DemNotesBlog for Colorado Democrats by State Party First Vice Chair Dan Slater

This morning, there was gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Canon City.

You see, while my lack of long, full, locks of hair and my portly belly have belied this fact, I’ve been a Young Democrat throughout my activism in this Party. Today, however, I turned 36. Today, I did something all Young Democrats fear: I “aged out”.

Under the rules of the Young Democrats, the organization is open to all Democrats age 35 and under. Throughout America, the YDs have been critical at keeping a new generation of Democrats active and involved.

However, the reality is that, at the higher levels of the Democratic Party nationally, the air is thin for folks in the 35 and under age group. Only in 2005 did we get our own presence in the DNC — a “Youth Coordinating Council” — the level just below a “caucus” in the DNC. Yet the number of DNC Members actually in the Youth Council is pretty low: only about 10 DNC members who are not members due to their positions within the College Dems or Young Dems (each organization has three members of the DNC) qualify as “youth.”

I guess we should make that 9 now.

That number is out of the 430 or so DNC Members total. One thing I am proud of, though, is how Colorado will soon still have a DNC Member who is a member of the Youth Council: Anthony Graves will be sworn in the day after the National Convention, and he will serve us well, I think, on the DNC.

There will be a few events during the week hosted by the Youth Council. On the Monday of the National Convention, the Youth Council will host a press conference about youth issues. Tuesday will feature a “Youth Voting Panel” with some key national figures discussing youth voting issues. Wednesday evening, the Youth Council will host a Youth Watch Party in Denver for those unable to access the Pepsi Center. Thursday, the Youth Council will host a “youth luncheon” featuring key national speakers to be announced. These events are generally free and open to the public, but folks under age 36 (in other words, not me) can get priority reserved VIP tickets to these events and the acceptance speech at Invesco Field by donating $150 to help cover the costs of these events. If you’re interested (note that higher-level packages are also available for sponsorships), e-mail the Youth Council at: youthcouncil@dnc.org.

I’ll try to make it to some of these events myself; until they physically boot me out, I’m still going to remain active in the Youth Council — if only because I think it is important that the DNC continue to work to attract and listen to young voters. I am the Democratic activist I am today because of the Young Democrats and College Democrats; I can do nothing less than continue to support those who have come after me in these great organizations.

The College Democrats and Young Democrats are both critical parts of our Party’s organization, and are going to be critical to our elections in 2008. Remember, many of our future Party leaders will come from being tested in these organizations; I got much of my experience in politics working in the Young Democrats.

And both organizations will be hosting meetings next month in Denver that, in any other year, would be a highlight for any Colorado Democrat. Both the YDA and the CDA will be hosting their annual conventions in Denver to coincide with the Democratic National Convention.

The Young Democrats of America will be meeting the week and weekend just prior to the National Convention. I don’t have too many details, and they have yet to announce the details on their website; however, you should occasionally visit www.yda.org to find out more information.

The College Democrats will be holding their annual convention August 22-27 in Denver, at the Convention Center. They do have an online registration and information page already set up; you can find it at:
http://partybuilder.collegedems.com/page/s/cda08

From that page, you can see the tentative agenda, filled with trainings and other exciting items throughout the week. You can bet some big-name speakers will stop by both conventions, so if you can, you might want to register for either or both conventions.

Finally, it isn’t just the youth arms of the Democratic Party holding their national conventions in Denver next month; the Stonewall Democrats are also holding their national convention August 21 through August 24 at the Renaissance Hotel; for more information, go here:
http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/events/convention08

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On a similar note, many of you may have noticed that we’re starting to see some idea of what the Thursday evening event at Invesco Field at Mile High will look like in terms of access. The Denver Post has a story out today with some small details (hint: you’re going to need to agree to work for our Party and our nominee to get in):

In a half-hour interview Wednesday with The Denver Post, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, said he wants to use the ticketing process as a massive recruitment tool meant to bring in supporters from all 50 states and energize them to carry the campaign into the final 60 days of the general election.

“We’re going to ask those 80,000 people in that stadium to march out of there and go with very specific instructions and goals to register millions of new voters,” Hildebrand said.

…

As a battleground state hosting the convention, Colorado will have access to the largest percentage of public tickets, but Hildebrand wants to draw significant support from neighboring states, such as the other Intermountain West battleground states of New Mexico and Nevada.

Also, Kansas, though not a battleground state, remains important to the campaign, as Obama’s grandparents lived there and he visited the state often as a child.

…

Hildebrand said that to ensure that the campaign fills the stadium, the application process becomes in and of itself a recruiting tool.

“Every single person is going to be a level of seriousness,” Hildebrand said. “You know, ‘Tell us how you’re going to get there from Maine. Tell us how you’re going to get there from Florida. Give us a sense of whether or not you’re really serious about this. If you’re not, we’re going to provide someone else with this.’ ”

Those who want a seat will begin the process at their local Democratic Party office. While demonstrating their ability to attend, they also will be encouraged to sign on to the campaign as volunteers.

“They fill out a form; there’s a conversation,” Hildebrand said. “We ask them and encourage them to register voters and to get out the vote and those activities that are important to us. It’s not a requirement, but it’s going to be an encouragement.”

Another use of the Aug. 28 speech meant to leverage public support is to use a technique popular with the campaign to hand out names and phone numbers during its events and ask participants to use their cellphones to make get-out-the-vote calls.

It’s going to be quite a night at Invesco! Hope to see you there!