Despite direction to stay neutral from State Party Chair Pat Waak, Denver Dem's Chair Cindy Lowery has spoken out about the Colorado Senate primary. Waak had earlier asked County Party chairs to avoid even the use of the phrase "Democratic Party" when making personal endorsements.
In a letter to the editor of the Colorado Statesman, Lowery took it considerably farther:
I personally am excited to see Andrew Romanoff announce his bid for the U.S. Senate. As Chair of the largest county in the state, I cannot begin to count the number of angry e-mails and phone calls to our office refusing to support the Democratic Party because people are tired of our Democratic elected officials refusing to stand up against industries that are more concerned with bottom line profits than they are for the dignity and humanity of people - whether it be in providing affordable health care to everyone or in honoring our working families by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. These calls are not from Republicans; they are from Democrats who are fed up with middle of the road tactics that do not represent the values that we as Democrats cherish.
For the first time since I was elected Chair, our office is receiving calls from people excited about the U.S. Senate race.
First off, I'm biased. I've known Cindy Lowery for years through the Denver Dems and Denver Young Dems. She was Jill Conrad's campaign manager for Denver School Board, a race Jill was not expected to win, running against a well monied candidate hand picked by superintendent Michael Bennet.
In addition to brief chats by phone, and emailing a list of questions to each candidate, I've combed through the three candidate's websites to get a sense of their positions before submitting the same questions to them all. Most illuminating were a series of videos recorded at a number of public forums by DenverDirect.
I particularly liked this answer from Cindy on lunching with lobbyists. The question was actually who would pay for lunch. The expected answer should be that she would pay for her own lunch. Instead Cindy replied lobbyists can meet her in her office, just like everyone else. By email, Cindy also detailed a thorough plan for community outreach:
I plan to send out regular newsletters (by email and mail to those without email). I also will hold regular and public town hall meetings. I will, of course, have open office hours during the session but I really hope to be able to open a community office. We don't have public funding for that purpose but I hope to be able to raise it or share an office with another community leader.
Similar outreach is planned by Bergles and McCann.
This video is from Matt Bergles answering what obstacles exist to achieving one's legislative goals. In it he seems to criticize current legislators for acting too slowly and letting the next election get in the way of policy. Asking Matt if he felt an answer like this would make it difficult for him to get along with current officials, he seemed surprised by my question and thought he was being taken out of context. This being a few days before the primary, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and agreed to not bring it up. However, he opened the door back up with his answer to this question by email:
I plan to not get caught up in the who's in/who's out game and the constant trap of running for re-election. It seems to me that too many of our elected officials play this game at the expense of representing their
constituents and making good public policy. I've put myself through this grind to make good public policy - not for prestige or ego.
Furthermore, the video in question is on the front page of his campaign website.
Beth McCann appears to want to lead from her experience, currently the Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Civil Litigation and Employment Law Section of the Colorado Attorney General's Office. And, in '91 she was appointed by mayor Wellington Webb to be the Denver Manager of Safety. I'd like to expand on that a bit more, but after a phone call and email yesterday afternoon, her responses expressed how busy she was.
Update: 11pm Received McCann's responses.
In describing her endorsements she also called out regular folks in the community. Nice touch!
I am also very proud of the hundreds of endorsements I have from active engaged residents of HD8 such as Alice Kelly of Park Hill, T. Michael Smith of Park Hill, Larry Hunt and Jovan Melton of North Denver, Sarah Foster and Owetta McNeil of Northeast Denver, Lisa Weil, Edgar Neel, and Kevin O'Connor of Congress Park and many many others.
Q. What do you plan to do different than any other legislator that's come before you?
Well, I am not sure I can claim to do something that no other legislator has done. I would like to move away from the partisan bickering where everyone's motives are attributed to politics. That is not how I operate, and I would like to be able to maintain my integrity and treat everyone with respect. I do not think that members of the other party are always out to get members of my party. I hope that we can all work for the common good of Colorado.
I don't understand why people call it partisan bickering. The fact is Republicans have been bludgeoning Democrats over and over again for years. It's only in the last few years that Dems have fought back some of the time and gotten some stuff done. I suppose some see distancing themselves from this idea tells voters they want to get to work. But, those of us paying attention know what's really going on.
A little belated, but it's better than never. Here's a new and improved, shiny and new Friday Random 10 and open thread.
My random 10 from what some say is a questionable taste in music:
1. Smashing Pumpkins - Bleeding the Orchid
2. The White Stripes - Rag and Bone
3. Veruca Salt - Twin Star
4. Neil Young - The Restless Consumer
5. Nine Inch Nails - Head Down
6. Nirvana - Come as you Are
7. Smashing Pumpkins - Tristessa
8. Operation Phoenix - Running Two
9. Morrissey - Hairdresser on Fire
10. The New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude
Other stuff:
Morgan Carroll and Karen Middleton are walking this weekend:
Karen Middleton and Morgan Carroll will be walking precincts this weekend and we need your help. (Thanks to those of you who have already signed up!) If you or anyone you know can join us for one (or both) shifts tomorrow please let us know!
Saturday July 12, 2008
Arapahoe County Dem Headquarters
15445 E. Iliff Avenue, #C, Aurora
Shift A:
9:30 AM Meet
10:00 AM Launch - 1:00 PM
Shift B:
1:30 PM Meet
2:00 Launch - 5:00 PM
Cindy Lowery (running for HD8) deals with a debate question:
We just held our final debate in the House District 8 race for State Representative. At our first debate, on February 13, a woman posed the question: "How do you feel about gay marriage?" My response was unequivocal; I support marriage equality wholeheartedly. I don't support it because it's the politically correct answer; I support it because it is the right answer! The question was posed again last night and my opponents, again, were unwilling to state their support for marriage equality for the LGBT community.
I understand this issue may not be the single litmus test for everyone. But how is it possible in the most Democratic, arguably most progressive House District in the state, that 2 of the 3 [Matt Bergles and Beth McCann] candidates for State Representative are unwilling to state their unequivocal support for the LGBT community? Can we expect the same lukewarm responses to other progressive issues?
Last night, Matt said that he doesn't think its a litmus test for the LGBT community and he supports civil unions and equal rights. Beth said that she wasn't sure but does support equal rights. She said she thinks the "marriage" question is for the "next generation" of politicians.
What they don't realize is that many federal programs (like social security) require marriage in order to obtain spousal benefits. Civil unions don't cut it.
What happens when anti-choicers get lost? Many anti-choicers used to protest at Planned Parenthood's health services building in Denver every day. Remember, they were even protesting in front of the home of the head of the construction firm building their new place? That new location opened on July 1st. For a week, they had not a single protester and even on the 8th the turn out was very mild. From a friend who works nearby:
Well, [they] had 3 protesters yesterday (the truth truck, some guy, and the woman who screams in german...being that it's a holocaust here) and just the truth truck today. So 4 of the thousands upon thousands of defenders of the preborn have found our building, the others are still looking. It's not that hard to find.
First off, I'm biased. I've known 
This video is from Matt Bergles answering what 
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