Boulder Colorado Internet Entrepreneur Bill Hammons in the News
Colorado Daily Mention of Unity Party of Colorado's March 29th Convention in Boulder
Caucus: Still entering data
By RICHARD VALENTY Colorado Daily Staff Writer
Thursday, February 7, 2008 8:09 PM MST
There were some clear winners and clear losers in Colorado and the nation on Super Duper Tuesday, but a few things still weren't clear two days later.
It was obvious beyond a shadow of a doubt that turnout for Tuesday's political party caucuses was huge. Marty Neilson, chair of the Boulder County Republican Party, said Thursday that she didn't have accurate records of turnout for past caucuses handy, but said she was very confident that the county GOP set a record in 2008.
“It was excellent - the energy was high and there were so many people getting involved,” said Neilson. “Even though many of them didn't understand the process, and some would like it changed, I think it got them excited about becoming involved in the party and in the process.”
Anecdotal testimony after local Democratic and Republican caucuses has suggested that some people would have preferred a Presidential primary to a caucus. Crowds were incredibly large at some locations - about 19,000 Democrats and 3,500 Republicans caucused in Boulder County alone - and some witnesses have suggested that a certain number of people attended for the Presidential preference poll and left afterwards.
Colorado had its last Presidential primary in March 2000. President George W. Bush beat Sen. John McCain by about 64 to 27 percent for the GOP nomination, and then-Vice President Al Gore beat Sen. Bill Bradley by roughly 71 to 23 percent.
Neilson said she had heard some of the 2008 suggestions of returning to a primary, but said it was “redundant” to have a primary in March 2000 because the nominees for both major parties had basically been decided by then.
“So, we did away with the Presidential primary, because of the cost and because it didn't really make us players,” said Neilson.
Colorado's Secretary of State Mike Coffman also compared a state primary to a “$2 million straw poll” in a 2007 press release, partially because primary results would not have a binding effect on choices of the state's delegates.
Both Neilson on Thursday and Coffman in 2007 also pointed out that Colorado voters rejected Amendment 29, a proposal that would have altered the state's caucus process, with about 60 percent disapproval in 2002.
Neilson and many other people said switching Colorado's caucus from its traditional early March date to Feb. 5 in 2008 did enhance the state's political importance, however. The GOP Presidential nomination was in play until shortly after what was known as Super Duper Tuesday, and voters in Colorado and Boulder County overwhelmingly favored Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney over McCain.
Neilson couldn't offer a personal opinion on the race, but said she heard people at her own precinct say they favored Romney because he represented values of the Republican platform better than McCain.
But McCain had a solid lead in the delegate count after Tuesday's nationwide caucuses and primaries, and news of Romney suspending his campaign hit the wires Thursday morning. Pundits are saying that McCain will probably be the party's nominee.
It's a different story on the Democratic side. Reports differ, but a Thursday delegate count from the Web site www.realclearpolitics.com showed Sen. Hillary Clinton with 1,060 and Sen. Barack Obama with 981, while 2,025 are required to win the nomination.
Real clear statistics are still tough to come by from Tuesday's local races. Boulder County Democrats also held a preference poll for the U.S. Senate contest between U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and educator Mark Benner, but neither the state nor Boulder County Democratic Parties had released poll results as of Thursday.
Taylor West, Communications Director for the Udall campaign, said Thursday that she had heard some stories from Udall staffers who attended caucuses of unanimous support for Udall in certain precincts, but also said she was waiting to hear official news from the state party.
But she joined many other people in saying that attendance was tremendous, and said Udall attended his caucus in Eldorado Springs and found turnout to be perhaps six times greater than the last caucus.
“We're hearing that all over the place,” said West. “The Democrats are really energized and excited about having Mark on the ballot.”
Udall could still face Benner in a Democrat primary, while no Republican has yet stepped up to face former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer in a Republican primary. Also, Green Party member Bob Kinsey recently announced a Senate candidacy.
West said Udall would basically run to “represent the entire state of Colorado” no matter who jumps into the race, and said he is currently holding a series of “idea-raisers” around the state. She said the events are like house parties at which participants share stories and ideas about the issues of the day. Udall will hold an “Idea-Raiser Assembly” Saturday at North High School in Denver, beginning at 1 p.m., and it will feature some of the stories told at past idea-raisers.
Certain precincts also held straw polls for the U.S. House of Representatives race between Democrats Jared Polis and Joan Fitz-Gerald. The 2nd Congressional District that Fitz-Gerald and Polis hope to represent has hundreds of precincts, but limited samples of unofficial precinct counts can be found on the Web site www.coloradopols.com or other sources.
The Broomfield County Democrats have posted unofficial 2nd CD delegate counts on their Web site, http://broomfielddems.org. Polis led Fitz-Gerald by 24 to 23, with three uncommitted.
But there's probably a long road ahead for the 2nd CD race. Caucus delegates go on to County Assemblies, and the 2nd CD includes parts or all of 10 counties. The County Assemblies will select delegates for the May 10 2nd CD Assembly, and candidates who earn at least 30 percent of the delegates there will automatically qualify for the Aug. 12 primary election.
Candidates Will Shafroth and Larry Johnson will attempt to get on the Democratic 2nd CD primary ballot via the petition route. No Republican has yet announced a candidacy in the 2nd CD, but Unity Party of America candidate Bill Hammons has - and he announced Thursday that the party will hold its first Colorado convention on March 29 at the Best Western Boulder Inn in Boulder.
Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or at valenty@coloradodaily.com.
