In the January Assembly district caucuses to elect delegates to the California Democratic Party, many people reported that union members showed up to support delegates running on a slate for Senator John Burton for CDP chair. Many of these delegate candidates were also union members. I spoke to several of these union members running for delegate at my AD caucus. Both seemed like fine people. Clearly they were dedicated union members. Neither of them were Democratic activists. They had no links to or experience with the party. But, in my district, both are now delegates–or, officially, members of the state Democratic central committee.

I am a firm supporter of bringing new people into the party. But I find this development disturbing for several reasons.

First, in other districts, these new delegates forced out dedicated Democratic activists who have contributed substantially to the state party. The people who voted for them did not do so because they cared about the future of the party, but because their unions asked them to.

Second, these “slate” delegates got elected for only one reason–to vote for Senator Burton for chair. Once they have cast their vote, will they contribute anything to their local party? Or to the state party? Or will they simply disappear, having performed the task their union asked them to? I fear the latter.

We elected one new delegate in my district that I supported enthusiastically. A college student, she is the president of the College Democratic club at her school. She is an energetic volunteer in her county party. And just the kind of new voice the California Democratic Party needs.

But Senator Burton and his labor allies have used the recent delegate elections to achieve their own goals–not to bring new activists into the party. In so doing, they have deprived the party of the commitment and experience of the delegates their “shills” displaced, and of the opportunity to bring in more dedicated activists like the College Dem from my district. The lack of these true Democratic activists in our state party could damage our ability to operate effectively around the state for years to come.  

So, I’m quite proud, and excited, to say that I will be serving as a delegate to the California Democratic Party for the next two years. My election on Saturday went quite well, and the entire Ammiano slate cruised through. And hey, I even ended up second overall in the voting.

The election process went remarkably smoothly, all things considered. Almost 250 people showed up on a Saturday morning to vote for the delegates, and 44 people ran.  People were outside the doors with literature and doing all your typical electioneering practices.  I won’t lie…I brought bagels.  Most, but not all, of the candidates got up to give a speech.

So, how did you do? How was the process?  Did a particular slate take all of the seats? Were they organized by an assembly member, or by John Burton, or an Obama group? I’d love to hear all the gory details.

Yesterday on Daily Kos, I explained how my candidacy for Assembly District Delegate in AD-33 was a classic example of “crashing the gate.” Younger volunteers from the Obama campaign are continuing to serve in their communities across the country.

In some communities, there is more than just a tiny bit of friction between us and the old timers and their clubs. I don’t begrudge these long term volunteers their positions. But I do begrudge them their monopoly on local party positions.

If San Luis Obispo is famous for anything, it’s probably the farmer’s market. 20+ years before I moved to the area, I remember my family talking about visiting SLO to go to the Farmer’s Market. Tonight, I went there and leafleted for my campaign.

(Flip)

Here I am on the new Court Street handing out leaflets tonight. This is something I never would have done before I attended a community organizer training with Central Coast United For Change in early December, where I was inspired by Walter Heath and Hilda Zacarias to get more involved in my community.

On that day, we were broken up into groups, and had three hours to pick a project. My group’s project involved raising public awareness for a local non-profit called Transitional Food & Shelter that helps disabled homeless people, who fall through the large cracks in our safety net. We handed out leaflets downtown and wrote a letter to the editor. My belief in this need forced me to overcome my awkward feelings about leafleting. I found most people either kindly decline or kindly accept. Just like my first canvassing experience in Nevada, it was not weird, in fact, it was rewarding.

The happy ending is that our small, little quick action resulted in a surge in donations. I later volunteered to do pro bono legal work for that organization, and started this diary after writing a letter on behalf of one of their clients.

So, tonight, learning what I learned from a group of Obama volunteers, my lovely wife (the cameraperson here) and I hit the pavement.

If that’s too grassrootsy for you, I also bought air time on the local Air America station, KYNS 1340. I got an e-mail from a fellow volunteer today saying, “Heard your radio spot today–didn’t know I was working with a soon-to-be celebrity!!” I sure hope so!

And if that’s too “old media” for you, I also have a very Web 1.0 website helping people sign up for the caucus at http://electstorm.com. I was distraught to see that pre-registration is closed. I don’t remember that on the organizing conference call. I hope people who show up a bit late don’t get the Ken Blackwell Ohio 2004 treatment from our local Democrats!

I’m also planning on sending out some e-mails! I’m so 2002!

I’m a lawyer. It must mean I’m adopted. My mom is a teacher. My dad was a teacher. My wife is a teacher. My mother-in-law is even a teacher! Growing up with a widowed teacher for a mom in California’s High Desert taught me to appreciate the sacrifices teachers make. Some of my wife’s friends from school have been kind enough to support me, I believe, for that reason.

I will always stick up for teachers-that’s my mama you’re talkin’ about!

If any of you are in the Central Coast/San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria area and can come out to our party caucus, please do, regardless of whom you vote for. We made a big leap in the federal elections last year, but California is in desperate straits, and we need the energy people brought to last year’s election to carry over to bring California back.

Hope to see you Sunday!

