My Dear Fellow Democrats,

Since the County Assembly and Convention on February 23, I have been thinking hard about what happened and what it means for the county party and for the county, state and nation.

First, I have to thank the entire Caucus and Assembly committee, chaired by Judi Ingelido, for their tireless work in organizing the process for over ten months. That process has not yet ended as Party Secretary, Linda Martin, with the help of Tom Rich, Alpha Noel, and the office volunteers are still working to put together lists of thousands of names of delegates and alternates to be sent to the state party for the state convention in May. Marguetite Terze and Irene Kornelly and Tom Rich on the Credentials Committee put in particularly intensive work during the days immediately prior to the County Convention and Assembly.

Several things impressed me about he process. First, of course, was the sheer turnout. In the last Presidential election in 2004, 750 Democrats turned out at the local caucuses throughout the entire county. This year, 8014 turned out. This massive increase created a number of chaotic situations, especially in those areas of the county that had a severe shortage of trained precinct chairs. Particularly impressive was the huge turnout in the county's northern precincts. This will force us to rethink the shape of politics in El Paso County.

Also impressive was the apparent recognition by so many caucus attendees that the Party needed help in the precincts and their willingness to sign up as precinct chairs. Prior to Caucuses, the party had about 250 chairs in 180 of our 387 precincts. As of now, Precinct Development Committee Chair, Karen Davidson, tells me we have about 590 precinct chairs in about 340 precincts. This is a quantum leap forward in numbers. Now, our job is to get those new precinct chairs trained and ready for the Get-Out-the-Vote campaign this fall.

The county assembly and convention reflected this dramatic enthusiasm. Four years ago we had, perhaps 500 delegates attend county assembly and convention. This year, over 1700 attended plus hundreds of alternates. At the assembly I asked the audience to think about what we can do with this new power sitting in the auditorium. How can we change the face of the county, the state and the nation. Given the size of our county, we will be key to winning the U.S. Senate seat and the state's electoral college for the presidency. But what can we do to change the face of politics within El Paso County? We can add Democrats to the state legislative delegation. We can finally elect Democrats to the County Commission and to City Council. We can elect countywide officers in 2010 and particularly replace the County Clerk with a Democrat. Maybe we can even replace the current embarrassment sitting in the 5th Congressional District seat with one of our own. The possibilities are profound. But it all starts with organization and that process has already started.

On personal note, I was impressed with the demeanor of the crowd at the county assembly. I certainly fielded a number of complaints from understandably frustrated delegates at the event. But, even by the end of the day and for days afterward, I heard over and over again about how excited people were to be there. With the terribly long delays, people kept their sense of humor and many met and made new friendships that hopefully will survive the campaign season. This is what energizes a party and politics: Like-minded people coming together to support candidates and issues. It is critical that we maintain those relationships and carry them forward into future campaigns.

John Morris, Chair