Translated to English, the ad says:

President Obama’s plan puts Colorado to work…

Teachers in classrooms.

Jobs in construction.

And money in the pockets of working families.

But Republicans say NO, they would rather politically hurt President Obama than fight for Colorado jobs.

Congress, no more delays. Pass the plan.

The ads will air on KDEN, KCEC and KETD.

“We are happy to see the DNC continue to focus on this key Colorado demographic,” said Matt Inzeo, spokesperson for the Colorado Democratic Party.

“Latinos came out big for Obama in Colorado in 2008. They were the difference for Senator Bennet in 2010. That the DNC is already focusing on this group is huge. The DNC is reaching out on an issue that is huge for Colorado. Everyone is concerned about jobs. Jobs and the economy are front of mind. The jobs bill contains ideas that Republicans have supported in the past. President Obama is engaged in trying to create jobs but we just see the same old games from Washington Republicans,” Inzeo said.

Republicans were less kind.

“President Obama’s so-called jobs bill is nothing more than a rehash of the same failed economic policies that have left Hispanics suffering from disproportionately high unemployment and 70,000 more Coloradans out of work since he took office. President Obama couldn’t even muster up enough support in the Democrat controlled Senate to pass his bill, so this latest DNC attack ad seems to be nothing more than a pathetic attempt to distract from his failure to put Coloradans back to work,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Ryan Mahoney by email.

As the Martin Luther King holiday unfolds in Denver, it is important to remember that it is more than a day off, more that an extra ski day.

Today, we bring you first a statement by Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak. Then, we have video of the entire Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech, that is followed by a much shorter video of an excerpt from the speech, in case you don’t have time for the whole thing.

Down below, we also have links to the entire text of the speech and to a calendar of Denver events marking the day.

From Pat Waak:

“Tomorrow is a day for both the celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the tireless movement for equality and understanding that he helped foster. Through non-violent action, peaceful assembly and soaring rhetoric, Dr. King helped show all Americans a better way forward and reminded our nation that all are created equal.

“While we remain imperfect, we have come a long way since Dr. King’s speech nearly a half century ago. While on this day we certainly reflect on our progress, we also look forward to bettering ourselves and our nation and to upholding the values Dr. King spoke of when he addressed a nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. As Dr. King said that day, ours must be a nation where our children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” And on this day we observe his vision by engaging in service to those in our communities that need assistance. And I believe that in doing so, we honor the life and continue the legacy of Dr. King.”

Click here to see text of the entire speech.

Here, link to The Denver Post’s calendar of Martin Luther King Day events.

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He told The Colorado Statesman that he did not want to be the “last lemming off the cliff.”

Perington ran for Denver mayor in 2003. The Statesman quotes him as saying the one Democrat he still admires is Congressman Ed Perlmutter (7th CD) “who believes in what he’s doing… All elected officials could take a lesson from what he’s doing.”

Her announcment:

December 31, 2010

I want to tell you how grateful and humbled I am to have had the opportunity to serve you as the Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. I decided to run for Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party in 2005 because I believed we could rebuild the party from the grassroots up and involve every county in the process of winning elections in Colorado.

Over the past six years we gained and maintained the Governor’s office; elected two U.S. Senators; elected a State Treasurer for four years; held Senate and House majorities for five years; held 5 out of 7 Congressional seats for 2 out of 5 years; elected key members to the CU Regents and State Board of Education and carried Colorado for President Barack Obama.

Achieving those goals and building a better Colorado for every family took a lot of work and the involvement of every single volunteer. My top priorities were:

• Committing the CDP to communicating with our local committees, grassroots activists, core supporters and the voting public. We instituted the Week In Review, visited every county, held routine conference calls, and instituted an outreach campaign through weekly opinion pieces in newspapers, participating in television, radio, newspaper, and magazine interviews, and joint discussions with the Colorado Republican Party. In every instance we maintained our honesty, civility and dignity, while presenting the truth to the Colorado voters.

