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December 05, 2014 10:28 AM UTC

What Democrats Need Is More "Colorado Model"

  • 23 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio.
Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio.

FOX 31's Eli Stokols reports on an interesting development as Democrats nationwide look to recover from an overall bruising 2014 election cycle–Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio has been appointed to a select panel to "triage" the state of the Democratic Party nationally, and position itself better for victory in 2016:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, appointed Palacio, the only state chairman taking part in the project.

He will join nine others: Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, Donna Brazile, Democratic bundler Naomi Aberly, strategist Maria Cardona, attorney Marc Elias, Teddy Goff, an architect of President Obama’s digital campaign strategy, branding expert Maneesh Goyal and AFSCME’s Lee Saunders.

“It’s an honor to serve in this incredibly important role and I’m eager to begin this project,” Palacio told FOX31 Denver Thursday. “While Colorado Democrats had significant wins and losses, this last election was not good to many Democrats across the country.

“The American people believe in core issues championed by Democrats, so the job before our party is to make sure those issues are communicated effectively while identifying ways to build upon the infrastructure that exists to ensure voters are engaged in future elections.”

As Stokols reports, the effort is not all that different from Republican Party "post-mortem" analysis after their rough 2012 election cycle–a process that by all accounts improved the GOP's vote engagement efforts this year. After the full weight of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee under Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet was applied to the U.S. Senate race in this state, Sen. Mark Udall's strategic mistakes are a valuable lesson in what not to do with major opportunities like Cory Gardner's audacious backpedal on abortion.

But compared to the rest of the nation for Democrats after this tough election, Colorado still has many positive lessons for Democrats, having weathered another "GOP wave" with fewer losses than Republicans would have preferred. The fact is, Gardner's and Gov. John Hickenlooper's victories this year both have as much to do with their resilient positive message as their ability to overcome attacks. Likewise, the ability of Colorado Democrats to limit losses in state legislative races in this heavily Republican year is a feat that Democrats would like to need to replicate in many other states.

So for Palacio, this assignment is likely to involve some teaching as well as some learning.

Comments

23 thoughts on “What Democrats Need Is More “Colorado Model”

  1. an ever more rabid and reactionary Republican Party always helps. One lesson to be sure: you are not necessarily a Genius for beating a candidate from that side of the political spectrum.

        1. Thank you. I don't use that image anymore though, BlueCat complained it was giving him/her a headache.

          But yes, it feels good to be right about that after all the grief I took from you people.

          1. Blind pigs, buddy.  You got it right, but for the wrong  reasons. You're a Gardner shill, and you thought it was hurting Cory …

            … laughing my ass off that you're now basking in some kind of alternate reality troll glory. 

            Strange, strange damn world sometimes . . . 

  2. Democrats need a rural model as well.  What few bright spots appear in today's rural landscape are generally a result of progressive policies, yet they remain almost unknown by the average citizen in the countryside.  Ask a rural Coloradan about wind farms – they are more likely to repeat the ridiculous claims by their rural electric providers that it's "a bad thing", yet billions have been invested in their backyard with the barely lifting a finger.  They don't have to raise the money, they don't have to commit to the output – and they reap the rewards. 

    USDA just issued its Rural America at a Glance, a compilation of social and economic indicators about conditions in rural America that includes a map on job growth that’s telling: It shows that rural areas are far behind metro counties in their recovery from the depths of the recession and the gap continues to grow.

     

    The Earned Income Tax Credit is under fire by the Republicans, yet studies show the tax is more likely to benefit the poor in rural areas.  Our Senator-elect lead the charge in the House in the Farm Bill reauthorization to gut the food stamp program, even though many areas in his Congressional district have poverty rates twice the state average.

    The list goes on…and we keep losing the media war.

     

    1. Sounds good- money (food stamps, earned income credit) in the hands of the base of trickles up to grow the whole economy, something the Rs do not want to admit or grasp. With out radio, ( accessed weekly more than almost any other media daily) messaging is nonexistent

  3. For some reason, the message "we suck less" resonates slightly better with Colorado voters than most elsewhere in the country . . .

