Colorado Democracy Alliance - Exposed Part 2

Hat Tip to Brad @ Face The State

September 30, 2008
Face The State Staff Report

This is the second in a week-long series making public for the first time internal documents from the Colorado Democracy Alliance, a secretive, high-level organization active in coordinating Democrat campaign activities. Read Monday's installment for information on CoDA's organizational and financial structure. Today we examine the individuals involved in the operation and support of the Alliance.

Today in the Face The State Reading Room:

Members in the Colorado Democracy Alliance include some of the state's most influential high-level fundraisers and aides to some of the state's highest elected Democrats.

An invitation list to the 2006 CoDA election night party (PDF), held in a swanky suite at downtown Denver's new Hyatt reads as a who's who of powerful western liberals. Members of the "Gang of Four," core financiers of Colorado's liberal infrastructure (Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges, Jared Polis and Pat Stryker) are listed as "members and donors" alongside Mitch Ackerman of the Service Employees International Union, Jenifer Brandeberry of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Boulder "activist-philanthropist" Linda Shoemaker and Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts.

CoDA "strategy group" members (PDF) include liberal activists Bobby Clark and Michael Huttner of ProgressNow, Chantell Taylor of Colorado Ethics Watch, and Jason Bane, a former SEIU PR man, blogger and Jeffco commissioner candidate. John Stocks of the National Education Association, Carrie Doyle of Colorado Conservation Voters and Democrat go-to attorney Mark Grueskin are also on the exclusive invite list. Click here (PDF) for the full roster. When interviewed by Face The State for a recent story about political litigation, both Grueskin and Taylor played down the role of their legal complaints as a campaign tool.

Also involved in the operation of CoDA is a group called America Votes, an organization which until recently was run by U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall's wife, Maggie Fox. A September 21, 2006 high-level CoDA "election protection" meeting was held at America Votes' offices during Fox's tenure (PDF). A similar meeting was held at the now-defunct think tank, the Bighorn Center for Public Policy (PDF).

The Colorado Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union and a local affiliate of the NEA, served as a frequent meeting space for Democrat campaign officials and CoDA leaders (PDF). A September 28 "election protection meeting" agenda (PDF) includes discussion of appropriate places to "house" money in 501(c)(3) non-profits and a discussion of election-season advertising.

Minutes from an October 11 CoDA meeting (PDF) show the coalition had contemplated pressuring Denver election officials to use mothballed election machines during the 2006 vote. The document indicates CoDA estimating a ten-minute wait time at the polls would have the coalition "down 40,000 votes," with the additional voting machines a possible method to bolster turnout of the city's largely liberal electorate.

The CEA, SEIU, AFL-CIO and CTLA are listed as "institutional members" in an undated "confidential" CoDA membership roster. Al Yates, former president of the Colorado State Unversity and confidante to Stryker, is listed as "interim executive director."

Visit Face The State Wednesday for a closer look at CoDA's "strategy group" and its plans to influence Colorado politics.

Colorado Democracy Alliance - Exposed Part 1

Hat Tip to Brad @ Face The State

DOCUMENTS PROVIDE WINDOW
INTO DEMOCRATS' POWERFUL
"DEMOCRACY ALLIANCE"
Face The State Staff Report

Documents obtained by Face The State provide new insight into the secretive organization behind Colorado Democrats' historic takeover of state government in 2006. The Colorado Democracy Alliance, a membership organization that steers millions of dollars toward "progressive" organizations, brings together the state's most influential liberal politicians, consultants and fundraisers under a single umbrella.

In a week-long series, FTS is making public for the first time internal documents outlining CoDA's structure, financing and deep connections with Colorado's top Democrats.

Today in the Face The State Reading Room:
A "confidential" CoDA document outlines the organization's financial structure (PDF), including a three-tiered membership dues schedule in which organizational members such as the Colorado Education Association commit a minimum of $400,000 annually toward far-left politics (PDF). CoDA's stated "core functions" include bringing together major liberal donors and shaping "short- and medium-term electoral and policy goals."

While CoDA is a "taxable non-profit organization and is not aligned with any political party," documents obtained by FTS show no sign of any support for non-Democrat politicians or candidates.

Alliance membership brings with it the expectation of major support for political organizations including "strategic C3's, C4's and non-federal 527's," the three most common tax classifications for political advocacy groups. Donations are also to be made directly to "targeted state legislative and statewide candidates" as well as "all Colorado federal races in the current cycle."

CoDA is also designed to oversee infrastructure supported by its members. A list of services provided by the Alliance includes "assist[ing] in the coordination of the activities of progressive organizations."

A list of funding recommendations for CoDA members (PDF) includes a number of entrenched liberal campaign organizations including MainStreet Colorado, state House Democrats' 527, as well as Moving Colorado Forward, a similar group for Senate Democrats. Donors were also encouraged to give directly to the gubernatorial campaign of then-Denver DA Bill Ritter and a variety of 527 organizations backing the his election.

Donors are also encouraged to give to including the Colorado Progressive Coalition, which "works in low-come (sic)" areas and the Voter Information and Registration Project targeting African-Americans.

An undated roster (PDF) includes well-known members of the "Gang of Four," a group of well-heeled multi-millionaires responsible for funding much of Colorado's liberal infrastructure. The list includes a relative newcomer to Colorado politics, Tom Congdon, who has directed much of his profits from oil and gas investments into "progressive" causes. Pat Stryker, the Fort Collins heiress to the Stryker medical devices fortune and a member of the "Gang of Four," is the signatory to a draft of a fundraising letter to Alliance members (PDF).