President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
52%↑
48%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
50%
50%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
July 31, 2005 08:00 AM UTC
60 Comments
We will crush the Democrats, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentations of their women.
Bill Ritter & Rutt Bridges are both far too “Republican” for these people. The Be the Changers even circulated a petition against Ken Salazar. It’s Mike Miles and Morgan Carroll only for this crowd…if you can call 100 people a crowd. I just can’t believe it…if this is the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party, I guess I’m not a Democrat. And if that’s the change they want to see in the world, they better get new glasses!
And while I’m on this rant, Howard Dean raking in a massive $30,000 on his visit here – that’s a joke! Dick Cheney drops into town for a couple hours and a cool $250k is banked. These Left wing nuts need to go away or we’re going to have a Republican legislature again.
There are over 800,000 Democrats in Colorado.
Even though there are over one million Republicans,
Democrats hold the majority in both the House and the Senate. Not to mention winning 2 Salazar seats (even if they vote correctly 50% of the time isn’t that better than 100% wrong).
The state party apparatus is less important than it ever has been.
Pat Waak and BeTheChange are not ruining the Democratic Party but merely a current refelection of the identity crisis that afflicts the party nationally.
Just remember, the House and Senate caucus’ raised almost $100,000 in the last cycle — thanks to the hard work of a few off-year staffers.
But money isn’t everything, Republicans will always raise more . . . that’s what 30 years of selling out the middle and working class gets you . Big, fat, special interest checks from the super-rich who rip us off daily.
The Dems last, best hope at this point for ’06 is for John Hickenlooper to ride to our rescue.
I think we will maintain the State Legislature, win CD-7 (no thanks to the state party, but based on strong individual candidates), but forget about the Governor’s mansion unless he jumps in…
Um, Howard Dean dropped in for LUNCH, on a Thursday. How many people can make that kind of an appointment? Dean has vastly out-raised his predecessor’s 2003 off-year numbers, but his schedule here was not great.
The problem with the BTC event was probably simple: no big headliner. Gen. Clark was supposed to be here for the event originally, but for unknown (to me) reasons was unable to attend; that change came only a month ago. We can’t get usually get 5,000 people to attend the State Convention; how BTC expected to get them out to an event with mostly media folk on a beautiful summer weekend, I don’t know. If the Dead Guvs’ report is right, BTC has had consistently better attendance for their all-day workshops than at this event; even those hardcore events were 200+.
I hear the Clark bailed six weeks ago do to a pre-planned family vacation. He could have brought 200 more people at least.
BTC scheduled this event too closely to the RJK jr event — which was right after the highly attended George Lakoff event.
Note to progressives: Time to stop circle-jerking. Go out and talk to your neighbors. Get some yard signs for C & D.
A great portion of successful fund raising has to do with knowing and explaining “where the funds raised” will be used, “for what purpose.” Are the funds used for yard signs or for salaries for contacting democratic party members (as an example). In my opinion, I great deal of the problem exists in some action fund raising with some notable speakers. People will react to attending a Jefferson County Fairgrounds fund raiser with several notable people in attendance. Where is President Clinton, Former Governor Lamm, Senator Joe Biden, Clarke and others in a Democratic Bash? And, frankly, I would enjoy listening to John Kerry in a question and answer session … with all our candidates.
Peter: Colorado is not yet on Dean’s 50-state re-invigoration list (he’s starting with some really tragic cases and moving on up to us more active State party structures…). I think he’ll add us in soon, since he was out here for lunch not long ago. That should increase our “star” potential for fundraisers and speeches.
The best way to support YOUR Democratic Party isn’t to whine and moan like you’re complaining the BTC crowd does; it’s to be involved. Send money, spend time; write or talk to your State and local party to give yourself confidence in where they’re going of you need to…
The Be the Changers even circulated a petition against Ken Salazar.
How terrible! </sarcasm> He was supporting the appointment of a person responsible for approving of torture techniques in our military prisons; he deserved the censure he received. His boss is threatening to veto our military budget if it contains provisions prohibiting torture; apparently, we haven’t come far enough from that 2002 policy memo to be nice to Salazar for that decision.
However, vocal opposition to a position does not equate to abandonment of our candidate. If we cannot hold our elected officials responsible for their mistakes, then we deserve whatever lousy government we wind up with. “A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves”.
