Students in CU Professor Scott Adler's Campaigns and Elections class had a guest speaker Thursday who has a bit of real-life experience in both campaigns and elections -Joan Fitz-Gerald.

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Fitz-Gerald, a Democrat, is currently running for Colorado's 2nd Congressional District (CD) seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She and fellow Democrat Jared Polis are attempting to get on the Aug. 12 primary election ballot through the caucus-assembly process, while Democrats Will Shafroth and Larry Johnson are attempting to petition their way onto the ballot.

But the 2nd CD race is by no means Fitz-Gerald's first time on the campaign trail. She spoke briefly to Adler's students about the outline of her campaigning history, beginning with a 1990 run for Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder.

Fitz-Gerald said it was very difficult for a Democrat to win in Jefferson in the 1990s, but she launched what she called a "kitchen table" campaign and won - despite also being outspent by her opponent.

She lost a 1996 U.S. House bid in Colorado's 6th CD to Republican Dan Schaefer, an incumbent with 16 years in Congress, but she entered a race for the State Senate in 2000 at the urging of her son - and won.

Fitz-Gerald became the Senate Minority Leader after winning re-election in 2002, and became Colorado's first female Senate President in 2005.

After the intro, Adler's students asked quite a few questions about issues such as campaign management, fundraising, youth voting, policymaking and even electronic voting systems, since Fitz-Gerald served as a Clerk and Recorder.

But campaign finance has been a major topic in this year's 2nd CD race. Fitz-Gerald said recent statistics from Congressional Quarterly (CQ) had Polis, Fitz-Gerald and Shafroth ranked 3rd, 5th and 9th in the nation, respectively, in campaign contribution totals.

The Fitz-Gerald campaign raised $257,543 from 1,473 donors in the first quarter of 2008 alone, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Her contribution total for the entire campaign stood at $1,136,189.44 after the most recent report.

She told Adler's class that she was the top fundraiser in the nation among female House candidates, according to CQ. She also said the process of asking people for donations - often making multiple calls to the same person - is "awful" and "not fun."

"If you left it up to candidates, they'd probably want to be on the street talking to people all of the time," said Fitz-Gerald after class. "But you have to know that you're paying appropriate attention to keeping the finances going."

She also said a candidate must understand that "you are not the campaign manager." She said it is essential for a candidate to have confidence in that his or her staff will take care of time management, financial issues, logistics, communications and even public perception.

"A campaign manager should not try to make you into a candidate that you're not," said Fitz-Gerald. "People have to recognize that you're a human being, and you've got to operate from the heart."

And she said emotions are clearly a part of the process. One of Adler's students asked about how campaigning puts stress on the family, and she said it is rough - only partially because the long hours can prevent loved ones from seeing much of each other.

Fitz-Gerald also said candidates and family members must be prepared to deal with negative comments - whether it comes from mainstream media sources, advertising or bloggers. She said she tries not to read anonymous blogging because anonymity can allow people to write "hateful things" that they might not write if they had to identify themselves.

Still, she said negative advertising exists because it works at times, and said she expects to see more of it as the campaign progresses.

But despite the negative ads, editorials and even some mean-spirited snail mail, she said campaigning can be a tremendous adrenaline rush and that serving in office is a tremendous honor.

For example, as Senate President she was occasionally called upon to cast the deciding vote on bills if there was a 17-17 tie. She said it was a profound feeling to slam the gavel and know that her vote allowed legislation that she stood for to go forward - or slammed the brakes on a bill that she opposed.

If she wins the 2nd CD seat, she told Adler's class that she might like to serve on the House Energy and Commerce committee. She said she worked on energy-related legislation in the State Senate and said the 2nd CD is a geographic hub for energy research.

But she also said it would be a "dream" for her to work on directing the nation's foreign affairs in a "more productive" manner. She said the Iraq war is depleting America's financial resources, and said the fiscal situation could make it difficult for the U.S. to adequately fund research institutions in the 2nd CD.

Fitz-Gerald's Thursday agenda also included a stop at the Colorado Daily office; a meeting with Professor Lakshman Guruswamy with CU's Center for Environmental and Energy Security; and an event at CU's Norlin Library called "How Serious is Climate Change?"

With about 100 days to go before absentee ballots for the primary go out in the mail, Fitz-Gerald has also been out walking precincts and keeping in touch with delegates for the May 10 2nd CD Assembly.

When asked about her appearance before Adler's class, she said it is important to help young adults understand that direct participation in the small-d democratic process is worth it.

"Plus, it helps ground a candidate to meet with an audience of perhaps the most critical audience you will have -students who are going through their academic studies in campaigns," said Fitz-Gerald. "It's a mirror, and you need to look into that."

FYI

For more information about 2nd Congressional District candidates, visit the Web sites for: Joan Fitz-Gerald at www.joanfitz-gerald.com; Jared Polis at www.polisforcongress.com; Will Shafroth at www.shafrothforcongress.com; Larry Johnson at http://larryjohnsonforcongress.com; and Bill Hammons at www.bill-for-congress.us.

Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or at valenty@coloradodaily.com.