Maybe the Colorado Democrats should rename the party’s big annual fundraising dinner after Donald Trump, since their enmity toward the Republican president could be the only thing that unites them. Or, if the party is looking to past presidents who didn’t own slaves and are unsullied by sex scandals, how about honoring Grover Cleveland and Harry Truman instead of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, as one local pundit suggests?

Colorado Public Television’s public affairs discussion show Colorado Inside Out opened Friday with a brief spin around the table to weigh in on a conundrum Colorado Politics first reported last week. After ditching the name of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner a couple of years ago and settling for the Annual Dinner, state Democrats have been seeking suggestions for a less generic name. The Inside Out panelists had some thoughts. (Watch a clip of the show below.)

“Strike up the bland,” Westword co-founder and longtime editor Patty Calhoun said, “because there is just no personality left.”

She did propose an alternative, however: the John C. Calhoun Dinner, named after her “very, very” distant relative, who, she said, “was a slave-owner, so I suppose I should be changing my name now too, though he was very pro-states rights, so for pot purposes, I suppose I’ll have to keep it.”

Dave Kopel, the Independence Institute’s research director, called the whole affair ridiculous. “Jefferson was one of the founders of the country, and Jackson was a great president for the people,” he said. “His Indian policy was very wrong, but he led the fight against the bank of the United States,” keeping the country free from central banking for the rest of the 19th century.

Nonetheless, he said, “Let’s presume the rule is, you have to be a Democratic president, no slaves, and, for prudence, let’s say no sex scandals.” That would leave Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, Grover Cleveland, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

Kopel suggested calling it the Cleveland-Truman Dinner, after two excellent presidents who represent different sides of the party he said “should be in coalition with each other.”

Dominic Dezzutti, the show’s host and producer, as well as CPTV’s vice president of content, was delighted with Kopel’s proposal and said he hoped the Democrats were listening.

Longtime political analyst Eric Sondermann, who recalled attending many an interminable Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in decades past when he was a political consultant, said it was clear what the name should be.

“There’s only one thing these days that unites Democrats. They don’t know what they’re for, but they sure know what they’re against. So I think they need to call this the Donald Trump Dinner, because that is the unifying factor for Democrats these days,” he said.

Lastly, attorney Penfield Tate, a former Democratic state lawmaker, said he understands what he termed the “rebranding,” though he suggested it “seems a little silly at this late date.”

Still, he said, “I get the fact you want to distance yourself from very problematic people in your history. The problem is, everybody’s got issues. So you probably need to name it after a soap opera.” As the table chuckled, he added that it makes the most sense to pick a theme, not a person, “because we all have issues. So I’m thinking ‘Search for Tomorrow’ may work.”

State Democrats are taking emailed suggestions for names through Friday at rsimas@coloradodems.org and will conduct an online poll – like the one they held two years ago, although probably with some different choices.

The next edition of the fundraiser is so far known as the Colorado Democrats’ 85th Annual Dinner, and it’s set for  Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Hilton Denver City Center – the old Denver Marriott City Center – at 17th and California streets in downtown Denver. Ticket prices range from $150 apiece up to $10,000 for a table of 10 at the priciest level.