I loved Pat Schroeder’s comment about constant fundraising made her feel like a whore. We need to replace building funds with building partnerships. We face unprecedented money and minor divisions, yet with an energized population. Our primary will be open, so we should welcome 3rd parties and allies now to carry our momentum. Time was many local groups and press anticipated elections eagerly, and we need to rebuild and grow these opportunities. Better pre-Primary coverage can ease our need for funds. Dems can coordinate and help monitor response to help all with quick reports from candidates. Many are already doing parts of this yet please incorporate more.

• Primary candidates of each office may coordinate to show off their organizing skills and bring the Dem roadshow to the public. All potential candidates should be invited, even outside the party, but take it easy and invite allies first.
• Each debate should do one race at a time to grow voter and media interest, and grow general email, social media and volunteer lists. Forums, that incumbents like, can cross races and focus on expertise and interest and still highlight all candidate skills. Forums are especially important to spoon feed the media and get reporters expanding these issues, rather than debates and fundraising which the press treats like a horse race and just calls the odds. Start small and build the idea.
• Dem Party can hold debates and issue forums, and coordinate across all races.
  • Without favoring any, each Dem level should split the workload among their races. House Districts may host for HD candidates, Colorado Dems the statewide races, while county Parties and Senate Districts where they exist organize their middle races, with aim to share the load. HDs and candidates usually know the apt venues that other Dem levels may bank on.
  • This is not coordinating with a campaign, but coordinating between campaigns. Rallies and door to door are individual campaign events not coordinated by Dem leaders, though as always, candidates may help each other.
  • Colorado Dems may mount a master list of events so candidates know when other Dems have an event they don’t want to distract from, voters don't have to choose between a house district debate and a gubernatorial, and perhaps form the basis of growing event data. Soon we'll be coordinating the General, knowing that heightened interest favors Dems.
  • HD, county and Colorado Dems can record open feedback from candidates on how each event goes to maintain growth now and do better in two years. Our time and energy won’t cover every race but we suggest increased momentum in events.
  • Close to the master list of events, Colorado Dems website, with District and county help in their areas, especially all the media and their catchment area, compiled press release materials, and maybe open, non-secure contacts and notes.
  • Our email and social media are mostly doing well. Think twitter: messages are interesting, brief, educate and clarify or topical. Followers hesitate to wade through long diatribes but look forward to another small update and feel 'in the loop.' As often as your message seems something folk will anticipate, appreciate or need to know. Suggest messages make their brief point, suggest action beyond reaction, and only finally ask for money to build the fight or whatever.

• Like the advice to writers to focus on what you know, start with friends and groups you know. Initially you may only get 2 minutes but ask them to host a forum or debate and always ask who else.
• To build a coalition of fire in the belly and calm value leaders, we need to heal our divisions. So 1st are independent Bernie groups like Movement for a People's Party and Working Families Party, where we need to show Dems are listening. Candidates and Dem leaders can call or attend to introduce themselves, and ask if they want to host events, including any candidates these Parties have.
• Then the Greens and other left leaning Parties, especially before Primary, and with all Parties after.
• The myriad non-partisan political groups are huge, many are Dems and all are energized. Most would love to host candidate debates and forums, especially on their main issues, many do surveys that every Dem level can link to and all can grow all our lists more.
• Of course we are openly luring members, and the center, with these energized folk.
• League of Women Voters also has a lot of debate expertise we could learn from, but have not helped partly because we didn’t allow 3rd parties, until now. All these groups could mount more events than major and 3rd parties combined, and get them as focused on a hopeful election as they are on their issues and marching.
• CivicSatisfaction.org lists many groups’ meetings in the metro area and links many active calendars who link more.
• As always, INC lists all the neighborhood groups in each HD, SD etc., a never ending list of small groups.
• Clubs, charities, religious and service groups are also strong, and this is energizing our communities.
• Even some major funders may wish to host forums and debates.
• Remind media that campaign interest swells their audience and regular advertising, not just political ads. Also this year is particularly hot. More media coverage and media hosted debates, forums, interviews and political shows tap an energized public while radio and TV could move into prime time.
• Yet again, Dems’ key here again is for each of our HDs to focus on local and county papers, magazines and low power stations who may like to explore more news, toward local races and events, while Colorado Dems focus major media on those large races. They’ll cross over some.
• Can personal recordings of debates and forums go to Channel 8, perhaps link to HD Party pages?
• All levels of media will do Public Service Announcements which we should mostly use to herald upcoming events to grow momentum at their level.
• Mention the Colorado Dems master calendar as a media resource.
• Candidates can also watch where more people are viewing or not, and better aim the ads they do buy.

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