Several weeks ago, I attended my first Texas Democratic Caucus, had I known they existed before, I would’ve been going since the year I moved to Austin. But as everyone knows, Texas hasn’t bothered with the process in a generation because the candidates have usually been “chosen” by Iowa, New Hampshire and a half-dozen other smaller states (which don’t reflect America completely). Several weeks ago, I got the opportunity to be one of the 21 pledged delegates (I could change my mind) to attend yesterday’s Travis County Democratic Convention. There my precinct and dozens of others would select one or more delegates to attend the statewide convention in April. The state convention elects who goes on to Denver this Summer.
How was it though? An utter madhouse but worth the rare opportunity. Someone said in 2004, 1300 people showed and wrapped up by 11 AM. This time, 6613 registered delegates came resulting in a huge traffic jam on Decker Lane. The entry deadline had to be extended to 1130 AM (from 10). It was like a crazy, disorganized rock concert because I paid three bucks for a package of M&Ms!
What was I exactly doing for 11 hours? After the hour it took to receive my credentials (above), I spent another 30 minutes hunting down where my precinct sits. Once this was found, I escorted anyone I recognized from the precinct 227 caucus (regardless of candidate) to our spot. While wandering around, I bumped into my state senator (and former mayor of Austin), Kirk Watson. Yes, I’m that much of a political geek, I know who my state senator AND statehouse representative are (Dawnna Dukes). When I walked by him, my brain was cloudy from the lack of sleep which put me in a state of bewilderment; “I know this guy yet I can’t put it together!” He patted me on the shoulder and said, “How’s it going guy?” Serves me right for not stopping to get a latte on the drive down. The rest of the time, I was usually in my area socializing with fellow Obama supporters. We weren’t unfriendly to the Hilary camp, I just guess they were busy or something. We just had the one allocated delegate position locked up for our candidate.
The convention floor at 830 AM
The floor at 930 AM
The floor after 1030 AM and it remained like this until late afternoon
As the county officials pieced together the rules, various celebrities of the Democratic Party spoke at the podium to keep up the energy: Kirk Watson, Lloyd Doggett (the congressman Tom DeLay failed to eliminate in the 2003 redistricting power grab), candidate Larry Doherty (running for Congressional District 10), candidate Rosemary Lehmberg (running for Travis DA), former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe (specialist extraordinaire at losing elections) and the one everyone could agree on, actor Sean Astin. Yes, Frodo’s gardner, former Goonie and plucky underdog Rudy came to rally the troops. He was too far away to get a decent picture, argh! The bulk of the speeches were calls for unity despite some backing one candidate or another. There was rhetoric. Not like it’s hard pointing out this administration’s numerous failures. Cheney’s arrogant answer of “So?” certainly doesn’t help defend it.
There I am with my precinct! Thanks for the picture David.
I apologize for the partisan jab. I want to keep my site apolitical but Bush and company deserve the majority of the criticism and scorn it receives. Especially if you’ve seen the latest episode of Frontline on how Iraq became a mess. How there remains a fraction of Americans, varying between 25 to 33 percent, completely loyal to the most petulant president in history is mind boggling.
The convention was awesome though. I can only hope the enthusiasm contained in the Expo Center can be maintained until November and beyond. Regardless of party, the American people need to be this involved during every election cycle, not just when the nation is a divided mess.