DENVER -- When Democrats started planning a post-midterms conference in Denver months ago, political consultant Stephanie Valencia figured it would be more of the same — a bunch of strategists poring over the latest results and plotting a path forward in a country dominated by President Donald Trump.
She never expected that her party would still be celebrating what they consider a dream election, where they won virtually every contested race, flipped U.S. Senate seats in Mississippi and South Carolina, turned Texas blue and won big majorities in Congress.
"I did not expect to be coming here with so much hope," said Valencia, the co-founder of Equis, which researches Latino voters. "For the first time we can see the outlines of a post-Trump era."
Democrats spent two days chewing over their future at the What's Next conference and trying to deal with the fact that it looks, for a moment at least, quite bright. Suddenly, anything seemed possible for a party that's become more accustomed to hand-wringing than fist-pumping. Speakers tossed around the word "supermajority." One data analyst casually discussed pushing for 60 seats in the Senate and displayed a slide suggesting there were winnable races in places like Missouri and Utah.
"Everybody's happy about the results, but everybody's looking over their shoulder saying, ‘Can we really be happy about this?’" quipped former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, one of several potential presidential candidates who attended. He urged the party to celebrate while not taking future wins for granted.
Some warned that voters hadn't fallen back in love with Democrats, they were just turning to them out of frustration over high prices, the Iran war and concerns about government corruption. No clear recipe emerged from the conference to address widespread dismay about affordability and the economy. But there was hope among attendees that they had the power to figure it out.
Jason Delattre and several friends came to Denver from the Rio Grande Valley after working on Democratic campaigns in Texas. They were still stunned at the opportunities now open to them.
"We have to figure out what we're going to do next," said Delattre, wearing a cowboy hat and pin for winning U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.
"We have so much power we didn't have before," said his friend, Jose Robbie Juarez.
Some even had hope that statehood for Puerto Rico was finally possible.
"It finally feels we're going to get it done," said Luis Davila, the Democratic chair on the island.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a possible White House contender, suggested that his party should aim for a landslide win in the next presidential race. Instead of "going out and scrapping for 270," the minimum electoral votes for victory, they should be "fighting hard to swing for 370."
That would be five more Electoral College votes than Barack Obama won in his historic 2008 presidential campaign, which was Democrats' previous high-water mark this century.
The setting was tailor-made for good vibes — a well-known music venue in one of Denver's hippest neighborhoods, with concert-style posters of politicians and operatives plastered on the walls. Distant snow-capped peaks framed the horizon outside.
Some old divisions reared their heads. A handful of protesters from the leftist Sunrise Movement protested outside the gathering Friday, complaining that it was sponsored by a group, Majority Democrats, that's more centrist and funded by wealthy businesspeople.
A couple of protesters interrupted what was supposed to be a triumphant appearance by the likely new House speaker, Hakeem Jeffries. They demanded a Green New Deal and an arms embargo against Israel. One man shouted profanities at Jeffries and called him a "traitor" while being led from the auditorium.
Jeffries brushed it off.
"I'm from Brooklyn," he said. "This is light work."
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is challenging New York Sen. Chuck Schumer for caucus leadership, appeared at the conference Friday. He's allied himself with Democrats' liberal wing, and he argued that voters have demanded change.
But many were not worried about those signs of discord.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who may run for president again, said the leadership fight was a "family conversation" the party would have in Washington, and he welcomed signs of dissent.
"I think this is a wonderful thing that we have right now, that we're having a real discussion," Booker said in an interview. "At a conference like this you're seeing the future," he added, returning to the party's optimism. "A new day is dawning in America."
Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado said Democrats were "the big tent party."
"We have an ideological spectrum that covers virtually every element of Democratic thought," he said in an interview. "And I think that's exciting."
