Being a delegate at a convention

[question everything]

This was interesting, put I doubt I will do it again. With any luck, we will switch to primaries next time around.

It reminded me of the Iowa Caucus that I participated in 1988. But while there we grouped into 8 (I think this was the number of Presidential candidates) in a large empty room where we could move around, here there were 45! (or 46) caucuses and we were in an auditorium where there were those pesky chairs in the middle...

Amy Klobuchar made an appearance and this was the first time for me to hear her in person. She really electrified the crowd... all 550 delegates and alternates. I wish that I kept notes. She listed several failed laws that would need only 3, or 4, or 5 more votes to sustain a filibuster or to override a veto. The only one that I remember is Stem Cells research.

Of the 6 candidates, only Ciresi did not show up in person, Freeman, the county DA, spoke on his behalf. Yet a sub caucus of Madia ciresi did get 2 delegates.

When the sub caucuses started with several Madia Frankel and... or simply Madia, I was confused, but then realized the reason for it. Each sub caucus needed 29 delegates so if any of them had, say, 35, that was a "waste" of 6 delegates. Madia's younger brother was there on the state, on a ladder, and "directed" traffic between the different sub caucuses.

When we finally got the right numbers - and the chair actually walked in each sub caucus checking that all of us had our green badges and counting us - it was 4:30. Can I leave now? I asked our chair. No, we had to select delegates, for the Congressional convention. Thankfully, only 10 expressed interest so we tried to listen to them - with a noisy background, and voted, and two got a tie vote but, at least, they were "gender balanced." We voted again only on these two and again got a tie. They finally told us that they would settle who would be a delegate and who an alternate.

The Bonoff Franken sub caucus got 5 delegates. Terri Bonoff got a thunderous welcome and, really, the SD43 is her home base. Someone actually suggested a sub caucus saying "Bonoff is the 3rd." (or something like that).

I was surprised that a couple of sub caucuses just had Clinton or Obama, and one had both names since it was clear that that the votes for them was already casted.

I was glad to talk to both Franken and Madia and both expressed their disapproval for the stimulus package that would send us $600... Franken said that, yes, we should invest in workforce the way FDR did, and Madia expressed his concerns about piling more debt on our system.

At the end, I joined one of the Madia Franken sub caucus.

We ended up with Bonoff 10, Madia 8 and 1 Uncommitted.

And then, there were the resolutions, all 98 of them. I think that we were allowed 38, twice the number of delegates.

At first, sure, they all expressed lofty goals and why not vote YES for all? But then I remembered the way I voted in California, the state where "ballot box legislation" has been elevated to an art. As a general principle I would vote NO on all of them, except for some bonds issue, and a certain local issue where "Yes meant No." I was thinking then that this was why we elect our representatives to use their support staff and, yes, even her from lobbyists so that they could study the issue, debate it and finally reach a compromise. Ballot measures, on the other hand, were based on yesterday's headlines and on flaming emotions. The most notorious example is Prop. 13 that, yes, would have caused many senior citizens to lose their homes as property values and taxes were going up - and this was in the 70s - and where we may be headed here. But it damages the California school system that used to be the best in the nation. And, every several years, Prop. 13 calls for some tweaking.

The other notorious proposition is the "Three Strikes Law" that was crafted after the horrific murder of Polly Klass by a parolee. Yet, it is sending people who steal pizza to 25 years in jail and it clogs the court system as many indicted people are willing to stand trial to fight that fate.

Thus, I voted No on many resolutions that I thought were up to Congress or the Minnesota House to debate.

And I just circled YES, even though I felt like voting Hell Yes! on the proposition to move to a primary.

It was interesting to meet like minded Democrats but, what a long day..