning of our meeting by a very relaxed-looking Governor Howard Dean, the Chair of the DNC. Gov. Dean’s first comment to the group was a reference to the increasing importance of the West in the national scene: “We knew the road to the White House led through the West, but who knew it also led through Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia as well?!” The Governor walked into the small meeting room here before the meeting began and folks were just chatting. As he strolled through the door rather nonchalantly, he seemed happily surprised by the standing ovation by the chairs and vice chairs in the room as he arrived.

After the Governor had briefly said a few words and taken a couple of questions, he headed out (he joined us again later for dinner). Tom McMahon, the Executive Director of the DNC, remained and we had a good conversation with Tom about the DNC and its relationship with each of the state parties. The conversation included topics like the 50-state strategy, the voter file, and the organization of the DNC under President Obama. It was a very productive meeting.

Tomorrow, we begin the day with a meeting among state chairs and vice chairs. Then, in the afternoon, we hold a joint meeting with the DNC Executive Committee. We’ll hear about plans for the transition and inauguration, as well as hearing some polling data in a closed session. I’ll write more tomorrow night, when I get a chance.

We arrived yesterday in San Diego, where the Association of State Democratic Chairs is meeting. We begin our work this afternoon, with a meeting of the ASDC Executive Committee, on which both Pat and I sit (I represent the vice chairs in the Western Region of the United States; Pat is the Western Region ASDC representative to the DNC Executive Committee.

I’ll try to write often to keep everybody back home updated on what we learn — this is our chance to talk about both the future and the past. We are going to talk about the future of the Democratic Party and how we turn our successes into governing policies that help all Americans. And we are going to talk about the past in that we will study what happened in the 2008 elections, and figure out what worked, what didn’t work, and what we can do better.

Obviously, I won’t be able to let everybody in on all that we hear in some of these closed-door meetings; however, I will continue to pull back the curtain as much as I can to be sure that Colorado Democrats feel like a part of the discussion.

The meetings are here at the historic — and stunningly beautiful — Hotel del Coronado on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The weather is beautiful, of course — hard to believe there was snow on the ground when we left Denver yesterday morning. (By the way, if you’re looking for a good time to visit Sea World in San Diego, you couldn’t apparently do any better than a mid-week visit in mid-December — the weather is beautiful and there are literally no lines whatsoever for any of the rides, attractions, or shows.)

Anyway, I will report back later with more on what is going on here at the ASDC meetings and the DNC Executive Committee meetings here in California!

Just when you thought it was all over….

We still have a HUGE race that Colorado’s Democrats can be a part of winning. No, it is not in Colorado, but it IS critical to making sure we have the votes we need in Washington to help President Obama get the legislation he needs to keep his promises to us in Colorado.

As many of you may have heard, there remain two un-settled U.S. Senate races. One is in Minnesota, where elections officials are working through the recount process to determine whether Republican Norm Coleman will keep his seat, or whether Democrat Al Franken will become the 59th member of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate.

The other race will be decided tomorrow, in Georgia. There, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss could not get the 50% of the vote required by Georgia state law, and is engaged in a tight runoff with Democrat Jim Martin. The key to that race will be turnout — whichever side does a better job getting its voters out tomorrow will win.

And that’s where you come in here in Colorado.

You see, the Obama campaign has given its voter contact capabilities to the Martin campaign. So you can sign in to the Obama website and make calls from here in Colorado — many of you likely have some free long distance minutes on your cell phones — and talk directly to voters in Georgia to get out the vote. Here is a note I just received from Georgia Democratic Party Executive Director Matt Weyandt:

Tomorrow is election day and we are very, very close. This is all a turnout game and we still need your help. The more Democrats we contact in the next 24 hours the better our chances of adding another Democratic Senator to support President-elect Obama. Please send one last email blast to your state party lists encouraging volunteers to use the Barack Obama Neighbor-to-Neighbor Tool to call Georgia Democrats and remind them to vote on Tuesday - http://my.barackobama.com/call4martin.

So, that’s it. Log in, and make a few calls to help out in this critical race. If we win tomorrow, and if we are successful in Minnesota, we will see a U.S. Senate where the Republicans won’t be able to block important Democratic legislation. This is the key to our making real change happen here in America.

It is up to you. Once again.

Today, the sky above the Sheraton in downtown Denver is overcast, but even so, it seems a bit more sunny today; people are walking around a bit more cheerily today. Yes, change is on the way.