• Building a new farm team of Democratic candidates around the state by working with local committees to recruit Democratic candidates in every jurisdiction and district possible in the state. We have a deep bench of really talented people who have stepped forward to be trained and coached through the election process. Some have won seats. Others didn’t make it. But they all made us proud.

• Improving upon our party’s organizational infrastructure to help Democrats across the state reach into their communities and get more voters to the polls in each election. The CDP Voter File is the best we have ever had. Ongoing training has made it useful to the party, to candidates and to local county organizations. Annual training for chairs and sharing of ideas has only enhanced our structure.

• Empowering people like you to take ownership of the party and help build a structure that represents every Coloradan and ensures the long-term success of our great party. It has been a great pleasure to work with each of the counties as they have built their capacity to identify leaders and carry out elections.

Colorado Democrats have always been the leading voice for good jobs, good schools and equal opportunity for every family. With the help of great leaders like Bill Ritter, John Hickenlooper, Barbara O’Brien, Joe Garcia, Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, Ed Perlmutter, John Salazar, Betsy Markey, Cary Kennedy, Bernie Buescher, and Barack Obama we have made great gains on behalf of the people of Colorado. And we cannot forget the leaders in the State House and Senate over the past several years: Joan Fitz-Gerald, Peter Groff, and now Brandon Shaffer; Andrew Romanoff, Terrance Carroll and Sal Pace.

It is rare that a state party chair serves for two consecutive terms. In 2009, I responded to the urging of the party and its leaders by running and being elected to a third term. It turned out to be one of the most challenging.

I want to thank all of you who have urged me to run for an absolutely unprecedented fourth term as the Colorado Democratic Chair. It has been extremely gratifying. However, I am announcing today that I will not run for Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party in 2011.

It is a wonderful journey. Together we created the first strategic plan for the Colorado Democratic Party. We have accomplished most of the goals and objectives we set for ourselves. Together we crafted the first Faith and Politics project for Colorado. It helped us to focus our values in the political sphere. Together we hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. It was indeed a highlight of my political life, and I know many of you feel the same. Together we elected some of the finest public servants the nation has ever seen: a new breed of Western political leaders.

We could not have done of this without the dedication and hard work of each of the CDP officers, DNC members, county chairs and CDP staff. In particular, my thanks to Dan Slater, Margaret Atencio, Carolyn Boller and Damon Barry who serve ably as officers.

Both Sherry Jackson and Jennie Peek-Dunstone were terrific CDP Executive Directors. We have had a number of Communication Directors, most recently Grace Lopez Ramirez, who was preceded by Brian Mason, Matt Farrauto, and Matt Sugar. Debbie Hill and Anne Wilson have been the latest of great finance teams that included Christine Pokrandt. Billy Compton and Maria Handley brought their valuable political skills and experience into the party during this period.

I especially want to pay tribute to Mike Weissman, who came to work with CDP in late 2005. He has been an invaluable team member. He has been joined this year by Chris Moore. And as for Jamie Elkins, part of the Common Cents Consulting team, we could not have worked our way out of some of the knottiest compliance and accounting issues without her.

You and I share countless memories of visits to every county and of the dedicated people who work on behalf of their communities. We will share more in the next two months as we prepare to reorganize the Colorado Democratic Party.

I look forward to working with you through January and February to make sure we select the strongest leadership from the precinct to the state level. While I believe that my public service lies in another direction after March 5, 2011, I am dedicated to continuing to move Colorado forward.

Sincerely,

Pat Waak, Chair, Colorado Democratic Party

For comments from Colorado GOP Chair Dick Wadhams, see The Denver Post story here.

 Name                     Race                                 Election Night Location

Amber Tafoya         HD 4                 Luna’s Mexican Restaurant at 3380 W. 38th (38th and Julian)

Dan Pabon                HD 4             House Restaurant, 4363 Tennyson St.

