Reznet

Karen Wilde, Democratic candidate for the Colorado Legislature: "If we can get people to vote all the way down the ticket, hopefully they'll find my name." Reznet Photo by Victor Merina

Native Candidate Hopes to Ride a Democratic Wave

By Victor Merina

DENVER—The drumbeats and singing and swirling color of ceremonial dress were like many Native celebrations, but in Denver where a pow wow in the Civic Center Park helped welcome delegates to the National Democratic Convention, there was a political twist.

After the music and dancing had stopped, Karen Wilde, a Muscogee Creek and Pawnee who is running for state representative in the Colorado legislature, stepped forward to speak about her campaign.

A red blanket was placed on the grass for donations, and as contributors walked slowly to the middle of the field, their dollar bills fell softly on the blanket -- $155 worth -- and Wilde welcomed every single cent of it to her modest campaign treasury.

"For them to contribute this much just touches my heart very, very much," said Wilde afterward. "I know they can't give a lot but what they gave means a lot."

This week's focus may be on the presidential campaign of a Barack Obama and Joseph Biden but Wilde's campaign is a reminder that politics is largely local, and grass-roots Democrats like Wilde who vie for office lower down the political food chain are the foundation of the party.

While the Obama campaign raised $51 million in July alone -- nearly doubling the fundraising efforts of rival Sen. John McCain -- Wilde is hoping to raise $30,000 in her first run for public office. She already has raised $6,000 and the money from the Denver pow wow will be put to good use, she said.

"This is going to be a Democratic year," she said. "We just have to be sure voters turn out and vote the entire ticket."

For someone like Wilde, that means rallying Native voters even though she said they represent only 1.2 percent of Coloradans and her suburban district is heavily skewed toward Republicans and wealthy residents.

"This is my community, too," she said looking around people gathered at the pow wow. "And they can help me."

Their help can come in the way of volunteer precinct walkers, callers at a phone bank, fundraising or merely joining efforts to get voters to turn out, which they are more likely to do in a presidential election year.

"If we can get people to vote all the way down the ticket, hopefully they'll find my name," she said.

The Wilde name was unfamiliar to many out-of-town visitors who had come to watch the pow wow, including two convention-goers from the state of Washington.

Lona Wilbur, who is Swinomish and an Obama delegate, wore a black tee-shirt with V-o-t-e sprawled diagonally in huge letters across the front and "declare yourself" along the bottom row. She sported a campaign button that read "I'm Indian and I vote" and voiced enthusiasm for Wilde, whom she was meeting for the first time.

With Wilbur was Mathew Thomaskin, who works as a legislative liaison for the Yakama Nation. Sporting a similar campaign button, Thomaskin said he was co-chair of Native Vote Washington and pointed to the influence Native voters already have shown in helping decide close statewide races in Washington and South Dakota.

"We're part of the numbers," Thomaskin said. The decisive edge Natives might show in key elections are reflected by the 143 Native delegates at the Democratic convention, he said, a number that represents a 40 percent jump from 2004.

"But we're not fully a part of the process yet, not fully inclusive," Thomaskin added.

What would change things?

More Native voters, more Native candidates and more winners, Thomaskin said, applauding first-time candidates like Wilde for taking a risk by running for public office.

As for Wilde herself, she wore a shawl draped around her shoulders as she joined the ceremonial dancers. She later insisted that she is no underdog to her Republican opponent but the likely beneficiary of an Obama-Biden ticket.

"I'm optimistic," she repeated, "and the reason is this is going to be a Democratic year."

Victor Merina is reznet's senior correspondent and special projects editor. A former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, he also is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism. Merina is a visiting faculty member at The Poynter Institute, where he leads seminars on cross-cultural reporting and writing about race.