Last night was surreal. I’m still not sure it has sunk in. The crowd gradually worked itself up until darned near every person I saw after Senator Obama’s speech was dancing — really dancing. Then, there was literally dancing in the streets. The crowd here at the Sheraton spilled out onto the side streets along the hotel and streets were blocked with the celebratory reveling of Americans who had just elected a President.

Just think how far Colorado has come. In 2003, when I first became a state party officer, Colorado looked very different. We had a Republican Governor — heck, we had Republicans in every major statewide office except for Attorney General. Both of our U.S. Senators were Republican. Five of our seven Members of Congress were Republican. Republicans held majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Now, everything we knew in 2003 has been stood on its head and reversed. Literally reversed. We have a Democratic Governor; indeed, after Mike Coffman resigns, all but the Attorney General will be a Democrat. Both of our U.S. Senators will be Democrats. With the addition of Congresswoman Betsy Markey (that sure sounds nice, doesn’t it?), we will have five of seven Members of Congress who are Democrats. And we have kept our Democratic majorities in the State House and the State Senate.

Indeed, change is coming.

Thanks to the hard work of so many of you out there, making phone calls, knocking on doors, talking to friends and neighbors, donating your time and your money, change is coming.

Thanks to the leadership of our State Chair, Pat Waak, and her close collaboration with Ray Rivera and the Obama campaign, alongside Mike Melansan and the Udall folks, change is coming.

Thanks to the audacity of hope, change is coming.

Thanks to every one of our Democratic county chairs, who dealt with unique challenges in 2008 from February 5 on to last night, change is coming.

Thanks to every one of the nearly 130,000 people who showed up at the Democratic caucuses on that historic February 5 eveninig, change is coming.

Thanks to Hank Eng, Hal Bidlack, and the hundreds of other Democratic candidates who were unsuccessful last night — whose sacrifices over the past few months may never be truly known and will never be truly honored, but whose hard work paved the way for statewide Democratic victories — change is coming.

Thanks to Congresswoman-elect Betsy Markey, change is coming.

Thanks to Dennis Apuan — now the SECOND Democrat representing El Paso County in the State House (and the third representing the county in the legislature, along with Rep. Michael Merrifield and Sen. John Morse), change is coming.

Thanks to PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama, change is coming.

Thanks to the over 100,000 people who showed up in Denver on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in October for the largest political rally in American history, change is coming.

Thanks to over one hundred million Americans who voted in this historic election, change is coming.

Thanks to the tens of thousands of volunteers who put together the best political convention in the history of the Democratic Party in August here in Denver, change is coming.

Thanks to our troops abroad, who are putting their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we enjoyed to speak out, to campaign, and to vote, change is coming.

Thanks to the hundreds — maybe thousands — of people who left their families, their friends and their homes in locations across the nation to come help us here in Colorado, change is coming.

And again, thanks to all of you who put your own lives on hold for the past few months, who made sacrifices that will never be properly documented or appreciated, change is coming.

Change is coming.

Yes. We. Did.

We’re at the Sheraton in Downtown Denver, and I’ve been observing a lot of the setup here in the ballroom. It is looking like a great site for — hopefully — celebrating with some fellow Democrats.

Mind you, don’t bother showing up before 7:00 — we aren’t letting people in until after the polls close here in Colorado. However, do feel free to stop by. We’re expecting big crowds, so be prepared for a big crowd when you get here.

Some of you may have gotten an e-mail from one of our well-intentioned groups in the Democratic Party indicating that the party here at the Sheraton would be limited to certain people. Rest assured it is not; the event this evening does not require any ticket or credential. We just want to share our election evening with as many Democrats and activists as we possibly can.

Polls close in an hour and a half. If you’re like me, your stomach is tying itself into knots. But I know that all of you out there spent as much time as you could — we fought as hard as we could here in Colorado, and built a field program that is second-to-none.

Thank you. See you tonight!

Vote. Then Volunteer. Then Volunteer Some More.

And don’t show up at the Sheraton or your local Election Night Party until 7:01 p.m. or later.

That is all.

After leaving Gilpin County, I stopped by the Campaign for Change office in Golden, as well as the staging offices in Elizabeth and Castle Rock.

In Golden, the stream of people in and out of the office that I saw everywhere else wasn’t as pronounced. The reason? The Golden office had been transformed into the “boiler room,” serving several staging areas around Jefferson County. So the calmness in the office was a good sign; a Boiler Room is intended to handle any crises that occur at the different staging areas. Since things seemed to be going smoothly, the boiler room was a calm place to be.

