Well, I guess it’s down to me to take the contrarian view of this whole list purge business.

The short answer is that activists aren’t owed seats in Denver just because they’re activists.  It’s perfectly legitimate for the Obama campaign to reward supporters who walked precincts, made phone calls, dropped lit, stayed up late at the campaign office, and generally did anything and everything logistically to help the candidate win California (confidentially, I was told by someone high-up on the campaign last night that they did indeed tie on Election Day; it was the absentees that swung the race to Clinton).  Just being a good activist is not enough.  You’re actually not going to the convention to represent the party, you’d be going as an Obama or Clinton delegate, representing the candidate.  Honestly, considering that there were about 1,000 precinct captains in California, if you weren’t one, you shouldn’t be an Obama delegate.  Bottom line.

What I and many of us object to is the haphazard, seemingly random standard applied here, where delegates with little or no ground experience remained on the ballot, while those with a lot didn’t (like the guy in CA-36 who was a paid Richardson staffer who remains on the Obama list).  Because you’re talking about 1,700 delegates, there are lots of arguments you can make for why the campaign chose one candidate or another, but they’re all unprovable and contradicted by the group in the next district over.  The people still in the race range from bundlers to people who never gave a dime, those who worked their hearts out to those who didn’t lift a finger, progressive antiwar activists to those who aren’t as vocal.  When you’re talking about 1,700 for 108 slots, there’s not going to be any one reason, and anyone who says otherwise is being extremely myopic.  In addition, there are the well-established CDP demographic rules and needs, so compiling a list that will fit those needs is probably a great puzzle.  And also, practically everyone on the Obama campaign is in Pennsylvania or North Carolina and Indiana by now, so the vetting process had to be undertaken by a very small number of people.

Over…

I’m not defending the Obama campaign at all, but I have to say that there are those in the grassroots that need to, and this is where the flame war might begin, grow up.  You don’t just automatically get to be a delegate to the DNC because of who you are or what you advocate, even.  You ought to get it because of what you’ve done, real work on a personal level.  If you did and you were culled, that’s wrong.  If you didn’t and you’re still on that list, that’s wrong.  But it’s a huge undertaking and you have one or two staffers making value judgments on 1,700 people based on all sorts of criteria, and there’s bound to be slippage and “my activism is better than your activism” arguments.

What’s more, if you actually think your activism is better than someone else’s activism, you can actually appeal to a higher power!  From an email:

It is actually Brent Messenger in Northern California that vetted the candidates.

brent.messenger-at-gmail-dot-com

What they are asking for is evidence like “you were a precinct captain for Obama”

They are purging all people besides those that worked heavily on the campaign.  

They want FOR SURE Obama delegates.  

I spoke with Laura of LAgrassroots4obama and they are rewarding people that have spent the last year of their lives on planes and in the volunteer office.

If you are in Southern California and truly worked on the Obama Campaign prior to the Feb 5 Primary and were cut from the candidate list contact Laura:

laura-at-LAgrassroots4obama-dot-com

I do think the Obama people are a little paranoid from Clinton’s whole “there’s no such thing as a pledged delegate” shtick, and they let it get inside their heads.  But people who did the time should get the prize.  So if you did the work, don’t mourn, send an email and organize.  If you didn’t work and you’re pissed, all politics is local so go talk to your neighbors instead of deciding you’re entitled to a trip to Denver.

Well, I guess it’s down to me to take the contrarian view of this whole list purge business.

The short answer is that activists aren’t owed seats in Denver just because they’re activists.  It’s perfectly legitimate for the Obama campaign to reward supporters who walked precincts, made phone calls, dropped lit, stayed up late at the campaign office, and generally did anything and everything logistically to help the candidate win California (confidentially, I was told by someone high-up on the campaign last night that they did indeed tie on Election Day; it was the absentees that swung the race to Clinton).  Just being a good activist is not enough.  You’re actually not going to the convention to represent the party, you’d be going as an Obama or Clinton delegate, representing the candidate.  Honestly, considering that there were about 1,000 precinct captains in California, if you weren’t one, you shouldn’t be an Obama delegate.  Bottom line.

