By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Although debates and political ads are already underway, the 2010 election process officially kicks off tonight with the neighborhood precinct caucuses.
Every two years, Democrats and Republicans gather in separate groups throughout Colorado to weigh in on who they would like to represent their party in the future. Specifically, attendees tonight will select delegates and vote in preference polls on which of their candidates involved in heated primaries should be on the ballot in the November election.
The leaders of the Colorado Democrat and Republican parties agreed that tonight’s caucus is a crucial step in the political process.
“I think it’s the first chance to hear from the voters on their involvement in the whole process,” said Pat Waak, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “It’s a way for us to gather a core of people who will be involved in the election process.”
“It’s the critical day in the debate, the discussion, within our party on who our candidates should be and what they should stand for,” said Dick Wadhams, chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
Waak is expecting a better-than-average turnout to tonight’s Democrat caucus because of the contested Senate race between former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Waak said that tonight’s results could have far reaching implications for both candidates.
“The big goal is to do well, not just because you want to win, but because you want donors to see that you have a lot of strength down here,” said Waak.
Political analyst and Denver Daily News columnist Aaron Harber is interested to see whether Obama’s endorsement of Bennet will help or hurt the candidate. Obama’s endorsement of Bennet made some waves inside Democrat circles because a president isn’t supposed to endorse a candidate involved in a primary.
“Certainly within some segments of the Democrat party, there is resentment that the president has gotten involved in a Democrat primary,” Harber said. “Is that resentment just scattered among some party regulars, or is it more widespread? [Tonight] might give an indication of that.”
Wadhams is expecting a better-than-average turnout to Republican caucuses because “there is a lot of enthusiasm among Republicans right now about our ability to win elections this fall.” Republican caucuses are taking preference polls for the U.S. Senate race between Jane Norton, Tom Wiens, Ken Buck and three other candidates, as well the governor race between Scott McInnis and Dan Maes.
Harber said he’s interested to see whether McInnis, who is favored to be the Republican candidate for governor, will get any competition from Maes. He added that the results from the Republican U.S. Senate primary caucus could help narrow down the field of six.
“It will be an interesting night,” he said.
Only registered Democrats and Republicans can attend one of their party’s caucuses tonight. For a list of caucuses going on in your neighborhood, visit ColoradoDems.org or ColoradoGOP.org, depending on your party affiliation.
Results from the preference polls are expected to be finalized by 10 p.m. tonight. A preference poll vote is non-binding, and while the results are a good snapshot in time among party loyalists, it is not the decisive factor in determining who will be on the primary ballot, according to Wadhams.
