Potter County held their Democratic Convention last night to decide who would fill the 19 delegate slots allotted to the county. The convention got off to a very slow and disorganized start. The gavel was supposed to come down and start the convention at 6:00pm, but at that time at least half the delegates were still trying to get signed in and get their badges.
The convention finally got started about 6:45pm. I live in a very small precinct, and we were grouped with two other small precincts. The three precincts together got to choose only one delegate and one alternate.
When we first arrived, the Obama delegates were just hoping to get the alternate out of these three precincts. That was because Clinton had won all three precincts on election night. But after the convention started, we realized that a lot of Clinton delegates had failed to show up.
We counted several times, and couldn't believe our luck. We had 7 Obama delegates and only 6 Clinton delegates. We caucused and decided to vote as a block. We elected an Obama delegate and a Clinton alternate.
In the county convention as a whole, 55% of the delegates supported Clinton and 45% supported Obama. That means Potter County is sending a state delegation composed of 10 Clinton delegates and 9 Obama delegates.
I was thrilled, as were most of the other Obama delegates I talked with. We had showed up just hoping we could stay close, and wound up with a 9-10 split. That is very good for Potter County, and we all left very happy.
For a moment, it looked like they were going to split the delegates 8-11. But a bunch of us Obama delegates raised a ruckus and made them redo the math. In the end, we got our 9-10 split.
It was contentious and there was some arguing, but no more than usual. After all, it was a Democratic convention. If Democrats don't do some arguing, then something is terribly wrong.
I left at 11:15pm, and they were still arguing over resolutions. All in all, I think both sides went away satisfied.
It was contentious and there was some arguing, but no more than usual. After all, it was a Democratic convention. If Democrats don't do some arguing, then something is terribly wrong.
ReplyDeletejobsanger,
As an outsider, I've observed the same thing. Here's a comment I wrote a little over two years ago on another left-wing blog, citing two quotes that I think still apply today:
"I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
- Will Rogers
There's another quote I once heard that may be a little more encouraging to the Democrats regarding their insessant in-fighting. I can't remember who said it, and I'll have to paraphrase, but it's something to the effect that Democrats are like a couple of alley cats at midnight - yellin' and screamin' like they're killin' each other. But what they're really doin' is makin' more alley cats. :)
True democracy is a messy business. A little arguing just means you are really engaging in the democratic process.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDelete