Coming into this weekend, I had lots of expectations for the convention, some of which have proved to be correct and others of which turned out to be pretty far off base from reality. But these past couple of days have certainly been incredible.
It's been great to spend time with people I know well, those who I just met, and friends who I've only known online up until now.
It's odd, because though I've been a Democrat since long before I could vote, I didn't start getting involved with the party until a few years ago, and didn't become intimately involved until several months ago. Yet I still sense that so much has changed, and that feeling has been echoed by others who have been involved for much longer than I.
At caucus after caucus that I attended, the “change” candidates were elected. Jenn Pae, a young Dem from the Bay Area, was elected as Northern California Chair to the API caucus, over an opponent who was nominated by Board of Equalization member Betty Yee. The vote was done by a raise of hands, and it was clear that young Dems carried this vote for Jenn. Karen Bernal, a Bay Area progressive activist, was elected as Chair of the Progressive caucus by a landslide. And on Saturday morning, hundreds of Democrats lined up at 7:30am to vote for Karen Weinstein and her change slate to lead the Women’s caucus.
Then the huge win came last night. As I was eating dinner with fellow Caliticians Robert and Julia, and several others, we got word that Hilary Crosby had won the race for CDP Controller. Why is this so great? I’ll steal the words of Edie Irons:
Hilary is exactly the change our party needs. She’s a CPA and auditor of nonprofits with a long history of Democratic activism. She’ll shine a light on the party’s finances and spending habits and raise big money from the grassroots and other untapped sources, so the party will be more accountable to voters and activists. She’ll train county committee treasurers to raise more money and keep good records, and she’ll take the Finance Committee out from behind closed doors. This strikes me as the only party office race where we have a stark choice between the status quo and a new direction.
It hasn’t just been the election results that have left me feeling like the Party could be headed in a new direction. Young Democrats have been very visible at the convention, and many of us for the first time served as delegates. I don’t think it’s a jump to conclude that young Dems were instrumental in securing Crosby’s win, as it was a close race.
Bloggers have also been recognized. Many statewide electeds and candidates held meetings with bloggers, including SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi.
I’ve felt incredibly welcomed here, especially by fellow young Dems and Caliticians. Though I’ve been kicking myself a bit for not getting more involved in the Party earlier, I feel like I might have picked the perfect time to get active. We’ll have to see what happens today with the endorsement votes for the ballot initiatives, but regardless of what happens, I’m looking forward to the future of the Party and hope to stay involved for a long time to come.
This was my ninth Convention in 12 years — since I was a 19-year-old college Democrat at the State Convention in 1997. And it was by far the best, because I finally feel that reform-minded progressives like us are getting a foothold in the Party. There are more young people here, but even the Young Democrats caucus has changed dramatically. It used to be crowded by cynical, 30-year-old party hacks — now it’s dominated by college students (and even high school students!!) energized by the Obama campaign. Welcome!!!
I’m glad you’ve joined us. It was an incredibly exciting convention–both because of Hilary Crosby’s election–and because it was so obvious that delegates were not going to blindly follow the will of elected officials.
I have long said that we seemed to have it backwards. We help them get elected, pay their salaries, and they’re supposed to represent us. Instead, they seem to think it’s their job to tell us what to think and how to vote.
This weekend CDP delegates said thought for ourselves.
While many of us appreciate the extremely difficult task legislators faced on the budget, we did not like the deals they did. That does not mean they have lost our support. But this deal clearly has. And it was wonderful to watch democracy in action!