When Pat and I were talking about spending today dropping by the various campaign offices, I asked where I should go. The answer from the campaign? Whatever you do, make sure you stop by the Elbert County office — they need to hear how much we appreciate their work.

I dropped by the Elizabeth office — the staging area for Elbert County — later in the afternoon. The sight was probably the nicest I’ve seen. A local restaurant had closed down for two days solely for the purpose of providing the campaign a large enough space to use as a staging area. Dozens of people were doing a variety of jobs — some making calls, some working on data entry, still others working on getting things ready for more canvassing. I arrived just minutes after several others had left to go on a shift of canvassing.

There were enough people in the Elizabeth office that they actually stopped everybody and I gave a short thank-you talk to folks on behalf of the State Party. But I kept it short (really, I did!) so folks wouldn’t be taken for too long from their important jobs of calling and canvassing. And, with the location being a restaurant, the food was top-notch. I had to demur several times the many offers for me to eat dinner there (we’d made plans to have dinner later this evening with my brother).

Finally, I headed over to Castle Rock for an unannounced visit to their main staging area. My last stop was also the busiest stop. The Castle Rock office was HUGE, with every space being taken by a volunteer working hard for the election tomorrow night. I had a great conversation with the Campaign for Change field director for the office and the Udall field director for the office.

We talked about how tough things are for Democrats in Douglas County, and the CFC director told me her goal was — point blank — to win Douglas County. If we were able to do that, there is really no way the Republicans could win the state. They talked about how happy they’d been with the volunteer response so far — they wanted to get to every contact twice in the past couple of days, but instead were able to contact everybody on their lists THREE times in the past couple of days!

Everybody in the offices I’ve visited in the past couple of days has seemed cautiously optimistic (or, as I just heard on the news, “cautiously nauseous”). But there’s also been a nervousness about over-confidence. The key is tomorrow.

The key is tomorrow. Election Day. D-Day. Where all of our work should pay off.

If you show up.

Grand County Dems have a problem: they’re running out of people to contact. They seem to have plenty of volunteer, and with three staging areas (Granby, Grand Lake, and Fraser), they’ve got plenty of space. Its just that they’ve been so successful to this point that they are running out of work.

Indeed, this seems to be a common problem. I’m just leaving Gilpin County, where their work has gone so well that they had actually shifted to calling voters in Jefferson County yesterday.

We started the day with a beautiful drive to Grand Lake, only to find that volunteers at the Grand County locations wouldn’t begin work today until Noon. It wasn’t because of a lack of volunteers, team leader Gail Brooks explained; it was because they were running out of voters to contact.

Like I said - it is a good problem to have.

After leaving Grand (and mentally coping with the fact that we were driving through snow on the approach to Berthoud Pass only 48 hours after standing in summerlike heat in Pueblo), we came to Gilpin County.

Most folks hear Gilpin and think of Black Hawk and Central City. But, as I learned, the vast majority of the county’s residents don’t live in those towns. Gilpin may be one of the most rural counties in the state.

Gilpin has two staging areas, and both are in somewhat remote locations, in dirt-road neighborhoods. But that doesn’t seem to make the activity lessen any in each location. In the first location, because cell phone coverage is better, most phone banks take place; canvasses are usually handled out of the other location.

Both homes featured excited - if a bit nervous - volunteers calling and working through lists that continue to shorten. As I mentioned, the list in Gilpin has been steadily whittled until they now only have a few hundred left to contact.

Another great thing I noticed was how the teams of volunteers truly were “communities” in the best sense of that word. In both Gilpin locations, like most other locations I’ve been, food was plentiful. At Lynn and Michael Schwab’s house, the team of volunteers actually stops and eats their meals together - a sort of time to break and center each other and regroup.

I’m planning to end up in Elbert County this afternoon around 4. In the meantime, I may stop at the office in Golden and maybe even Parker or others. I know State Chair Pat Waak is also visiting other Campaign For Change offices today, too. I’m just hoping my impromptu stops aren’t repeating her work.

We’re almost there folks!!! Just about 30 hours left!

We’re in Hot Sulfur Springs tonight, ready to head up to Grand Lake in the morning. So far, this trip to visit the canvass operations around the state has proven to be very encouraging.

