Monday, April 21, 2008

My report as an Obama delegate to Pacific County Convention

Saturday, April 19, 2008, Pacific County Courthouse is when and where it was held. I attended as a delegate for Obama from my local precinct caucus. Pacific County will be sending to the Congressional and State convention a total of 7 delegates; four delegates for Obama, and three delegates for Clinton.


I am not among those chosen, yet I am proud, because, having given two brief yet passionate speeches, the message I carry and want sent forth as a military family with 2 returning Iraq veterans and one again deployed in Iraq now will be carried to the Congressional and State conventions. Two of the four Obama delegates know first hand the stakes of having loved ones deployed in Iraq. One is also a military family (father with two returning Iraq veterans; his daughter was wounded in Iraq). The other is a woman, a Marine, Vietnam-era.


Breaking it down into categories, we had four elements that could have gone more smoothly:


Confusion about delegates from the precincts

Rudely interrupted during support Obama speech

Can a seated delegate change position of support?

Confusion in the math yielding percentages for the number of delegates for the candidates

What was tearfully moving to me about the unfolding events is the manner in which they unfolded. Despite the confusions that seemed to abound, by the end, I found myself quite moved by an experience I will recount here.


Confusion about delegates from the precincts


The proceedings began with confusion from those who were reading the sign-in sheets of delegates and alternates. It might be that it could have been better organized and perhaps with a few simple strokes of highlight pens, it would have become much more clear who was who representing what precinct caucus.


As the sign in sheets were read, there was an almost immediate mistake. The alternate delegate from Bay Center precinct was identified as the seated delegate, while my own name as a delegate from Bay Center precinct was not called, despite the fact that I had clearly signed in earlier in the morning. We called attention to the oversight, and after about three times trying to explain that the actual delegate (myself) had not been called or seated and instead the officer was calling the alternate delegate as being seated as the primary delegate, when in fact I, the delegate, was here and was the one to be seated. It took several tries to convey the concept and get it corrected.


From there, other mistakes in who was the delegate, who was the alternate and who was to be seated continued from the various precincts continued to become the norm. Later, the chairman would resort to taking the actual precinct caucus forms and begin going one by one through them calling the names of identified delegates and alternates from each precinct.


Once it became apparant there were mistakes being made in how the officer was reading the sign in sheets, both the officers left the room to try to rework the sign-in sheet names and the numbers. This left a blank spot in the proceedings, so the Chair announced this would be a good time for supporters to give brief speech of support for their candidate.


Rudely interrupted during support Obama speech


A delegate from each campaign gave a brief speech, and then the floor was opened to others who wished to give brief speech. And I was one who did want to add my comments - particularly to bring focus to issue of ongoing war in Iraq and the candidates position on the war.


So I did, and before I could get very far into expressing my thoughts, mentioning that Hillary Clinton voted for the war, one of the Clinton delegates interrupted me stating that she did not. I was confounded because by now, everyone knows that Senator Hillary Clinton did vote in favor of the war. I asserted as much and he argued with me that she did not. Again I asserted that she did in fact vote yes, in favor, and about this point, when he interrupted yet again to say she did not, the chairman intervened to ask him to hold his thoughts and he would be given chance to speak.


He replied that he was too upset to speak and looked daggers at me as I continued with expressing my own thoughts (thinking to myself as I spoke that this was not going too well). I pointed out the recent General Petraeus testimony to Congress and Senator Obama's questions to General Petraeus as to what victory in Iraq looks like; that Obama seemed willing to get into the complexities of Iraq war with the General. I don't remember what else I said. The gentleman who had interrupted me several times chose not speak, rather another Clinton delegate spoke asking, in effect, for calm to be restored to the proceedings.


I really was taken aback by the verocity of the continued interruption from the Clinton delegate. For as long as I have been speaking out publicly as an activist military family, I have not yet had a direct one on one exchange of such an intensity even with people I have encountered who have publicly stated positions oppositional to idea of bringing the troops home. Perhaps that is more because I know to expect it from oppositionalists, but didn't expect it at a Democratic convention from a fellow Democrat.


