Montrose - Daily Press

Katharhynn Heidelberg

MONTROSE - Attention, Democrats: Don't rest on your laurels. Instead, serve constituents well enough to be rewarded with yet another election victory at the statehouse - and beyond.

So said party leaders and guests time and again during the Montrose County Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner, held Saturday at the Elks Lodge.

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The idea of Democrats, held to be "liberal," taking control of the Legislature in a state deemed "conservative," shouldn't be shocking, Rep. Bernie Buescher of Grand Junction told dinner attendees to often raucous applause.

Numbers are also up in local communities, with thrice the number of Democrats appearing at Delta party functions than in the past and an increase of nearly 300 at a gathering in Grand Junction.

"We're starting to build this party," Buescher said. "I was elected from one of those districts they say a Democrat can't win in. Now, we have 35 members of the Colorado State House and the Republicans have 30.

"We're learning how to be the majority. I can tell you, the Republicans are struggling with learning how to be the minority, but we're going to keep teaching them."

Pat Waak, state party chair, urged Democrats to keep their eyes on the prize, through grassroots efforts and communication about healthcare, education and jobs.

"Those are the things that affect people's lives," Waak said, though she acknowledged there were other issues that are important.

"We need to remind people at the local level that we share the same values. Who is it who's going to make sure that healthcare is out there for them? Who is it who's going to make sure kids get a good education? Who is it who's going to see that there's a job and a meaningful wage and a dignity in earning it?"

Waak's answer: "Not the Republican party."

Other Democratic dignitaries present at the dinner included Montrose County Commissioner Bill Patterson, Sen. Jim Isgar, Buescher's wife, Mary Beth, emcee and Montrose co-chair Karen Connor and other party leaders, along with volunteer of the year, Jane Bilberry, who was honored for her "above and beyond" support of party efforts.

It was keynote speaker Ed Quillen, however, who stole the show with his vintage satire.

The salty liberal columnist and former newspaper editor from Salida took a page from conservative "pundette" Ann Coulter's book - the title page of "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)," to be exact - and turned it into "How to Talk to Republicans (And We Must)."

Democrats cannot just ignore Republicans, Quillen said - after all, in Colorado, they are as likely to be living beside, or even, with a member of the other party as not.

"Republicans sell us gas and groceries and own the newspapers. I don't know why I keep hearing about the biased liberal press," he said. "The Republicans control the federal government that controls most of our land. ŠIn other words, you're not going to have much of a social or economic life if you don't talk to Republicans."

The key to intra-party communication, Quillen told the audience, was learning the dialect: If Republicans want to talk about gun rights, tell them about Howard Dean, Vermont's former Democratic presidential candidate, commended by the National Rifle Association for his state's gun-friendly laws.

If they want to raise the "wedge issue" of gay marriage and the threat they think it poses to traditional unions, Quillen added, point out it was Colorado Republicans who decriminalized such threats as adultery and that the first divorced U.S. president was Republican Ronald Reagan.

"If marriage is a sacrament, what business of it is the government's?" Quillen said.

Too, he said, there are phrases that don't translate accurately from party to party. "We refer to air pollution; they call it the Clear Skies Initiative. We call it shafting the poor; they call it bankruptcy reform. We call it Tom DeLay; they call it ethics in government."

Quillen, who was raised a fundamentalist Baptist, also asked the crowd to imagine how the New Testament would be written if Jesus were a Republican: "Render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's, that he may deploy more centurions, for a strong national defense is beloved and ordained by our Father in heaven."

What the bible really says is of course different, Quillen said. "Jesus didn't talk like a Republican, no matter what George Bush says."

Like Waak had earlier, Quillen addressed national healthcare. "Is it really such a menace?" he asked, pointing to international health statistics. A comparison of the percentage of gross domestic product spent on healthcare in 29 nations revealed the U.S. is a leader, at 12.9 percent.

"That's the highest percentage in the world, at least for an industrialized country," said Quillen. "What do we get for this money?"

A life expectancy exceeding 77 yearsŠand an infant mortality rate exceeding 6 death per 1,000 births. The United Kingdom, which has a national health system, spends 6.9 percent. "Yet their life span is longer and their infant mortality rate is 5.5 percent. They spend less and get more."

These were all talking points to take up with Republicans, Quillen said. "If we do a good job of it, they'll see the best way to achieve the things they say they believe in is to vote for Democrats."

Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail

at katharhynnh@montrosepress.com

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