I’m getting slightly conflicting reports about exactly where the decision to “prune” the delegate list came from. One report put it the decision in Chicago’s hands, another says that it was a California decision. But at this point, the most reliable information that I have was that this was a decision made by the California staff, and a decision that perhaps even angered the Chicago staff.

I don’t want to make a huge deal of this because I’m only 90% sure of this, but the signs are pointing to a case of overzealousness.  They wanted to a) make it easier on themselves for the running of the caucus and b) ensure that there weren’t any hidden Clinton fans.  I think they now understand the reaction that this decision has caused and the reasons for that reaction, and even that they made a mistake.

I think we can chalk this up to a more decentralized campaign than we are used to.  That’s generally a good thing in that it empowers local activists if the local campaign staff has some authority and flexibility. It is nice to be able to talk to a decision maker.  But, the down-side of this is that occasionally you get some rookie mistakes.  Look, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that you would cause more problems than you would solve by pruning the list so dramatically. It’s a double-edged sword, but I think I’m ok with that.

As Dave pointed out, it is a good thing that the campaign corrected itself.  It is a good thing that the campaign heard the grassroots speaking. Mistakes happen, and for the last seven plus years we had a president who wouldn’t admit mistakes and wouldn’t correct mistakes.  I’ll be glad to have a an administration who knows and acknowledges that they are fallible.

One thing I’ve noticed about the Obama campaign is that it reflects the candidate, in that they actually bother to listen and respond.

And so:

David Plouffe just sent out this email…

There has been an extraordinary outpouring of grassroots support for Senator Obama among Democrats and Independents in all 53 California Congressional districts.

In recognition of this tremendous enthusiasm, our campaign has asked the California Democratic Party to allow all persons who have filed to be a district delegate candidate for Senator Obama at the Democratic National Convention to participate in the caucuses this Sunday, April 13, 2008.

We are confident that delegates elected from this pool will reflect the Senator’s commitment to a diverse and unified delegation at the National Convention.

An overwhelming number of supporters have signed up to run for delegate, so there will likely be lines and tight space at the caucus locations. We ask for everyone’s patience and cooperation.

Most of all, please enjoy this opportunity to meet other Obama supporters and elect delegate candidates to the Convention in Denver.

If you have any questions, please contact Daryl Sprague at [email protected].

Thanks for your interest and active participation in Barack’s campaign to change politics and change America.

David

David Plouffe

Campaign Manager

Obama for America

In the end, the weird randomness of the pruning and anger from sections of the grassroots necessitated this.  I didn’t have as big a problem with it as everyone else, but I’m glad it reached a good resolution… until Sunday, that is 🙂

Delegate rules in Super Tuesday states might not produce clear front-runners

…

In a two- or three-person race such as the Democrats’, proportional allocation means candidates will win some delegates in virtually every state, raising the possibility of a tie, or at least an unsettled race, after Super Tuesday. If there’s no final decision on Super Tuesday, operatives in both parties said, attention would turn to primaries in Texas and Ohio on March 4, in Pennsylvania on April 22 and in other states.

…

“We’re in uncharted territory,” said Burdett Loomis, a University of Kansas political-science professor.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com…

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Well let’s take time for an objective analysis of that Delegate Race …

Sometimes a Picture or two is worth a 1000 rants …

I’ve compiled the Delegate Counts from CNN’s Politics page, as of the morning after the South Carolina Primary:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20…

These CNN Counts include Pledged Super Delegates.

These Pie Charts tell the story a still quite competitive race:

Pledged Delegates for the first 4 States

Pledged Delegated for ALL States

Pledged Delegates for ALL States Vs ALL Remaining Delegates

I’ve also supplements this with the Unpledged Delegates from Super Tuesday:

Starting with the baseline numbers from this Election Lineup site

[Note the total Super Tuesday Delegates 2,075 was adjust down to reflect those already committed from those states.]

As most objective analysis are now admitting, this still won’t be decided by Super Tuesday.  1902 Delegates are up for grabs that day — no one Candidate is likely to get enough of them, to get to that Magic number needed to win: 2025

Pledged Delegates for ALL States Vs Number of Delegate needed to win

So the race is still on … it’s a long ways from over.

A lot can happen in 3 months.

The best thing to do is to GET BUSY, supporting your Candidate.

As Professor Loomis noted well:

“We’re in uncharted territory“

It’s probably a good time to dig out those maps:

the Feb 5th Schedule:

Alabama (60, PP);

Alaska (18, CC);

Arizona (67, PP);

Arkansas (47, PP);

California (441, PP);

Colorado (71, CC);

Connecticut (60, PP);

Delaware (23, PP);

Democrats Abroad (11, PP+CC);

Georgia (103, PP);

Idaho (23, CC);

Illinois (185, PP);

Kansas (41, CC);

Massachusetts (121, PP);

Minnesota (88, CC);

Missouri (88, PP);

New Jersey (127, PP);

New Mexico (38, PP);

New York (281, PP);

North Dakota (21, CC);

Oklahoma (47, PP);

Tennessee (85, PP);

Utah (29, PP)

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/…

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The fight to Take OUR Country Back Continues

(as does the Fight to Keep it, no doubt.)