And, after just two and a half weeks of this race, something has become all too clear: I don’t have it.

In 2002, I had it. I had a “fire in the belly” that could only be quenched by knocking on doors, by dialing for dollars, and by talking to groups, winning votes one person at a time. It was my top priority — winning that state senate seat. It was exciting. It was invigorating. It was such a high — from the very first day until that election night when I delivered a concession speech.

Those feelings are feelings I just don’t have this year. I thought I’d have them. I thought I’d be burning up the phone lines raising money.

I could definitely fake it. I could keep going, putting on a good face. And if I truly were the “sacrificial lamb” candidate many have alleged, I would probably do that. But I truly think John Suthers has done a horrible job as Attorney General, and we Democrats have a clear opening to beat him in 2010. I just don’t think I have what it takes to do it.

I recognize that this “in and out” campaign will certainly open me up to ridicule. That’s fine. I’m just not ready to put my family, and my finances, under the strain that a 13-month statewide campaign would mean. I spent the last several days with my kids in Oklahoma. I want to spend the majority of Christmas break and Spring Break, and next summer with them, not out on the campaign trail. And I also don’t want to miss our twins’ soccer games and school functions and key moments just because I need to be out talking to voters. At one point in my life, I was willing to make that sacrifice. In looking at how I feel this year, I don’t think I can make that sacrifice for this election cycle.

Finally, my work as First Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party — a role I take very seriously — was suffering from the campaign. I have been the chair of the 2010 Site Selection Committee, yet this campaign forced me to drop the ball at a critical time in the site selection process. Thankfully, we have a great committee who — under the leadership of El Paso County Chair Jason DeGroot, who assumed a leadership position without any warning — did a site visit yesterday, and should have a recommendation next weekend for the State Executive Committee. But my putting Jason in the position where he had to lead the committee is inexcusable. You should expect better from you State First Vice Chair, and I expect better from myself. So I will spend the next 12 and a half months working as your Vice Chair and speaking out when things need to be said.

So that’s it. I won’t be a candidate for Attorney General — or anything else, for that matter — in 2010. I greatly appreciate the hundreds of you out there who offered your support, both morally and financially, to start this campaign. In the end, we made just enough money to pay most of the campaign’s initial expenses. So for those of you who contributed, I thank you for your vote of confidence, and I’m just sorry I let you down.

I’ll still post to DemNotes and I’ll still fight for our Party. See you on the trail!

… and Part Two:

Announcement Speech – As prepared for delivery, 10/1/09-10/2/09:

I am announcing today that I am a candidate to be Colorado’s next Attorney General. 

It’s been said in a number of races for Attorney General across this country, but it bears repeating:  when the Attorney General of Colorado stands before a court, the very first words from his or her mouth are these – “I’m so-and-so, For the People of Colorado.”

For the People of Colorado.

That’s pretty powerful.  It is a huge responsibility to say you are For The People.  Well, it’s not so much a huge responsibility to say it; it IS a huge responsibility to mean it, to live it, to do it.  Anybody can say it.

In Colorado, we’ve come to expect much from the people we elect to serve as our Attorney General.  Indeed, the nation has come to expect much from Colorado’s Attorney General.  That’s why the incumbent’s two predecessors – one Democrat, one Republican – have both risen to become Secretaries of the Interior in the Presidential Cabinet.

Sadly, though, the leadership we’ve come to expect from that office has not emerged in the last four years.  And that’s why I’m running.  Because The People can no longer afford to have the doors of justice shut in their faces because of ideology.

The differences between myself and the incumbent could not be more clear.  For him, being Attorney General is about putting his ideology into practice.  What is his ideology?  That we Coloradans should not have an “activist” Attorney General.  He’s risen to become the national spokesperson for this radical movement that says activism has no place in law enforcement.

An Activist Attorney General.

I simply could not disagree more.  Just as I want my county sheriff to root out crime; just as I want my police chief to find criminals and put them away, I want my Attorney General to actively search high and low for those who would do harm to Coloradans!

We may not always like the Highway Patrol officers who sit on the side of I-25 with their radar guns actively looking for those breaking our traffic laws, but we are a heck of a lot safer with them there.  But that’s activist law enforcement, make no mistake about it!

And when local police departments here in Colorado conduct sting operations on the Internet to expose child predators, I’m damn happy to see that activism in our law enforcement community as the father of a 13-year old girl.

Don’t tell me that the people we pay to put their lives on the line to keep us safe should not be activists.  Don’t tell me that we aren’t safer when law enforcement looks for criminals high and low.  The people of Colorado know better – and I know better!

My opponent argues that activism in the AG’s office could harm our economy.  But the reality is very different.  Enron. Worldcom.  Bernie Madoff.  Subprime lending crisis.  All of these could have been avoided with better activism by regulators and law enforcement.

Today, we take that debate to the incumbent.  Colorado deserves better.

And I plan to deliver.

You see, I’ve been delivering my entire life as an attorney.  I’ve spent my entire legal career opening up the doors to justice to ALL Coloradans.

A big chunk of my practice is work as a Court-appointed Guardian ad Litem for abused and neglected children.  I’ve seen the real effect of poverty, of drugs, of abuse, in the eyes of real children.  This isn’t theoretical to me – this is real life.

