Dante noted earlier today the Yes on 1A mailer that found itself in the California's mailboxes today, and its sad-sack effort to take tepid statements made by Barack Obama and somehow spin them into rhetorical gold that would earn the support of Democrats.
Unnoted in that post, however, was another mailer that arrived simultaneously in support of 1C. Let's compare the two:
I'm no expert in direct mail, but I can tell you that as a Democrat, the one on the left endorsed by the California Democratic Party gets my attention. The one on the right? Not so much.
Ultimately, of course, this is all fairly academic: according to the current polling, neither 1A nor 1C have a bat's chance in hell of passing on May 19th.
Still, the inability of the 1A crowd to put out as unequivocal and clear a mailer as the 1C crowd was the difference of just 22 votes on the Convention floor. 22 votes. If the polling on the issue were any closer, that fact would make a big difference in the media war.
Let no one say that each individual activist doesn't make a difference.
I had a great time at the convention, despite the eight hour resolution committee meeting and the fuss arising from that. I am pleased with the results of the convention. I'd like to second all the praise for John Hanna and add a hat tip to the CDP folks who staffed the committee, they did an amazing job with the resolutions committee. I think there are a few changes that I'd like to see for the committee, namely a meal break during the eight hour meetings, but overall, the process was smooth.
But in the real world, "smooth" is not a term that can be applied well to California's situation. The signs are everywhere, all across the state. But nowhere has been hit harder, and could less afford such a blow than the Imperial Valley. The LA Times takes a look at the region today, and the state of the Valley is far from strong.
"The valley has never seen things this bad, never," said Roy Buckner, Imperial County assessor and a lifelong resident of Brawley. "This is the worst."
***
Name the state statistic, and Imperial County (population: 172,000) is usually near the top or the bottom, whichever is worse: per capita income, welfare recipients, families below the poverty line, elderly living in poverty and so on.
From 1983 to 1999, while unemployment statewide averaged 7%, unemployment in Imperial County was 27%. Last year, the county's year-end average was the highest in the state. In March, the unemployment rate was 25.1%, the highest in the United States for any area with at least 50,000 people.
(LAT 4/27/2009)
I doubt I really need to once again say that cutting state services at this time is exactly the wrong way to go about it. It's been said already by people more important that me, from Paul Krugman to the President. Yet, it can hardly be overemphasized that we have yet to hit bottom. There will be more pain, and efforts to move money forward are misguided at best, deadly at worst.
The Imperial Valley itself bears a greater burden than most areas of the state. It had far less leeway, as its economy was already weak. Unemployment has always been high. But one of the things that I learned from my trip to India and my efforts to learn more about the country is that labor cannot be considered something to be supported. The Imperial Valley has a workforce that can be tapped as we move forward with the transition to the more realistic economy of the post-Bush era.
Yet if we fail to take advantage of our resources, and of this historic time, we will continue to deal with the same problems. Over and over again, we are pushed to make decisions that are penny wise and pound foolish, and it is places like Imperial Valley that pay for it.
OK, Art Torres is saying his goodbyes in his final convention as chair. To set up the day, we've already seen the new party officers elected, with the increased accountability from the selection of Hillary Crosby, the surprisingly good showing from Chris Finnie (24% of the vote), signaling the newfound muscle of the progressive grassroots.
The big showdown today will be over the party endorsements. The Resolutions Committee voted to endorse a Yes vote on all of them, but Prop. 1A will surely be pulled from the consent calendar. It's really anybody's guess what will happen after that. The party may vote on a substitute motion to endorse a "No" vote, or there may be an offer to go neutral on the proposition, or the Yes side will pass on the floor, or somebody could call quorum and throw the whole convention into chaos. We shall see.
Calitics bloggers also spoke with Gavin Newsom, John Garamendi, Bill Hedrick (running in CA-44), Beth Krom (running in CA-48) and more, and we'll be rolling out some of those interviews throughout the week. Much more convention coverage to come.
...I think it's worth putting Art Torres' goodbye letter, just sent via email, on the flip.
...The LA Times went yes on all the props but 1B, by the way, which, since they are a center-right editorial board that detests public employee unions, makes perfect sense.