What I and many of us object to is the haphazard, seemingly random standard applied here, where delegates with little or no ground experience remained on the ballot, while those with a lot didn’t (like the guy in CA-36 who was a paid Richardson staffer who remains on the Obama list).  Because you’re talking about 1,700 delegates, there are lots of arguments you can make for why the campaign chose one candidate or another, but they’re all unprovable and contradicted by the group in the next district over.  The people still in the race range from bundlers to people who never gave a dime, those who worked their hearts out to those who didn’t lift a finger, progressive antiwar activists to those who aren’t as vocal.  When you’re talking about 1,700 for 108 slots, there’s not going to be any one reason, and anyone who says otherwise is being extremely myopic.  In addition, there are the well-established CDP demographic rules and needs, so compiling a list that will fit those needs is probably a great puzzle.  And also, practically everyone on the Obama campaign is in Pennsylvania or North Carolina and Indiana by now, so the vetting process had to be undertaken by a very small number of people.

Over…

I’m not defending the Obama campaign at all, but I have to say that there are those in the grassroots that need to, and this is where the flame war might begin, grow up.  You don’t just automatically get to be a delegate to the DNC because of who you are or what you advocate, even.  You ought to get it because of what you’ve done, real work on a personal level.  If you did and you were culled, that’s wrong.  If you didn’t and you’re still on that list, that’s wrong.  But it’s a huge undertaking and you have one or two staffers making value judgments on 1,700 people based on all sorts of criteria, and there’s bound to be slippage and “my activism is better than your activism” arguments.

What’s more, if you actually think your activism is better than someone else’s activism, you can actually appeal to a higher power!  From an email:

It is actually Brent Messenger in Northern California that vetted the candidates.

brent.messenger-at-gmail-dot-com

What they are asking for is evidence like “you were a precinct captain for Obama”

They are purging all people besides those that worked heavily on the campaign.  

They want FOR SURE Obama delegates.  

I spoke with Laura of LAgrassroots4obama and they are rewarding people that have spent the last year of their lives on planes and in the volunteer office.

If you are in Southern California and truly worked on the Obama Campaign prior to the Feb 5 Primary and were cut from the candidate list contact Laura:

laura-at-LAgrassroots4obama-dot-com

I do think the Obama people are a little paranoid from Clinton’s whole “there’s no such thing as a pledged delegate” shtick, and they let it get inside their heads.  But people who did the time should get the prize.  So if you did the work, don’t mourn, send an email and organize.  If you didn’t work and you’re pissed, all politics is local so go talk to your neighbors instead of deciding you’re entitled to a trip to Denver.

…I would also say that a part of the problem was having post-primary delegate elections in the first place.  Before the primary it would have been very clear to the candidate who the supporters and activists were and there wouldn’t have been so many mistakes.  Susie Shannon’s delegate selection proposal was far more reasoned and thought-out than what we ended up with.  Her letter from July 10 of last year is prescient.

July 10, 2007

Dear Delegate Selection Committee,

At the Los Angeles Delegate Selection Plan Hearing I testified that my

main concern regarding holding delegate elections post-primary is that it

encourages opportunism over loyalty to a candidate. The plan, as

presented, opens the door for supporters of candidates receiving low votes

in the primary to take over the delegate elections of candidates receiving

high votes.

It is my strong opinion that delegates of presidential candidates to the

Democratic National Convention should be representatives of that candidate

and should, to the best extent possible, be loyal supporters.

How are we to stay unified through the 2008 general election if we create

a process that risks fracturing California Democrats between those who

work hard and are loyal supporters of a particular candidate and those

looking to become delegates any way possible? The delegate selection

plan as presented also raises basic issues of fair play and can be

disheartening for hard working democrats who we hope will maintain a

strong will to work through the 2008 general election.

After the Los Angeles hearing I spoke to Eric Bauman about the possibility

of having elections post-primary but setting the delegate filing deadline

prior to the California primary. I also mentioned this plan to the 42nd

AD delegates at our meeting last month and to various other delegates and

E-Board members of the CDP. I believe that some of them have already

submitted testimony to your committee. This seems to me the only fair and

logical compromise. It would allow candidates more time to locate venues

and arrange for elections post-Iowa Caucus, but also create a more fair

delegate selection process in California.

My proposal is to set the delegate application deadline for January 31,

2008 (pre-California primary) and hold elections the weekend of March 1,

2008 – 30 days from the application deadline.

I hope that this proposal will be given serious consideration by the

Delegate Selection committee.

(This story is developing as we speak, I think we’re getting closer to the Obama campaign’s process on this. Check out the Bee story and keep an eye out for more stories in print tomorrow. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

On Monday, juls wrote about how the campaigns could “prune” their delegate lists.  I didn’t pay much attention, but perhaps I should have.  Here is the new list.

Today, I learned that I have been pruned out of my delegate race. I will say that I didn’t really expect to win. There were people in my district that were better organized and better known (Chris Daly). And they both made the cut. However, I didn’t figure the campaign to whom I donated money, and to whom I traveled to two different states for, would decide that I wasn’t loyal enough. Heck, I spent March 4 working for Buffy Wicks (the CA field director) in Texas at the Election Hotline.

I understand that the Obama campaign is wary of the Clinton campaign picking off some of their pledged delegates, but you would figure that the least they could do would be to cross reference their donation rolls and their volunteer lists.

I understand that Obama cut about 1000 of his delegate candidates, compared to about 20 for Clinton. If Barack Obama wanted to increase participation and activism amongst youth leaders, cutting leaders in the  California Young Dems and other youth leaders wasn’t the best way to start.  

So, if you were “pruned”, I feel your pain.

UPDATE: I want to add one thing about this process. Specifically, this is a function of the Obama campaign, and if they expect to get any more time or money from me, I need to hear some sort of reasonable answer from the campaign.

I want to thank some folks from the CDP for letting me know and talking about the issue. The CDP has no power over this, but they will get some of the blame for being the messenger. The party deserves blame for many things, but this isn’t one of them.

UPDATE 2: I did some more research on the party’s website, and I think I had the numbers a bit off.  Clinton cut around 40-50 of her approximately 950 delegate candidates.  Obama cut about 950 of about 1700 candidates. Somebody was getting paranoid…is that you Axelrod?

UPDATE 3: The SacBee now has a story about the delegate pruning. I sound very heartbroken, perhaps a little more than I actually am, but, ah well, dramatic license and all.

I also got an email from somebody familiar with the process. Essentially they said that the Chicago folks had the California Obama team ask the volunteers running the caucus to cut down for logistical and convention reasons. The results were less than exceptional, but better than the initial plan: trimming it to the minimum three people per slot.

UPDATE 4: k/o is right in the comments. Who am I kidding, I’ll still give Obama money and my time. And perhaps I was a bit out of line when I said otherwise. However, as Lucas points out, it’s a pretty top-down move from a campaign that is supposed to be bottom-up. I can forgive mistakes and move on, but I still think the campaign needs to send out a message to its grassroots supporters that it values and respects them.

The Clinton campaign money troubles are pretty well known.  They have been delaying payment to increase their cash on hand and ability to pay for campaign activities rather than pay off their debts.  The media, particularly Politico, which brought me to this hilarious article by the local Sacto CBS station.

Bill Clinton may have charmed the crowd at UC Davis in January, when 7500 people showed up to see him, but charm has not covered the Clinton campaign bill.

The University of California in Davis is ready to take the Clinton presidential campaign to a collection agency if they do not pay back the thousands of dollars they are still owed.

The campaign owes UC Davis $6,350.  The Marching Band cost $500, cleanup $250 and $5,600 for the services of the UC Davis police.

“I’m more than willing to be held accountable for it, because that’s the way life is,” Hillary Clinton said to a Montana crowd on Monday. There is no word whether she’ll apply that philosophy here, or if she even knows about the outstanding debt.

CBS 13 tried to get a quote from the Clinton campaign, but no dice.

UC Davis is planning to put its final bill out this week, and if the debt has not been settled within a month, they are going to turn the matter over to a collection agency.

Something tells me that going to the press will speed up the payment.

When you show up to the district level caucuses this weekend, you may be in for a surprise.  Under the rules listed in the Delegate Selection Plan (pdf) the campaigns must file with the CDP chair by today at 5 pm a list of candidates for delegate that number at least three times the number of slots that they approve.  This is Rule 12. E(1) Reg 4.23.

There are 241 district level slots (121 females, 120 males) and there are over 2,350 candidates running.  Assuming that both campaigns take the time to go through the names and pick out only three per slot that means that there will only be 723 viable candidates this weekend.  The deadline to submit the approved names just passed, so we should know the deal some time soon.

This is all part of the process and it makes total sense for the campaigns to spend the time going through the names and double checking that they have strong candidates for their delegate slots.  While it seems unlikely that we will head to the convention not having a single candidates, the campaigns need to work hard now just in case.

