Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean spoke to a crowd of 300 [2] at a fundraiser in Denver last night. He said immigration is going to be a key Republican issue in 2006 . He commended Colorado Democrats for their win in the state house last November. He talked about Colorado being a swing state. He took a swipe at Focus on the Family:

"If you want to focus on the family, focus on minimum wage. If you want to focus on the family, focus on smaller class size," Dean said in an apparent reference to Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, whose public policy arm has campaigned against gay marriage. Dean said gay marriage is not mentioned once in the Bible.

He said the President should keep his word and fire Karl Rove:

.... he renewed his call for President Bush to fire anyone who leaked the name of CIA operative, Valerie Plame, to the media. "Mr. President, keep your word, keep your word," Dean told the crowd.

He lobbed one at Tom Tancredo and Bob Beauprez :

He indirectly criticized Colorado Republican congressmen Tom Tancredo and Bob Beauprez for their stands against illegal immigration after Tancredo accused Denver of harboring illegal immigrants and revamping its libraries to cater to Spanish-speakers and Beauprez for trying to withhold federal aid to Mexico after that country refused to extradite a man suspected of killing a Denver police officer.

Most importantly for Dean and the DNC, the fundraiser took in $45,000.