After writing my last post, we headed up Highway 9 to Frisco. One of the things I learned today was that while the Internet lists a neat schedule of shifts for canvassing and calling, reality is very different. People show up when they can, and they work as long as they can afford. Just before leaving Breckenridge, one of the key volunteers told a story about how she had spoken to a lady earlier in the day who said she could not volunteer - only to have the same lady call back a few minutes later to say she could help for an hour and a half.

That’s really all we are asking these next 48 hours - give us as much time as you can afford.

In Frisco, we found a local law office that had been transformed into a bustling center of campaign activity. Signs dotted the lawn in front of the office, and people were settled into offices making calls. I was told that this morning was a flurry of activity, but things had “died down” for the football game (the Broncos game was about to start). Even though things had “died down”, people filed in and out doing what they could to help.

One message I’m certainly getting - we spent some time talking about it in Alma too - is the need to keep these people who are getting so involved active after Tuesday. This campaign has resulted in an amazing organization of people, and we will need to keep that organization robust for very critical elections in 2010.

After Frisco, I headed over Dillon Dam to the office in Dillon. The Dillon office also serves as the headquarters for the Summit County Democrats, and it is a truly amazing space. One of the largest offices I’ve seen, it too had volunteers streaming in and out (I realize I’m beginning to get repetitive with this).

Sandy Briggs, the county chair, was there and showed me around. He said it looked like 60% of the county had already voted. He also was very complimentary regarding VAN / VoteBuilder, the state’s online voter tracking database.

Walking into the Dillon office, we were greeted warmly by a volunteer at an entry desk working with data on a computer. It turns out she is a volunteer from California. While the vast majority of our volunteers are home-grown locals, I’ve also heard of some great sacrifices by volunteers from states like Utah and California. This particular lady was a former county chair from Calavaras County, California, and it sounds like she’s spending about every waking hour at the Dillon office helping out.

I left some of the materials I’d gotten in Alma with Sandy, and headed up here to Grand County. I feel a little like “My Cousin Vinny” - apparently trains go past our hotel about every hour. When we got to our room, Brandy was perplexed by the earplugs they provided us next to the bed. Now we know why they are there.

Oh well. Off for rest. Tomorrow, I’m off to Grand Lake, Fraser, and Gilpin and Elbert counties. And if we have time, maybe even some other stops. See you on the road!

I’m sitting inside the Breckenridge Campaign for Change office right now, one of three CFC offices in Summit County alone. More on this visit to Breck later.

I just arrived here from a visit to the CFC office in Alma. Unless you’ve been through Alma, you may not know where it is; located between Breckenridge and Fairplay, the Alma office is in charge of most CFC operations in massive Park County.

The highest-elevation Obama headquarters in the nation may also be the friendliest. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by several smiling faces. Several folks were making phone calls already, and our tour of the office showed a heavily-used facility in a beautiful setting. Although around a dozen people flowed in and out of the office in our short visit there, we were actually told that this was a “light” period of activity — that the real activity picks up later in the day.

Park County is tough. Beyond simply being a fairly Republican county, it also is geographically daunting. Much of the population lives around the county’s northeast border, in the exurbs of Denver. Yet the county stretches to within a few miles of Breckenridge, to the Continental Divide, and south to just a few miles from my home in Canon City. Organizing this territory is a heavy task, but from what I saw in Alma, the folks there are getting it done, and getting it done well.

And did I mention how nice the people are there? They would not let us leave without loading us down with extra chum for the offices we’d visit in the next 48 hours, or without taking a sack lunch “for the road.”

Indeed, Alma seems like a successful bastion of Democratic success in a land of otherwise Republican voters. As we were heading into town, I nearly stopped at the first house in the town — a log house with a gigantic “Obama-Biden” hand-painted banner covering the entire side of the house. Thankfully, I drove on through to find the CFC office just a few blocks later, instead of waking some surprised family with my interruptions.

We then headed over the pass here to Breckenridge, where Emily Tracy is doing a great job working with CFC staff to organize canvasses and telephone calls. It’s an interesting CFC office here — they’ve taken over the lobby of a local office building / shopping area. As with the other offices, the flow of people in and out to take canvassing lists was rather impressive.

In fact, Emily told us that they have been so successful here that they canvassed pretty much everybody they had on the lists for the five precincts here, and are going to go after the same groups again today and tomorrow. The enthusiasm for the Obama-Biden ticket is pretty striking out here.

I’m off next to Dillon and Frisco, and I’ll report about my stops there later tonight, I hope. For those reading this via e-mail, I’ve already posted about my trip to Salida and Chaffee County, but I don’t think a DemNotes e-mail went out about that because I wrote the post from my cell phone. You can see it online by going to www.DemNotes.com.