It did have the effect of causing my mind to whirl a bit. Not so much at the manner of the man, as much as I was wondering how it could possibly be parsed that Senator Clinton did not vote in favor of authorizing this President to invade and occupy Iraq - which was no direct threat to our country as a result of 911 or otherwise. I had to wonder what kind of talking points about the fact of her favorable vote for pre-emptive war in Iraq had been developed for the Clinton campaign supporters.


Can a seated delegate change position of support?


By this time the officers had come back in with their updated counts of the delegates. Again some confusion ensued, until finally the chair concluded what he had begun in reading the names of delegates and alternates from the official precinct caucus official forms. That took some time, all told, getting the delegate and alternate delegate names read, identified and seated took almost 3 hours.


Once we got through that, then arose some confusion about if a now identified and seated delegate could change mind and support. Two people made it very clear they did not want to be seated delegates for Clinton. Another indicated wanted to change mind from being an Obama supporter to being a Clinton supporter.


Initially, the responses to them were that they had to remain as delegates as assigned from the precinct caucuses. It was not explained that after the process of getting seated delegates, they could be given the option to change their minds.


Let's just say that I'm glad that I and my fellow delegate from my precinct was there to help the chair and the delegates to understand that seated delegates could change their mind and we had delegates who indicated a desire to do so.


Confusion in the math yielding percentages for the number of delegates for the candidates


Then came the math and percentages. More confusion. In the end there remained confusion about the number of delegates representing Obama and the number representing Clinton. My neighbor delegate was keeping up with the changes and math percentages along with other Obama delegates and it was believed that with the changes of mind of some of the delegates changing to Obama, that we would have added an additional Obama delegate to send forward to the state convention.


A back and forth ensued, and then an Obama delegate called for a Point of order to do head count, and that was refuted as too time consuming and unnecessary since some delegates and alternatives had signed in and left already.


It seemed unlikely that we could not get any more accurate with the count or the math in light of the fact that some delegates had signed in and left already, it was conceded that the math from the sign in sheets would be used. We were assured that with the modifications, and changes in delegate status either to Obama or Clinton, the sign in sheets had now been counted three times with the same numbers and outcome. Pacific County would be sending 4 delegates for Obama and 3 delegates for Clinton.


Given the earlier confusion from reading delegate names from the sign in sheets, you can probably see what I had little reason to be reassured that the math using sign in sheets was accurate.


I'm still inclined to believe that by the math, it should have been 5 delegates for Obama and 2 for Clinton. I think this a result more of confusion and I am not impugning the character of anyone who was there. I personally decided not to continue to object as, in truth, some delegates and/or alternates had indeed left already so a head count would not have yielded any more accurate numbers than the confusion of the numbers from the sign in sheets.


Identifying Obama Delegates to send to National Convention


Then we needed to identify the delegates that we would be sending to state convention so we split off into two groups in different rooms. Obama supporters and Clinton supporters. For our Obama group, we had those interested and committed to being delegates from Pacific County at the Congressional and State convention, and perhaps the national convention identify themselves and add their names on the sign up board. Each then to give a brief speech as to why they would like to be a representative delegate for Obama.


While I didn't have an investment in being a delegate for Obama beyond county convention, I wanted to be sure my message was part of the discussion at the next level conventions, so I signed up. My experience has been in my county that I am usually the only military family willing to speak up, so I assumed that would be the case again.


But, to my tearful surprise, in the speeches I learned of a woman who signed up and gave her speech identifying herself as a Marine from Vietnam time. I was quite taken with her calling to attention the need for a real leader and that she saw that in Obama. And more to my tearful surprise was when the father gave his speech and identified that he too was a military family with 2 returning Iraq veterans - both were his kids, one his daughter who had been wounded in Iraq. He gave a passionate speech about why he supported Obama.


Then came my turn, and I was so moved that others identifying their military family and veteran status were speaking up that I encouraged they be voted to be the delegates to send forward. As the speeches went on, another man identified himself as Special Forces, and at the very last, a young man went up and signed up to be a delegate for Obama at the state convention: when he gave his speech he identified that he was a Marine, returning Iraq veteran.


This was a first for me in the county where I live, to have others in the county willing to identify themselves publicly as military families and/or veterans supporting Obama in expectation that he could and would do something about exiting Iraq. It was both a confusing and satisfying county convention.


Also I have to be grateful to WB wrtiers that due to the content here, I actually learned enough about caucus and convention process to make a small difference at our county convention.

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