Phoenix: I am involved and will continue to do so. I look forward to the C-D walkathon. I think we need to take a positive direction, and not become negative toward our Party. Things can change quickly with some positive changes. I think this website could do a lot with a link or onsite page for visa/master charge donations, with a list of where we would like to donate our funds. With selected areas of “campaign funds” or “general fund” and others, we could become more of a participant in where our funds are used. Great fund raising has a lot to with being able to make choices and a creativity in sponsorship, matching funds. A great deal of money could be found/raised in advertising with companies like Costco, who I understand support ALL of their political funds toward the Democratic Party. I would like a list of all these companies here on this website, so that I could shop at only those stores.
Oops – didn’t mean that second paragraph just for you, Peter.
Hey, Dead Guvs – what are the chances of linking up party donation pages somehwere? Obviously, since this is a bi-partisan site, we should be linking up to all the registered parties in the State…
You got party politics, you got ego. You got problems. All parties, all the time.
Got to figure a way for all the horses to pull in the same direction or you just pull the wagon apart. GOP pulled better for a few and the Dem’s did it in ’04…now, we wait and see…..
This site often overlooks the fact that the party was irrelevant in 2004 as well. All the state leg stuff was done from 527’s. The fact that the party is still a joke doesn’t change one thing. Well except for exposing that the BTC crowd is as worthless as the Deniacs in producing results.
The Party has been worthless and broke since Amendment 27.
Peter,
Huh? You want this site to provide links for donations to the dem party? How does that even make a little bit of sense? This is an ISSUES discussion site.
Are you too lazy to google the locations you seek? How lame! And if you want to get a list of companies who are “dem friendly”, try buyblue.org
Must be your love of the Herbie Android’s plans for robotic automation that makes you think you ought to have it all at one website. Should they add bill pay too?
Since Amendment 27 the parties have lost much of their abilty to fundraise, and thus much of their power. The parties main role now is to find candidates, nominate candidates, and get people involved. These days the campaigns are run not by the party but by the candidates and the 527’s who support them. The parties need to raise money and try to impact elections but until Amedment 27 is repealed, which seems unlikely, the parties will only play a small part in each election.
It seems to me that this website is seeking some sponsorship. I have noticed very little in advertising sponsors. If they wish to grow and build, I think it would be beneficial to have ISSUES from the perspective of the Republicans on one side (page) and another for the Democrats. Frankly, I look for the ISSUES that are important for the Democrats. Occassionally, I look for conservative opinions. However, I am not spending my time searching for links for sending my money, nor am I spending my time looking for improved blogs. I thought my suggestion(s) would be warmly received, since the improvements could generate funds for those who run this website. It was only intended as a suggestion, since disorganization and “robots” tend to place more of their time on what matters. Personally, I like things that work smoothly and efficently. 🙂
Senator Salazar represents everyone in Colorado not simply the ideological interests of the Colorado Democratic Party and particularly not the increasingly irrelevant interests of the liberal/progressive wing of the Colorado Democratic Party.
David Harsanyi’s column today seeks to exploit Senator Salazar’s success as a moderate, but fails to acknowledge that the positions Salazar takes are truly representative of the majority of Coloradans. But, then again, I almost never find myself agreeing with anything Harsanyi writes.
Finally, I am surprised that Wes Clark would at any time agree to speak at a BTC rally as they represent the antithesis of many of his positions.
BTC-USA worked very hard to put on a great event. It was soon after their previous fundraiser, Wes Clark couldn’t make it, it was hot and there were several county fairs and other events they competed with. The attendance wasn’t what was hoped for, but you’ve gotta be swilling Caldera Kool-Aid to try to spin it as a failure.
I met hundreds of grassroots leaders and Democratic activists, heard some good speeches, listened to music, and generally had a wonderful time.
Seeing any fundraising by a liberal group as impoverishing the Democratic Party must be done while wearing Republican blinders. It’s not a winner-take-all competition among progressive groups and the CDP, although Colorado Pols clearly wishes it were. Filling my glass means taking water out of yours? I don’t think so. The 2004 election showed that such activity actually complemented more traditional approaches, in the end arousing more volunteers and more donations for everyone.
Your “recap” article is biased. I think you can do better than manufacturing scandal, although I know it’s hard work.
Why would Democrats want to appeal Amendment 27? The first (even-year) election it was in effect, the Dems captured both houses of the Legislature; first time since Kennedy was President.