Jen Coken                 HD 4             Sculpture Studio 3500 W. 23rd Ave., Denver, CO, 80211

Crisanta Duran        HD 5              8 Rivers Restaurant, 1550 Blake St

Mark Thrun               HD 5    Caveau 450 East 17th Avenue, Denver

Angela Williams       HD 7    Twisted Olive, Northfield Stapleton, 8270 Northfield BLVD

Jon Goldin-Dubois  HD 7    The Berkshire Stapleton, 7352 E. 29th Ave, Denver

Mark Mehringer        HD 7    Oblio’s Pizza in Park Hill

Jake Williams             HD 12   Empire Lounge, Louisville

Matt Jones                  HD 12   Tutti Restaurnat, 103 S. Public Rd, Lafayette

Mary Ellen Pollack   HD 30  Hampton Inn, 992 Platte River blvd, Brighton

Rich Ball                       SD 15  Sports Station, Loveland

Cheri Jahn                   SD 20  Home of Judi Butz, 7985 Melrose Dr, Wheat Ridge     

Lucia Guzman             SD 34  La Casita, 36th and Tejon St, Denver

Andrew Romanoff     US Senate        City Hall Amphitheater, 1144 Broadway Ave, Denver

Michael Bennet US Senate        Mile High Station, 2027 West Lower Colfax Ave

Waak’s list trades on the fact that Norton has taken heat lately for her lack of accessibility. She has been campaigning for six months but has rarely been personally quoted in news reports. Her spokespeople largely field questions from the press and her unscripted live stumping appearances have garnered attention mostly for the surprising things she has said to her audiences. Waak’s proposed questions ask her to elaborate on many of those comments.

Questions for “Not-Sayin’” Norton:

Many of us have been disappointed by your extreme rhetoric during this campaign, including your comments that you would now oppose Referendum C, which you helped pass in 2005. Will you tell Coloradans where you really stand, and why you’re changing your mind during a competitive primary?

The Denver Post praised Scott McInnis and John Hickenlooper for taking a position against Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 – which would be catastrophic for our state’s already strained finances. Michael Bennet also opposes them. Will you finally tell Coloradans where you stand on these measures?

You directed the lobbying division of a large trade group, and the Rocky Mountain News in 2001 reported that you were “previously a medical lobbyist.” Will you come clean and admit that in between your jobs in government you were a lobbyist for five years?

You called for a 20% “across the board cut” in discretionary spending. What would you cut from the Defense budget? Body Armor? Troop Pay? How about the COPS program which provides vital funding for police departments in Colorado? Would you cut Cancer research programs?

Do you still favor abolishing the U.S. Department of Education?

At another forum, you said you’re “not convinced” global warming was caused by humans. Yes or no question Jane: Do you believe in global warming?

You said the federal government should have “no place” in health care. Do you still believe that? If so, will you pledge to repeal Medicare coverage for the 574,263 Colorado seniors and repealing Medicaid coverage for the 374,200 Coloradans who receive quality health care through government-run programs?

On Fox News you said the job creation bill passed by the Senate was “too small.” Then your spokesman offered a confusing clarification. Where do you really stand on jumpstarting job creation?

Questions at these forums usually are of the “How would you work to end big government overreaching?” variety.

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Maurice Schwenkler

Although the Denver Police department released the attached photo, it has yet to weigh in with further details, including any related to the motivation for the attack. The amount in damages, estimated at $10,000, would appear to put the crime in the Class Four felony category, which would carry a two-to-six year sentence and criminal fines.

Bloggers at Colorado Pols are linking Schwenkler through a Secretary of State payee filing to a political organization called Colorado Citizens Coalition, a mostly labor-backed and liberal-donor-funded 527 that paid for door-to-door campaigning in the fall. The address Schwenkler listed when he was paid for his week of work for the CCC, according to Secretary of State records, is the same street address as the Derailer Bicycle Collective. Because of the shared address, some are roughly speculating the suspect is an anarchist.

The nature of the Derailer organization suggests the act may have been motivated by anti-government anarchist sentiment but also perhaps frustration with the mainstream or moderate policies of the Democratic Party, accused of socializing U.S. governance but not, of course, attempting to implement anything like a genuine socialist policy .

