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  • He's already leading

    In the days after the election, Barack Obama famously repeated on several occasions that "we only have one president at a time." With Bush having lost interest in the job and left the country, and Obama's transition activities driving the stock market and economic news, I think he's right: in... [...]
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    Posted: November 23, 2008, 8:44am EST
    by pdt

  • Who will stick up for our community?

    It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: it was a historic week, a time to celebrate tremendous success as a local party. Douglas County improved in the presidential race by 17 points from Kerry to Obama, the best improvement in the metro area and second-best in Colorado. We... [...]
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    Posted: November 09, 2008, 8:12am EST
    by pdt

  • Post-partisan president

    I was delighted but not surprised this morning to learn that Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama for president. One would have to live in a cave to think this endorsement was inevitable because of skin color. I've followed Powell's career for awhile, and I think... [...]
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    Posted: October 19, 2008, 8:58am EDT
    by pdt

  • Divided government: not always the best medicine

    Up until 2003, I was a lifelong unaffiliated voter, loving and hating both political parties. I imagined that, if the legislative and executive branches were held by two different parties, they would watch each other and keep the country out of trouble. I suppose it was a comforting thought. Even... [...]
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    Posted: October 11, 2008, 9:08am EDT
    by pdt

  • GOP economists favor Obama 2:1

    The Economist, a widely-read magazine of free-market thinkers, this week published its survey of members of the National Bureau of Economic Research. This includes the nation's most respected economists. It found a few economists that like John McCain. But not very many. Eighty percent of the economists say Barack Obama... [...]
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    Posted: October 05, 2008, 7:56am EDT
    by pdt

  • Reaching the undecided

    The polling results after Friday night's debate contain a great lesson for those of us who are trying to find and convince undecided voters. We who are politically active, who follow the campaigns and issues, are totally out of the ordinary: we're wierd. After watching the debate, my wife asked... [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2008, 7:30am EDT
    by pdt

  • They stole your credit card

    This week will be remembered as the grand unveiling of the finest accomplishment of the Republican Culture of Corruption. Bush Administration officials, investment bankers, and gullible Democratic lawmakers are working behind closed doors this weekend to hammer out the bipartisan details of the perfect crime, the biggest bank heist in... [...]
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    Posted: September 21, 2008, 10:27am EDT
    by pdt

  • The naked truth

    We've learned perhaps too much lately about John McCain's running mate, someone who can't seem to simply tell the truth; someone who surrounds herself with sleazy hangers-on; someone of whom it wouldn't surprise you if scandalous pictures were to show up on the internet. Well, we've got the pictures, but... [...]
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    Posted: September 13, 2008, 7:43pm EDT
    by pdt

  • It's the economy

    Once again, a week to make your head spin. John McCain did his best to use this week's Republican National Convention to trash Obama; to try to scare the voters into submission with images of airplanes flying into buildings; and to renew the GOP's claim to ownership of God. But... [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2008, 8:13am EDT
    by pdt

  • It's the economy

    Once again, a week to make your head spin. John McCain did his best to use this week's Republican National Convention to trash Obama; to try to scare the voters into submission with images of airplanes flying into buildings; and to renew the GOP's claim to ownership of God. But... [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2008, 8:13am EDT
    by pdt

  • Joyful and thankful

    Wow, what a day yesterday! My kids saw history in the making. But I couldn't hear most of Obama's speech because of all the cheering. I had to watch it on YouTube when I got back home. And then it was capped by a generous gift from John McCain. What... [...]
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    Posted: August 29, 2008, 3:26pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Joyful and thankful

    Wow, what a day yesterday! My kids saw history in the making. But I couldn't hear most of Obama's speech because of all the cheering. I had to watch it on YouTube when I got back home. And then it was capped by a generous gift from John McCain. What... [...]
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    Posted: August 29, 2008, 3:26pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Oh man, this is going to be fun

