Platform Politics
Boulder County Democrats want to give voters a voice. Are jaded Dems ready to engage in the caucus process?
By Grace Hood (editorial@boulderweekly.com)

With more than a year left before the 2008 presidential election, rarely a day goes by that we don't hear about a heartwarming speech by Barack Obama or get updated on Hillary Clinton's latest fundraising effort. Democratic presidential candidates are working early and often across the country to rally their political base.

Here in Boulder County, Democrats are also hard at work to energize the party's membership. The Boulder County Democratic Party (BCDP) is currently holding monthly forums to discuss key policy issues through October. Instead of conversations about Hillary, Barack, John or Dennis, Boulder County Democrats have turned to education, ethics in government, health care and the environment.

Local party leaders hope that these monthly forums, each of which is focused on a particular issue, will bring more attention to the Boulder County Democratic Party's 2008 platform. The party is working at an issue level — not at the candidate level — to energize a grassroots movement. According to Rebecca Browning, a team leader on the BCDP platform committee, local Democrats are ready for a change.

"We've been battered by the Republicans and the press for so long that we've lost our voice," she says. "We have the chance to regain it and to show our true colors [that] we are the party of, for and by the people."

But the BCDP approach comes at a challenging time for the Democratic Party. Voting machines have made us question whether our vote really counts at the local and national level. We have a federal government that seems to ignore the Constitution and the will of the American people. In short, many of the passionate Democrats that county Democrats want to engage have lost faith in the political process.

Can Democratic leaders inspire people when the political process seems so tainted?

Collective transformation

For Browning, the vision of broader participation in local government has been an ideal for some time. Raised by politically active parents in the Philadelphia region, Browning saw many of her friends deliberately disengage from the political process in the '60s. It was after Browning began petitioning for a school board recall in Boulder County that she says she wanted to raise the level of public involvement in politics.

"I ran into so many people who said that they didn't want to be involved because it was at a level that they couldn't be concerned with — a lower level," she says. "Since the '90s, I've wanted to involve people and get trust back into the political process."

For the BCDP, building broader participation has been a work in progress for several years. Back in 2004, local party officials introduced issue-based forums to discuss the 2004 platform. According to Rick Blauvelt, who is also a platform committee team leader, the forums were thorough, but also time consuming — sometimes lasting until 9:30 p.m.

"That can limit people who work in the evening or live on the other side of the county," he says.

In 2006, county Democrats relied more on their website, www.bouldercountydems.org, and a platform blog to encourage and gather feedback.

This time around, county Democrats hope to start the process early and combine forum discussions with web-based feedback so that an even greater number of Democrats can shape the 2008 agenda.

"Instead of staying until 9:30 p.m., they can go home and think about it," says Blauvelt. "We give them a survey at the end of the evening on that night's topic, and they make notes at the panel discussion."

Thus far, the party has held forums on ethics in government, the environment and education, all of which have had speakers, question-and-answer periods and discussion. To the outside observer, an issues-based forum hosted by a group of Democrats for Democrats may seem like a love fest. But Browning says there are a variety of perspectives that have come from the meetings.

"Look in Boulder — has anything ever been simply agreed upon? No," she says. "Even if we are progressive, there are many different ideas of how things should be done."

At the end of the year, local party leaders will compile the ideas and feedback to create a survey, which will supply a base for discussions during the February 2008 caucus in Boulder County.

The party leaders hope the forums will motivate local Democrats to get involved in the February 2008 caucus, which takes place in numerous precincts throughout Boulder County. Each precinct then selects a delegate to go to the County Assembly, which ultimately decides the BCDP platform.

"People are deliberating on this for months. [They] are meeting to discuss and hand in surveys the night of the caucus," says Browning. "Our hope is that a high percentage of Democrats who have never been [engaged] at the caucus level will now be involved."

As more Democrats stand behind the party's agenda, Browning says she thinks that elected officials will be required to pay closer attention to the will of voters. Browning says that the platform will most likely hold more weight with local officials than statewide representatives, like Sens. Salazar and Allard. But even with state officials, Browning says that a county platform with a broad backing could serve as a starting point for discussions.

"Whoever is leading the Democrats, if they know where the people stand, then they can do what's right," she says. "If they don't know, then they'll waiver and do whatever they need to do to get reelected."

In the long run, Browning says she wants to see a "collective transformation." She seeks to create healthy dialogue before the surveys are handed in and higher turnout at the precinct level. Browning says she hopes that people will have a greater sense of being heard and gain respect for the process.

Perhaps Boulder County's format will catch on across the country, she says. It's time that Democrats take responsibility for their cynicism and engage in the process, says Browning.

"If we don't get involved now and make sure that every poll is watched and every precinct is involved throughout the nation, we will be accountable for the results. We will just reinforce our cynicism over and over again," she says. "If you give up, you're accountable."

Building a grassroots movement

While it could take years — even decades — for Boulder County Democrats to build a critical mass, Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP), hopes the county's grassroots organizing will contribute to the success of the 2008 election.

At a statewide level, Waak and the state party leaders are doing their own form of grassroots organizing. In 2005, the state Democratic party launched a 64-county strategy, which argued that every voter in Colorado counts — not just those along the Front Range. As a result, gubernatorial hopeful Bill Ritter campaigned across the state, giving speeches in often-ignored rural counties. Waak says this strategy has paid off thus far, with Gov. Bill Ritter and the Democratic-majority state Legislature being the most recent accomplishments.

Now state leaders have their sights set on the 2008 election. In addition to electing a Democrat to the White House, Waak says her party is focused on replacing Sen. Wayne Allard, who has announced he won't run for reelection, with a Democrat.

"It's an exciting time to be in Colorado," she says. "We represent so much of what's going on in the West in terms of running the best candidates and looking for solutions."

Thanks to the designation of Denver as the site of the 2008 Democratic Convention, the effort to build energy and motivate volunteers has gained significant momentum at the state level. The state party already has 7,000 volunteers for the convention, and it is hoping to get another 3,000.

But at the local level, recruiting can be more mundane, and the work is more challenging. Some county Democrats are using public events like parades, barbeques and county fairs to raise interest. Others are hosting public forums to attract younger voters.

According to Michael Huttner, executive director of ProgressNow.org, a liberal political nonprofit, grassroots organizing is much easier around issues and topics — as opposed to political candidates.

Largely through use of the Internet, ProgressNow.org has organized campaigns against everything from Xcel energy rate increases to the Iraq war. Huttner says the most effective campaigns for his organization have been those that focus on common-sense issues that impact the pocketbook. The nonprofit recently launched www.iraqtax.com, a website that contains an electronic petition against the rising cost of the Iraq war.

The key, says Huttner, is translating national issues for a local audience.

"When you talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been spent [in Iraq], most people are aware of it, but it doesn't really activate them to do something," he says. "When you translate it and say that their local services have to cut staff because the monies shifted elsewhere in the budget — that's where it resonates with people."

Other effective strategies to get out the vote have centered on statewide initiatives or passing important legislation in the Colorado General Assembly, says Huttner.

For Waak, Boulder County's tactics may be different, but all counties are trying to engage a broader party base this year in anticipation of the 2008 caucus, which was moved from mid-March to early February.

"Anything that energizes people in the community — whether it's the platform or the convention — those are important things," she says. "Politics is about community, and that's what happens. The more you get the community involved, the more it supports it."

Power from the people

In the coming months, Boulder County Democrats plan to engage locally elected officials in their 2008 platform discussions. Politicians and contenders will receive questionnaires about platform issues. Boulder County Democrats have a blog, www,platform08.blogspot.com, which they hope will encourage a two-way conversation between voters and politicians. And then there's forum participation. Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall, U.S. Congressional candidate Jared Polis and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff have already engaged with Boulder Democrats at community forums. Romanoff, who was previously the chair of the Colorado State Platform Committee, says he thinks that Boulder County Democrats have created a solid approach.

"Hashing out a platform is a tough job," he says. "You want to make sure that the document is as representative as possible of the members of the party without needing a forklift."

Having attended an education forum earlier this year, Romanoff says he found fresh perspectives on the issue. For example, participants at one forum agreed that, while it's important to prepare kids with job skills, it's also critical for schools to create well-rounded individuals, he says.

If more Democrats do stand behind the Boulder County platform, then Romanoff says he thinks the agenda could carry more weight with politicians.

"I think that's a good argument. It would be easier to dismiss a platform if anyone believes that it was cobbled together by a few folks," he says.

Huttner says he thinks it won't carry weight with statewide representatives, but he says a broadly supported platform in Boulder County could sway local politicians. "Conceptually, if they get enough buy-in, bring enough awareness and people signed on, there is no reason why it couldn't be a public tool," he says.

While county leaders want to instill new traditions with their party members, politicians would also have to break custom. When asked how much weight he would give to a party platform with broad backing, Romanoff responded: "Having participated in one of these meetings, I would be very interested in what comes out of it."

Clearly, change isn't going to happen overnight. According to Deb Gardner, chair of the Boulder County Democratic Party, the overarching issue that her party — and others — is dealing with is broadening the voter base.

"Until we have 60 to 80 percent of the people voting, then there's no way to hold elected officials accountable," she says. "The platform is a way to articulate our voice, but until you have people voting at the polls, there isn't accountability."

For now, local party leaders hope that a focus on the issues — not the candidates — will resonate with registered Democrats. An open dialogue and a more accessible caucus process will hopefully push things along, as well, they say.

But in the end, it comes down to the members themselves. The platform could become a dynamic, influential document, but only if voters get active in their party, says Gardner.

"People have to participate," she says. "Democracy is a participatory sport."

Get involved

This year, Boulder County Democrats will host monthly issue-based forums in an effort to boost participation in creating their 2008 platform. Past forums have debated ethics in government, education and the environment, while future discussions will touch on foreign policy (July), health care (August), immigration (September) and economic justice/civil rights (October). Each forum starts with a panel discussion and then is opened to a question-and-answer session with the public.

The ideas from every forum will be compiled into a platform survey that registered Democrats will complete and debate on Feb. 5, 2008, on Boulder County precinct caucus day. Only those who go to caucus will have their surveys accepted.

Next forum:

Wednesday, July 11, 7 p.m.

Foreign Policy and International Relations Speakers include Alan Salazar, chief of staff for Congressman Mark Udall; Joe Rice, state representative and veteran of the Iraq war; Will Shafroth, candidate for U.S. Congress, 2nd Congressional District; Rich Andrews, member of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.

All forums will be hosted at the Boulder County Democratic Headquarters, 1725B Walnut St., Boulder. Call 303-442-3423 for more information, or go to www.bouldercountydems.org.