The Denver Post reports some of the details that have emerged concerning Scwenkler’s political activities, including his arrest in Minnesota:

On the last day of the 2008 Republican National Convention, he was charged with misdemeanor unlawful assembly in St. Paul, Minn.

Court records provided through the St. Paul Pioneer Press show he was jailed about 2 a.m.

Schwenkler received $500 in November 2008 to walk door-to-door in support of Democrat Mollie Cullom, who lost her race to Republican state Rep. David Balmer of Centennial.

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(Photo/Auntie P, Flickr)

Fair point — no one’s got a lock on power past the next election — but Colorado voters first gave Democrats “a year or two” more than four years ago, when they turned out Republican majorities in the state Legislature and replaced an outgoing Republican congressman and a senator with the Salazar brothers. The Republican dominoes continued their fall two years ago, when Democrats took over the governor’s mansion, the state treasurer’s office and the 7th Congressional District, while increasing their majorities under the dome. This year, another U.S. Senate seat went blue, as did the 4th Congressional District, which hasn’t been represented by a Democrat since the early 1970s. After Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman steps down in January to enter Congress, Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to name a Democrat to that post, completing an exact reversal of the two parties’ positions across the state.

“There’s no ideological shift here to the left in my opinion,” Ciruli also told the county honchos. “There is a shift toward pragmatism.”

True that, though few Democrats in Colorado have run as raving liberals, especially for Congress and statewide. “You really have to be focused on swing voters,” Ciruli said, repeating a bromide that could have been uttered anytime in at least the last 30 years.

But it’s when Ciruli prognosticates about what might happen after the “year or two” granted the Democrats that he runs up against contrary predictions — made a day earlier by Ciruli himself.

Discussing the upcoming gubernatorial race, “Ciruli said there are five or six Republicans who could potentially give Gov. Bill Ritter a hard run for re-election in 2010,” Ingold reports. “At the state level,” Ciruli told the commissioners, “I think the Republicans have a very good chance to run a very competitive race. There is big money that is angry with him.”

On Tuesday, Ciruli painted a very different picture of the governor’s prospects in an interview with The Hill, telling the D.C. news site that Ritter is in good shape, “thanks largely to a depleted Republican bench.”

“The Republicans, I think, are suffering both organizationally, financially and in terms of their bench,” Ciruli told The Hill’s Reid Wilson. Far from naming “five or six” Republicans who could give Ritter “a hard run,” Ciruli listed a handful of problematic or washed-up potential candidates, including retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo, retired Rep. Bob Beauprez, and former University of Denver president Marc Holtzman.

Tancredo has made no secret of his plans to run for governor but is seen as polarizing even by some Republicans, and Beauprez lost to Ritter by 17 points with a campaign widely regarded as one of the worst in the state’s history. Holtzman couldn’t even get past Beauprez in the 2006 primary for a chance to lose to Ritter.

The shallow bench notwithstanding, Ciruli pegs the race as an uphill one for any Republican challenger. “If you look at the last three governors, they all won their re-elections fairly handily,” Ciruli told The Hill. “We’re in a rising tide [for Democrats] and even leaky boats do okay.”

The same is true of every senator from Colorado who has sought re-election in the last 30 years — Democrat Floyd Haskell, who lost to Republican Bill Armstrong, was the last sitting senator defeated at the polls, in 1978 — but Ciruli finds peril for Ken Salazar, who kicks off his 2010 re-election campaign Friday with a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser in Denver. “If there was the right candidate, Ken could be in a race,” Ciruli told The Hill.

A race, maybe, as opposed to a walk, although the Democrat’s harshest critics come from the left wing of his own party — those who are opposed to Salazar’s positions on telcom immunity and who are bothered by the senator’s early and enthusiastic support for former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Still, if Republicans are beating the bushes for a viable challenger to Ritter, it’s hard to see their depleted bench yielding an equally strong candidate to take on Salazar, who perfectly fits Ciruli’s assessment of Colorado’s non-ideological, pragmatic — albeit increasingly and overwhelmingly Democratic — voters.

