I Want a Voice Part 6 – The Texas State Democratic Convention

The big day arrived and I opted to get up early a drive to Austin to get there well before the registration began so that I could secure a parking place near the convention center. We were told that parking would be extremely limited on the first day of the convention because it fell on a work day. I left at 3:00 AM, took my time and arrived a little before 6:00 AM. I had breakfast at the Marriott where I talked to four delegates from a district that spans from San Antonio to El Paso. They told me that they attended the $50 reception the previous night and were extremely disappointed. There was no food other than horrible little appetizers and they offered a cash bar. Out of the each delegate's $50 the party probably pocketed $49.50.

I arrived at the convention center a little before 7:00 AM and there were extremely long lines waiting to get into the ballrooms where the credentials were distributed. Once in the ballroom things move fairly quickly. I found our senate district booth and registered. I was told that we would need photo ID but no one asked me for it. Things there seemed very disorganized with some folks not listed on their rosters. They seemed to be able to resolve this somehow, legitimately I hope, because otherwise anyone could have walked in there and become a delegate.

At that point there was nothing to do until 9:00 AM when the individual sessions began except to walk around the exhibit floor. In this area there were booths set up just like you would see at a trade show but most not more than a table with folks standing behind them. There I found a bunch of vendors selling a lot of worthless junk like pins, t-shirts, and other paraphernalia. There were also booths there from special interests. A few energy companies were there giving away those new efficient light bulbs. I picked up some of these, had my picture taken with a cardboard cutout of Obama, and received a free t-shirt with a picture of Tom Delay behind bars on the back with the caption “Put the Hammer in the Slammer”. I also purchased a deck of playing cards for $5.00 from a couple of enterprising young men who had created the deck called Gay, Really Straight, Republican Hypocrites Playing Cards. For the most part this area of the convention was a waste of time.

The Obama campaign had a presence on the exhibit floor giving away buttons and bumper stickers, only one to each person. The Clinton campaign elected to set up shop outside across the street from the convention center under a large tent. I did not wander over there but assumed that they were selling stuff there. I am not sure why they were not inside other than out of courtesy to Obama, since she had dropped out of the race a few days before. Given the personality of the candidate I do not think this is a likely explanation, but I have no other and I did not think about asking, because I really didn’t care.

After my visit to the exhibits I perused the schedule of sessions to determine which ones to attend. Wow, what a selection, and also what a mess. There were 45 sessions. Here is a partial list to give you an idea of what they offered:

· Gun Owners Caucus
· Progressive Hispanic Caucus
· Texas Military Veterans
· Black Caucus
· Pro-Choice, Pro-Prevention
· UAW caucus
· Motorcycle Caucus
· Texas Muslim Democratic Caucus

These were scheduled from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with varying lengths from one hour to two and one half hours. The schedule looked like it was established by that room of 100 typing monkeys. It was impossible for a delegate to attend more than a few events because these session overlapped and where there was not overlap there was no break between sessions to permit one to get to sessions on time. This extensive lineup of sessions should have been offered over a two to three day duration with some sessions duplicated across that time to permit more delegates to attend the more popular ones.

I decided to attend the following sessions:

· Single Payer Universal Healthcare – 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
· Challenging the Religious Right: Restoring Faith in Texas – 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
· Democrats Against the Death Penalty – 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM

I expected to miss some of the second and third sessions due to no break between them but I expected to make it to the first one on time. My expectations were soon revised as I could not find the room for the Single Payer Universal Healthcare session. It was listed as being in a room on Level 3 of the convention center. So I took the escalator from the first to the second level, got on the next escalator that took me to the fourth level. I look around and down and verify that there is indeed a third level but cannot determine how to get there. I check the convention brochure, which lists the floor plans for the first, second, and fourth levels. There is no mention of reference to a third level except in the session schedule.

I went back down to the first level and found a convention center employee and asked for directions. He asked why I need to go to that level, I told him, and he said that the third level is normally used for storage so the general public access is very limited. The only way to get there is by going all the around the convention center to the back set of stairs, or take the elevator located near there.

Single Payer Universal Healthcare

I arrive late for this session but so did a whole lot of other delegates. I was glad that I made the effort to attend this session because I knew nothing about single-payer healthcare and what I learned opened my eyes. This appears to be the only sensible solution to our healthcare problem in America. Many other countries have employed this approach with very successful results. For example the costs to insure everyone in this country can be reduced dramatically under this system because the overhead to manage the plan drops from 27% to 3%. None of the myths about the government choosing your doctors, or not being able to receive timely care are true. The key component is the elimination of the monolithic insurance companies and centralizing all payments under a single, non-profit entity. There is a lot more to this than that and too much to recount here. The bottom line is that there are enormous out-of-pocket savings to both the employees and employers and we should be moving very quickly to adopt this system.

