Joe Rice kickoff event

"This doesn't feel like a kickoff, it feels like a victory party!" shouted Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. He had to shout. The room was packed with about 300 people who had come out to support Democratic HD38 candidate Lt. Col. Joe Rice.

Several state-level politicians were there, including HD39 candidate Mollie Cullom, CU regent Michael Carrigan, Board of Education representative Karen Middleton, and Democratic candidate for governor Bill Ritter. There were also many national-level politicians, like CD7 candidate Ed Perlmutter and CD6 candidate Bill Winter.

But more important to Rice was the number of veterans who came out to cheer him on. I couldn't catch all their names, but it seemed like a couple dozen men and women in the audience had served in the armed forces. Some of them had even spent time with Rice in Iraq.

Maybe part of the reason so many folks came out was their disgust with the current HD38 representative, Republican per-diem connoisseur Joe Stengel. Or maybe the Democrats in Littleton are just happy to have such a good candidate. Or maybe everyone was just relieved that Rice got back from his second tour in one piece. Whatever the reason, it was a good kickoff. And it'll be a better victory party.