If there is one thing that living in a place that swings from 100 degrees in the Summer to minus 10 degrees in the Winter will do to you, it's toughen you up. Come beneath the orange emblem of No Surrender! for the story of how we fight to the end here in the Four Corners.
You've probably heard by now--there was an election this week. Nationally, we Democrats got spanked and it wasn't the first time, probably won't be the last. You can read the plethora of speculations as to why on the Dailykos Recommended list, the Recent Diaries list, our Front Page and every media outlet in the U.S. of A.
While y'all are dissecting the loss, we are not only unbowed here--we are still fighting.
In a land where folks walk around mountain peaks in an atmosphere of 18% oxygen, we may rest BUT WE DON'T GIVE UP. We catch our breath and keep on fighting. Our environment doesn't reward those who lay down mid-fight, no, it rewards those who endure, those who get back up when they get knocked down, those who are willing to stay and fight until the final bell rings. And the bell has not rung here in the 59th House District.
We had four local contests here in La Plata County, Colorado. At first glance, it might seem that we Democrats went 2 for 4, winning 2, losing 2. In two contests, for local Sherriff and County Treasurer, we prevailed. I won't delve too deeply into those contests except to say: the two Democrats who won were far and away the better candidates. And not only were they much more qualified candidates, they worked as hard as any candidates have ever worked. They showcased their superior qualifications at every turn, they took advantage of every single opportunity--and they created opportunities to speak up for themselves as being the better choice.
In the third race, for County Commissioner, a first time candidate recruited at the last moment, was a shrinking violet. Far too meek & mild to take control of her race, she failed to take advantage of the many opportunities to point to her greatly superior resume. In short, she was the best qualified but a lousy candidate, and as a result, we now have the founder of our local Tea Party as a County Commissioner. His margin of victory? Less than 200 votes out of over 12k cast. A weak candidate who was far more qualified lost the race by inaction. Take a lesson Democrats.
Which brings me to the race I was most involved in, incumbent Mike McLachlan, running to retain his State House seat representing the 59th District in Colorado. In brief, Mike is an attorney who has represented Colorado in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, and that alone makes him a better candidate. I won't list all his accomplishments, as that alone should convince you just how qualified he is. His opponent, the man he defeated 2 years ago, J. Paul Brown, is immanently not qualified. However, J. Paul is a local sheep rancher, U.N. conspiracy theorist, and gun nut backed by plenty of dark money & the NRA. The 59th District is larger than just La Plata County, as it also encompasses 2 much smaller Counties-Archuleta & Ouray, as well as the town of Gunnison; in total, 5 County Clerks are involved in counting his votes. Whereas only one County Clerk is responsible for counting--and certifying--the votes for the other County races I've written about, in Mike's case, each County Clerk in each County needs to certify the results. And that leads to today's article in the Durango Herald.
"Mike McLachlan Battles On" Read it for yourself--it explains our fight better than I ever could: http://www.durangoherald.com/...
It seems that currently Mike is behind by 229 votes, and a 171 vote or less difference is needed to trigger an automatic recount. Where could Mike find 58 more votes? In the pool of votes coming from overseas soldiers and in the votes that are not "cured", ie, 'provisional ballots'. Those votes that are not "cured" are those that have a signature discrepancy or some such thing. And there are certainly well beyond the number of those needed to trigger a recount. And what hangs in the balance? Control of the Colorado State House.
Tomorrow, we Four Corners Kossacks have a meet-up planned--it's been in the works for weeks.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I jokingly titled the diary announcing the meet up "Spiking the ball or crying in our beer: Time will tell". Well, I stand corrected, as I should have titled it : "FCKers still fighting!"
Please join us tomorrow for our Four Corner Kossacks Meet-up. We'll pick ourselves up, dust off our fighting clothes, drink some beer, and discuss where we go from here.
What we won't be doing is laying down before our fight is over--I can promise you that.
Meet us on Saturday, November 8th at 3p.m., at Carver's Brew Pub, 1022 Main Ave, Durango, CO!