President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
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20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
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DEMOCRATS
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July 05, 2007 11:11 PM UTC
19 Comments
I say that not to question EE policy positions (many of which I agree with), or his motives, I understand many moderate R’s–RINO in the exclusionary language of the right–search for a place to express their values. His newspaper endorsements indicate that his positions reflect the district.
I am also one of the D’s that doesn’t blame him for AP’s loss, I understand he’s what put the win into striking distance for AP. However, many D’s do.
The reason I don’t think he’s viable is that the CD4 requires a ground game and fundraising–I don’t think he has the organizing or fundraising network to credibly compete. If he helped the D’s in this cycle, built up some goodwill, then he may be viable in the future. To build the necessary networks he has to do a little grunt work.
Eidness peaked as a Reform Party candidate. He has zero chance of winning the Democratic primary–zero, so the best he can hope for this time is a hasty third-Party candidacy after he loses to Paccione.
The first time I heard from him directly was here a few months back. I wasn’t impressed. He seemed very….Lambornesque in his posts and his mannerisms.
On the other hand, I heard AP speak during the C and D debate. While I disagreed with her, she at least commanded a certain amount of respect and authority. She seemed like someone who knew what they were doing.
EE is an opportunistic second tier figure. If he’s the Dem’s best chance, then MM is going to be in Congress for a long time.
Silly question.
maybe you can expand upon why it is such a silly question. I tried to make it clear that I did not see the Dems making that decision, I also tried to make it clear that I thought Eric to be an opportunist. Perhaps that was lost on some.
Eidsness really has no chance in a primary. Between Markey, a party insider with endorsements already rolling in, and Paccione, who still commands quite a following among activists, Eidsness would need to do far more than he is now doing to make friends with Dems. The fact that there hasn’t been a concerted effort to quash the “EE lost the election for AP” storyline says that he doesn’t have a serious enough operation yet and may not at all.
If miraculously Eidsness makes it to the general election, his rather muddled personal story and outsider image won’t do a lot of favors in what is anticipated as a Democratic year. Without a strong connection with the party or any of the usual suspects on the liberal side, his fundraising will be stunted and he will most likely be overlooked by the marauding 527s as well as they support the presidential and senate races.
My personal theory is that Eidsness’ strong numbers as an independent don’t reflect a particular attraction that voters had for him (especially since his campaign was largely invisible) but rather the extreme dissatisfaction by voters overwhelmed with the tide of negativity that came with having one of the top targeted races in the nation. With CD-4 already considered a top tier race, we can expect the same thing again and EE as the Dem candidate would get smeared just as thoroughly as AP did.
Why hasn’t Eric filed as a candidate yet?
This may sound like a stretch but I think it is a possibility that he will wait until November to see if he thinks he has a chance within the Democratic party process. If he sees the writing on the wall (which he may be to stubborn to do) he will drop his Dem affiliation and run as a 3rd party candidate. This gives him the required 1 year before the election registered independent.
If the Dems have let him participate in any forums and party events before he registers as a candidate with them then they will have unknowing helped him run against their eventual candidate. The joke would be on them.
What do you folks think?
He has absolutely no loyalty to the Democratic Party. He’s damn near said as much in a post over at Square State, where he went absolutely off the deep end and started railing against both “insiders” of the party and activists.
Until he files as as a candidate for Congressional District 4, he shouldn’t be invited to participate in a forum, debate, or discussion with other candidates.
My money is on him bailing out of the party altogether by November, which would be the death of his campaign, because it would prove what most of us have been saying–that he only joined the Democratic Party so he could go to DC. By changing party affiliations once again, he will prove, once and for all, that he is a self-absorbed SOB who could care less about promoting Democratic or progressive values.
I’d love to be proven wrong and if Eidsness would like to publicly go on the record and state that he will support the Democrat that wins the primary and that he will not run as a 3rd party candidate again, that would go a very long way towards convincing alot of us that he is sincere in his desire to join and work within the Democratic Party.
I’ll just sit here and hold my breath now, waiting for that to happen.
Party Changes: I will not change my party affiliation as a public office seeking citizen. I am a Democrat and should have been one long before now. I have said this before in public forums in the past two months. I really am no different than former SecNav – Senator Jim Webb, with whom I served. Difference being, I took a step in-between major parties. We both left the Republican Party at about the same time – 18 months before the general election, if I have my facts right.
