I'm up at 5:00 a.m. for 6:40 departure for Boulder and the first event o f the day - a breakfast with Gen. Wesley Clark and Colorado CD5 candidate Jay Fawcett. The event is sponsored by the Boulder County Democrats and Boulder Democratic Women. Cost was only $25, of which about $16.50 goes to the Fawcett campaign.
I arrive in Boulder at 7:25 a.m. for 8:30 a.m. start. I set up my frame for the Colorado4Clark banner. I distribute "Meet Wes Clark" flyers on the 18 tables.
People are already arriving. I had prepared 60 flyers, hoping that there would be that many people there. "How many do you expect?" I ask. "We have 120 RSVPs."
I'm up at 5:00 a.m. for 6:40 departure for Boulder and the first event o f the day - a breakfast with Gen. Wesley Clark and Colorado CD5 candidate Jay Fawcett. The event is sponsored by the Boulder County Democrats and Boulder Democratic Women. Cost was only $25, of which about $16.50 goes to the Fawcett campaign.
I arrive in Boulder at 7:25 a.m. for 8:30 a.m. start. I set up my frame for the Colorado4Clark banner. I distribute "Meet Wes Clark" flyers on the 18 tables.
People are already arriving. I had prepared 60 flyers, hoping that there would be that many people there. "How many do you expect?" I ask. "We have 120 RSVPs."
Now, it's important to note that Boulder isn't in Fawcett's CD5. CD6 and CD7 are in-between. I can't imagine that all 120 are there for Jay.
Clark and Fawcett arrive at 8:45 a.m. Clark is detained outside for a TV interview. (He did two radio interviews on the way from the airport to boulder.) Jay and Wes enter venue at 9:00 a.m. Clark's hair is mussed from the breeze.
Oh, in case I forget: Navy blue suit, white shirt, blue tie with white pattern. Sharp.
After a warm personal greeting to me from the General, he works the crowd, visiting each of the 18 tables and shaking every hand. When he returns, I ask him if he needs some food. "Yes, but I'd really like some juice." show him the buffet line when he returns and fills a plate and I go to fetch some juice. He doesn't get much time to eat his breakfast.
The Fawcett campaign had generously and graciously offered me the opportunity to introduce the two stars. I give my speech (which had morphed during the day into this version:
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Thanks to all of you for coming. General Clark, welcome back to Colorado and thanks for coming here and for endorsing and supporting Jay Fawcett.
I'm Stan Davis from Lakewood and WesPAC's Colorado State Coordinator. WesPAC - Securing America is Gen. Clark's Political Action Committee. WesPACs mission is to get Democrats all over the country elected in 2006, promote policies that make America more secure, and to make the Democratic Party THE party of REAL national security.
It was the prospect of a Clark presidential candidacy that brought me into politics for the first time ever. I joined the Draft Clark Movement in June 2003 and attended the first Denver Draft Clark MeetUp on July 7, 2003. We thought that he was exactly the kind of candidate we could support enthusiastically - someone to be FOR, not just against his opponent, and who could defeat Bush in 2004. For me it was all about his values and his vision. Not that I'm a groupie or anything, but after today, I will have been in the same room with Gen. Clark at 23 events on 13 dates in 9 cities in 7 states. [That turned out to be a good laugh line - I rattled the numbers off quickly.] [Hesitation] And I'm far from the Clark record-holder.
My involvement in the Clark Movement has taken me many places into politics. One event I attended was a state party dinner meeting in Colorado Springs on August 27, 2005, featuring Al Sharpton. I met Jay Fawcett that evening and I learned that he was running for Congress in District 5. I donated on the spot. Wanda, Jay's campaign manager, tells me that I was the first donor to his campaign whose last name wasn't Fawcett.
What did I see in Jay that caused me to jump in so early? One word -- courage. I knew that he was one of the Band of Brothers...a Fighting Dem - terms that hadn't yet been invented at that time. As a veteran myself, I saw courage not only in his military service - after all, he did play a combat role in Gulf War I - but I also saw the courage in his eyes in taking on what lots of people think is a hill too steep to climb - to win as a Democrat in a district dominated by Colorado Springs. I also saw courage in his eyes to stand up for what is right and good in this country.
My grandson lives in Colorado Springs, so I travel down I-25 often. As I go from Douglas to El Paso County, I'm always assaulted by the sign that says "Ronald Reagan Highway." Maybe in about 2025 with Jay in his tenth term, the Ronald Reagan Highway will be renamed to the "Jay Fawcett Highway." [Applause and laughter.]
