U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
60%
40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
40%
30%
Sec. of State
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(D) A. Gonzalez
(D) George Stern
(R) Sheri Davis
50%↑
40%
30%
State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
30%
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
50%
40%
40%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
May 09, 2008 06:22 PM UTC
17 Comments
First, from a practical point of view, if you split the Obama vote amongst hundreds of candidates, then perhaps an additional Clinton delegate might slip through. It is traditional for Presidential candidates to have slates. I ran for delegate in 1992 when I was still a Republican and there were a dozen or so candidates. Myself and Syl Morgan-Smith (African American TV reporter who speaks well but never does anything for party) were elected. Who did we beat? The sitting Congressman’s chief of staff, one of the biggest fundraisers in the Republican Party at the time, the Director of the Mint (a direct appointee of the President) and a host of others.
As a Presidential campaign, these delegates are and should be “prizes” for those who have worked so hard or given so much money. Especially when all your DNC members and House/Senate members are already super delegates.
The seats should be a reward for hard work for the candidate or the party. That’s my view anyway.
.
some folks see a chance to advantage themselves,
and are exploiting it for all its worth.
This is the point, David,
where you have to get in the mix.
Throw some sharp elbows.
Even when everybody agrees to vote against “evil” and for “good,”
someone will get left out,
and somebody will get hurt.
Don’t let it be you.
………….
Ponzi isn’t the only one who used the pyramid organizational structure.
Below Barack and the national campaign,
there are the state campaigns, and so forth.
Folks who got on the bandwagon before you are higher in the pyramid.
If you are going to get selected based on merit,
you must displace someone higher up.
Gluck auf.
.
Since Hillary has expressed a willingness to go to the convention and to poach pledged delegates–Obama’s campaign may just be trying to push its most well vetted supporters to make sure she can not.
That was a major discussion and on that point I would be 100% behind doing this. It is solely about gauranteeing that the delegates are from Boulder.
There are 2 delegates, who are not on the list, that I am definitely voting for as they have worked their ass off for Obama and struck me as very media-genic (is that a word?).
whomever the powers that be are putting this together are just counting on the meekness of others – don’t buy it if you don’t want to. If you are truly committed to being involved in the party, and want to support it in the future you have every right to run.
I know he’s had a lot of gaffes lately, but one of the best things Bill Clinton has said during this campaign that struck me is ” when they say you can’t it’s because they know that you can” which I think holds true, think about it that way.
You need to look at the “big picture,” not the immediate election at hand. Anything that might discourage newbies from participating in future caucuses and party activities should be avoided at all costs.
Both parties have an extraordinary opportunity at hand now. Caucuses saw more turnout than activists can ever recall. How the respective parties cultivate these newcomers is crucial.
I think the more people involved in the two political parties, the better it is for democracy in general. Frankly, there is very little you can do, as an independent (unaffiliated) in this state.
Do whatever you think will best benefit the Democratic party in the long run, David, not what one particular campaign wants.
I really appreciate the comments – I worry that I am not seeing some key points on something when I get upset on an issue.
Ok, I’m going to fight tooth & nail for a delegate slot tomorrow. To quote John Belushi in Animal House – “No Prisoners!!!”
I’ll be live blogging from the convention tomorrow at Liberal and Loving It
Progressive activism in defense of rational public policies is never a vice. We are the ones we have been waiting for. Go for it.
but it could be out there. It is a bit discouraging. I, like you, am going to do whatever I can to get a national delegate spot tomorrow. Good luck out there.
Chris Laughlin for Colorado Obama National Delegate
While it seems extreme to be pressuring people not to put themselves forward as candidates, it may be a preemptive strike by state convention organizers who aren’t looking forward to thousands of wannabe national delegates making their case. In 2004, there were 3,000 candidates who each got a chance to say a single introductory line at the state convention and it still took FOREVER. This year the interest is even more intense, so organizers may be trying to avoid hours of tedium.
On the other hand, it’s definitely standard practice for county delegations to pull together and vote as a bloc on a couple local favorites in order to increase their chances. My girlfriend was able to be a national delegate in 2004 because she got a vote from every single Weld County person, despite being a pledged Kucinich delegate.
At this stage in the game, this actually seems pretty shady that somebody’s trying to rig things already but their intentions might not be entirely nefarious.
It is actions like this “standard practice” that build resentment in smaller counties like Gilpin who would like to be able to put forward worthy candidates for positions and get swamped by their larger neighbors.