See you on the road!

We headed out of Canon City early this morning for the first stop on our 48-hour tour of canvassing offices in the state in Salida. Our stop in Salida could not have been a better place to begin this sprint.

The Salida campaign office looks very non-descript from the street - just a few signs on the outside of a small doorway. But once you are inside, you get a real sense that this is a constant hub of activity.

We were greeted by smiling faces asking whether we were there to walk or whether we were there to make phone calls. When I responded that we were there to “tour”, she looked a bit perplexed. It was only after the director of the local campaign, local veteran campaigner Louella Pizzuti, explained who we were that she understood.

Louella returned to Chaffee County from California solely to work on organizing the coordinated campaign there. And, boy, has she and the dozens of volunteers here done a great job!

The results speak for themselves. On a dry-erase board in the front room, volunteers are reminded that 9,000 of the county’s 12,000 (that’s 75%!) voters have already voted. Its a good sign when you only need to work on contacting 1/4 of the area’s voters in this critical period.

Louella showed us her office - a great example in organization. Lining the walls were giant sheets of paper for each day, with a “you are here” post-it marking today. On each sheet were dozens of names and phone numbers; each representing somebody that had agreed to work on some aspect of the GOTV effort that day.

Louella seemed genuinely surprised by the massive response to the campaign’s efforts in Chaffee County. She’s been doing this a long time, but she is always surprised by how hard people are willing to work to win elections and make change happen for their community.

While we were in the office, a few people came in and were starting to make calls or head out to canvass. Just before they got to work, I made sure to quickly thank them for their work and their sacrifice - especially on such a beautiful November sunday!

We’re off to Alma now. I’m going to try posting this to DemNotes from my BlackBerry. If that works, you may get a few more posts from me in the next 48 hours than is normal. Don’t worry - I’ll go back to a little less frequent posting after Tuesday!

This afternoon, all eyes were on Pueblo, as Barack Obama, family in tow, stopped in Colorado for his last pre-election stop in the Centennial State, just over 72 hours away from the polls closing here.

As with all of his previous trips to Colorado, the mood was noticably upbeat. We arrived early enough that I had time to chat with State Chair Pat Waak, Pueblo county chair Terry Hart, Teller county chair Laurie Glauth, and Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Bo Ortiz, among many others.

Pat talked about the excitement she is seeing across the state. She’s been keeping busy getting around and talking to the GOTV teams, as well as working with the press to be sure our message gets out there. Like so many who have been in this from the beginning, she is ready for Tuesday night to get here.

Terry is excited by the enthusiasm he is seeing in Pueblo. Hundreds of folks have come out of the woodwork in recent weeks to volunteer for the campaign. The Republicans, as in 2006, seem to be focused solely on one race in Pueblo County (the GOP still lost that one race, county sheriff, in 2006). In the race for county commissioner, the Republicans are playing from the same tired smear-your-opponent playbook of personal destruction that seems to be failing more and more in recent years in Colorado.

Glauth seemed similarly excited about the number of people volunteering in heavily-Republican Teller County. Getting people to volunteer in Teller County, which includes towns like Cripple Creek and Woodland Park, has often been a hard task. But 2008 has been vastly different — I recall being at a standing-room only crowd in Woodland Park’s public library for the county assembly there months ago (it seems like a lot more time has passed since then than really has passed). Glauth took a break from the heavy GOTV efforts in Teller County, and brought several family members with her to the speech in Pueblo. But she, too, was very excited about the changes she’s seeing in her county.

Ortiz told me that Pueblo County was definitely ready for Tuesday’s voting. As the top elections official in Pueblo, Ortiz understands the importance of being prepared for the massive turnout projected on Tuesday. He said over half of Pueblo has already voted, which is a pretty big deal; Ortiz said that Puebloans have historically been averse to voting early and voting by mail. He assured me that there would be plenty of ballots for Tuesday.

Of course, the main event was hearing another inspirational, fire-us-up speech from Barack Obama, as well as hearing from General Wesley Clark and Michelle Obama. The crowd — thousands stretching down Union Avenue and many more spilling onto the side streets — was pumped up. And the campaign was ready for the crowd. You could not go anywhere without somebody asking you to sign up to volunteer for the campaign.

It was great. But this is exhausting. We’re in the final sprint. Let’s get to the finish line!