    Does Palacio know why?  Doubtful. 

    . . . maybe it's the legal weed?

    Fact is, if our economy here wasn't as good as it is, Hick would be dusting off his bartender's apron, and we probably would have lost the House, too.

    Is our economy better here because of Democratic policies — I guess that's arguable, but certainly hard to quantify. If it is because of Democratic economic policies, I didn't hear hardly one single Democratic candidate make note of what those were this last cycle. 

    Anyway, sounds like Palacio will have a chance at getting a nice dinner or two, and maybe add some names to his Rolodex/Facebook friends list . . .

    1. Your cynicism is understandable, but you should be aware that it doesn't help Democrats win. I think we did do better here in a very tough year, and it's more than "we suck less."

      1. Only if candidates run on something else other than I don;t suck as bad as the other guy.   That means they have to be willing to stick their neck out and actually bravely admit they believe what they believe in.  You know, be a grown up.  

    2. a fair analysis is a good thing………….really do see a lot more common sense on liberal blogs (check out how many times Markos nailed a prediction or analysis) than we see coming from the pros most of the time.

      Ignoring common sense politics and what the voters are telling you doesn't help Dems win either. 

  4. Palacio's a good man. He led the fight to recall Scott Gessler. I don't agree with the state Democratic party's priorities on spending for candidate campaigns; but that isn't necessarily Palacio's doing.

    And it does look as though the serious dog wants to comment on the situation.

  5. As long as centrist Democrats like Mark Udall spew their Third-Way talking points and try to garner votes from conservative middle-of-the-roaders, they will continue to lose, just like Mark Udall did.  If you're a Democrat trying to sound like a Republican, those folks will do what makes perfect sense to them and vote for the one with the "R" next to their name.  In my opinion, the only thing Rick Palacio can teach Democrats nationally is how to lose in a state that should have been yours for the taking, that is if you hadn't done such a miserable job of leading the party.  When Palacio, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and the rest of the corporate-owned, Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party finally come to their senses and adopt real, populist positions on the issues instead of talking about bipartisan solutions to the Social Security "problem," maybe they will generate some real interest in getting out and voting from the folks they claim to represent.  Until then, you can expect more losses.  I hope Hillary Clinton has the sense to see the handwriting on the wall.

        1. Now we have an elephant in in elephant's clothing.  And McConnell's position  as majority leader got a little more secure.

          Once we chase Joe Machin over to the GOP (because of coal, guns and gay marriage) and Bob Casey over to the GOP (because of reproductive choice), we'll be well on our way to having the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party running the show.

           

  6. Field Marshall Debra Wasserman Schultz, incoherent DUD; Palacio, D.C. transplant, rejected;Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear,? Donna Brazile, Democratic bundler Naomi Aberly, strategist Maria Cardona, attorney Marc Elias?, Teddy Goff, ? ? an architect of President Obama’s digital campaign strategy, branding expert Maneesh Goyal ?and AFSCME’s Lee Saunders.(hey a labor leader) –

    Who listened to Chuck Schumer (D<NY)prior to the election for Dems to run on a economic message? Albeit thin gruel, min wage (Wow)  equal pay . Others here have pointed out those were winning issues in states that followed suit.

     Ok Post mortem Chuck floats the idea, going into 2008 maybe then  the priorty of Dems should have been an Economic platform, instead of health care. For those here mulling over a message to win by, I suggest the union leader Leo Girard's  words, frequent guest on Prog ( how I miss that) radio.

    Until a billionaire "angel" buys a minor radio network, Dems are going to lose the sound machine war.

    1. there were supposed to be lines thru Schultz (use Startpage as a search engine that does not record for eternity internet activity),Palacio,,Schmidt, Brazile (well past her shelf life), Aberly, Maria Cardona ((strategist, yeah right!) rest of names I do not know(amazing isn't it?) Thx Col pols for making everyone do editing twice ata distance. Also, you failed to list the R nominee Jebthro Bush in your horse race line up

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