When we talk about the continuing need to coordinate law enforcement’s efforts to battle against meth, it isn’t theoretical – time and time again, I’ve seen parents choose meth over their children in one of the saddest addictions around.

When we talk about the need to catch those who would lure children into sexual abuse, it isn’t theoretical – time and time again, I’ve seen the aftermath of the effects of sexual abuse on its victims and the mental health issues that simply never go away from such a violation of the trust held in young eyes.

And when we talk about the need to stop the cycle of domestic violence, that isn’t theoretical either – time and time again, I’ve seen children who love unconditionally in homes with parents who don’t know what love means. 

I’ll say it again:  This isn’t theoretical to me – this is real life!

But I don’t see things only at this level.  The other biggest part of my career as a lawyer has been spent battling against insurance companies on behalf of those who, most often, couldn’t afford a lawyer otherwise.  Too often, the only thing standing between a company choosing profits over people is a lawyer standing up for the side of the people.

It’s time we had an Attorney General who forces companies to choose people over profits, too.

I will be that Attorney General!

Now, I know that there are already some folks out there who are saying that some “small town attorney” can’t win this thing.  That we need to have a lawyer with a fancy big firm 17^th Street pedigree in Denver out there running as a Democrat.

I grew up in small-town Southern Colorado.  And when I became a lawyer, I chose to come back to Colorado.  And I made another choice:  instead of the canyons of steel and concrete on 17^th Street, I chose the canyons of rock and pinon pines in the foothills of Southern Colorado.

We Coloradans live here for a reason.  We live here because of the generosity of the people.  We live here because of the frontier attitude and nature of the American West.  But as much as anything, we live here because the natural beauty of Colorado cannot be matched anywhere in the world!

That love for our natural beauty will inhabit my every thought as I serve as your Attorney General.  Instead of gutting the natural resources division of the AG’s office, as my opponent has done, I will fight to ensure that a new message is sent loudly and clearly to anybody who would damage our natural beauty:  You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here.

So the differences are clear.  But how do we get those differences in front of Colorado’s voters?

First, understand this:  I once made a pledge to myself that I would never run for an office I did not think I could win.  I am keeping that pledge today.  I am in this race to win.  I’m in this race to change the office of Attorney General.

I’ve been in politics for a while now.  One thing I’ve learned is the importance of talking directly to the People. 

And that’s what we’re going to do with this campaign:  we’re going to take this fight directly to the People of Colorado.  I’m going to take this debate to the streets of Colorado.

Here’s my pledge:  I will knock on doors in every single county in Colorado.  Let me repeat that:  I will knock on doors in every single county in Colorado.  Not just visit – walk the streets of Colorado’s communities and knock on the doors of The People.

So, if you live here in Colorado Springs, tell your neighbors:  Dan Slater’s on his way.  If you live in Denver, I’m on my way.  If you live in Fort Collins, I’m on my way.

But that’s not all:  If you live in Sterling, I’m on my way.  If you live in Antonito, I’m on my way.  If you live in Leadville, I’m on my way!

When I’m done, the People of Colorado will know who I am and they will know about the differences between the two candidates in this race.

Taking the message to the People will also cost money.  And I know that this race will take hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I need the help of every person here – Democrat or Republican – to make my vision a reality and to send the vision of my opponent into the dustbin of bad ideas by the right-wing that have been rejected by the voters.  I ask you to open your checkbooks and donate today, and to work to find friends and neighbors who share our vision for the future of Colorado who are willing to open their checkbooks, as well.

This campaign is going to be a great opportunity – a true debate of two different visions for Colorado.  When I sent out an e-mail last week telling folks I was looking at announcing today, I said that my opponent lacked vision.

In retrospect, I was wrong.  He doesn’t lack vision.  He has a clear vision for this office, and he’s put that into practice.  He may be a nice guy – I don’t have a problem with the incumbent personally, but the vision he has is horribly, horribly wrong for Colorado.

That’s the debate we’re going to have. 

We’re going to be talking about the need to fight for the People.  He’s going to be talking about the need to protect the powerful.  The People of Colorado will decide.

We’re going to be talking about real life.  He’s going to be talking about the theoretical.  The People of Colorado will decide.

And we’re going to be talking about the need to take an activist role in fighting those who would harm Coloradans.  He’s going to be talking about the need to hold off and let the “free market” regulate these harmful entities.  The People of Colorado will decide.

Those are the differences.  I’m happy taking that debate to the People of Colorado.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Dan Slater. I’m running for Attorney General.

For the People of Colorado.

Thank you!

Thursday, he’ll be heading up the Front Range, with stops in Colorado Springs, Denver and Greeley.  The campaign will follow that up with stops on Friday in Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction and Durango.  Here’s the details:

Thursday:

9:00 AM – Penrose Library, Colorado Springs (Carnegie Room)

1:00 PM – Pipefitters Hall 208, Denver

5:00 PM – Weld County Courthouse, Greeley (front lawn)

Friday:

8:00 AM – Routt County Courthouse, Steamboat Springs (front lawn)

1:00 PM – Traders Coffee & Tea, Grand Junction

6:00 PM – La Plata County Courthouse, Durango (Anasazi Room)

See you there!