Well, I gave it my best. I spent many, many hours in Dover today, at the state Democratic delegate convention, but was not selected to represent Barack Obama in Denver. I end this post with an article from the Wilmington News Journal on who was selected.
The good--some great delegates were selected to represent Obama, people who have worked a tremendous amount for the campaign. The Obama campaign is very pleased with the makeup of the state delegation, and this is terrific! It was good to see such a full set of great candidates. A big weakness of the Democratic Party these days is having too many good choices from which to choose!
The bad--I was amazed at the autocratic style of state party chair John Daniello. Late in the day he nominated himself to lead the delegation in Denver, from the podium, and then proceeded to run the meeting even though the order of business was his nomination. Daniello follows the style of Senate Pro Tempore Thurman Adams (who freely uses his desk drawer veto, and who obstructs the passage of Senate Bill 4, which would have the general assembly fall under FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act). Daniello appears to consider himself, also, above the rules--that the rules are made for others. Clearly we progressives have some work cut out for ourselves here in the First State, to make the Democratic Party, well, democratic.
On the topic of bad form, I didn't appreciate having to listen to well over an hour of state leaders speaking--Daniello, Minner, Carper, and Biden. There were some good messages, but not even close to worth taking up so much time of hundreds of Democratic activists. Biden admitted that even he found his own talk boring!
I'm very disappointed with not making it to Denver, but this will fade. What won't fade is my desire to help Barack Obama seal the nomination--he already leads in delegates, popular vote, and states, and there is no question, he will continue to lead in August. The next stage of the campaign is the Pennsylvania primary on April 22nd.
The article >>> DOVER -- Several hundred Democrats met at the Dover Sheraton today to sort out who will represent Delaware at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.
It took almost a full day, but they got it done, electing 16 delegates from around the state, including nine pledged to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, six pledged to N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and one unpledged delegate. They will join the state’s seven so-called “super delegates,” who have slots on the Delaware team by virtue of their elected office (governor, member of Congress, state party chairman).
Before getting down to business, delegates heard speeches from four of those super delegates -- Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and Tom Carper, and Democratic State Chairman John Daniello.
Then they elected the following delegates:
Kent County: Joe Dillon (Clinton), Elisa Vassas (Obama), Peter Couming, alternate (Obama)
New Castle County: Robin Whitaker (Obama), Bernard Pepukayi (Obama), Betsy Maron (Clinton), Ken Woods (Clinton), Saundra Ross Johnson, alternate (Obama)
Sussex County: Kay Ryan (Clinton), Tim Willard (Obama), Ardeth Savage, alternate (Clinton)
Wilmington: Stephanie Bolden (Obama), Darius Brown (Obama)
At-large: Dr. Spencer Epps (Obama), Samuel Lathem (Obama), Crystal Barnett (Clinton), Bill Skogen, alternate (Obama)
Pledged party leader and elected official delegates: Wilmington City Councilwoman Hanifa Shabazz (Obama), state Rep. Helene Keeley (Clinton)
Unpledged add-on: Rob Carver
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