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December 16, 2009 08:42 AM UTC

Attend a house party with a conference call with Andrew Romanoff on Tuesday, 12/15, 6-7 pm.

  • 17 Comments
  • by: MADCO

Attend a house party with a conference call with Andrew Romanoff on Tuesday, 12/15, 6-7 pm. Call to find the one nearest you.

I got invited several times from different sources. I accepted several times, but it took awhile to get the call-in information.  

The call was late to start and then said nothing.

To recap: Romanoff was introduced by I have no idea who. The actual candidate part of the call was approx 5 minutes: 10-city tour of western Colorado the past 3 days, he fixed rural schools in Colorado on his watch in the House, 1000 volunteers, 95% of his donors are in Colorado, happy birthday to some kid in Douglas County, happy holidays and out.

I am offended. Brevity can be good, but where the hell is the campaign? What does the campaign stand for?  

The bar is not set that high: have a reason to challenge your own party beyond “I am not the other guy” or “I really, really wanted this job.”  And then execute a campaign.

What he said:

The past three days a 10-city tour in western CO.

What I heard: 10 west slope cities in mid-Dec is far too little, way too late.  No talk about how energized and excited everyone was and no talk about what’s next.   Because they weren’t and no one knows.

What he said: 1000 volunteers; thanks for the support. 95% of my donors are from Colorado.

What I heard: no plea to get more, no call to action, no call to make calls, no request for support nor money, he can’t raise the big dollars for this kind of campaign.   It sounded like the start of a concession speech, like he was done; like he wasn’t asking for money or more volunteers because he knows he is going to pull the plug sooner not later.

What he said: rural schools in CO needed fixing, I fixed ’em.

What I heard: He should be running for Governor.  

What he said: half the D’s in the CO legislature are behind my campaign.

What I heard: They know him and like him and they’re too polite to question his campaign to his face.

What I did not hear:

A campaign manager to introduce him.

A campaign manager to introduce.

An introduction and some excitement about newly hired field staff.

Any advance or release for media.

I also did not hear:

Any differentiation from his opponent. No reason to get behind him nor to persuade others to do so.

I heard no policy positions about national Senatorial issues: nothing about AFPAK, nothing about financial regulation, nothing about green energy nor independence from foreign oil, nothing about climate change, nothing about immigration reform, nothing about labor.

I heard no call for donors, no “let’s make some calls and find some donors and more volunteers.”  What it sounded like:  it’s almost over, so let’s not get any more invested or involved.

This seat is at risk. The 2010 CO election cycle will not be like 2008 with record D turnout and a lackadaisical R organization.  

D’s and progressives and moderates and Colorado voters that aren’t supportive of Buck or Norton or Wiens have to unify and start running against them. Now.  

The AR campaign is offensive. Not offensive like the Colts or Saints – offensive like what the hell are you doing to the party? And the longer it stays that way the more at risk the seat is.

I didn’t know Senator Bennet before he was appointed. I am not employed by him or his campaign.   And to repeat what I’ve said many times before- I like Andrew. But until someone, preferably him, explains why I should care about his campaign, and really, really makes the case for him, I am going to remain supportive of Senator Bennet.    At some point in time one of the D candidates is going to have to do the right thing for the good of party, for the good of Colorado and the nation and exit gracefully, the sooner the better.  I don’t say this to be dismissive of Andrew. If he was appointed and anyone primaried him this poorly I would be supporting him and saying this about that challenger.  

But if (when) the campaigns become divisive and mean, we increase the risk of losing the seat.   And I hate the thought.  The voters have had their chance to speak up and write checks. They haven’t because they are not going to.  

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17 thoughts on “Attend a house party with a conference call with Andrew Romanoff on Tuesday, 12/15, 6-7 pm.”

    1. Really.

      I wish AR had a vibrant campaign with a solid message and national interest.  I wish a lot – I don’t wish for the null campaign we’re watching.

  2. as a chance for the candidate to “answer questions from grassroots Democrats.”

    Maybe that was thwarted by the technical difficulties that postponed the call, but he didn’t answer any questions.

    The girl with the 14th birthday was in Arapahoe County, not Douglas, by the way … just sayin’.

    1. I tried to submit questions in advance. No way to do that.

      I was prepared to speak, instant message or email during. No way to do that.

      And he clarified that the kid was in Highlands Ranch/Douglas County.  If there had been any way to interact you could have corrected him when he said it.   Oh well- wherever the birthday kids are, happy birthday.

      It wasn’t just that it was …. a weak event. What was it for? Was it just a chance to hear the guy again? A reason to get together? in this season when there is nothing but reason to get together?  

  3. That was the most pathetic campaign conference call I have ever heard.  I’m reminded of the dozens of Obama conference calls that were professional, exciting and told us what to do next. None of that occurred last night.

    Is it possible that the Romanoff campaign is that incompetent??

    I think the better conclusion is that Romanoff is sending out the clue that he’s pulling the plug on his campaign.  That’s why he didn’t announce a campaign manager, or tell his listeners what to do next (other than to go to his website), and most importantly donate to his campaign(!)

    To donate to his campaign at this point is to throw money down a rathole.

    Put a fork in it.  Time of death: 7pm, December 15, 2009.

    1. That Andrew will realize it’s time to pull the plug on a race he can’t win.  I only wonder what damage this will do to any bids for future elective office.

      1. it will be interesting to see how the Republicans attack the move as bigfooting by Democratic power brokers without drawing unwanted comparisons to their own party clearing the stage for Norton and McInnis.

        1. the GOP would tread lightly–from my perspective, they have more to lose than gain by trying to attack the move.  Most likely it would be a one-off shotgun type attack that they would let die off fairly quickly.

            1. That means I’ve been registered as D for a year- not an hour.

              If I’ve learned anything – claim credit for anything and everything good.

              Sun came up today- you’re welcome

              Udall ’08 wins Arapahoe County – ain’t the local D organizations awesome!?

              Degette wins re-election, Groff gets appointed, Salazar gets appointed, etc, etc, etc

  4. I am writing this comment from my notes which were horrible, mostly because my graduation class was walking in and talking while I was still on the conference call.

    The conference call was set up beautifully and well executed. It went like this: I got a call, it was Bennet’s pre-recorded voice inviting me to join the call by pressing *, I did so and came in on a live conversation with him. We were allowed to ask questions by pressing *3; I did so but had to eventually hang up because I had to teach in 30 minutes so I left the call before I could ask my question.

    There were several questions asked while I was on the line for a half an hour and Bennet spoke in detail to each question asked. Not all questions were “friendlies”, either. Some were fairly difficult and detailed. Some were softballs. He answered them all.

    He spoke to health care reform, Norton’s call for the abolition of the Depart of Education and his work on the Health Education and Labor Committee. He also spoke to the apathy and possible backlash against incumbents in the 2010 election.

    He pointed out that over 700,000 jobs were lost in the last month of Bush’s term and that Obama’s Administration inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression.  With job losses trickling down to 10,000, Bennet confirmed that he thought the stimulus package had stopped the blood flow but he pointed out that there is enormous anxiety and new jobs must be created and that credit is still frozen for small businesses (something of which I have personal experience–I can’t get a small business loan right now to save my life.)

    Yes, I am a Bennet supporter but what keeps me one is that every time I hear from him, I’m more and more impressed with his calm coolness and his in depth responses to questions. You can tell he has a background in education by the way he responds to a question. We’re rapidly approaching 2010 and I don’t need empty platitudes any more. I need solid answers to questions and that’s what I got on Monday night. I only wish I had been able to hear the whole thing.

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