Challenging the Religious Right: Restoring Faith in Texas

I made it to this session late and was able to sneak in to the back row next to the wall with an empty seat beside me to stow my stuff. It was hot in this room and I immediately added my sport jacket to the pile of stuff on the seat beside me.
As good as the previous session was, this one was bad. There were two speakers, unrecognizable state or US congressmen. Both of these guys spent their time talking about themselves and telling unfunny jokes. At no time during the forty or so minutes that I suffered through did they once mention the topic, even though the moderator had assured us that they were there to provide insight on what they have been doing to stop the religious right from taking over the government.
I had had about enough when someone taps me on the shoulder and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat beside me. This seat is piled up with computer bag, a bag full of worthless stuff given to candidates, a book, and my sport jacket. I look at her like she is crazy, mentally noting the clusters of the empty seats around the room. She persists so I gather all of my stuff, step over the back of the seat while muttering profanities, loud enough for her to hear but not disruptive to the room.

Democrats Against the Death Penalty

Because I extracted myself early from the previous, worthless session I was able to make it to this one on time. Good thing too, because this was standing room only a full ten minutes before it started. I have always been anti death penalty and this session reinforced my stance.
The first speaker was a chaplain who spent a lot of years in Huntsville where all of the “legal” murders take place in Texas. His change from being a death penalty facilitator to being totally opposed to it is recounted in a book and documentary film. He shared some of this transformation with us.
The next speaker was a mother of a death penalty victim who after being killed in Huntsville was cleared of guilt. This was an extremely emotional presentation. She is now devoting her life to educating people about the horrors of this barbaric ritual of ours.


At 1:30 PM I was free until 3:00 PM when the senate district caucus convened. There was nothing provided at any time in the form of food or drink. The only thing that I purchased in the convention center was a cup of tea before the Single Payer Universal Healthcare session for $3.00. I cannot remember ever paying that much anywhere for a single cup of tea. From that I surmised that everything sold inside the convention center was overly inflated, so I looked for a place to eat outside.

One good thing about the location of the convention center is the abundance of restaurants nearby. I chose Pei Wei and as expected it was extremely crowded. As I was giving the hostess my name two people were being led to their table. The hostess was apologizing that it was a table for six to which they replied that they would be OK if they seated others there. I immediately spoke up and said that I would eat with them if they did not mind and as a result was able to jump ahead of the crowd and be seated immediately. These folks were great company. They recently retired and moved to the “hill country” to be near their grandchildren. They had some fascinating stories and I would have liked to spend more time with them

I returned to the convention center to attend my senate district caucus. When I arrived at the designated room I found the place in a state of semi-managed chaos. This was a very large ballroom that had two distinct groups huddling on opposite sides of the room. I was soon to learn that there were two different senate districts in the room and that they were trying to determine the number of delegates who had not shown up in order to promote alternates to the open positions. As usual there seemed to be no organization or process. A whole lot of people were crowded around the ones who seemed to be in charge of this. They spent a long time doing trying to sort out this mess, a task that should have been completed before anyone arrived. When they finally finished out the circus began.

Both senate district groups tried to conduct business simultaneously. The other group gained control of the single microphone so they had an easier time of getting things going. After several minutes of our guys trying to shout over the other group’s leadership they had a pow-wow and agreed that they would share the microphone and the business of the groups would be conducted alternately, i.e., the first group would elect their chairperson, then the second group would elect theirs, back and forth until all elections were completed.

The process followed Roberts Rules of Order, I think, whereby the floor was opened for nominees, delegates were nominated, each nominee was given an opportunity to introduce themselves, and nominations were closed. The delegates voted by raising their badge when each name was called. When the votes were too close to visually determine a winner the procedure was repeated only this time the badges were held up until a couple of the alternates walked around counting the raised badges. As they counted they either pointed at you or touched you which was the signal that you were to lower your badge. There were several instances on both sides of the room when this “verification” was necessary.

