Watch one, do one, teach one.

 In 2010, if you attended your 1st Colorado neighborhood caucus, you learned a lot. Now apply that knowledge by just saying "yes", become a precinct committee person and apply what you've learned. Then share what you've learned as a precinct as a district, county or state leader. Want help? Post your question here as a comment below. (Thanks to Jossey-Bass for this great illustration.)

This site is now listed on the Civic Software Index (USA/ Parliamentary monitoring). This is a bit of a misnomer. Of course we have no Parliament. And the purpose of our Colorado caucus-assembly is to select candidates for the primary ballot and to select party leadership. This site is all about civic education, maybe they will create a new category when they read this.

What effect do you think the Internet will make in our (potentially) wonderful Colorado Caucus, the neighborhood gatherings that result in the selection of neighbors to represent our local views at local assemblies where local candidates are nominated, planks for the party platform are selected, and party leadership is chosen.

Did you attend your neighborhood caucus in the past? Are you ready to assume more of a leadership role? We are going to resume the active discussion here that will once again help people have more of a voice in this powerful, grassroots process. Stay tuned! We'll be making a media announcement about or plans for civic education for everyone in the next few days.

I was just told by the Colorado Secretary of State's office that, as has been well publicized, the GOP caucus date has selected by the party, they have filed documents electing February 7, but that nothing has yet been announced by the Democrats regarding the date of their caucus.

You can be a political insider.

If you want to help pick the candidates for your favorite major party, from President to all the local offices, the time to get involved is now.

You can be one the insiders by:

1) Pick up the telephone your state or county headquarters. You can find the phone number by Goggling "Republicans" or "Democrats" and your ZIP Code. Ask who your precinct committee people are. If there aren't two, volunteer to be one of them.

2) Go to their house or apartment and offer to help on your block to get the word out about the caucus. If he or she is open to your participation, great. Follow them by helping in any way they ask. If they are closed, plan on finding someone else to run against them in at the next caucus, or plan on running yourself.

3) Look for opportunities to be of service to your political party. Keep holding up your hand and offering to help. Focus on the party rather than a particular candidate right now, but go to an many candidate events as possible. Those who do the most good seem to be those who hold off making a decision about which candidate to support until the neighborhood caucus is held, and even then it is possible to remain uncommitted to a particular candidate until the nominating assembly.

I've done this 3 times, twice as a Republican and once as a Democrat. Each time I ended up getting elected precinct committee person and a delegate to all the nominating assemblies at the county and state levels.

There are other ways to get involved. You can Google your favorite candidate for President and contact their campaign to volunteer for him or her. Another way is to get involved with a political club, just Google Colorado Young Democrats or  Colorado College Republicans, for instance.

What has your experience been with getting involved with your local political party? Please post your comments here. If you have experience, what do you recommend to the political newcomer? If you aren't involved yet but would like to be, what is holding you back?

This year I'm registered as an unaffiliated voter with the intention of getting more new people involved in leadership roles in both parties.

I'm actively looking for someone who shares my passion for our wonderful Colorado caucus-assembly system for nominating to the primary ballot and our two party system that has served our country so well ever since it was started with the contests between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. If you'd be interested in helping me in this effort (or replacing me so I can get re-involved with one of the parties at the caucus this year), please contact me at John@JohnWren.com or call me at (303)861-1447.

I wrote yesterday about Occupy Denver on my (now) personal blog www.JohnWren.com

Jimmy Carter said on a recent Charlie Rose show that the spirit of the Tea Party was what made it possible for him to be elected President.

That same spirit of reform is now active in the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street.

Should make the 2012 Colorado Caucuses the most interesting yet on the 100th birthday of the bi-annual event, first held in 1912.

A few minutes ago on their Facebook Page Meet the Press asked "what questions would YOU like to ask the GOP candidates?" Here's the comment John Wren posted:

Iowa and 16 other states still have a neighborhood caucus-assembly system for nominating to the primary ballot. Grass Roots Rules by Christopher Hull (Stanford University Press) has demonstrated that, at least in the Iowa Caucus) they system overcomes the effects of big money and big power in the nominating process, leveling the playing field. What do you think of the caucus-assembly system as compared to the petition only or direct primary system that most states have adopted? Would petition only states be well served to explore a change to the neighborhood caucus system? (For more on the caucus-assembly system we have in Colorado, see http://www.COCaucus.org/)

Letter to the Editor: Start now!

Those who are serious about making a real difference will start now and not wait until 2012, when for the 50th time since our wonderful neighborhood system was started we will gather in some 6000 small groups across the state.

This is the best chance the common person has for serving in elected public office, that's why the rich and the powerful hate it!

Start working in your neighborhood now. That's what I intend to to here in Denver 535. I'll keep you posted here on this blog, and I'll be available to answer any of your questions.

For more, see this link to my letter to the editor which was just published in the Colorado Statesman Newspaper.

John Wren
(303)861-1447 or John@JohnWren.com

The No Labels April 24 joint meeting has been moved to May 1. For more information and optional RSVP see the No Labels Meetup.com site (click here.)

Colorado Caucus News

Thanks to the Colorado Statesman for publishing my letter to the editor encouraging people to participate in their neighborhood caucus.

Also in the current edition of the Colorado Statesman, SB189 is out of committee. Is this just the first step towards a Presidential Primary that would kill our wonderful caucus-assembly system for nominating to the primary ballot?

First Day of Spring-- We Begin Again!

There will be a join meeting with Denver No Labels and Denver Speakers Corner on Sunday, April 24 at Panera Bread, 13th and Grant here in Denver, just a block from the Capitol.

At our last join meeting in March, the group decided to have a No Labels Hate Free Zone at Denver Speakers Corner each week when it resumes meeting again in Denver Civic Center, pending the approval of the No Labels powers that be, which we will report on at this meeting.

Dottie Lamm has invited Ken Gordon to meet with us, and she's giving a talk on No Labels at the Denver City Club next Tuesday, April 22 that we hope to post here for you.

Dick Sargent was a speaker recently at the Denver IDEA Cafe. As part of what he share, he gave the best short statement about how to get involved to make a real difference:

1.  Google either "Democrats" or "Republicans" and your zip code. Get the phone number for your county office, call them and speak personally to you county chair person.

2.  Tell him or her that you want to get involved, give them your address, and ask for the names and addresses of your precinct committee people. If there is a vacancy (and there usually is) volunteer by saying, "would you like me to help until the next elections?" Then you are on the central committee for your party, any you can make a big difference.

3.  If there are precinct committee people in place, go to their residence, knock on the door, and talk with them face to face. Say something like, "I want to get involved, I'll help you in anyway you want. Would you like me to contact people in my neighborhood."

4.  Get to know all the people in your precinct, at the next election of precinct committee people call them all and volunteer to serve as one of the two precinct committee people. Again, this will make you part of your party's central committe, you can volunteer to serve as district captain.

Spring is a good time for each of us to take a look back and then to refocus on the next step along the path. Let's all do that between now and April 24 when we can share at our No Labels join meeting. Click on the link at the top of this page if you'd like to be with us.