[press release deleted]
Sorry, but we don’t allow press releases to be posted as comments.
Waak refuses to work the phones and ask for money. Someone needs to tie her down to a chair with a headset on and make her do the work that she needs to do to keep this party afloat. The Dems capture the legislature for the 1st time in 40 years and BTC helps to runout the people who helped make that possible…. idiotic.
All reports that I recieved from the saturday event were that it was terrible, very low turnout, bad speakers… and all for $50 ($25 per session)!
You can only accuse one org of thieving from another org if the two are perceived as having basically the same mission and audience.
It couldn’t be said about the state Party and BTC, if one wasn’t perceived as an organ of the other. Unfortunately, thanks to some kind of misguided zeal on the part of head-lopping BTCers, it is. Besides, nobody would criticize them if they didn’t leave themselves wide-ass open to charges of whacko-dom. 5,000 people at the damn Jeffco Fairgrounds for a couple of minor league radio hosts? Jesus. If that’s the kind of logic that guided the decapitation of the Colorado Democratic Party, maybe it was biggest three-vote mistake ever made!!!
C’mon folks, let’s cool off here. The RMN article was reporting end-of-June numbers, which I can say are very different from the post-Dean visit end-of-July numbers. Furthermore, they are only reporting money in the non-Federal account, a key point most seem to be missing. We have, to my recollection, a great deal more money in our Federal account than our non-Federal account. The State Party, while not flush with money, is definitely solvent.
While I don’t want to go into detail on a public site, I can assure loyal Dems that structural changes have been / are being made to address past fundraising difficulties and ensure that we continue to see good months of fundraising ahead. It is interesting to point out, as another poster did, that the GOP leadership sees similar problems raising money under this new environment as well, as the RMN article indicates.
To summarize: the sky is not falling at 777 North Santa Fe, but continued donations to the State Party are certainly welcomed…
— Dan Slater, CDP First Vice Chair
Dear Antipeter –
Great idea with the bill pay! A link with an advertisment from a local bank, like 1stBank! I bet 1stBank would love the exposure! Great idea !!!
Friends,
Be The Change held a successful event with Robert Kennedy Jr. on June 25th. This event was located in the Republican stronghold of Douglas County. 800 people attended this event. The Celebration of Democracy event that was held this Saturday was successful as well. 600 people attended. This event gave a jump start to the Referenda C&D grassroots campaign. 600 educated people can inform 10x as many. If anyone differs in my assessment of success, as I believe both of these events were, I welcome your comments as I will not hide behind the “anonymous”.
Sincerely,
Adam Dunstone
Be The Change
Executive Director
Ooops.. sorry folks, I forgot to give you my contact information. adunstone@yahoo.com or call me & we can chat about it. 303-901-4994.
Sincerely,
Adam Dunstone
Be The Change
Executive Director
Thanks for the clarification, Adam. I would have guessed at least 500, but it’s always hard to judge a crowd.
It would have been nice to have twice as many people, but then I wouldn’t have had a free moment to eat lunch, either. I thought the day was excellent all around.
It is interesting to note that all the comments here lamenting things are based completely upon hearsay. “All reports that I recieved [sic]” and “if you can call 100 people a crowd,” etc. Well, I was actually at the event, and Adam was responsible for the head count. Those of you who consider yourselves reality-based can weigh these comments appropriately.
Not posting anonymously is a healthy practice that the author of Colorado Pols ought to look into. It does make it more difficult to fabricate stories, however.
Six hundred people. Let me see I counted 90 in the stnads when the program healdiners were talking. Of those 90 at least 15 were candidates or elected officials.
Yes, Be The Change has done some good things. But, to draw 90 people after weeks of publicity is not too good. Than to claim 600 when there was nowhere near that number is kind of cheesy.
If Pat Waak had raised a lot of money at the Dean Event why didn’t she say so?
Hey mangolovingjoe you would probably see more people if you pulled your head out of your ass. Noticed how I used my real name too.
The Bush Administration has placed the economy in such shambles, its a wonder anyone can afford much of anything … no wonder his latest poll results are a dismal 44 percent approval rating. If John Kerry would be running against our President today, it would be no contest.
Look at the way these Democrats are coming unglued on the Pols. At least the Republicans take criticism with some dignity!
Peter,
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda. If Abe Lincoln were running right now… oh wait, he’s dead.
Welcome back to reality. Your guy lost, get over it.