During this process I could not help to think that here we are, selecting leadership positions and, eventually, delegates to the national convention. These folks will make a contribution to either how the party operates or who the party formally nominates as a candidate for president. And here we are with these goofballs running around counting raised badges. There were no checks and balances to determine if anyone voted twice, or if everyone who was voting was indeed eligible to vote. It was a process that was hard to take seriously, no matter how hard that I tried.

I didn’t know any of the people who were “running” for all of these official positions. We were not given any information about them other than their 10-second introductions after they were nominated. So how was one supposed to be able to make an informed choice? After about five of these votes I just stopped raising my badge and sat back and watched this “democratic” fiasco. A few of us got a lot of laughs about how seriously some of these folks were taking such a ridiculous process. A quick aside – CSPAN recently asked callers to respond to the question, “Should the media provide more or less convention coverage?” Now they were referring to the national conventions, but I after what I went through in Austin I have no confidence that the national convention is run any differently than this one. So for all of those folks who responded that they want to see everything that goes on at a national convention, trust me, you really do not. Any confidence that you may have in the democratic process would be lost and you would be hitting the remote to look for anything except the convention coverage.

The most humorous item to note during this mess was the “election” of a position, the title of which I do not remember. It was obvious from the start that everyone who was elected to any position, committee, etc., would be Obama delegates, due to the two to one delegate advantage that they had over the Clinton delegates in our state senate district. One of the Clinton delegates was nominated and when it was her turn to address the group she made a passionate plea. She stated that all of the preceding positions were filled with Obama delegates and that we should show the world that the party is ready to come together. To demonstrate this we should elect a Clinton delegate, her, to this position. There were a lot of snickers in the crowd. She received about five votes. When she saw this she stormed off the stage like a little girl, before the vote was completed, and without congratulating the winner, an Obama delegate, of course.

It was nearing 6:00 PM and we were not even close to completing the business of our district. We were going to have to come back after the general session to finish things. After all that I had seen during that day, I decided that I really had no purpose there. I wasn’t voting for anyone and the only votes that I really wanted to cast were for two people that I wanted to see elected as delegates to the national convention. There was nothing to gain from the general session either on Friday or Saturday, so I decided that I would not be staying the night and called the hotel to cancel my reservation.

After we adjourned we all went downstairs to attend the general session. Each district was assigned a seating area and ours was decently placed, in the middle of the room and not too far back. I went to that area to sit with my fellow delegates and these folks were too goofy for me to put up with, i.e., they were whooping it up, waving signs, and doing the stuff that you would expect after seeing the same kind of thing on TV during the national convention. I just did not have the patience for this so I opted to sit way back where anyone from the general public was assigned seating. There was absolutely no one in these sections aside from a few delegates like me who did not want to put up with the nonsense in the front of the hall.

Sitting next to me was a guy reading the book “The Last Lecture”. I asked him if he was enjoying the book and he said yes. He went on to tell me that the book had added significance because he had been diagnosed that week with an untreatable form of cancer. I felt my body go limp as I searched for something to say. He noticed my discomfort and assured me that all is well. He had had a good life up to then and had no complaints. He was resigned to live out his few remaining months in a positive fashion and no one should feel sorry for him.

I was stunned and paid little attention to the goings on during the beginning of the general session. Had we not been required to stand I probably would not have noticed the ridiculous benediction that was given by some female pastor. Yes I would because of all of the noise that this generated. She was raising her voice in prayer and praise while many of those in the congregation shouted hallelujahs and amens. This was truly not the time or place for this but I guess we should expect more and more of this as we permit our leaders to tear down the church/state wall.

the brief conversation with the guy reading "The Last Lecture" was quite sobering and led me to the conclusion that I had to get away from the nonsense going on in the convention hall.

After the obligatory stuff was over it was announced that a certain committee must meet immediately to transact business. I do not remember the name of this committee, but it was one for which we had just elected a representative. The speaker asked that everyone who was a member of the committee to leave the hall immediately and proceed to a specific location. I recognized this as my chance to make a quick and graceful exit. No one would know that I was not a member of this committee and I could be on my way home to Houston before the first speaker had completed his remarks. So I was gone.

As it turns out I didn’t miss a thing, except voting for the national convention delegates. The two people that I wanted to vote for won anyway, so my vote was not missed. I missed a bunch of rah-rah Democrat stuff and an appearance by Chelsea Clinton. Really. Chelsea was there, for what purpose I do not know. I cannot believe that a person with such insignificance was given the time to talk. These guys must have been desperate for a name because Hillary and Barack, though invited, did not attend either day of the convention.

So what looked like a 3-4 day affair turned into one very long day.