...Forgot to mention that Russ Warner announced last night at the Take Back Red California dinner that he would run again in CA-26 against David Dreier. Obama took that district, and the increased name recognition of Warner, who has already run district-wide, will surely help.
...After the regional directors finally finished giving out their awards, new state party chair John Burton comes out in a bowling shirt to the tune of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger.
...Burton basically calls for unity regardless of the differences on the ballot propositions on the budget. This "Democrats in disarray" meme is plenty overrated. We'll deal with whatever happens after May 19. Incidentally, mediaptera reports that Yes on 1A folks are getting paid $25 an hour to hand out lit at the convention.
...Burton says "we will be the party of peace, not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan." Wow, nice going. "We need some exit strategy in Afghanistan." He leaves to a standing ovation.
...Howard Dean enters to massive cheers and a standing ovation. "You have the power!" He made his biggest splash right here six years ago with his 2003 speech at the CDP, the speech that catapulted him in the 2004 Presidential race. He's talking about the "generational revolution" that Democrats have brought to America. "The first multicultural generation in the history of America, the first multicultural President in the history of America, and we took our country back. Isn't it great to be a Democrat?"
...Dean talks about the rise of Blue State Digital and how they came right out of the Dean campaign into Obama for America.
Dante: Art Torres has introduced a colleague from his new organization, the founder of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine
...Debra Bowen will be introduced in a moment. She's a rising star in the party.
...After Debra Bowen's energetic speech, Art Pulaski of the Cal Labor Fed is speaking. Pulaski calls out Dianne Feinstein for her lack of support on the Employee Free Choice Act, and good for him. He's using the story of Cesario Guerrin (sp?), a labor worker who was stopped from joining a union.
...The #cdp09 hashtag is a good source for reactions to the speeches from the floor. Betty Yee of the Board of Equalization is up now. Hey, hashtaggers, copy/paste your comments on Calitics!
...Here we go, the Resolutions Committee is up, and the propositions will be first on the list.
...the speakers on the Pro and Con side are massing at the various microphones. This is going to take a while. I'm starting a new thread.
Several weeks of hard work have paid off, and the California Democratic Party is poised to provide a major tool in the fight for justice and accountability for the Bush torture regime. The Resolutions Committee included on their consent calendar the resolution to begin a Congressional inquiry into Judge Jay Bybee and other lawyers who wrote opinions justifying and providing the fig leaf of a rationale for torture, with all punishments allowable under the law, including impeachment.
Without the release of the OLC memo from August 1, 2002, showing Bybee admitting that waterboarding gives the impression of imminent death and allowing it anyway, showing Bybee allowing the CIA to put detainees in a small box with bugs in a Room 101-style exploitation of phobias, I'm not sure this resolution would have passed. But the release massed a groundswell of support from the grassroots. My petition to urge the CDP to support the resolution gathered 4,827 signatures in about a week. Courage Campaign hopped aboard as well and got 9,000 or so sigs on their petition. Activists called the CDP offices and pushed for passage. And the party got the message.
Resolutions can go flat if they aren't picked up and used as a tool. Today, when it passes the full party on the convention floor in a few hours, we can celebrate. Tomorrow, we put this to work. Thanks to everyone who put in the time and effort to get this done.
UPDATE: Here's the full text of the resolution, on the flip:
Here's a thread for the opening session at the CDP convention. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is taking the stage right now, leaving me wondering what this would be like if she was speaking as a candidate for Governor. Ah well.
The juicy tidbit I've heard is that Phil Angelides is strongly considering jumping into the CA-03 race against Dan Lungren. This makes a pretty good deal of sense. Angelides has the policy chops, the ability to raise money (he has a huge list of supporters to tap from 2006), and a focus on green jobs and clean energy from the Apollo Alliance. I'd like to see this.
Solis' money quote: "This is the most progressive Administration I've seen in a long time."
More later.
...The Garamendi-bots are out, bringing him to the floor. I think they just had a bunch of leftover signs from when he was running for Lt. Governor.
...Most awkward quote ever: "George W. Bush, you are bad history!" Garamendi followed up with the old "We now have a President who can speak a complete sentence" standby...
...This is a drastically long speech by the Lt. Gov. I think the crowd's basically with him, but it's a little awkward that he got the Governor candidate-length speech when he isn't running for Governor.