Tomorrow, we head out on the road for the final days. I’m planning on stopping at GOTV sites in Chaffee, Park, Summit, Grand, Gilpin and Elbert counties — hopefully with a few stops in between. I’ll try to report from the road as much as I can. But don’t sit here reading your e-mails; get out there and do your part to canvass and phone call for these last 72 hours.

This is it!

Last night, we traveled back up to Colorado Springs once again — this time to attend the only Fifth Congressional District debate of the election season where Congressman Doug Lamborn would be present. Mind you, there have been several other opportunities to debate over the past few months; however, Doug Lamborn has always been too busy until now to show up and talk about the issues with the Democratic nominee, Hal Bidlack.

Indeed, Lamborn indicated to Bidlack earlier this month that he would only be willing to do one debate — on the eve of the election, after over half of the voters had already voted. Oh, yes, and that debate had to be sponsored by the “Republican Club of Falcon.” For the uninitiated, the Republican Club of Falcon is informally known as the “Lamborn wing” of the El Paso County Republicans.

But Hal Bidlack is a good sport, and he’s serious when he says he’ll debate Doug Lamborn any place, any time. So he jumped on the offer.

Last night, though, the Republican Club of Falcon looked a lot more like a Democratic hangout.

At Sand Creek High School — in the northeast portion of Colorado Springs (the “conservative” part of El Paso County) — a casual observer might have mistaken Hal Bidlack as being the “home team” at this Republican Club of Falcon debate. By the end of the debate, it was clear that at least 75% — a count I heard from several people — of the crowd was cheering for Hal Bidlack, not Doug Lamborn.

Congressman Lamborn looked a lot like Sarah Palin up there — almost entirely reading from prepared notes, and nervously hoping just to not screw up. His debate performances in 2006 became legendary, even to the point where a widely-circulated video of him telling an audience member to “Shut Up” was featured in Jay Fawcett’s television ads. Indeed, discussing the issues has never been a strong suit for Lamborn, and it wasn’t last night either.

The first five questions were scripted. All three candidates (Constitution Party candidate Brian Scott was also present) were given the questions beforehand by the Republican Club of Falcon. What was interesting was that apparently Marilyn Musgrave would also fit right into the GOP Club of Falcon. Of the five issues that were thought to be the most important — so important that they required pre-written questions — two of those five most important issues were abortion and gay marriage. Left off the list of the five most important issues to Republicans in Falcon? Education. Health care. Social Security. The Environment.

Even though I had a lovely Lamborn supporter over my left shoulder who insisted on muttering comments to every single thing Hal Bidlack said, he shined. And Lamborn? Eh, not so much. For instance, he may be the only person left in America who thinks we can drill ourselves out of the energy crisis: “I strongly disagree with those who say we cannot drill our way out of this problem.” Really? Really?

Lamborn’s only saving grace is that he wasn’t necessarily the strangest duck on the stage. No, Constitution Party candidate Brian Scott strove for that honor. He indicated that he would set up a Congressional office in Baghdad to work on ending the war in Iraq single-handedly. And he was clear: “I won’t vote on legislation; I won’t sponsor legislation; I won’t caucus. I’ll be camped out in Baghdad. I recognize this is an abdication of many of the core responsibilities as a congressman.” And before you get too comfortable with the fact that he’s got an anti-Iraq War position, remember that he also made it clear that he supports outlawing abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.

But Scott was a sideshow to the main event. Lamborn versus Bidlack. And Lamborn continued to show the pettiness that makes him one of the least-liked Republican leaders in Colorado. Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack has proven himself as a servant of his country. He has served as an ICBM launch officer; he’s worked in the State Department; he was literally in the Pentagon on 9/11 when the airplane crashed into the building. And he’s taught Constitutional law at the Air Force Academy. How did Congressman Lamborn address Lt. Col. Bidlack? Every time his name was mentioned, Lamborn — with a sneer — referred to him as “Professor” Bidlack. It amazes me that someone with such disrespect for the military service of an opponent represents such a heavily military-based district.

The zingers of the evening, though, were exclusively Bidlack’s. He received huge cheers when, in response to a question about gay marriage, he said, “I’m troubled by this notion of the right wing Republicans that we want as limited a government as possible, except for reading your e-mail and except for in your bedroom!” After Congressman Lamborn spent a great deal of time talking about his work to bring a veterans cemetary to the region, Bidlack calmly praised that work, but then said that he felt we needed to focus more on supporting veterans while they are alive, too. Another resounding round of applause.