    The Democratic grassroots have seemed a little dejected over the past couple of weeks as John McCain cemented his political strategy in the gutter of the worst kind of negative politics. But with Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate, we sure feel a lot better now.... [...]
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    Posted: August 23, 2008, 3:39pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Oh man, this is going to be fun

    The Democratic grassroots have seemed a little dejected over the past couple of weeks as John McCain cemented his political strategy in the gutter of the worst kind of negative politics. But with Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate, we sure feel a lot better now.... [...]
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    Posted: August 23, 2008, 3:39pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Britney does it again

    Whenever Britney Spears and Paris Hilton get mixed up in presidential politics you can be sure there will be laughs and higher blog readership. Oops she did it again. At the beginning of the campaign John McCain promised he would run a "respectful" campaign and wouldn't run negative ads. This... [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2008, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • Britney does it again

    Whenever Britney Spears and Paris Hilton get mixed up in presidential politics you can be sure there will be laughs and higher blog readership. Oops she did it again. At the beginning of the campaign John McCain promised he would run a "respectful" campaign and wouldn't run negative ads. This... [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2008, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • Smear Factor

    Do you have relatives and "friends" who are constantly sending you bogus email smears, often racist, about Barack Obama? Email is a cheap way to get information -- and misinformation -- circulating quickly. For many people it's impossible to readily verify the "facts" in these missives. People assume it's true... [...]
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    Posted: July 20, 2008, 11:31am EDT
    by pdt

  • All in your head

    Hang onto your hat. I'm going to agree with John McCain. Well, a little. John McCain's "Chief Economic Advisor," former Sen. Phil Gramm, says the recession is all in your head. "I said we are in a mental recession. We keep getting the steady drumbeat of bad news ... it's... [...]
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    Posted: July 13, 2008, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • Worth 1000 words

    This screenshot from the CNN web site needs very little commentary. Today we celebrate the brilliance of people who lived 232 years ago, who created a system able to correct its own mistakes, and make progress in ways they might never have dreamed. [...]
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    Posted: July 04, 2008, 12:25pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Give to Hank

    The first Democrat to win the Congressional District in decades. In a "red" district where George W. Bush had racked up a ho-hum 62% to 37% margin in 2004, a Democrat had prevailed by a healthy margin. This happened just last month in Mississippi, but I'm talking about two years... [...]
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    Posted: June 22, 2008, 10:04am EDT
    by pdt

  • Spooling up

    Now that we have one clear Democratic nominee for president, it's tempting to say that the campaign can now shift into high gear. Except, the campaign has already been in high gear for months. I think we might need a couple of extra levels of overdrive for this year, if... [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2008, 8:11am EDT
    by pdt

  • Schaffer the role model

    Bob Schaffer was nominated yesterday as the Republican Party's role model and candidate for US Senate. In this position, he is expected to uphold the highest ideals of the GOP. Schaffer has been working hard to demonstrate those ideals. One of his surrogate groups recently aired a TV ad featuring... [...]
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    Posted: June 01, 2008, 9:37am EDT
    by pdt

  • Professor of Absurdity

    University of Colorado Chancellor Bud Peterson wants "intellectual diversity" at CU, so he's floating the idea of an endowed chair for a Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy. Of course he must be right: if we want intellectual diversity, we can't exclude the biggest of the anti-intellectual movements. This idea... [...]
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    Posted: May 25, 2008, 7:49am EDT
    by pdt

  • Congratulations Joe Alsup and Holly Gorman

    Here are the nomination speeches I gave last night at the State Assembly, for Joe Alsup for State Senate in District 4, and Holly Gorman for State Representative in District 45. Both candidates were designated by acclamation and gave excellent acceptance speeches. *** Mr. Chair, this is an historic year,... [...]
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    Posted: May 17, 2008, 6:09am EDT
    by pdt

  • Being yourself

    An important piece of advice I give every candidate for public office, is be yourself. Naturally we try as best we can, to recruit candidates who fit Democratic Party ideals and values. These values are clear enough: you can read all about them in the links at right. But once... [...]
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    Posted: May 11, 2008, 7:04am EDT
    by pdt

