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Feb 8, 2008 7:00 am US/Mountain
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Key Democratic Official Settles In Denver
This story originally aired on Nov. 23, 2007.
DENVER (CBS4) - A top Democratic party official has moved to Denver. Leah Daughtry is the Chief of Staff for the Democratic National Committee and she'll live in Denver for the next nine months as she makes plans for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in the Mile High City.
Daughtry told CBS4 she was happy to make the move. "We've been met with overwhelming enthusiasm and excitement," she said. "That's just fabulous, we're looking forward to being part of the Denver community."
But time is moving quickly for the preparations. The convention is less than a year away and Daughtry is convinced delegates and Denver alike will love the event.
"This is my fourth convention. We've been in huge metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco and smaller areas like Boston," Daughtry said in talking about Denver's attraction to delegates. "Denver combines the cosmopolitan choices of a New York or Los Angeles with the museums, the restaurants, and the galleries but because of its size, the people are friendly. They talk to you on the street."
And the residents of Denver can expect to encounter plenty of enthusiasm while the delegates are in town. "For people who are looking on, you'll see lots of very patriotic, red, white, and blue, lots of big hats and buttons. People walking around just trying to get to know and see what Colorado has to offer."
"There are two impacts. One is the economic impact of bringing 35,000 people to a city. All of whom are staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, visiting galleries. There is the impact of those four or five days but also the residual impact of people saying, 'This is a great place. I'm coming back to ski. I'm coming back with my family. I'm coming back in the summer.' It puts Denver on the map in terms of a tourism destination."
But hosting a presidential convention also means making sure the infrastructure of a city can support those extra tens of thousands of people.
"We come in and basically build a small city inside of a city," Daughtry said. "It requires a lot of moving parts and the cooperation of a city government to really make it work."
"We're putting together the very foundation of the convention. Designing the bust routes, getting the housing up online, those sorts of nuts and bolts issues." By having the convention organizers focus on those issues, candidates can stay focused on their message.
Daughtry might be focused on the nuts and bolts of convention planning in Denver right now, but part of her heart is at her pulpit in Washington where she is a fifth-generation pastor.
"I'm a Pentecostal by tradition and I pastor a church in Washington, D.C. My sister pastors a church in New Jersey, my father's church is in New York, his father was a pastor in Georgia and his father before and his father before him going back to slavery."
Daughtry said making the transition from preaching to politics is easy. "It's really not that much of a difference. Both are shepherding, trying to guide people and lead them, but it's also about recognizing talent, recognizing skill and ability; 'gifts' is what we say in the church."
Daughtry also spearheaded a program called "Faith in Action" to help Democrats reach out to people of faith. "This is about talking to the people about the things they care about, which often spring from a a place of faith, and demonstrating how the Democratic party mirrors their values when we go to the polls. Last I checked Jesus wasn't on the ballot so you have to vote for somebody who is connected with the values you espouse."
She said American voters have key questions they want candidates to answer. "Who are you? What do you stand for? Where do you come from? What can I believe about you? If I have a sense of what your mother taught you, what your dad taught you then I have a good sense of what you might vote for."
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