One of the strangest moments was when an audience question about torture and Guantanamo Bay arose. In a scene eerily familiar of the Bob Schaffer playbook, Lamborn stated, “I did tour Guantanamo Bay and I did not see any evidence of torture.” He then went further and argued that terrorists “do not follow the Geneva Convention. Should we be required to grant them the protections of the same Geneva Convention?” When the crowd erupted with an impromptu simultaneous shout of “Yes,” Congressman Lamborn had that familiar deer-in-the-headlights look about him. Apparently, he doesn’t quite understand the Geneva Convention’s requirements of participants in the treaty.

In the end, though, the audience questions, submitted on index cards before the beginning of the debate were pretty good questions, dealing with issues such as Pinon Canyon, the Patriot Act, energy sources and economics. On Pinon Canyon, Congressman Lamborn insisted that the purchase could be made without any use of eminent domain — stating that all of the sellers in the controversial expansion were “willing sellers.” I’ve spent more than a little bit of time down in southeast Colorado, and his description simply does not match up with what I know to be true. He seems to be living in quite a fantasy land when it comes to Pinon Canyon.

In the end, it was another wonderful example of why Hal Bidlack would be leading this race by 20-30 points in any other congressional district. And it’s another example of why this race, like the one with Hank Eng in the 6th CD, could be out-of-nowhere surprises on Tuesday night.

Of course, don’t take my word for it; feel free to watch the debate online at:
http://www.gazette.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1155184276&bclid=1155106690&bctid=1890047711

I’m sure you all are familiar with Tom Strickland, the United States Senator that Mark Udall is running to replace, right? What’s that? He’s not a Senator? Oh, yeah, that’s right — he lost.

I last ran into Tom Strickland at an event during the Democratic National Convention in August. It was a brief meeting, but it certainly brought up a lot of memories of the campaign trail in 2002. Tom seemed to be doing okay — enjoying his life in the “private sector”; however, I know that Colorado (and America) would have been much better if he had won in 2002 instead of Wayne Allard.

It was this very point in 2002 — the weekend before the election — that I was standing on a stage with Strickland at Pueblo’s Union Depot, just a few hundred yards from where Senator Barack Obama will be speaking on Saturday. The atmosphere was quite upbeat; a new statewide poll by one of the Denver newspapers had put Strickland up by something like 6 points. There was a clear air of confidence that we were standing with our next United States Senator.

A few days later, Colorado’s voters had a different message to send.

In 2004, the polls taken at this point in the election cycle — less than a week left before the election — showed John Kerry with a one-point lead in Colorado. He lost by around five points.

Look, I’m not trying to pour cold water on the idea that we can win Colorado; we most certainly can. But we have to work like we’re five points down. We cannot let up any bit. This is still the sprint to the finish line. For those of you looking at this on the Internet, this short video is instructive (and funny):

(For those reading this via e-mail, you can find the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xnk9aqih8o

Now, I’m going to do something “rogue” right now. I’m NOT going to encourage you to see Barack Obama in Pueblo Saturday. If you’re interested, the event will be at the corner of Union and D streets, and the gates open at 1:00 for the 3:00 event. But you can do a LOT more good for the campaign if you spend that time knocking on doors and making phone calls for the campaign.

If you DO insist on going, then you need to do one thing: bring somebody with you who is not quite sure about voting for Senator Obama. I totally understand the appeal and allure of seeing history in Southern Colorado. I do. But make sure that you’ve got somebody with you that still needs a little convincing if you’re going to go. We’ve proven to the world that Coloradans will show up for Barack Obama — some reports say last Sunday’s event in Denver was the largest political rally in the history of our nation.

We now need to prove to the world that Colorado will VOTE for Barack Obama. And Mark Udall. And Betsy Markey. And Hank Eng. And Hal Bidlack. And John Salazar, Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, and Jared Polis. And our many great State House and State Senate candidates.

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Speaking of Hank Eng, have you heard the news? The latest polling in the 6th CD shows him well within striking distance of GOP nominee Mike Coffman!!! With a GOP nominee below 50% in the 6th CD, I think we might have the biggest surprise in the Nation in the South Denver Metro area!