Robert: Treasurer Bill Lockyer is laying out the problems with the state budget - Federal tax collections are off by 6%, by 16% here in California. He reluctantly backs the May 19 initiatives, but made a solid case for repealing the 2/3 rule.
Dave: So Gavin Newsom is being introduced now. Lots of "visibility" in the crowd.
Robert: Looks like Gavin is planning to run as a change candidate - especially on his Healthy SF universal program and his protection of teachers' jobs. "The old ways of business just don't cut it in this tough new world."
Dave: As Gavin talks about his alleged delivery of health care to everyone in San Francisco, can someone please ask him about cutting the city health care budget by 25% across the board to cover his city's budget deficit? I will, in a couple hours.
Robert: As David notes, Gavin is clearly planning on running on his record as San Francisco mayor - able to provide "sound fiscal policies" while providing health care and giving teachers a raise. All this depends on the details not getting out to the broader CA public.
Dave: Money quote - "We're not intent to relive history." Yes, just to rewrite it. You can read Gavin's speech here.
Dave: Barbara Boxer is up right now. I'm reading over the speech, and it's a bunch of red meat.
After finally leaving the marathon resolutions committee meeting, I was finally able to check into my hotel room. I literally spent the entire of the afternoon in meetings, from 12:30 to 10:30. Without a break. The CDP is the new sweatshop, where's my shop steward? When "The Man" finally closed the resos meeting, I made my way to the evening of parties that you see at these things.
Anyway, today is the day for the Gov's race. Specifically, AG Jerry Brown will speak near the beginning of the slate, while SF Mayor Gavin Newsom will speak a few speakers behind him. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was scheduled to speak as well, but recently cancelled. The official reason was that he was too busy with city business, the political reason seems to be that he couldn't compete with the efforts of Mssrs. Newsom and Brown. As Dave mentioned yesterday, Newsom's contingent is out in force. They have the signs out in the streets as the delegates enter, they have hordes of fawning teenagers following him around the hall. It's a good day to be Gavin Newsom. Oh, and Jack O'Connell is speaking.
Outside of the main session, there a few things to watch. If you are a fan of crazy SF politics, I highly recommend the regional director race between SF Supervisor Chris Daly and incumbent August Longo. There has been a smattering of dirty politics, mostly from outside parties. It will be contentious, and certainly exciting.
At the same time, 1:30, the resolutions committee will be working to prioritize ten resolutions to go to the floor. If you are interested in one of the resolutions, you should check in at 1:30 and see what the schedule is, and when yours comes up.
In the afternoon, Speaker Pelosi speaks directly before the election of party officers. Chris Finnie comes on at 3:15ish, and John Burton at 3:30. The Female Vice-chair race and Controller follow shortly behind. Follow our tweets for more information.
Things I've noticed, both in Sacramento and throughout the state, as we wait for the General Session to begin:
• Soon-to-be failed Senate candidate Chuck DeVore raised a paltry $132,000 and has more debt than cash, spending over $100K on expenses in the first quarter. I guess non-stop Twittering costs major money!
• The great book Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency won a top prize at the LA Times Festival of Books last night.
• Saw new Assemblymember from the Palm Springs area Manuel Perez yesterday, and his entire set of bills this year are centered on the green economy, including vocational training for green jobs. Hopefully he'll come to Calitics and tell us about it.
• At the Progressive Caucus last night, leaders assured the crowd that the endorsement of Prop. 1A will be pulled from the consent calendar and fully debated on the floor tomorrow. Given the rules, this will require a 60% vote on the floor to vacate the Yes endorsement. I think it may be close, we'll see if the institutional support can hold off the masses. The "No" side probably has a better shot going for a netural position. The electeds are doing absolutely everything they can to lock up votes, including fearmongering distortions of the facts. It's a little ugly.
UPDATE: My friend Garry Shay of the Rules Committee sets me straight on some bad information I received: "It takes a 50% vote to adopt the Yes position, or No position, when done in Convention. It's 60% for the Executive Board to adopt a position on a ballot measure. In neither case does it take 60% to vacate the Yes recommendation." That certainly makes things more interesting.
• I'm assuming Phil Angelides still has a vote on the floor, and he's a firm no on 1A, saying that it would just push the problem forward instead of doing the structural work necessary to fix the state.