  • Setting the pace

    This week the Pew Research Center updated its study on the party leaning of young voters, age 18-30. Its findings would not surprise those of us who have been talking with voters recently. Pew has noted a trend, since 1992, of young people becoming more sympathetic to the Democratic Party.... [...]
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    Posted: May 04, 2008, 7:09am EDT
    by pdt

  • No cake for me, thanks

    In an all-too-common display of bipartisan stupidity, the Congress Friday morning took time off from its busy schedule to celebrate the imminent launch of yet another failed attempt at supply-side economics. Yes, economic stimulus checks will start coming out on Monday. Once again the government is asking you to take... [...]
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    Posted: April 27, 2008, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • He's ba-a-ck

    Just so we don't forget the embarrassment that apathy can cause, Tom Tancredo came out this week from several weeks' vacation under his rock. The occasion was the visit to the United States of Pope Benedict XVI, the first visit by a Pope to the White House in 30 years.... [...]
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    Posted: April 20, 2008, 7:49am EDT
    by pdt

  • More turnover

    First State Rep. Victor Mitchell drops out, having lost his enthusiasm for public service and wanting to return to being an entrepreneur. Now State Senator Tom Wiens is packing it in, again wanting to return to the private sector. What happened? Both of these people had earlier professed a love... [...]
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    Posted: April 13, 2008, 8:29am EDT
    by pdt

  • Old and new

    We had a unique chance this week to contrast the old and new Democratic Parties in Douglas County. It was not so long ago that people joked that the local party consisted of five people who got together each month to complain and fight. We didn't have the numbers to... [...]
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    Posted: April 06, 2008, 1:07pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Turning adversity into opportunity

    I had just finished bemoaning the time-wasting excesses of silly season, when this week one of the presidential candidates shows us what our candidates ought to be doing with the quiet time. We Democrats have two excellent candidates, who have given us all the information most voters can digest on... [...]
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    Posted: March 23, 2008, 8:36am EDT
    by pdt

  • Silly season is here!

    With most of the primaries and caucuses over, we're now heading into silly season. You've probably noticed that much of the presidential primary season was shifted a month earlier this year, relative to past election cycles. It has been a great contest, much better than most years, but not because... [...]
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    Posted: March 16, 2008, 9:15am EDT
    by pdt

  • Some assembly required

    Having slept for the past 48 hours, we are finally recovering from our biggest, most complex, and most satisfying Assembly and Convention ever! None of us can remember a County Convention where the presidential nomination was still hotly contested at that time. This led us to dust off some old... [...]
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    Posted: March 10, 2008, 4:57pm EDT
    by pdt

  • Exquisite growing pains

    What an exciting day yesterday for a much bigger Douglas County Democratic Party! The growing pains are starting already. We're taking it in stride, but I certainly owe an explanation to all the people who were inconvenienced or confused by the snafu with yesterday's Central Committee meeting location. We typically... [...]
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    Posted: February 24, 2008, 9:21am EST
    by pdt

  • Avoiding a floor fight

    Back in 2004 when I was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, it was a pretty easy job: meet celebrities in the morning, be a tourist in the afternoon, and check in at the Fleet Center at 8pm to spend 4 hours as an extra in a... [...]
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    Posted: February 17, 2008, 9:28am EST
    by pdt

  • Now that was a Caucus!

    All of us are still marveling at how well this week's Caucus turned out. So many people attended that several volunteers are still hard at work entering all the data. It's quite obvious that the political landscape of Douglas County is changing. Here are the numbers we have so far:... [...]
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    Posted: February 10, 2008, 11:22am EST
    by pdt

  • Why the Caucus?

