How to become a delegate to the national convention

[dragonlady]

Here's a very brief description of what to do if you want to be a delegate or get in on selecting delegates to the convention in Denver. I've been studying the state party's exhaustive (or exhausting) delegate selection plan at this site:
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1117822 (charts on pages 28 and 30 are helpful). There are a lot of details about things like delegate allocation and affirmative action, but this is the basic procedure:

If you want to be a delegate to Denver, you must file a statement of candidacy and pledge to support your favored candidate with the state party by April 4. These forms should be available from the party now (www.wisdems.org). (Hint: then line up a bunch of your friends to go with you and vote for you at the county caucus, below.)

1. The primary on February 19. The proportion of votes each candidate receives relates to how many delegates he/she will get.

2. County level (first-tier) caucus open to anyone who wishes to participate as a Democrat. Sunday, April 6, registration opens at noon and closes at 2 pm. The county gets to select a certain number of delegates and alternates to the 2nd tier caucus depending on how many votes it turned out in the last election for governor. See here for how many:
http://www.wisdems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1126800. If the county is part of more than one congressional district, it splits into separate groups for each CD. Subgroups then form for each presidential candidate and elect as many delegates to the 2nd tier caucus as the candidate earned in the primary. Only the people elected here are eligible to be selected for Denver as a district-level delegate.

3. Congressional district (2nd tier) caucus for those elected at the 1st tier. Sunday, May 4, registration opens at noon and closes at 2 pm. The CD caucus elects between 5 and 8 delegates plus an alternate, depending again on prior election turnout. Candidate groups elect as many delegates as their candidate earned in the primary.

4. There are also add-on delegates, and party leader and elected official delegates, and at-large delegates. See the selection plan (link given above) for details. The due date for statement of candidacy and pledge for these slots is after the 2nd tier.

I hope this will help lots of DUers participate in the process. If you've been through it before, please add details or set me straight on how it works.

:kick: