Tammany Hall of the West?
In the hours before hosting the bitter and divisive U.S. Senator Al Franken as the honored guest at the Jefferson-Jackson Day fundraising dinner, Colorado Democrats faced what was either a lack of real options, or simple delusion, and re-elected State Chair Rick Palacio and Vice Chairs Beverly Ryken and Barbara Jones at their bi-annual state organizational meeting. The leadership will serve two year terms, which will carry the Colorado Democratic Party through the critical 2016 elections.
Coming off catastrophic losses in 2014, in which Mark Udall become the first sitting U.S. Senator to lose re-election in Colorado since 1978, the Colorado State Senate flipped to Republican control for the first time in a decade, Andrew Romanoff lost one of the tightest and most expensive Congressional campaigns in the nation, and all three of the Colorado state constitutional offices below the Governor went to Republicans, most reasonable observers would expect some change at the top. Most reasonable participants would demand change.
Instead, it appears that Colorado Democrats doubled down on their failed leadership and flawed agenda. And, Democratic activists are not happy, as some of the comments on Facebook noted:
- “And the party continues to sink.”
- “Tim Gill still has control of the party. Blue is officially the new Red.”
- “The Tammany Hall of the West.” (very clever)
But you won’t find us complaining. With incumbent Senator Michael Bennet stumbling out of the blocks for his 2016 re-election campaign and knowing the key role that our state will play in any presidential contender’s electoral calculus, we welcome the complacency. Carry on liberals.