Give Adam his due…at least he had the guts to put his name on it…if you have hard figures to dispute his count…put your phone number in so he can call you and discuss it.
Every party is near broke now…it’s a sign of the times….and it’s not just Dems.
And of course while this is an information depot, we should not forget that it is also a gossip column. Hang in there AD.
The country understands that the Debold voting machines were programmed to reverse results. That issue will chase the GOP for as long as the sun shines. The GOP has proven that they are not Christian. Indeed, the GOP has become corrupted, beginning with everyone who receives a paycheck, with tithing attached to it.
And people also know that it’s the black helicopters that are going to get them in the end.
PS. Please remember to take your lithium.
Before I take my asprin, read your bible again and the Ten Commandments. Read especially the parts where it talks about “Thou Shalt Not Steal” … “Bear False Witness” … “Thou Shalt Not Kill” … among all the others. And, pickup a copy of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, those are items that your President Bush promised to uphold in his innauguaration. Pretty damn pathetic if you ask a majority of the country and world.
I didn’t mean to disparage BTC’s turnout in my earlier comments, just responding as rationally as I could since I myself couldn’t make it, either (family in town from out-of-state…).
500-600 is a much better number; quite good for lacking a high brand-name keynoter, on a summer weekend competing against Buffalo Bill Days and other largeish events.
Be The Change stands for honesty and integrity. How can they claim that ninety in the stands, plus another twenty or so selling t-shirts and such equal 500- 600? I am sure if I am wrong that there would be some documentary evidence such as sign in sheets that would prove me wrong.
Additionally, Dan Slater is a voice of reason. A man of dignity and integrity. If, the Be the Change group were smart they would acknowledge that Pat Waak is a disaster and elevate Slater to the top party job. Dan would be supported by all factions and could unite the party and move it forward.
Or,Be The Changers or is it now Be The Change the Numbers maybe you have a photo showing 500 people that you can send? It is sad when people become corrupted even before they take over the system.
Alan,
Is torture one of those things that the non-liberal/non-progressive part of the Democratic party supports now?
And, frankly, you don’t know **** about BTC or Clark if you don’t think they share common goals, ideas, or activists. BTC wants fiscally-responsible government; Clark wants the same. BTC wants some serious thinking done on Iraq; Clark is doing serious thinking on Iraq. BTC wants equitable tax reform; Clark wants to end the Bush tax cuts to the rich and and end to corporate welfare.
Wow: I have seen how the Republicans take criticism on things. Such as dodging questions and getting defensive about their positions. Now there’s dignity for you.
Oh, by the way I am the guy who was standing next to Miles when he realized that instead of 5000, instead of 1000 instead of 500 there were under 100 to see his entrance. The look on his face told the tale better than any words. This proud and decent man clearly realized that once again his team let him down big time.
Oh, by the way I am the guy who was standing next to Miles when he realized that instead of 5000, instead of 1000 instead of 500 there were under 100 to see his entrance. The look on his face told the tale better than any words. This proud and decent man clearly realized that once again his team let him down big time.
BTC says 500, that’s significantly higher than any of the Dems I spoke to at the Arapohoe-Denver Dems picnic on Saturday said.
Is that like when the Rockies have 25,000 paid attendance?
MLJ – I think Dan adequately addressed his position on leadership at the CDP in his response further up. His experience I am sure has been valuable in transitioning from one paradigm to another in party organization, and I think with the combined input and vision of all the party central and executive committees, the Colorado Democratic Party is on its way to a more responsive and wider-reaching stance; Waak is no stranger to fund-raising, and with Dan’s assurances, I trust the party will soon turn its financial mediocrity around.
I wonder if the Colorado GOP will be able to say the same…
I guess if they were at the picnic, they couldn’t be very reliable sources for the BTC event, could they?
the picnic was on sunday, the day after the BTC event
Be the Change IS the Party, the heart and soul. We will raise the money needed and not ask for special favors in return. Mike Miles is a good and decent man, given the lack of energy in our two announced candidates for Governor should we not ask Mike to run. He would infuse energy and money and we would win. Let’s not be stuck with the establishment candidates Colorado voters want change. Be The Change!
We should NOT ask Mike to run for guv. He has ZERO interest in state politics, ZERO knowledge of the state issues that matter in Colorado (like water and transportation) and would be talking about Iraq on the campaign trail. BB would get 65% of the vote against Miles.
