Some called it “a momentum party.” Others said it was “a unity party.” Blanca O’Leary, the lady of the house, called it an opportunity “to take the time to wallow in our happiness.”
Most of the standing-room-only audience in the O’Leary family’s stately Silver King Drive home would probably agree last Friday’s gathering was all of the above. The leaders of the local Democratic Party rolled out the welcome mat for Hillary Clinton supporters and Republicans who now support Barack Obama’s bid for the nation’s presidency.
“Before the campaign got going I was for Hillary. I was so excited about the possibility of having a woman as president,” said Sue Coyle, an attendee. “It didn’t take me long to realize Obama has so much to offer.”
The party underscored the contrast between Obama’s organization in Pitkin County, where the senator from Illinois has wide and active support, and the campaign for John McCain, who has allies in the area but a feeble political infrastructure thus far in the contest.
“Many of you might be wondering, especially those of you writing checks, why are they putting 19-year-olds in charge of campaigns? I look like I’m 19 but I’m not,” explained 29-year-old Ray Rivera, state director for Obama’s campaign.
This is Rivera’s third time working on a presidential election and he said it is by far the most inspiring. The enthusiasm in Colorado is overwhelming, he said. In an interview, he explained Obama’s campaign has four offices and 50 staffers in the state and “we’re building on it every day. ... When we open up an office, it’s like handing out free ice cream.”
Still, he is well aware Colorado has traditionally been a red state. And that’s why the campaign is investing a lot of its resources in Colorado and continuing to build off the momentum and effective political network that it developed during the caucuses.
“This campaign is going to get ugly. It’s going to get dirty. It’s going to have its ups and downs. Let’s stay focused, work hard and not let anyone get us down,” Rivera told the crowd. “I don’t think it’s any big secret that we’re relying on voter turnout. We’re going to have to get Republicans voting for us and we need you to get people to the polls.”
The Democrats recently began a voter registration campaign in Pitkin County; an event tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the S.A.W. Gallery in Carbondale is aimed at rallying support among 20-somethings and 30-somethings; and Obama organizers make frequent contact with local media.
Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland said voter registration this year and last year has been leaning Democratic in Colorado and he predicted “the region is going to be very big for Obama.”
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign has one office and about six staffers in Colorado, not counting other Republican organizations who have joined their cause.
McCain spokesman Tom Kise just arrived in Colorado about a week ago and he didn’t know the name of Pitkin County Republican Chairwoman Linda McCausland. Asked about the campaign’s strategy and organization in the state, he declined to offer specifics.
“Our strategy is in place. It is a victorious strategy and we will have the resources we need to make sure that on Election Day Colorado is a red state,” he said.
What the Republicans do have going for them that at this point the Democrats don’t is a scheduled date for their candidate to visit Aspen. McCain is scheduled to speak at the Aspen Institute on Aug. 14. Obama is rumored to be visiting sometime before the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August but so far a firm date has not been set.
A poll in late June commissioned by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and Quinnipiac University “found that 49 percent of Colorado’s likely voters would choose Obama, compared with 44 percent for McCain.” A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey about a week earlier portrayed a tighter race, with Obama just 2 percentage points ahead of McCain.
hoop@aspendailynews.com