• Had some interesting conversations with Congressional candidates Mark DeSaulnier and Anthony Woods last night, I'll expand more in a later post.
• We'll see speeches this morning from Sen. Boxer, and gubernatorial candidates Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown, among others. We have some blogger meetings set up with Boxer and Newsom, among others, as well.
The very, VERY good news is that the resolution to impeach Jay Bybee from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals passed the Resolutions Committee with only small changes to the language. Any impeachment process must begin with a Congressional inquiry that gets remanded to the House Judiciary Committee. That's exactly the language we got, a resolution supporting a Congressional inquiry into Bybee and the other lawyers who justified torture. To everyone that signed petitions, you helped make this happen. We're not done yet, however. In order to get to the floor, the resolution must get ranked among the top ten at a "prioritizing" meeting today. Many more than ten resolutions passed in committee, so it will be a fight to get the Bybee resolution on the floor. I will be testifying in the committee today and lobbying for passage, armed with the thousands of signatures and personal testimonials gathered over the past week.
This could be as consequential as anything done in this convention, despite it happening off the floor and relatively outside of scrutiny. A resolution of support from the full CDP would be powerful. I'll keep you updated.
Netroots Nation has a panel here at the CDP convention moderated by friend of Calitics, Paul Delehanty (aka kid oakland). Thanks to a gigantic series of tubes, you can view it on your very own magic box.
In the Resolutions Committee meeting here in Sacramento, the committee approved a "Yes" vote for all the measures on the May 19 ballot. The discussion was fairly revealing and typical of what I've seen around the state. The committee members, almost to a man except for Calitics' own Brian Leubitz, argued that the ballot measures reflected the best that the legislature could do, and spun tales about the consequences of failure. Out in the audience, the crowd loudly cheered any time this official narrative was challenged by remarking on the consequences of success, for example the spending cap that would ratchet down state services permanently. My favorite part was when someone, arguing for 1D, said that "if we don't pass this, children will suffer painful cuts." Which of course is the POINT of 1D. "We have to think of the children when we cut programs for children!" was the basic message.
Once again, we see the grassroots/establishment divide, where the legislature and their compatriots in learned helplessness wail about tales of woe while urging a Yes vote on measures that would make things demonstrably worse in the state. We've gone through this over and over again, so the fact that the resolutions committee supported the measures doesn't surprise. However, the strength of the opposition in the room tells me that something may occur on the floor on Sunday.
I would guess that the establishment will try to push the entire package through, and since the only real institutional opposition is on 1A, there will be an effort to pull 1A from the consent calendar. I think it's genuinely up for question as to whether or not it was successful, which is interesting in and of itself.
UPDATE by Brian: Just wanted to remind everybody about two useful mobile tools for following our coverage of the CDP Convention. First there is the Calitics mobile site at http://wap.calitics.com. That allows you to read all front-paged diaries and comment in a mobile phone friendly website.
Headed out the door for a nice, leisurely six-hour drive through the Central Valley to Sacramento for another California Democratic Party Convention. Calitics will have full coverage, of course - many of our writers will be on hand, both as delegates and as plain old media. There's a lot to cover, from party elections to endorsements on the May 19 election to the resolution to impeach Jay Bybee from the 9th Circuit to the unofficial opening of the 2010 election.
The early pre-convention news is that Antonio Villaraigosa won't be making the trip with me (although there's still room in the car, so you never know). It's a confusing development, considering all the high-profile events other gubernatorial hopefuls Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown are holding (Jerry's got a kegger at the old Governor's Mansion, while Gavin is part of an outdoor block party featuring Wyclef Jean). But that may be the reason, as Villaraigosa wasn't able to compete.
Villaraigosa's press office sent out a release announcing: "Mayor Villaraigosa today announced that he will convene emergency weekend meetings with union leaders to tackle the city's budget crisis.
"Talks will focus on ways to close a $530 million budget deficit through shared sacrifice and shared responsibility. The Mayor will begin meetings in City Hall with labor leaders on Friday evening and will continue through the weekend." [...]
Calbuzz asked Tony V spokesman Sean Clegg if the emergency budget session was "just a lame, bullshit excuse" to skip the convention. "It's exactly the opposite of that," Clegg said. "The city of Los Angeles and most cities across California are facing an unprecedented economic crisis and jobs come first."
