TLC BLue -- tender loving care mixed with a quick kick in the pants

Laramie County Democrats during a lull at Super Day Saturday in Cheyenne's Lions Park. We think the guy on the left is an NSA spy. Does he look familiar to you?

Turn Laramie County Blue?

That's the motto of the new fund-raising/visibilty program by the Laramie County Democratic Party. TLC Blue -- I like the looks of that. Could be translated as Tender Loving Care Blue. You know, TLC like Mom used to administer. My Mom was a nurse, so she was pretty good at TLC. But as a mother and a nurse, she sometimes had to administer a quick kick in the pants when the gentle approach just wasn't working.

Democrats have been pretty good at the gentle approach. We are reasonable people, right? We expect our opposition to be reasonable too.

LOL. I don't use that term very often but it's appropriate in this case. As we have seen, our opposition is often impervious to our rational approach. As Dems, we are outnumbered by Repubs. Some of them are moderates, but increasingly they are trumped by Tea Partiers and Hopelessly Fundamentalist Christians, although my blogging pal Rodger McDaniel reefers to the latter group as "Radical Christians" (for a definition, read his blog post from Saturday). 

We have had some success in forming coalitions with moderate Republicans. Witness the vote in last year's Legislature over civil unions. It didn't pass, but there were a number of "R" votes that hadn't been there before.

Some of our Blue lobbyists urge us to take it easy on moderates such as Cale Case, Sue Wallis and Dan Zwonitzer. So we do. Problem is, they often turn around the next day and vote for anti-worker legislation, or laws that strengthen the stranglehold that energy corporations have over environmental policy in Wyoming. In the end, it would be much better to have a bloc of Dems in the House and the Senate that could administer some TLC and a quick kick in the pants when that didn't work.

But we don't.

And moderate Republicans, especially those in rural enclaves, can be vulnerable to attacks by Tea Partiers and Radical Christians. Hank Coe of Cody could never be labeled a Liberal, but his role as power broker in the "Hill Bill" makes him a target of Park County ultra-rightists.

There are 11,215 Democrats in Laramie County, which makes it the county with the most Dems in the state, We keep adding to those numbers, although we're still outnumbered by Republicans. We're the most urban of the state's counties, with one-sixth of the population. This drives rural Republicans crazy, as the more urban a place becomes, the more Democrats there are. Maybe that's why they refer to Cheyenne as North Denver or a suburb of Fort Collins. I'm a Denver native who went to grad school in Fort Collins, so I know that Cheyenne is neither of those places. It has its own personality and its own destiny. 

But enough of my rambling. Let's hear from the chairman of the Laramie County Democrats, Vincent Rousseau. Vince was a plumber but has returned to college to retool for a new career in civil engineering. Here's some content from his recent letter about TLC Blue:

With my election to Chair of the Laramie County Democratic Party, I have accepted the critical challenge of increasing the number of Democrats holding office in our county. I am sure you understand, that the majority of positions held by the opposition party, all but guarantees that our values as Democrats, our ideals, our compassion for workers and those who struggle to make ends meet are not being represented by our state and local government. Changing this lack of representation is why we work so hard!

The recurring donation program "Turn Laramie County Blue" will raise vital funds for the Laramie County Democratic Party. TLC Blue will provide support to candidates and Democratic incumbents need to attain and hold public office, the kind of support that the hard work we all do, can't alone provide. Your donation of $10, $20, or $30 a month gives the Laramie County Democratic Party the opportunity to provide help with volunteer recruitment and training, mailings, printing, any number of the million tasks that are necessary for a successful campaign.

We have a large fundraising goal, for "TLC Blue". I have set myself a personal fundraising target of $15,000 by  December of 2014. I need your help in reaching this target. Your donation of $10 a month, will not only help with monthly operating expenses, but can help to mail 250 postcards or 75 letters for a campaign. Your donation of $20 a month will help buy yard-signs, and $30 a month goes a long ways towards radio and billboard spots.

There's more, but you get the picture. I will be spending the day pondering how much money and time I can give to the cause. Take time out to do some of your own pondering. For more info, call the Laramie County Democrats at 307-509-0504. We have some interesting conversations over on Facebook. Also check out the Laramie County Democrats Grassroots Coalition.