Jay, like General Clark, is a problem solver. They assimilate facts, analyze a problem, and apply their values to develop a solution. I guess it's all that engineering they studied at their respective service academies.
So let's tap Fawcett (get it ? wink, wink - tap Fawcett?) for Congress District Five.
It's an unbelievable and amazing honor and privilege for me to introduce two American heroes: Ladies and gentleman, it is an immense pleasure to present to you, Lt. Col. Jay Fawcett and General Wesley K. Clark.
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Best Clark Line: "Politics is wonderful. Then they vote."
Best Fawcett Line: Jay had attended a meeting of the Pikes Peak Firearms Association. So he wore his utility belt, strapped on his 9mm pistol, and sheathed a long knife. He topped that off with what he called a "web vest."
A friend asked him what happened. Fawcett replied, "They didn't know what to do about an armed Democrat."
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There were three events. Boulder was first, over 30 miles northwest of me. So at 10:30 I go the 100 miles or so south to Colorado Springs. All three events had the same format - my introduction, Jay speaks for only a few minutes, and then formally introduces Gen. Clark.
Jay Compares Himself to Clark
Fawcett saw many similarities between himself and Clark. "He went to West Point. I went to the Air Force Academy. He was first in his class. I was number 141. Lots of ones. He was a Rhodes Scholar. I applied for the Rhodes. The Air Force asked me not to turn it in"
The Themes of the Day
Don't let people tell you that the Democrats don't agree on Iraq. There is a 95.5% agreement on the right strategy.
Democrats must be strong in three areas: Iraq, Terrorrism (using police and intelligence more than the military, and cooperating with other countries in both areas), and the current crisis in the Middle East (support and help the Lebanese government to corral Hezbollah and to provide full services to the Lebanese people especially in the south, and Israel has a right to defend itself; he didn't mention targeting at any of the three events).
Winning the 2006 Elections
Stand up to the Republican "bullies" - around your office water cooler or coffee pot, in your church groups, with your neighbors, friends, and family. Draw a line in the sand when they hit you on security. "We are strong. We are smart. We have a strategy."
It is the duty of all Democrats to call into at least one Republican radio talk show at least once a week. Tell the host who we are and what we stand for - until the line goes dead.
Connections. If your candidate isn't meeting with people 16 hours a day, you're not doing enough. Use your connections to schedule the candidate - in your church group, neighborhood association, social circle, and business associations.
Pillow Talk
In Boulder, the first question was about his campaign for President. Wes told this story:
He talked about pillow talk - you know, the intimate, kind of chat between spouses at bedtime. Wes said he told his wife Gert one night during the Draft Clark Movement, "You know? I had a dream that I'm going to run." He then quickly added that the pillow talk stopped right there. In fact, if that kind of talk didn't stop, future pillow talk would not be possible.
Gert told him that, yeah, there's a Draft, but until party leaders start calling, you can't even think about it. The next day New York Congressman Charlie Rangel called asking him to run. Then Jimmy Carter. Then Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton's Security Advisor. Others included the Big Dog himself. Another was Joe Biden. "Wes, you have a one in three chance of getting the nomination. But if you get it, you will beat Bush." "Why don't you run, Joe?" Biden said he wasn't interested.
So he returned to the pillow to tell Gert about all the calls. "No," she said. Then it all changed two days before his announcement.
The Colin Powell Shootout
A question at the luncheon (about 30-35 people, I think, at $250 a pop for Jay) was something about what happened to Colin Powell. Clark was clearly reluctant to say anything very negative about Powell. But he did say that the administration "used and abused him and then tossed him overboard."
He told a story about Powell when both were stationed at Ft. Carson. Powell was a brand new one-star. Apparently there was some kind of pistol contest among the senior officers (I don't think Clark was yet a General). Powell had a spanking brand-new 9mm pistol. Clark had an old .45. Powell finished second to Clark. It appears that Powell never quite got over it.
On Condaleeza Rice: She seems "uncreative." (I think that was the word.)
Humbled
I got way more attention than I expected, needed, or wanted. At two of the three of the events, he talked about the Draft, using my name frequently. He made it sound like my name should be Stan John Hlinko Susan Putney Jason McIntosh Brent Blackaby Davis. It got a little embarrassing, especially in Boulder, where he went on and on. Of course I don't remember the words, since I was in a daze and semi-shock.
You can see some not very good pics here.
After my 6:40 a.m. departure after getting up at 5:00 a.m., and after stopping by Chili's for a two-martini supper following a 30-minute delay on I-25 owing to a wreck, I get home at about 7:30. I've been wading through e-mails and writing this account ever since.
I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO