New West Network

My Page: David Frey

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SNOW CAPS

Western ski resorts are finding themselves pinched for employees this coming winter, thanks to a cap on visa workers that has all but eliminated their usual stream of foreign workers who fill thousands of jobs.

The shortfall sent Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, to Washington last week to lobby legislators for help in what has become an unusual sideline in the national immigration debate. [more]

EYES ON COLORADO

Thursday may have been Barack Obama’s turn to light up the Democratic National Convention, but it was Colorado’s day in the sun.

“It’s fitting to have the eyes of the nation on Colorado,” said Rep. Mark Udall, whose father Mo made an unsuccessful presidential bid and addressed the Democratic National Convention 32 years earlier. “It’s fitting that the change we need in Washington starts here in the Rocky Mountain West. It was hope that first carried early Americans here, not know what lay ahead but knowing they must go forward, just as we must go forward. And like those early Americans, we believe this is a land of fresh starts and boundless optimism. We look to our mountains and prairies, our wide-open skies, and we see the limitless possibility that is America.” [more]

DOUBLE TAKE

Marge Paraham wasn’t expecting Barack Obama to stop by her T-shirt stand in downtown Denver.

And he didn’t. But it sure looked like he did.

No, that wasn’t the Democratic presidential nominee mugging for the TV camera and hawking T-shirts to passersby. It was his striking likeness. Meet Gerardo Puisseaux, a Cuban immigrant who shares Obama’s striking appearance, even his charisma, but not his gift for words. Not in English, anyway. Puisseau speaks mostly Spanish.

“Everybody thinks I’m Obama,” Puisseaux says in Spanish. [more]

'BIG FINISH'

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, one night before he is to appear at Invesco Field at Mile High to a massive crowd. [more]

CONVENTION COVERAGE

Top Western Democrats took the podium at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Wednesday, highlighting the region’s resurgence in the party. Few, though, made reference to the region they call home.

From Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Wednesday night featured some of the biggest Democratic names in the West. [more]

THE WEST MAKES HISTORY

Barack Obama was declared the Democratic nominee for president on Wednesday in Denver after the New Mexico delegation stepped aside to allow Obama’s former rival, Hillary Clinton, to ask delegates to name him the first black presidential candidate from a major party.

Clinton, who called for unity after a divisive party battle, appeared with the New York delegation and asked that the roll call be halted and that Obama be nominated.

“Let’s declare together in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president,” said Clinton, who received a standing ovation as she appeared with the delegation. [more]

PAYING THE PRICE

As gas prices rose, so did John McCain’s popularity. That’s no coincidence, agreed a panel of environmental thinkers gathered a few blocks away from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

And, they said, that’s the Democrats fault.

“Average people paying $4 at the pump were saying, ‘OK, what’s the plan?’ and there wasn’t a plan,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a former two-term governor. [more]

COURTING LATINOS

The Latino vote has never been as important or as heavily sought as in this election. That’s particularly true in the West, where critical battleground states also have large Hispanic populations.

“The Latino vote is going to elect the next president,” says Federico Peña, the former Denver mayor and member of President Clinton’s cabinet who serves as co-chairman of Obama’s campaign.

Like Peña, many Latino leaders say the next president won’t take the White House without them. Yet even some of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s supporters say he hasn’t done enough to win over Latino voters. [more]

CHOICE SEATS

A lot can be said in a seat. In the case of the Democratic National Convention, how close you can sit to the candidates depends on, well, how close you already are to the delegates.

Thus, the Colorado delegation gets a front-seat view of the convention, smack up against the dais. And Idaho, once set with prime seats of its own, got the shaft. Blame Biden. [more]

'THE LONG VIEW'

The Democratic National Convention is in the West, and to at least some degree, the West is in the convention.

As Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper greeted the delegates, he made much of the West and the lessons it offers Democrats – and not necessarily the ones you’d expect.

“Remember,” Hickenlooper said. “There were a lot more barn-raisings than there were shootouts in the Old West.” [more]

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