Be The Change is not a power house in Colorado, nor will it ever be. It represents the fringe of the party, and after 2006, many of them will likely lose interest and drop out. There’s a reason they’re not taken seriously.
Ask anybody you want to run for anything you want…but, unless the one asked has some passion–forgedaboudit. You have to really want to run in today’s dog eat dog political arena…
But, I would disagree that not knowing anything would disqualify anyone….look around.
Mike Miles has a great future.
All he needs to do is hire people who can count. First learn how to count a crowd. Than they can move on to counting how many votes they need to win. Real leaders recognize when they must change horses. Ronald Reagan for example did that in 1980. Until Mike Miles changes horses he will be an asterick and a fading one at that.
How about Dan Slater for party chair? Even the Be The Changers must now realize that in the immortal words of Al Gore it is time for her to go.
I would be all for Dan Slater as the party chair. But I do not see Pat going quietly.
It comes down to leadership. Is Mike Miles willing to admit that the same team that brought him 23% of the vote is not capable of running his political operation or the Democratic Party of the State of Colorado? Clearly you could see that Mike was disappointed and probably more so when his team told him that hundreds were there earlier when in fact it was like a ghost town all day long. Miles has more sheer raw talent than anyone around. Will he act like a leader?
or, will he allow his once bright political future to be ruined by the Change the Counters.
Whoa.
While I certainly appreciate all of the kind words here, let’s not go overboard. We don’t go replacing the State Party Chair mid-term just because a few folks are unhappy with what they see from him/her. That is a drastic, drastic move and there simply isn’t a single thing to warrant such a move.
In fact, the feedback I’ve gotten from the folks who know Pat’s work the best — the county chairs and county officers — is that she is doing an outstanding job as Chair. I would echo that comment, and I often do so when meeting with local party leaders and elected officials. Pat has been very inclusive with the rest of the officers, and I’m proud to serve with her. Sorry if that douses the “Draft Dan, Dump Pat” crowd, but it’s the truth.
— Dan
Your magnanimous and heart felt words on behalf of Pat Waak even if you do not believe them any more than I do is all the more reason that you should be the Party Chair Mr. Slater. I am sure that the County Chairs do love her but anyone who has responsibility for actually winning elections cringes at the very sound of Waak’s name.
Mike Miles step up to the plate.
Bring in a team that is worthy of you to run Be The Change — Stand up and admit that Waak is in over her head and help show her the door.
Miles can be a truly great leader. But , he needs a team that can get him more than 23% of the vote and has the integrity to admit that they drew barely one hundred this weekend. Mike, they are not being square with you and you need to recognize it. Or, continue giving speeches on dusty stages to 75 of the faithful.
I am sure that maybe the count was not intentionally misstated. They may have just been dizzy from the heat on the red t-shirts and the high speed rides around the empty parking lots on the golf carts.
I am one of those County officers, and I am responsible in part for seeing that we win elections in my area.
It is the county party that runs GOTV, the county party that runs local candidate slates, the county party that organizes to put out signs, and the county party that organizes events to promote the candidates in their neighborhoods.
Don’t give me any bull about “responsibility for actually winning elections”.
Dan hit the nail on the head. Who exactly is the group with the ego here, BTC or the ones who can’t stop bashing them?
Way to go Phoenix, my sentiments exactly. Give Waak a chance, I am embrassed at the way my fellow Denver Democrats think they rule the State. quit the bitching and help raise money for the Party we need it now more than ever before.
The old gaurd Dems don’t think anything that is not their idea is a good one….give Waak a walk on this one and let her have time to start the dance. Gates, et al are full of grapes which have gone bad.
Bottom line is no one is bashing Mike Miles.
Everyone agrees he should emphasis on should be a leader of our party.
He needs to surround himself with people who are not egomaniacs but winners.
Waak is a disaster. The County Chairs will have to do what they always do. That is beg cash strapped candidates to pay for the slate cards and other materials. Waak is bankrupting the party in conjunction with party chairs who only know how to beg money from candidates. Dan Slater unites all factions. Mike Miles and others need to step up to the plate admit a mistake and put someone in charge who can handle the job
I dub thee instigator and troublemaker. You have no respect for, nor idea of, the work that the County Parties perform, and a single-minded disdain for the party and state rules and laws.
Begone with thee! Shoo!
doggy steps Buy cheap doggy steps as seen on TV