One of the reasons Joan Fitz-Gerald has so much support in the mountain counties is that she has never forgotten us, small though we are. And it is this type of overwhelming action that was the reasoning behind the US Senate and the corresponding Electoral College vote allotment.
Sometimes democracy isn’t easy, but shortcutting democracy isn’t the solution.
I met a candidate from Adams County that I was very impressed by (and voted for). Smart, eloquent, media-genic, and worked his ass off for Obama. Why on earth should I vote for someone because they are from Boulder over this guy?
Seriously- blocks of delegates (in this case Boulder Grassroots) get together all the time. So what? It’s smart- and though it struck me as … off to encourage the other delegates to withdraw- it’s a molehill. I doubt very much anyone withdrew.
And announced their withdraw due to this above series of events at the CD-2 Convention.
David,
In all my interactions with Boulder Grassroots for Obama and those involved with their leadership, I have never witnessed the kind of “Orwellian” behaviors that you describe. Rather, I think that our different experiences deal much with your diction. Instead of “strongly pushing” a list on all the delegates, it was my understanding that the list was only a suggestion. A list that, according to everyone that I have talked to that attended that deciding meeting, was achieved democratically.
This point of a democratic selection of a suggested list of delegates raises another. If you, and others, believe that you were deserving names to be on that list, I’ll ask a rhetorical question. Why did the 80-100 Obama supporters who voted on the slate not choose you? Put another way, what did those on the list have that you didn’t have? I recognize that sounds ad homenem, but I assure you it’s not.
I now wish to take issue with your second point, something that you reiterate on several of your other posts, a general discouragement from attending. Your evidence supporting this turns out to be false. The organizers of the CD2 convention actually miscounted. (As Democrats, we are far too familliar with miscounting.) After the frantic phone call and email miscues it was discovered that Boulder County had a surplus of approximately 20 delegates and alternates.
Moving to your third point, this is the first Presidential Election that I have been eligible to vote in. I wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of new voter participation. You claim that by suggesting delegates, the rewards are limited. The two female delegates suggested, Sarah and Jessica, are new to this kind of political activism. Even still, they were rewarded due to their long-term commitment to the Obama Campaign. (Sarah since the start of the 07-08 academic year; Jessica since Obama’s declaration of candidacy, Feb. 07) Even my roommate and I were able to become delegates yesterday in only our second experience with this kind of activism.
I’m sorry for taking so much space, but I feel that these counter-points were sorely needed.
Matt
Alternate for Obama, CD 2 Convention
Hi;
Thank you for posting on this. I have a full set of details at my blog but I want to answer a couple of your points.
You say that BGfO did not “strongly push” their slate. Here is their email to all members:
As to why they did not choose me – I did not put my name up to be voted on. More to stop the quandry I would have been in if selected as one of the list than anything else.
As to it being an open democratic process, I heard from 6 delegates at the meeting “to decide on who to select.” Everyone else faced the same limited subset. There was no way anyone could make a decision there based on knowing the people running.
I can’t speak to if we were short or over. I do know CD-6 was 25% short last week. And I do know the Obama campaign sent out an emergency email yesterday (they borrowed my laptop to do so).
On your final point, I was not saying rewards are limited for all people new to the process. My point was that they are limited to all who are new to the process and not on the list. The intro to this for most people new to the process is “the game is fixed.” A lot of people were very unhappy with how this played out.
Again, I think this served the people on the list to the detriment of the Obama campaign and the Democratic party. But campaigning does require sharp elbows and always has trade-offs between the candidate and the benefit to the larger parties. For the same reason Mark Udall will have press conferences with Marilyn Musgrave – it helps him get re-elected even though it hurts Betsy Markey.
It does bother me that the Adams County reason was a flat-out lie used to put all this together. It does not speak well of the BGfO leadership that they would take that approach.
As the deputy assistant undersecretary of the Boulder Democratic Party/Obama Campaign department of clubby nonsense, I am charged to inform you that you have not been selected to even be considered a delegate by the powers that be. It is also worth noting that we find it quite presumptious that you see yourself as worthy of joining our organization without any prior indication or hint from us that you may be so qualified.
We convened a secret meeting at Redfish and determined you just aren’t the type of material we are looking for. Sorry – maybe you should consider wearing Birkenstocks next time and trade that Beemer in for a Prius.
I cannot reveal our membership details to you or the process by which you were excluded, however, I can say with certainty that if you continue to give all of your extra time and money to organizations we support and approve of at our beck and call this may help in you possibly getting selected as a delegate next time, however there are of course no absolutes in this process.
Well, off to the brown bag/sustainability workshop at the RMPJC, and of course, GO OBAMA !