By the way, I was a Veteran for Kerry, a Republican for Kerry, I voted for McGovern against Nixon when I was in Vietnam in 1968, knew Jimmy Carter personally when he was governor and many of his office holders. Check out my values and principles below.
When and if I announce: I think Angie and Betsy are great people and, I hope to contribute to raising the level of political discourse and help prepare whomever the winner is to run a civil campaign based on issues – this is what I did last year. I will support the nominee with hard cash!
Am I shopping for any party? No. My evolution was very personal and it took place over the last few years. I have never been politically active and therefore a newcomer to insider party politics. Good for those people, the keep the ball rolling while the rest of us don’t choose party politics as a lifestyle. My experience in Washington D.C. working for Reagan left me with a bad taste in my mouth for party politics, but that was a long time ago and I have learned some things. This is why I am not stuck in an ideology and a moderate, problem solving thinker.
Why am I a Democrat? Simple, I can’t win as an independent (according a book sent to my by its author called “Three’s a Crowd”); all the reasons I ran in the first place still exist; and, the Democratic Party is the only party that cares about the issues I care about. Look at my Values and Principles below and you decide. Look at the link to the Windsor debate with Angie and Marilyn and see for yourself. Who is the progressive one? So if changing parties to Democratic make me an opportunist in the eyes of some, then I am an opportunist – but for the right reasons.
Motivation: My motivation to run last year was because I was embarrassed at what my generation was leaving my three children – fiscal insolvency, intrusive government and loss of civil liberties and privacy, loss of stature and positive influence in the world. I am also a Vietnam Combat Veteran and didn’t want my Marine son (19) to be the last American brought home in a body bag in a war I knew before the invasion the American people would not sustain to the end – we simply are not occupiers and can’t build democracies at gunpoint, particularly in the Mid East. I wish Colin Powell had said this when he resigned from the Bush Administration.
What have I been up to: I have been quietly meeting Democrats (and other opinion leaders) across the CD-4 and building support for my candidacy. I am also collecting a staff and consultants and have a campaign plan. Still looking for a few key people. I know that I will have to earn my stripes in the Democratic Party the hard way – from the grass roots up. I feel no panic or concern for my ability to organize or raise money. I also continue to write op eds – the candidate last year that often expressed his opinion in the printed media (www.eric4congress.org) which is probably why I got the endorsement of most of the CD-4 newspapers.
Why is Eric Eidsness good for the Democratic Party? When things are going well, it is ordinary practice to hire from within. When things are not so good, you should consider going outside for a fresh face (I fail, literally), new ideas and someone who is not stuck in the old partisan way of thinking. I am an outsider – which is my curse and my biggest asset to the party.
The Democratic Party as the party in power has a huge responsibility to fix what is broken. First and formost our Legislature must remember their Constitutional Oath and that they are a separate barnch of government. If we act like the Bush Republicans, we will cede war authority, not blow the budget, not hold the executive branch to account and exercise other powers of the Legislative Branch.
I feel we have only a decade to face our future with positive action on the national and international stage. It is an enormous responsibility and I want to help.
What I bring is experience in public policy and in running a major government department, business, water and military background – in combat. I believe that the Party will need people like me to help navigate the complexities of public policy where the choice won’t be to “just print more money”.
Can I win the 4th? I believe that I can otherwise I would not consider another run. The question is, “Can Eric get the nomination”? I don’t think the bloggers should count me out when you haven’t seen my hand and don’t know much about me yet. There is time. I have always been underestimated.
Why can I win? Bob Lawrence has laid it out pretty well. If nothing else, because of my rural experience and background in water and agriculture here in Colorado as well as at the national level, I get it that we are an urban society where all the political power, money and expertise are accumulated, and that the rural areas hardly get a place at the table to bargain for their piece of the American Dream. They get that I get this. I will be one hell of an advocate for our rural community because they too are to be represented by the next Representative of CD-4.
I have attached my values and principles below:
Eric Eidsness’ Values and Principles
June 6, 2007
These values and principles which are abiding in me, represent the sum total of my life’s experiences, of my many life’s failures, disappointments, trials, successes and joys of being an American citizen for 62 years – of my taking personal responsibility for my decisions and actions and learning from them.
1. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILIY – I believe that the strength of our nation is derived from people taking responsibility for their lives, for their decisions and actions. This means also being willing to be held accountable and to acknowledge, learn and grow from past mistakes and to make amends.