Are you a delegate candidate that has been contacted by the campaign?  Any CDP staffers who want to weigh in here?  Don’t forget to go to the CDP website and see where your caucus is located this weekend.  I know they have been firming up locations.

[UPDATE] I have transcribed the relevant rule.

Each presidential candidate, or that candidate’s authorized representative(s), must then file with the California Democratic Party Chair by Monday, April 7, 2008, at 5 pm, a list of such candidates he or she has approved, provided that approval be given to at least three (3) times the number of candidates for delegate men and three (3) times the number of candidates for delegate women, and three (3) times the number of candidates for alternate men and three (3) times the number of alternate women to which the presidential candidate is entitled.

I read this to mean that candidates are required to hand in lists, but they could be all of the candidates who have filled out their forms.  They have a minimum, but not a maximum that they must submit to the CDP.

(The first Calitician to announce: Steve Maviglio. If I were unfortunate enough to both live in Sacto and support Hillary, he would have my vote. – promoted by Bob Brigham)

At the risk of severely dating myself, I’ve been involved in Democratic politics for close to 30 years now. I’ve stuffed countless envelopes, walked precincts, served in the legislatures of two different states as an elected official and staff, and have been the right-hand man for a Governor, a legislative leader, and two Members of Congress (and, of course, a member of the Calitics community from the get-go). But oddly enough, I’ve never been a delegate to the “Big Show” — the Democratic National Convention.

By Tuesday’s deadline, more than 2,500 Democrats had joined me and signed up for the coveted 241 delegate slots available for a ticket to this year’s Democratic jamboree in Denver. Here in Sacramento’s Fifth Congressional District, 39 men and women are competing for two slots won by Sen. Barack Obama; some 21 have filed for the two delegates awarded to Senator Hillary Clinton http://www.cadem.org/site/apps/kb/cs/contactsearch.asp?c=jrLZK2PyHmF&b=3919701&raw=.  I’m told that’s more than double the number from the 2004 election.

Looking up and down the list, the candidates range from office volunteers to party stalwarts to Assemblymembers. That’s a reflection of the enthusiasm at all levels — from the netroots to establishment party hacks — for both candidates.  

Regardless of who they’re gunning for, all the candidates have one element in common:  they want to have a hand in the history-making election of the next Democratic President. Regardless of what happens in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Puerto Rico, and the remaining states that are holding contests in the next few weeks, the convention will be the backdrop for the nomination by the Democratic Party of the first woman or first African-American to top its ticket.

There’s also the chance that convention delegates will play more than a symbolic role this year. It’s been a seesaw battle between the two candidates, and there’s a very real possibility that the contest may not be resolved before the late August convention date.

To be sure, I’m one of those who believe the spirited contest between Senators Obama and Clinton is good for the party on many levels. But I also know that no matter what happens, we must all unite behind the nominee and defeat John McCain.

That’s why I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring this year and try to become one of those lucky few that will represent our state in Denver as a delegate for Senator Hillary Clinton. I’m running just to support her candidacy, but also to make sure the divisions in our party are healed quickly and we march together to victory in November.

I’m a die-hard Hillary fan, but I’m also blown away by the enthusiasm and vigor of Senator Obama’s campaign and its supporters. That’s why I believe critical we channel the electricity of the primary campaign into the general election match-up between a Democratic candidate who will end the war, reform health care, and protect our air and water quality vs. a four-year extension of the Bush Administration that has brought our nation to the edge of economic ruin and wasted lives and nearly a trillion dollars in an unnecessary war. (Note to self: you’re running for delegate, not President. Enough preaching to the choir).

I’m used to being a “second banana” rather than a candidate, so this is kinda fun in a way that only a political junkie could appreciate. But every good campaigner knows one thing: you have to make a direct pitch for a vote to get it.

So let me cut to the chase: If you live in the 5th CD, I’d like your vote whether you’re a Hillary supporter or an Obama supporter. Any Democrat can vote in the Caucus, even Obama supporters who aren’t going to their candidate’s Caucus in Rancho Cordova. You can even register Democrats at the Caucus site, and they’ll be eligible to vote there and then. (The CDP is expected to have online pre-registration up and running in a few days to make voting quick and simple at the caucus site.)

