Denver November 2004 Election
Rutt Bridges has announced a press conference for Sunday, according to the Rocky Mountain News [February 26, 2004, "Bridges' candidacy mystery till Sunday"]. From the article, "Bridges on Wednesday would not reveal his plans. However, many Democrats and other political observers expect him to enter based on the preparations he has been making and the people he has been talking to." He is being courted by Democratic operatives to run against incumbent Ben Nighthorse Campbell. He has the dough to finance his own campaign. Here's a link to an earlier article about the race.
Pete Blake writes about Bridges' potential candidacy in his column in yesterday's Rocky Mountain News [February 25, 2004, "Blake: 'Reform' sinks primaries"]. Says Blake, "The Bridges watch: Tyler Chafee is taking a two-week leave of absence from his job as political director of the Colorado AFL-CIO to help entrepreneur-philanthropist Rutt Bridges decide whether to proceed with a run for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race. Bridges also confirmed that Brian Hardwick, manager of Tom Strickland's losing Senate campaign in 1992, spent Monday with him to provide a 'perspective' on that effort. Hardwick hasn't been hired but 'if I do go forward, he'll be an adviser in all likelihood,' said Bridges. 'It's uncertain what that role is going to be.' Hardwick was a consultant to Al Gore in 2000 and most recently was deputy director of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign, which ended three weeks ago. Well, it's not too late to turn a bad decade around. If Bridges does decide to run, it will be interesting to see whether voters respond positively to a wealthy, self-funding Democrat. With the exception of Rollie Heath, who ran for governor in 2002, there have been few who sought statewide office in recent decades. But Republicans of that sort have had a very hard time over the years. Beaten badly in campaigns for governor were the late cable magnate Bill Daniels (1974), real estate moguls Phil Winn (1982) and Steve Schuck (1986), and oilman Bruce Benson (1994). Also beaten was Senate candidate Terry Considine in 1992."
Officials have overcome another hurdle to getting the FasTracks proposal on the fall ballot, according to the Denver Post [February 26, 2004, "Accord on Union"]. From the article, "Groups that control Denver's Union Station have reached agreement on a plan for managing the historic facility that could pave the way for Denver City Council support of RTD's $4.7 billion FasTracks transit expansion plan. The Regional Transportation District, city and county of Denver, Colorado Department of Transportation and Denver Regional Council of Government are working together to create a master plan for redevelopment of Union Station as a transportation and commercial hub. Voter approval this fall of an RTD tax increase to help pay for FasTracks would be a spur to Union Station development, since it would mean at least five more light-rail and commuter-rail lines would connect with the 123-year- old train station. The FasTracks plan contains money for station redevelopment."
Update: MoveOn: "Are you an organization that's working to use technology the way MoveOn does, to help people connect and mobilize? Are you having trouble finding the right people to make it happen?
Are you one of those people who could fill this need?
Today is your opportunity to make the connection.
Within our team, we've identified a crucial role we call (affectionately) the Geek Organizer. No, that's not an organizer of geeks. It's a person who combines the leadership and communication skills of a political organizer with the technical skills of a computer nerd. How rare are these people? We don't know. But we know they exist, because we've built our organization around them."
Update: Colorado for Clark is morphing into an online software resource for campaigns. From e-mail, "One of the lasting legacies of the Clark campaign is the viability of an alternative: Democratic (and Independent and Republican) voters acting on their own to choose the candidate most to their liking then lure that individual into the race with pledges of money and a ready-made volunteer army. As promised, we are organizing to keep this legacy alive.
· Vote on a Name! Our first order of business is selecting a new name. We invite you to help us in this regard by clicking on or going to http://www.coloradoforclark.com/voting/ and voting on a name. Voting will end this Friday, February 27, at noon.
· Help in the Presidential Race: We promised you that our organization would offer specific opportunities to get involved in state and national races and other organizations supporting political reform. Our immediate goal in this regard will be to invite all of you to support Wesley Clark[base ']s efforts in support of John Kerry. We will be in touch soon with specific opportunities open to all of you.
· Join us at the JJ Dinner: In the meantime, we invite each of you to join us at the Democratic Party[base ']s 71st Annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner at the Westin Westminster, 10600 Westminster Boulevard, Westminster, Colorado 80020, Saturday, March 13, 2004, with dinner beginning at 7:00 pm. We hope to purchase at least 2 to 3 tables of 12 people each, and would love all of you to join us. Tickets are $100 per person. The keynote speaker will be Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Please email Keith.Trammell@coloradoforclark.com to join us. Come with your Clark pins as we hope to show our unity with Democrats looking to defeat George W. Bush this Fall.
- April 13 Caucuses: Just because Gen. Clark is no longer in the race doesn[base ']t mean you shouldn[base ']t attend your precinct caucus. Even if the nominee of the party is clear, you will still have the opportunity to select a U.S. Senate candidate and run for delegate to the national convention. If you[base ']re interested in becoming a delegate, please email Keith.Trammell@coloradoforclark.com."
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