Riding for the Republic

A new joint experience for my loving wife and I today.   Today was the Republican Arapahoe County Assembly at Englewood High School and both she and I were duly elected county delegates for Precinct 319.  We'd both volunteered and been elected among others at last month's Republican Caucus in our neighborhood.

Like most Americans, we were pretty uneducated as to the the process of how a party selects the candidates that end up on the ballot on Election Day.   Our education started at the precinct caucus and today we got the lesson on how a party selects the candidates at the county level.  These choices then move onto the state level primary and eventually represent the party at the elections.

Martha and I rode on Natasha, my Ural Sidecar Rig, starting off from the house very early in the morning in 31°F temperatures and clear skies.  Martha was quite the trooper, having waived the need for a windshield on the sidecar and hunkered down the whole way there.  Though it was only a 45 minute ride to the city of Englewood's high school, it was brisk in terms of temperatures!

We had us only one anxious period, around the beginning of the proceedings, Martha discovers the diamond in her engagement ring missing!  We quickly looked around our seating area but nothing.  We thought perhaps her gloves had snagged the rock when she removed the gloves after we'd arrived at the high school.  We were going to wait for a break in the proceedings and go look.  I wasn't too worried since I keep a high value items rider on our household insurance but still didn't really want to lose it due to the sentimental value.

A couple of speeches later, Martha finds the diamond at the bottom of her purse!  Pheeew!  It must have gotten knocked loose of the mounting when she was looking for a pen to fill out paperwork.  Both of us were quite relieved and it freed our minds to really listen to the candidate speeches and such.

Many speeches later, carried out well in spite of a malfunctioning microphone, we went through the district voting and confirmed our candidates for next month's final approvals at the state level assembly.   There is more work ahead and more efforts by like-minded citizens hoping for a better future for our children.

Having now been a small part of the process, I personally think of myself as a better citizen; doing more than just voting at the State and Federal levels on Election Day.  Being able to do so with my wife's support and riding there to carry out our duties was icing on the cake.

The sun had come out in force and temperatures had soared into the high 50s as we left the county assembly.  The ride home was nice and warm, in fact, Martha told me at times she'd been so warm and cozy in the sidecar she'd nearly dozed off!   

A good day of riding for our Country, sorry no pictures, but if you just picture the typical crowd at a BMW Motorcycle Club gathering, you'll get the idea....they just had more of the ladies with them than at the club gatherings!  We were about a thousand strong at this one assembly today, the process is going on at all 64 of Colorado's counties and I am sure nationwide as well.   Given the participation I saw today, November 2010 could be a major turning point.


I've always tried to avoid politics on this blog.  So, if you're opposed to my party, good for you, and thank your lucky stars you live in such a great country where one can think and say pretty much as one wishes.  I will not demean your party or your beliefs in this forum and I hope for the same courtesy from you.

One final note, a tip of our helmets to the Patriot Guard Rider who rode to the assembly on his Harley Davidson motorcycle!