derby's TDP State Convention Report

Okay, here goes - and this is especially for those who didn't show up:

Overall, the convention was a pretty hectic affair. Many of the SD caucuses on Friday were swelteringly hot because of the number of delegates who jammed into the rooms in order to participate. SD-16 (my home district) reportedly had a record turnout for a non-Presidential year; I think they actually had to turn away a few people who wanted to serve as SD-16 delegates, and this after two lottery drawings to see which alternates got promoted to full delegate status.

The State Chair election on Saturday was pretty much the focal point of the convention in terms of actual TDP business, but it was a four-hour ordeal. First there were the speeches from all four candidates, which was all well and good, then it came time to vote. Most of the votes came in smoothly, but there were several districts that, for one reason or another, had the worst time submitting any numbers to the Convention Chair or even turning in their paperwork. I am happy to report that SD-16 did not have this problem. In the end, we had to have a runoff election between Boyd Richie and Glen Maxey, so ginbarn and I cast our votes and bolted for the door before anything else went pear-shaped in terms of the count. We still had shopping to do and only half an hour to get it done. (Phew!)

Hadi Jawad and the Crawford Peace House gathered enough signatures to force a resolution on the floor where the TDP would endorse the impeachment of Bush, but it ultimately failed by a margin about as close as the Richie/Maxey runoff. By this time, most of the conventioneers had already bolted for the local bars and restaurants, which was perfectly understandable, but still a shame - their votes could have made a big difference in the resolution vote one way or the other. I give DUers more credit than that, however; I assume that any DUers who weren't on the floor for resolutions and platform had a damn good reason. But the moral of the story is: If you're going to go through all the bother to get a delegate badge, put the damn thing to some good use. I don't care what you do to keep up your energy levels - perform some jumping jacks in a side corridor, down a Monster Khaos energy drink, play Halo on your laptop while they count the runoff votes, etc. - keep your damn seat until the convention is adjourned. This was our one and only attempt to call for Bush's impeachment, and we blew it.

But there was a lot of fun to be had, too - Wesley Clark was the keynote speaker on Friday night, which delighted everyone. Chris Bell also spoke on Friday night, but I missed the speech due to exhaustion from the heat; however, Bell surprised the Blue Dog Caucus on Saturday morning by walking in and making a short speech. I rang a cowbell as he took to the podium, which made him giggle a tad and earned me a firm handshake from our next Governor. Barbara Ann Radnofsky and David Van Os made their speeches on Saturday afternoon; if you haven't heard Van Os speak, I heartily recommend catching his next speech - the man's a firecracker.

The Blue Star Breakfast on Saturday morning was great, too; we had scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, new potatoes, etc. at the buffet, and Stephanie Herseth, the lone Democratic Congressperson from South Dakota, delivered the address at the breakfast. Then there was the combination Blogger's Caucus and Democratic Underground Caucus on Friday night at the Flying Saucer pub in downtown Fort Worth - the upstairs room was jam-packed with bloggers, activists, at least three Democratic Congressional candidates (Gary Binderim, John Courage, and Nick Lampson), and the very lovely and gracious Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who accidentally elbowed me in the solar plexus and then posed with me for a souvenir photograph. Good times for all...

This was my first convention and my first time to serve as a delegate, and all in all, it was great. Could have used a little more organization and a couple of breaks so that people could stretch their legs and not get worn out, but it was a great experience.

Pictures to come soon. To all the DUers who made it to Ft. Worth: :toast: :woohoo: :toast:

for this statement: "By this time, most of the conventioneers had already bolted for the local bars and restaurants, which was perfectly understandable, but still a shame - their votes could have made a big difference in the resolution vote one way or the other."

For those of us who live outside the big 4 metropolitan areas, it's not so easy to stay to the end of a convention, particularly a convention that lasts til 9:30 at night. The last plane to Corpus Christi left at 7 pm, from Dallas Love, no less. We don't have non-stop flights leaving every 30 minutes. The majority of the Nueces County delegation came on two buses and were faced with a trip of over 7 hours after the convention. We had several insulin-dependent diabetics with us, who must eat at certain times. Many of our delegation live at or below the poverty level, and can only afford one night in a hotel--with 4 people to a room.

It really burns me up to keep reading on DU about people leaving to party instead of staying on the floor. There were ALMOST 40 PEOPLE in my delegation who stayed as long as they could. We pulled into Corpus at 4 am Sunday morning--my cell phone died from people passing it around calling home to report the delay--cell phones are too pricey for many.

I don't know about your delegation, but our partying consisted of a meal at Luby's, whose manager graciously agreed to stay open an extra hour to let us eat, and a convenience store for those of us who wanted a beer.