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I do have a couple more quick points / corrections / thoughts to add at the end of this. First, I’ve gotten a few e-mails from the Durango area about John McCain’s visit to Durango a little over a week ago. What went mainly un-noticed in the rest of the state was the Democratic response to McCain down there. Here is part of what La Plata County Chair Jean Walter wrote to me (with quotes from the Durango Herald):

We lined Main Avenue Friday afternoon with about 1,000 to 2,000 pro-Obama supporters. From the Durango Herald: Rochford said New York Times photographer Stephen Crowley told her Durango was the most beautiful stop he’s seen in months on the campaign trail. He also said the number of Obama supporters was the most he’s seen at any McCain event. He even commented about the civility shown by supporters and opposition toward each other.

I’m very proud of how the whole thing went. McCain can visit anytime, especially after he’s retired.

Jean, I’m very proud of how the La Plata Dems are dominating the coverage down there!

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I often write these DemNotes quickly and sometimes screw things up. I think I’ve done that at least twice now with Rep. Karen Middleton. Karen has a superb record of leadership in this Party, having served as Arapahoe County Chair and as a member of the State Board of Education. In my write-up of the Denver rally earlier this week, I wrote that Karen was a “candidate” for the state legislature. In reality, Karen serves currently in the State House of Representatives, representing House District 42. My humblest apologies to Karen.

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Finally, Party Secretary Carolyn Boller wrote asking that I re-emphasize how easy and simple it is to vote early. I voted early in person, but Carolyn voted by mail, and she wants to encourage folks to do that if they can. Here’s what she writes:

I voted weeks ago–right after the mail ballots came out and I too voted for Obama and Biden–and it really was simple–just check that box and vote the downticket and away it went with just 2 stamps and into the hands of the USPS.

At this point, if you’re voting by mail, it is probably safest to drop it off at your local election drop-off point by hand. Don’t let there be any chance your vote won’t be counted on time!

Tonight, I’m headed to — where else? — Colorado Springs to attend the one and only debate between Hal Bidlack and Doug Lamborn in the 5th CD. I’ll write more about that tomorrow.

This evening, I was back up in Colorado Springs (yes, I know, I seem to be spending a lot of time up there lately). But tonight, we had the pleasure of a visit from Michelle Obama.

Driving up to the City Auditorium, just off the edge of downtown Springs, it was clear that this was a “big event”. The line to get in — thirty minutes after the doors opened — snaked across streets and around blocks. But like so many other big Democratic events this year, there didn’t seem to be any concern about the wait — people in line were in high spirits and good-natured.

In the end, though, some of the folks could not get in — the fire marshall restricted entry to the capacity of the venue. Every seat was filled; every spot was taken.

When the event started, just like so many other events, we heard from a variety of politicians and volunteers. We heard from the wife of a soldier who had devoted herself to electing Barack Obama. She talked about all that she had done, and all that was still to be done in the week ahead. We also heard from Hal Bidlack, running for Congress, who received some of the loudest cheers of the night. Senator Salazar was there, too, along with Jan Martin — a Republican Colorado Springs City Council Member who endorsed Barack Obama. Finally, we heard from a woman who was a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a retired Air Force officer — who lost her son last year in Iraq. It was touching, and a concrete reminder of why we’re working so hard between now and November 4.

Then, we heard from Michelle Obama. Several people commented about how easily she spoke, and how engaging she was with the audience. I noticed one more very unusual thing for something of this magnitude: she spoke without a teleprompter. She had notes, but she rarely looked at them — Barack Obama is not the only naturally great speaker in his family.

Here’s how the Rocky described the event just a few minutes ago:

Michelle Obama headlined an enthusiastic early voting rally in the traditional GOP stronghold of Colorado Springs Tuesday, encouraging young and old to cast their ballots despite polls suggesting her husband is leading John McCain.

“I remember when we began, they said don’t count on the young people,” Obama declared to cheers at the Colorado Springs Auditorium. “That is absolutely not true. We have seen so many young people. We’re so proud of our young people. I have a renewed faith in the next generation.” Obama said she also has been surprised at the numbers of senior citizens energized by Barack Obama’s campaign. She noted many have manned rope lines while she shook hands with well-wishers.

“They’re going to get their picture,” she said. “They’re going to stare the Secret Service in the eye.” Obama shook hands with about 300 people who could not get into the auditorium after the fire department limited attendance to 2,500 people.

Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter joined Obama at the rally.

Early voting in Colorado, which has nine electoral votes, ends Friday.

Both parties are urging early voting and voting by mail because of expected heavy turnout and long lines at the polls on Election Day. As of Monday, more than 652,000 Coloradans had voted by mail, and 161,456 more had voted early in person.

It was another great event — and another great show of support for Democrats in Colorado!