DISQUS

wendynorris · 1 year ago

Welcome! Thanks for joining us today.

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Hello Wendy. Thanks for having me.

wendynorris · 1 year ago

denverhausfrau asks:

My question for Mr. Rivera would be in regards to the past few experiences I

wendynorris · 1 year ago

Obama's "Western Strategy"

davestew · 1 year ago

Some links to get involved with the campaign in terms of voter registration or other foot-soldier sorts of function would be useful.

davestew · 1 year ago

Mr. Rivera,



Given the largish Hispanic population in the state that sometimes flies under the radar, will there be any particular effort to energize and register these voters that you will be involved with here in CO?

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks for the question Denverhausfrau. We had a very successful Democratic caucus here, but there is certainly alot of hard work that we need to do. We have to introduce Senator Obama to the millions of Coloradans all over the state who are unsure who they are going to vote for. Not everyone know Senator Obama's life as a community organizer, his achievements in the IL State Senate, or his record as a US Senator. It's our job to tell people who this candidate is, and what he can do to bring the change that our country needs.

bmenezes · 1 year ago

Mr. Rivera,

Thanks for taking the time to chat! I'm the editorial director of Colorado Media Matters, and we've documented a number of instances of misinformation in the mainstream Colorado media related either to falsehoods about Sen. Obama or distortions of Sen. McCain's record that act to promote his candidacy. How is the Colorado campaign able to address this ongoing flow of misinformation with the media, which have purveyed it both in news and commentary platforms? Do you consider the Colorado media's ability to cover the election accurately to be a significant issue? How do you deal with members of the media (either individuals or media outlets) that have conveyed such misinformation? Thanks!

Bill Menezes
Editorial Director
Colorado Media Matters

mikeconnery · 1 year ago

What are your plans for turning out young voters in Colorado? On AND off college campuses?

wildflower · 1 year ago

Recently there seems to be a sense that Obama is wavering on his committment to get us out of the war in Iraq as quickly as possible.

cdegette · 1 year ago

Thanks for joining us Ray.

Can you give us some insight into why Colorado, as well as New Mexico, are considered such battleground states this year and what that means for Western voters? Can substantive issues like public land management, water and oil development really be addressed in truly meaningful ways, when we live in a world of soundbites?

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks for the question davestew. We've seen this at many of our events and the polling backs this up, Latinos are certainly supporting Sen. Obama. But similar to all voters in CO, they want to hear more and get to know Sen. Obama better. Latino voter registration is certainly important and our campaign has one of the largest commitments to registering new voters and bringing new people into the Democratic process.

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks for the question mikeconnery. As we saw during the primary, there is an unprecedented amount of support amongst young people for Barack Obama. Many of these young people are registered unaffiliateds and Sen. Obama's message of changing politics as usual is something that resonates with both young people and unaffiliated voters. We will be waging an aggressive voter registration and turnout campaign on and off campuses all over Colorado.

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks Cara - Sen. Obama has an undeniable appeal here in the West. He won decisive victories in primaries all over the West...though it was a little tighter in my home state of New Mexico! Western voters tend to independent, forward-thinking, and optimistic, which have been cornerstone characteristics of Sen. Obama's campaign. What is truly amazing is that Sen. Obama has brought an entire region - and the issues therein - into play on the national stage. Public land use, water, energy development - these are certainly going to be some of the most important issues as this general election campaign heats up.

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks for your question wildflower - Sen. Obama has been consistent on his opinions of the war. He was one of the few national political figures to speakout against the war in 2002, even when that stance was incredibly unpopular. He has believed and still believes that we need to bring our troops home, starting on his first day as Commander-in-Chief. There has been some widespread misinformation on this topic, but the facts remain. President Obama would end this war.

cdegette · 1 year ago

Thanks, Ray

Can you provide us with a couple of specific examples of how Obama differs from McCain, who is from Arizona, on issues dear to the Rocky Mountain interior, like public land management, water and energy development?

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks for your question Bill - A fact of campaigning is that there are mediums out there that will inevitably try to dilute your candidate's message either consciously or not. But the constant here is that what wins campaigns and will win this election, is one on one contact with voters throughout the state. The grassroots component of our campaign is arguably our strongest. With house meetings, social networking tools, and offices and staff across the state, we are building relationships with neighbors and empowering communities to change.

naomizeveloff · 1 year ago

Hi Ray.

Thanks for being here. You've already touched on Obama's outreach to Latino voters in the area. Can you comment on his stance on immigration policy? Here in Colorado state lawmakers have attempted to legislate immigration on the state level, in many instances making life even harder for undocumented immigrants. Will Obama work to create a path for citizenship for these individuals nationwide?

wendynorris · 1 year ago

The Obama campaign nationally and at the state level have definitely taken some cues from Bill Bradley's grassroots presidential bid in 2000 and, of course, Howard Dean's in 2004.

From your perspective how has the Obama campaign improved upon or rejected tactics developed by those presidential grassroots pioneers?

rayrivera · 1 year ago

There is one incredibly clear difference between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama. Sen. Obama knows that we can't drill our way out of this energy crisis and our dependence on foreign oil. That's why Obama wants to double funding for science and research in the field of clean energy and create a Green Jobs Corps which would be responsible for the implementation of those technologies. Here in Colorado, Obama agrees with Gov. Ritter that we need to expand protected areas on the Roan Plateau.

wendynorris · 1 year ago

Ray, thanks so much for joining us today.

This live forum is now closed.

Note to readers: an invitation is also being extended to Tom Kise, the state director for John McCain's presidential campaign, to participate in a live Q&A.; Stay tuned for that announcement.

rayrivera · 1 year ago

Thanks everyone for having me on today, please come visit at any of our Colorado field offices. You can find them at colorado.barackobama.com. Let's go change the world.

Ray

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