As a delegate/blogger, I’ll be able to give Calitics readers some on-the-convention-floor insight — something even those of you who live beyond the borders of the state capital might appreciate.

Beyond that, our mini-campaign  is designed to keep the energy of this election cycle going at the local level. I hope other candidates are running full speed ahead too, making their pitches online and in-person. It’s all good.

Together with my running mate, Karen Skelton of Sacramento, we’re reaching out to thousands of Democrats (and wannabe Democrats we will register at the Caucus site) with phone calls, mailings, and more. We’ve convinced Heath, the apolitical guy who cuts my hair, to send out an email to his client list. No strangers to the Internet, we’ve got a Web page up and running with a map of the convention location http://stevenmaviglio4delegate08.googlepages.com/home. Our local ABC affiliate did a story on us (hey, gotta use my media connection!) http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=40247, and we’re busy rounding up everyone in our Rolodex’s and Outlook contacts files to show up and vote on Sunday, April 13th at the downtown Sacramento Library Galleria.

Hope to see you there. I’ll be the one trying to shake your hand or kiss your baby.

Torres is speaking now, waxing poetic about the proper behavior for a spirited primary- no personal attacks, etc. etc.  But in the process mentioned that Michigan and Florida delegates should be seated at the DNC convention.  Not exactly sure where all this is coming from, but there it is.

And now we’re on to McCain and the S&L scandal.  (Update: As Dave mentioned next to me, Torres clearly has the full oppo research on McCain.  It would be nice if this was the beginning of a larger movement to target McCain- anyone want to lay odds?)

Didn’t anyone pass him the memo that this year’s convention is ONLY about Leno/Midgen? 🙂

It’s not only that Hillary Clinton is running a one-night-only concert with Elton John in New York on April 9, just 13 days before the Pennsylvania primary.  It’s not that she’s doing a swing through California the week before.  I think it’s that she’s doing a partial low-dollar event at the Wilshire Theater the night of April 3, which sounds like a town hall meeting to me.  That leads me to the conclusion that she’s in serious financial trouble.

This is the kind of event you have in a state where you’re campaigning.  I suppose it’s possible that it was scheduled earlier on the expectation that the nomination would be hers by this time.  But it doesn’t make any sense to do it now.  Pennsylvania would be three weeks out by that point, and I would have expected both candidates to park themselves there.  You don’t go off the campaign trail to raise money unless you REALLY need it.  And in addition, you don’t go off the campaign trail to have a low-dollar event unless all your high-dollar donors are maxed out.  Forget about going to the convention if there’s no funda to get there.  If Clinton can’t financially compete in states where she doesn’t have a built-in advantage, like Indiana and North Carolina, she’ll wind up even further behind on pledged delegates and the popular vote.  There’s no path to the nomination in that case.

In the pre-Internet age, this race would already be over because Clinton wouldn’t have the money to continue.  Because she waited so damn long to even ask her supporters to contribute online, she might be in the same situation.  It’s interesting and perhaps fitting that the fact that Clinton doesn’t believe in bottom-up democracy could lead to her downfall.

There has been some speculation and perhaps wishful thinking that Hillary Clinton and/or Barack Obama might make a swing out here to California around the time of the CDP convention.  There will be a bunch of super delegates floating around that the candidates could make their pitch to in person.  Plus, there is always the California ATM to make a withdrawal from.  But this from Ben Smith makes me think it is unlikely that Hillary Clinton will make an appearance.

The votes have been counted in California, but the money’s still coming in.

Hillary’s got a pair of fundraisers scheduled there: April 2 in Menlo Park and April 3 in San Francisco.

If she were going to come for the convention she would have timed those fundraisers for the weekend, not the middle of the following week.

It would be great to have them there and perhaps Obama will make an appearance.  Heck, Clinton could still come, but it seems unlikely at this point.

How about we use this thread as a roll call of Caliticians heading to San Jose in a week for the CDP Convention.  I will be there as a blogger for this fine site.  Are you coming?

UPDATE by Brian: Bob reminded me in the comments that we should remind everybody of Calitics mobile, which you can read on your cell phone. The new version even allows you to sign in and comment on diaries.  There likely won’t be much in the way of other press coverage, so Calitics will be your best source for news on the convention. So whether you are at the convention or at home, make sure you keep an eye on Calitics. And hey, if anybody needs signatures, Calitics would be a great place to let other delegates know about that.