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GRAND JUNCTION — From pouring Grand Valley wine at convention week parties to posting locally shot photos on its Web site, the Democratic National Convention Committee wants a little piece of Grand Junction at the festivities in Denver this August.
The DNCC and its CEO, Leah Daughtry, made a stop in Grand Junction Wednesday at Mesa State College to speak with locals about how they can participate in the convention and how the convention will affect people across the state.
Daughtry said the committee would encourage locally grown foods be used at convention events and said other parts of the state may see an upswing in tourism around the time of the convention. She encouraged people to submit photographs of their communities to the DNC Web site — www.DemConvention.com — to entice people to their part of the state.
“We suspect 70 to 80 percent of our delegates have never been here — we want them to have an idea of what to look forward to,” Daughtry said.
State Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, sat with Daughtry during the forum. He said a wine train from Denver to Grand Junction should be arranged the week before or after the event. And sending a crate of Palisade peaches to the convention might not be a bad idea either, he said.
Rich Baca, who attended the meeting, said he looks forward to seeing how many people will filter into Grand Junction around the time of the convention.
“People may come to Colorado for the first time and visit the Western Slope. Thousands? Probably not, but hundreds, maybe,” Baca said.
For Grand Junction residents wanting to travel to Denver, Daughtry said volunteers from across the state are welcome at the convention so that delegates can meet people from all over Colorado, not just Denver. Anyone, delegate or not, can attend meetings with high-profile Democrats during the days of the convention. The delegate-only events will take place at about 4 p.m. each day.
Mesa County Democrat Mary Beth Pyle, who attended Wednesday’s forum, will be one of those delegates. She was selected to represent Colorado at the state convention earlier this month. She’s supporting Hillary Clinton, but said she won’t have hard feelings if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
“We will elect a Democrat in November, and I will support that candidate,” she said.
Daughtry also spoke about a Democratic National Committee rules and bylaws meeting that she will be a part of this Saturday in Washington, D.C., to determine what to do with Michigan and Florida delegates. Those states violated DNC rules by moving their primaries into January. Democratic Party lawyers have advised those states to seat only half their delegates in August.
Daughtry said the DNC needs to be firm with Michigan and Florida or face more states trying to break time rules next general election season.
“Every state wanted to move up. We would’ve been voting at Thanksgiving. We needed to hold a line,” she said.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
The DNCC and its CEO, Leah Daughtry, made a stop in Grand Junction Wednesday at Mesa State College to speak with locals about how they can participate in the convention and how the convention will affect people across the state.
Daughtry said the committee would encourage locally grown foods be used at convention events and said other parts of the state may see an upswing in tourism around the time of the convention. She encouraged people to submit photographs of their communities to the DNC Web site — www.DemConvention.com — to entice people to their part of the state.
“We suspect 70 to 80 percent of our delegates have never been here — we want them to have an idea of what to look forward to,” Daughtry said.
State Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, sat with Daughtry during the forum. He said a wine train from Denver to Grand Junction should be arranged the week before or after the event. And sending a crate of Palisade peaches to the convention might not be a bad idea either, he said.
Rich Baca, who attended the meeting, said he looks forward to seeing how many people will filter into Grand Junction around the time of the convention.
“People may come to Colorado for the first time and visit the Western Slope. Thousands? Probably not, but hundreds, maybe,” Baca said.
For Grand Junction residents wanting to travel to Denver, Daughtry said volunteers from across the state are welcome at the convention so that delegates can meet people from all over Colorado, not just Denver. Anyone, delegate or not, can attend meetings with high-profile Democrats during the days of the convention. The delegate-only events will take place at about 4 p.m. each day.
Mesa County Democrat Mary Beth Pyle, who attended Wednesday’s forum, will be one of those delegates. She was selected to represent Colorado at the state convention earlier this month. She’s supporting Hillary Clinton, but said she won’t have hard feelings if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
“We will elect a Democrat in November, and I will support that candidate,” she said.
Daughtry also spoke about a Democratic National Committee rules and bylaws meeting that she will be a part of this Saturday in Washington, D.C., to determine what to do with Michigan and Florida delegates. Those states violated DNC rules by moving their primaries into January. Democratic Party lawyers have advised those states to seat only half their delegates in August.
Daughtry said the DNC needs to be firm with Michigan and Florida or face more states trying to break time rules next general election season.
“Every state wanted to move up. We would’ve been voting at Thanksgiving. We needed to hold a line,” she said.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
