I Want a Voice Part 5 – Preparing for the Texas State Democratic Convention

A few weeks after the state senatorial district convention I attended a general meeting for the delegates from our district. This was to be an organizational meeting to familiarize us with what to expect at the state convention and make the necessary logistical preparations to attend. At this meeting we were told that most of the hotel rooms were already booked and that they would be working to secure alternate lodging. This did not affect me because the day after agreeing to go to the state convention I booked a room for four days, June 5-8. I was all set.

The process for applying to be a delegate for the national convention was presented. Anyone wishing to be considered must complete a form, have it notarized, and mail it to the state committee by May 21. I was considering doing this because I figured I had come this far in the process so why not. And, to be perfectly honest, I did not mind doing any of this, aside from being extremely annoyed at the total disorganization throughout, because I wanted to see how all of this worked and possibly be a part of a fairly historic event.

We were told that our district would receive a total of four delegates, two for each candidate, and a single alternate for the national convention. The delegates would be split evenly, two for each candidate. This didn’t seem correct because coming out of our district convention Obama had roughly twice as many delegates than Clinton. When questioned about this we were told that this factored in the primary votes, that two-thirds thing that I mentioned earlier. So what this really meant was that it did not matter how many delegates showed up at the district convention, the number that was going to be sent to the national convention was already set. It makes sense that the split would come out that way if there were a lot of other precincts that encountered the same Clinton no-showitis as ours. As it turned out the only impact any of this had was on the voting for district party positions, which, I think, went all to Obama supporters, but I am getting ahead of myself.

We were still confused about where the other delegates that were going to the state convention were. You know, the ones represented by the primary vote. We were told that there were no other delegates. All of the delegates that go to the state convention are chosen by the delegates that attend the district conventions. Because they factor their votes into the national convention delegate split it all comes out in the wash, so to speak. I am still a bit confused by all of this, but the system seems to be designed to give a small group of party members all of the power while giving the entire party the illusion that they have some input in the process. The bottom line is that if you do not attend a precinct caucus and get involved in the process as a delegate you never see any of this and have no idea how all of this works. Heck, I did get involved and it is still murky.

So I am sitting there considering my chances of landing one of spots that would permit me to attend the national convention in Denver. My chances are dwindling because two of the five must go to a Clinton supporter. Then they tell us that the delegates must have equal gender distribution and that a coin flip determined that the alternate spot must be female. There is a single position available to all of the male Obama delegates. I determine that I have about as much chance of being elected to that spot as being struck by lightening. All of the Obama delegates want to go to the national convention, I am sure. I opt not to file any paperwork for a national convention delegate candidacy.

The other information that we received was about the convention schedule. The event was to kick off at a reception on the evening of Thursday, June 6. This event limited the number of who could attend and would cost $50.00. This seemed strange. Here are people spending their own time and money to attend this convention and not only do they charge for the welcoming reception, they limit the number of attendees that can participate. I crossed this off this list, thereby saving me an unnecessary night in the hotel on Wednesday. Because they said at the district convention that the state convention would be held June 6-8, I assumed that it would start the morning of June 6 and it would be necessary to be there the night before, but it turns out that it was not.

The first mandatory activity that we had to attend was the sign-in to pick up our credentials. This was to begin at 7:00 or 7:30 AM, this was never really clear. We were all very hopeful that it was not managed the same way as at the district convention.

The next thing discussed was the Blue-Star Breakfast, another limited seating event that cost $35.00 to attend. I considered this for awhile until they told us it was sold out. They wasted our time telling us all about this because these are political wonks who eat this stuff up and believe that we all want to be sniffing around at these events like they do. This appeared to be a waste so I mentally opted out of this.

A list of special interest caucuses, meetings, and presentations was discussed. These were to begin at 9:00 AM and run until 1:30 PM. You could pick any or none of these sessions to attend. But it was essential that we attend the 3:00 PM district caucus. That is where all of the elections would take place for committees, officers, and national convention delegates.

So, looking at all of this I really did not have to be there until sometime before 3:00 PM on Friday to register and get to the district caucus. I could get there earlier to do some stuff but had nothing requiring me to do so.

A general session is to follow the district caucus and again on Saturday morning.

After a bunch of rah-rah-let’s-put-Democrats-in-power antics they opened it up for questions. I asked if any of the expenses that we incur to attend the state convention are tax deductible. No they are not. Hmmm. All of these people from all walks of life spend their time and resources to move candidates through the process and do it all on their own dime. Yet huge companies through their PACs and executive donors can contribute large sums of money that is tax deductible. What’s wrong with this picture?

So I analyzed the situation and determined that I could really get away with only spending one night in Austin if I drive back after the convention ends on Saturday. When I got home I changed my reservation to a one-night stay on Friday night.

After that, two meetings were scheduled for the Obama delegates from my state senate district. The first one I was unable to attend, but I was able to make it to the second one. This was another waste of time, at least for me it was. The meeting started 30 minutes late and was marred with unnecessary minutia like what color the dots would be on the credential badges that would distinguish a Clinton delegate from an Obama delegate. There may have been meaningful business transacted or valuable information shared after I left at the scheduled end time. They did not appear even close to finishing anytime soon so I decided to make better use of my time.

During the time leading up to the state convention I received numerous emails and phone calls asking me if I would be attending the convention. Each time I answered in the affirmative and expected that after the second or third one these calls and messages would stop. But they just kept coming. I wrote this off as yet another example of the party’s total disorganization.

At some point during this period I was asked to be the Democratic chairman for my precinct. I explained that I was not currently a Democrat and would not be the best person for this job. I left the door open by telling them that I would consider it if they could not find anyone else to do the job. I was nearly ready to “drink their Kool-aid”.