At the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles next week, a battle could be fought over who the party will endorse in the CA-36 primary. Currently the party is going to endorse the incumbent, Jane Harman – unless 300 signatures are gathered and submitted to CDP chair John Burton by the end of the day on Tuesday to remove the endorsement from the consent calendar for discussion on the floor.

In order to achieve that, Winograd supporters have launched a website, Oppose Harman’s Endorsement, where CDP delegates can download and sign a form indicating their support for pulling the endorsement from the consent calendar. The form then has to be scanned and emailed back, or faxed back.

It’s not only further sign of the proliferation of download-print-and-sign petition gathering in the California progressive movement, but more importantly would be a sign of how strong Winograd’s support is among delegates. It’s entirely unclear whether the conventioneers would indeed endorse Winograd, but it is quite possible that they will succeed in pulling the endorsement from the consent calendar and potentially even denying Harman an endorsement on the floor, leaving the CDP officially neutral in the CA-36 primary.

Winograd’s campaign has been hitting Harman hard of late – for example, using the recent federal court decision striking down Bush’s illegal wiretapping to remind voters of Harman’s support for the policy. Still, Winograd has a big hill to climb considering Harman’s own substantial financial advantage. Denying Harman the CDP endorsement could help close the distance.

This will be one of the more important stories of the CDP convention, if Winograd supporters succeed in getting their 300 signatures. In case you’re wondering, one of those 300 signatures will be mine.