2. HELPING OUR NEIGHBORS – We are a generous society and it is our duty to help those who for whatever reason are disadvantaged and are unable to live the America dream. However, in giving this help whether it is a personal gift or creating a social safety net, we must take care neither to disable nor enable those who need help; rather we must empower them to take their own responsibility. That is a fine line to walk indeed.
3. FAIRNESS – Fairness means to me that our government has a duty to ensure that the benefits and protections of the Constitution are afforded to all Americans no matter their ethnicity, color, creed, country of origin, gender or sexual orientation or economic status. We are not living in a fair America today.
4. A GOVERNMENT OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – I believe that a government that does not serve the people is a government that rules the people. To guard against this, our government must be transparent and accountable – this is a responsibility of our elected representatives under the Constitution.
When we have issues tearing at the fabric of our society like dependency on foreign oil or a broken health care system, government must act decisively. We must do so with legislative initiatives that have the same force of commitment as putting a man on the moon.
But in taking federal initiative, we must not always default to a federal government solution; rather pass legislation that seeks the best alignment of resources at all levels of government and the private sector. Otherwise, we create bureaucracies who stifle creativity, initiative, entrepreneurialship and the free market system – bureaucracies that smother our diversity and dumb down the otherwise noble initiatives like No Child Left Behind.
5. FREE MARKET SYSTEM – I believe in the free market system because it is the engine that drives our economy; but not a free market system that is unrestrained; that is blind to our social needs; that no longer vests in the American worker; that is not “fair” in its business practices; that peddles influence so that Corporations have “favored nation’s status” with our national government.
Today, we have energy, health care and vertically integrated agribusiness cartels that are growing monopolies. Market competition is stifled. From time to time, our legislators need to check these excesses, enforce anti-trust laws, and renegotiate trade agreements to achieve a fair market system in order to expand our economy, create jobs for Americans and for the greater good of our society – not just for the bottom line. Now is such a time.
6. OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE TO SHARE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM – Tax policy and social spending decisions (like education) should be made to give every American a chance at the American Dream.
We must never again allow the mass accumulation of wealth and political influence by a very few as occurred during the turn of the 19th Century when the Robber Barons controlled our political system – otherwise we move dangerously close to a patriarchal society like Mexico, where the very wealthy and influential few decide what is good for the masses. That is not democracy. Such imbalance invites instability and social unrest. This condition would be “taxation without representation”.
In the same sense, rural America, its agricultural economy and heritage, must be protected. Rural America is where there is connectedness; where everyone shares in the pain and joy of the community. It is from whence the values came upon which our great nation was founded in 1776.
Rural interests must be addressed as we become an urban society where wealth and political power are accumulated. This is because one day, again in our history, we will rely on rural America for our very survival.
7. PRIVACY AND PERSONAL FREEDOMS – I learned from my experience on the battlefield of Vietnam, that my privacy and personal freedom and that of my family, is the greatest gift of God and our democracy. Our government must ensure, not erode this principle. This principle is worth fighting and dieing for.
8. OUR CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR AND DRINK CLEAN WATER – We must be better stewards of our environment and always invest in a “margin of safety” if we don’t understand the fate and effects of pollutants – such as the impact of man on global climate change. Our survival as a species depends on this.
9. BIGOTRY AND INTOLERANCE IN ALL ITS FORMS MUST BE ERADICATED FROM THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE – I learned as a young boy growing up in the racially divided Deep South and schooled for a short time in an elite, private and all-white New England preparatory school, that intolerance and bigotry is pernicious throughout the United States. I have personally experience bigotry.
Discrimination is rearing its ugly head and must be eliminated from our thinking, from our policies containing religious arrogance and intolerance, on the war on terror, immigration, and the rights of two consenting adults of the same sex to live their lives and enjoy the freedoms and privacy afforded in our Constitution.
10. DEMOCRACY AND AMERICA’S ROLE IN THE WORLD – I believe that America’s gift to the world is the ideal of democracy to which we aspire, not our capacity to bring democracy to other societies, other cultures at gunpoint.
Democracy is a work in progress here at home. We have an enormous responsibility to do what we say, to place into check the erosion of our Constitutional protections and freedoms that have taken place since 9/11. We must never condone or support torture – the ultimate violation of personal freedom and privacy.
America should never again invade a sovereign nation with use of our military force unless and until all diplomatic efforts have been expended, and unless we are attacked or there is an imminent verifiable threat of attack. Only under these circumstances will Americans understand our objectives and sustain the effort, and share in the burden, until those objectives are met.
Never again should America embark on another Vietnam or Iraq and it is Congress’ duty to jealously guard its sole power to declare war under Section 8, Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
Never again should our leaders lead us into war without asking us to share in the sacrifice and the cost.
Though I will vote and walk the pavement for Musgrave, I appreciate the fact you had the courage to respond on here.
I also stand corrected as to why you joined the party, my apologies. I think if you are able to get your message out that you may be able to persuade some of the Dems over to your side.
That it does take a spine for EE to come here and respond, it doesn’t change the fact that he basically confirmed what everyone else has said. He changed parties to win an election.
But so what? Is that supposed to help your argument? I’m a Republican, so saying “Jim Webb jumped ship to win office, so it’s ok that I do it” isn’t going to do much to convince me. Switching parties to win office is about the worst reason to switch parties. It was when Bloomberg switched to a Republican to run for Mayor of New York. It was when your buddy Webb did it. It was when you did it.
With all due respect, if you felt that the Republican party didn’t represent your values, you should have switched long before you wanted to run for office. But since you hung on, endorsing Kerry and the ilk all the way, only to switch right before you wanted an elected position, is suspect to say the least
Jim Webb lives in a state that overwhelmingly sends Republicans to Congress. He took an enormous risk by joining the Democrats and running as a Dem. The Republican Party was not imploding at the time he joined nor was it imploding at the time he declared his candidacy.
His desire to work within the Democratic Party was quite obviously sincere, considering that he would have had a much easier time winning as a Republican.
You tried to force a primary, while you were a Republican, couldn’t make it happen, switched to the Reform Party (and I’m sure they will be thrilled to hear that you used them as a stepping stone on your way “up” to the Democratic Party.) When you realized you could only get your foot in the political door by belonging to a mainstream party, you switched, once again, to the Democratic Party.
There is no comparison between you and Senator Webb so stop trying to make the link. I have a feeling he’d be somewhat embarrassed to have his name in the same sentence as yours.
Nice post
for responding here and for not personally attacking those critical of your candidacy.
I also applaud your statement that you will remain a Democrat through the 2008 election cycle, and actively help the CD-4 Democratic nominee if you don’t seek the nomination or you lose the primary. That is exactly the right public position to take, and the more you say it the more your credibility will grow in the party and the more good work you will be able to get done.
A lot of people work hard for the party – or the “lifestyle” as you call it – because they care very deeply about this country’s future, not for base reasons as you often imply. It is good to see that your attitude towards such lifelong Democrats is starting to shift.
You are asking the people of CD4 to employ you as their Congressman. Your website gives a certain amount of information, but we all know politicians websites are PR mechanisms, designed to put out info the way they want it presented. You are crafting a public image that may or may not have anything to do with who you really are.
When it comes to your employment history, your website lacks real details. I would appreciate you presenting more specific work history information.
Please give your specific employment history, name of company and dates you worked, and how your employment ended. Please also explain any gaps in your work history.
You say you are a businessman — what is your business??
Your websites indicates you are divorced with three children and were a water engineer. My guess is that if you were divorced there was alimony and child support. How have you managed to be financially able to run for office? Most of the people in your district get up and go to work everyday. Are you one of these people??
Let’s start to get to know you. Thanks.
Am I the only one surprised by the lack of response to these questions?
Mr. Eidsness, given your propensity to never miss an opportunity to go and on and on and on (and on and on) about yourself…your silence regarding your work history and finances is rather loud. You have invited bloggers to look deeper into who you are, and say that they don’t know who you really are. Seems like you want to pick and choose the information you make available. That’s not really getting to know someone, is it?
You will not be able to move forward politically without your past being excavated and scrutinized. The specifics of your past employment will be indicative of your character. It is very easy for a person to make broad sweeping statements of their expertise as you do on your website and in other print sources. Omissions of facts are incredibly revealing, as are a person’s income sources.
For example, a minimum amount of internet research reveals that you own numerous rental units in the City of Denver. You own other properties in the City of Fort Collins, and a property in Loveland, where you do not reside. If the above information is current and correct, one might conclude that the “rural” image you are perpetuating is manufactured.
Seems like you might really be “city” boy.