Your comments are duly noted - I might not have made myself clear enough, but if someone had a really good reason for leaving early (illness, departure from airport, etc.), that was fine. I did see some reports from delegates (once again, none of them DUers) that just decided to bail so they could grab a stiff drink from the local pub, and that's probably where my frustration came from.

I will always appreciate you and your 40 fellow delegates staying for the long haul. Maybe I should christen you "The Fightin' 41!"

:toast:

I guess I'm upset because this group of people has the reputation of ALWAYS staying until the last gavel falls. We tried our best to stay this time, too. We had the bus come park at the Houston St entrance to the convention center because we had a large ice chest with sandwiches and drinks in it, so we could have some food available for the diabetics. We have had a Nueces County bus for close to 30 years, and this is the FIRST time we've ever had to leave before the final gavel. We had a lot of retirees on this bus, and they were just exhausted.

Fort Worth was a great city. I had a great time. Wish he had more time to do all the things we needed to do. There is a long discussion on BOR on what can be done to improve the process. I agree that resolutions always get the shaft. Many of us did have to leave on Saturday. This is where the delegates who live nearby have their best opportunity to influence the platform.

Congratulations on your first successful convention and keep making recommendations on how to improve the convention! 2008 is going to be huge.

Sonia

Does anyone have an idea where it's going to be held, or is that part still in the planning stages?

So it's not too late to influence the process. I have heard that it will be moving south, so I think San Antonio is the biggest convention city that could accommodate 8,000+ people. I like S.A. and that would be great, but if they want to go even further south if they can find the space that would be good too.

Contact your SDEC members and find out what they know.

Sonia

But it could be that we won't have to worry about booking hotel rooms in 2008.

Again, that was just a rumor.

Austin in 2008.

However I would like to see it go South. Corpus, Galveston, San Antonio, McAllen, Harlingen. The question is convention space and I'm not sure they have the capacity south of S.A.

Sonia

With one exception, state conventions have always been held in Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. We held one convention in El Paso--the venue was great, but the location was just too far out of the way for most of the rest of the state. I'm not sure about the valley, but I assume there is a venue large enough to host it. However, you hit that "too far to drive" problem again. Corpus now has the American Bank Center which seats 6000--too small for a Presidential election year, and I don't think there are enough meeting rooms for 31 simultaneous SDs to caucus.

Dallas and Ft. Worth conventions are brutal for us; the others are not so bad. Those of us who live in the "corners" of Texas understand that there will ALWAYS be some travel involved. I'd love it if I didn't have to hassle with hotel reservations and travel arrangements, but that's a fact of life. The convention needs to be in a central location with adequate air travel--which pretty much leaves out anything south of San Antonio.

Without a real convention hotel open (it was closed for renovations) the rest of the facilities were slammed by the throng of Democrats. The hotels overbooked then had to cancel or move reservations. The check-in process at the Hilton was swamped because they did not not enough staff on hand to handle us all, and the elevators broke down resulting in even longer delays.

There was not enough food inside the convention center Saturday to feed us all, and on and on it goes.

The Valley deserves to host us; South Padre has some nice facilites also and would be a grand place to hold a convention -- but probably not in an election year either. We might have 10,000 attendees in 2008 (particularly if we get some Democrats elected in 2006).

The only problems were that the pillows had way too much give, and the whirlpool spa was closed for repairs.

The pool, however, was quite refreshing.

Sorry reprehensor and I couldn't make it. Our niece was getting married up in Alberta, and we were gone 2 weeks. We scheduled it before we knew when the convention would hit.

And I owe you a BIG apology for snapping at you last time you called. MAJOR deadline was looming at the new job, and I was stressed out beyond belief. Had been working 12 and 14 hour days for 3 months, including weekends and nights, and I was LOSING it by then. I'm a bit more relaxed now.

Glad you guys had fun! Wish we could have seen everyone!
fsc and reprehensor

And don't think nothin' about that last phone call. We all get freakishly busy sometimes; you and I are good.

ginbarn says :hi:, BTW.

:hug:

We missed you! :hug:

DU hugball by proxy for FSC and reprehensor!

:grouphug:

and I've said this elsewhere, but IMO the reason the impeachment resolution didn't pass was becuase it didn't include Cheney... someone announced that there was another resolution which did, and I think that the people voted against the first one expecting that the other (better) one would be passed later. But then it got really late, and so they were all sent back to the SDEC.

Someone was telling me how back in the day, these things would go on till the wee hours, and people would go take naps on buses waiting for others to come wake them for votes. I would have liked to have seen some more of that passion.