"We looked at it politically and thought it would be a great idea to encourage the whole of Boulder county—people outside of Longmont—to support Longmont in electing Angie, to get real leadership for the entire congressional district and Longmont in particular," [Candace] Bowie says, calling Paccione "a very positive, compelling alternative to Marilyn."
The project originated from Boulder's Democracy for America meetings. We looked at the numbers in the Matsunaka-Musgrave race back in 2004 and figured out that if some dedicated folks worked hard in the more urban areas of CO-04, especially in regions that were trending blue recently, we could help offset some of Musgrave's rural support in the rest of the district.
Folks I've come into contact with are primarily frustrated with Musgrave's attention on non-issues. The occupation of Iraq, health care, living wages, and education are all on the minds of people I've met in Longmont. Even talking with unaffiliateds about gay marriage results in "who cares if they want to marry?" to "Musgrave is wrong and hateful, two people who love each other should be able to get married." Sharing Angie's positive vision and message about what she can bring to Congress has generated a lot of attention and support.
Bowie says they'd love to have more volunteers to beat the streets with them, as face-to-face contact is one of the best ways to build support for a political candidate. Although Boulder residents can't vote for Paccione themselves, they can have an impact on November's results—and the makeup of Congress.
This project makes sense to me from the standpoint that areas like Denver and Boulder have nearly predetermined results Congressionally. Races like CO-04 through -07 are the ones that I think could use help from folks who live in districts that are safe. I would like to see more of these kinds of coordinated efforts in the future.
As Candace points out, the more people we can get out, the more folks will hear about this race. If you're looking for a way to help this year, let me know.
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