Conservative Libertarian Outpost

More light has been shed on the Colorado Democracy Alliance, a coalition of wealthy and once clandestine donors who helped turn Colorado from a solidly red state to trusted blue over just the last five years.

In the most recent edition of National Review magazine, former state Rep. Rob Witwer, a Genesee Republican, writes about Colorado’s “Rocky Ride,” detailing how the GOP fell “from power in Colorado — and how the Democrats hope to replicate it.”

Witwer’s thesis is that Colorado Democrats rose to power in the 2004 and 2008 elections not because of some complicated strategy, but rather because of a winning combination of basic grassroots politics coupled with a ton of cash.

Prior to the 2004 election, the GOP ruled nearly every political office in the state, holding both U.S. Senate seats, five of seven congressional seats, the four major statewide offices, including governor, and controlling both houses of the state legislature. By the time 2009 rolled around, however, Witwer concludes, “the opposite is true: Replace the word ‘Republicans’ with ‘Democrats’ in the previous sentence, and you have one of the most stunning reversals of fortune in American political history.”

Democrats spoke freely with Witwer for his analysis, which is part of a book he’s currently working on with 9News political reporter Adam Schrager. Titled, “The Blueprint: How Democrats Won the West (and Why Republicans Should Care).” The book will be published in 2010.

“In hindsight, what Colorado Democrats did was as simple as it was effective,” Witwer writes. “First, they built a robust network of nonprofit entities to replace the Colorado Democratic party, which had been rendered obsolete by campaign-finance reform. Second, they raised historic amounts of money from large donors to fund these entities. Third, they developed a consistent, topical message. Fourth, and most important, they put aside their policy differences to focus on the common goal of winning elections. As former Democratic house majority leader Alice Madden later said, ‘It’s not rocket science.’”

Witwer says he’s interested in studying Colorado’s political history from a journalistic perspective, not a political one. “Whether people are happy or unhappy with the political developments of the last four years, the [political] change has been remarkable and that story needs to be told,” he told Face The State.

Last October, documents obtained by Face The State revealed the inner workings of CoDA, including a memo detailing a plan to “educate the idiots.”