State delegates come from all 64 counties, and delegation sizes are based on population and Democratic voting successes in the 2004 gubernatorial election. Because of the high interest in this year’s presidential election, counties will be sending full delegations to the state convention, something that has not always occurred in the past. Normally, attendance is closer to 6,000 delegates and visitors. Democratic conventioneers and visitors are expected to spill out of the World Arena into a tent in the parking lot since the Colorado Springs facility won’t be able to hold all of the expected crowd of 10,000.

Inputting thousands of names of all the delegates to the state convention has been a monumental task, too, and perhaps not all that successful since some delegates may not received their credentials or the convention agenda before they arrive in Colorado Springs.

“The party had volunteers input the delegate information from the county conventions and some people fell through the cracks, obviously,” said Harvie Branscomb, an Eagle Democrat who served on the platform committee. “At the Congressional District 2 convention last weekend, it was apparent that our delegate lists from the state were incomplete. Luckily, county chairs brought their own delegate lists, which had the correct information.”

Joe Beaver, a delegate to the CD7 convention held last weekend, too, experienced the same difficulties. “I have one word to describe what I expect at the state convention: chaos.”

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak admitted that state delegates may find the check-in process confusing. “We have had some complications sending out the information to delegates, so we’ve asked the county chairs for their assistance in contacting their delegates directly.”

Waak said some delegates may not get their credentials through the mail in time for the convention, so the party will reissue credentials at the check-in starting on Friday for Saturday’s event. County chairs are bringing in back-up delegate lists in case the state party’s records are incomplete. “I know people are getting a little anxious about what to expect at the check-in. I ask everyone to keep cool and calm.”

The Democratic state convention agenda and check-in information are available here.

Branscomb is also concerned about the national delegate selection process for the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 25-28. “The bar codes used to identify candidates create an optical illusion when placed on the ballot page on the computer screen. I couldn’t tell who I voted for because my “x” disappeared on the page.” For back-up, the party is planning to hand-count ballots for the national delegates – another monumental task since nearly 1,800 national delegate hopefuls have signed up to compete for 12 open at-large slots.

State convention delegate and longtime Democratic activist Julia Hicks also anticipates problems at the convention. “Things are going to be crazy, but what do you expect? We’re Democrats.”
]]> http://coloradoindependent.com/3654/insiders-predict-chaos-at-state-dem-convention/feed 0 http://coloradoindependent.com/3623/state-dem-convention-some-delegates-selected-clinton-obama-invited http://coloradoindependent.com/3623/state-dem-convention-some-delegates-selected-clinton-obama-invited#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 21:28:12 +0000 Leslie Robinson http://www.coloradoindependent.com.php5-9.websitetestlink.com/?p=3623 The state convention and assembly for the Colorado Democratic Party is 10 days away and preparations are being fine-tuned for the event, scheduled for May 16-17 at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. Among the guests invited are Sen. Hillary…

The state convention and assembly for the Colorado Democratic Party is 10 days away and preparations are being fine-tuned for the event, scheduled for May 16-17 at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. Among the guests invited are Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.Of the event’s two components, the convention portion concerns the selection of delegates to the national convention based on presidential preferences, and the assembly activities include nominating candidates for legislative, congressional and U.S. Senate seats and approving the issues platform.

The process determining the 55 lucky delegates selected to attend the Democratic National Convention has already started with the Sixth Congressional District Convention last weekend in Littleton. Five delegates were chosen, with Obama taking three and Clinton two national delegates.

Current Colorado Democratic delegate count including declared Superdelegates.

  Delegates  Superdelegates  Total as of 5/5

Obama  3    4    7

Clinton  2    4    6

Uncommitted  51*  6    57

Total  70

*The CD 1, 2 and 7 conventions are scheduled for Saturday, at which 17 national delegates will be chosen. The CD 3, 4 and 5 conventions will take place May 16  to select 14 national delegates. At the state convention on May 17, the remaining 19 national delegates will be selected, plus one add-on delegate (competition between former Denver Mayor Federico Pe

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