    People new to Colorado soon come face to face with one of the great mysteries of our state: the Presidential Caucus. Why, they wonder, would anyone want to take two whole hours to vote for president, when in other states you can just color in some dots and mail in... [...]
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    Posted: January 27, 2008, 9:13am EST
    by pdt

  • Campaigning on change

    Back in 2004 I remember showing up as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, looking forward to John Kerry's promised unveiling of a new campaign strategy. I was so disappointed when the new strategy turned out to be waving the flag and acting militaristic. Soon Democrats all over the... [...]
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    Posted: January 13, 2008, 6:59am EST
    by pdt

  • So hard to choose

    This primary season is going extremely well so far, almost too well. We have so many great candidates, I don't know how I'm going to decide. Of the five major candidates currently remaining, there's a good chance that three or four will still be in contention by our caucus date,... [...]
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    Posted: January 05, 2008, 9:09am EST
    by pdt

  • Pay attention to leadership style

    This week gave us a chance to contrast the leadership styles on both the Republican and Democratic sides of the presidential race. Leadership style isn't the only important basis for choosing a president, but it is a factor we can readily evaluate. Here are some example styles we see in... [...]
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    Posted: December 23, 2007, 8:44am EST
    by pdt

  • Pulling weeds

    The beautiful Wyoming prairie has a big fat weed needing to be pulled. John Millin is precisely the kind of guy who should never be allowed to speak for the Democratic Party. The Wyoming Democratic Party Chair wrote an inexplicable letter to the Denver (yes, it's in Colorado) Post this... [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2007, 8:00am EST
    by pdt

  • US Senate primary?

    I see in Colorado Confidential that Mark Benner is talking about mounting a primary challenge against Mark Udall in the US Senate race. I heard it yesterday at the State Democratic Central Committee meeting as well. Benner wants to have a debate about universal health care, about holding Bush and... [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2007, 9:28am EST
    by pdt

  • Power, Democratic style

    An aging, entrenched Democratic leader lost a major battle this week, and it was great news for both the Democratic Party and for Detroit. After 15 years of being told by a Republican Congress that government is the cause of every problem, and hate is the simple answer, the debate... [...]
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    Posted: December 02, 2007, 9:35am EST
    by pdt

  • Another moon race

    The internet slowed to a crawl, and it was a good sign, long overdue. This morning I've been trying to download the Summary Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released yesterday. It's like buying Rockies World Series tickets. Finally people are paying attention. We've been aware... [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2007, 9:11am EST
    by pdt

  • The Cheetoes alternative

    I spent an evening phone banking this past week, and was ecstatic with what I heard. People are getting pumped for the 2008 campaign cycle, when we'll finally be able to start dismantling the reign of the "unitary executive." What was especially telling is this obscure fact: of the people... [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2007, 6:18am EDT
    by pdt

  • Back to work

    I've seen it all over the blogs this month. While we might be disappointed in the Democratic leadership in Congress so far, we're only just getting started. The big ship of state can't turn on a dime. So far, the Democrats in Congress have been able to slow its wrong-way... [...]
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    Posted: October 14, 2007, 5:50am EDT
    by pdt

  • Nixon moment

    We saw a classic Nixon moment this week when the president of the United States went in front of reporters to state, This government does not torture people. Hardly anyone missed the parallel with another historic denial, "I am not a crook!" This followed a New York Times exposé showing... [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2007, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • Talk talk

    I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks as I wait for the US Congress to do something important. Checking in with them today, I see they still haven't gotten our troops out of Iraq, still haven't taken meaningful action on global warming, still haven't done anything... [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2007, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • Talk talk

    I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks as I wait for the US Congress to do something important. Checking in with them today, I see they still haven't gotten our troops out of Iraq, still haven't taken meaningful action on global warming, still haven't done anything... [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2007, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt

  • No more protection for me, thanks

    US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff thinks freedom is frivolous. He would rather build steel and concrete walls on our borders, send threatening letters to employers, and check our documents. Chertoff says he is frustrated by the growing number of "people who say, 'Yes, protect us, but not if it... [...]
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    Posted: September 09, 2007, 8:00am EDT
    by pdt
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