Clegg said Villaraigosa is putting the needs of his city before his personal political fortunes by trying to pull together an agreement that would require labor unions to give back some hard-earned gains in order to save jobs and services in Los Angeles.
"This is a leadership moment. Antonio Villaraigosa is not going to Twitter while Rome burns," Clegg said -- a clear shot at the other mayor who would be governor: San Francisco's Gavin Newsom.
At the same time, a Tulchin Research/Acosta|Salazar pre-convention poll (which is three weeks out, but released on convention eve) shows Villaraigosa slipping. The poll had Garamendi in the race at the time.
Obviously, that top-line support is soft, with 1 in 5 undecided. But I'm frankly surprised how quickly this is turning into a two-horse race, which could actually open the door for a progressive movement candidate, if one existed. But alas...
Anyway, those are just a couple of the issues we'll see unfold. Stay with us throughout the weekend.
(I've teed up a few posts while I'm on the ride, but it'll be a light post day until late afternoon)
I know you've all been waiting for this with bated breath, but here are my endorsements for the contested California Democratic Party (and a few California Young Democrats) races that will be decided at this weekend's convention.
Chair: John Burton. I consider Chris Finnie a friend and believe she's doing the right thing by offering a conversation and ideas about how to modernize the party for the 21st century. But when it comes to the CDP, right here and right now, I can't pass up the chance to put a bulldog in the spotlight. John Burton is going to be an activist chair, more willing to take openly progressive positions and assert leadership for the kinds of changes this state needs, including the 2/3 rule. As the right-wing organizes to make 2010 another wingnutty year on the model of 1994, Burton can hold that tide back without trying to push the party to the center.
He does have plans to revitalize the party's grassroots operations, so it's not the case that he is lacking in that department. That being said, I hope he considers the proposals Chris Finnie has offered.
Vice-Chair: Alex Rooker. She is committed to the development of a truly grassroots network of organizers in the state, and has pursued this in her role as vice-chair over the last four years. Alicia Wang offers lots of enthusiasm but I see no reason to not support Alex Rooker for another term. Note: Since Eric Bauman is now running unopposed, there's no need to make an endorsement there. Which is good because I hadn't made up my mind on that one anyway.
Controller: Hilary Crosby. I'm glad that Eric Bradley now claims to understand the need to provide some better oversight and management of CDP funds. But he is not the right person to implement this, especially since he does not appear to have done much to counteract the "Laundromat" (Eric's words) that the CDP finances have been during the last four years when he was Controller. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of giving him another four years.
Further, at the E-Board meeting in Anaheim in November he argued that "nobody could imagine" in the spring of 2008 that November 2008 might offer unprecedented pickup opportunities for Democrats, so it was fine that the party didn't allocate as much money to those races as it should.
Hilary Crosby has long understood the need for changing how the CDP handles its money. She is the right person for the job of cleaning up the finances.
Region 9 Director - Shawn Bagley. I don't know if this is even a contested race, but Shawn deserves a statewide shout-out. He has done truly amazing work as the regional director here on the Monterey Bay. Last year he helped build a robust network of Democratic campaign HQ's and did the work to make sure they were staffed and effective in their communities. The Salinas HQ, which he had the most direct leadership over, was a hub of activity and left a powerful organizing legacy in the Salinas Valley. Now he has taken the lead in organizing these HQs as permanent "Centers for Change", along with Monterey County Dem chair Vinz Koller and a group of activists and organizers. He is showing how you organize the party in this state.
Plus he has been very warm and welcoming to me, which was helpful since I'm a newbie here in town. Shawn is a model of how to build an inclusive party, where the leaders bring in newcomers with open arms and support their involvement in the party. Even if you don't get a vote in his reelection as Region 9 Director, if you see him, say hi and "job well done."
CYD Parliamentarian - Dante "Hekebolos" Atkins. I first got to know him in the comments at Daily Kos, and have since gotten to know and work with him in person. Dante is a wonderful progressive, a true grassroots activist, and a future leader in this state. He's done some excellent work on the CDP Platform Committee. He knows how to make organizations like the CYD relevant and important, and isn't seeking this for personal status or as a rung on a career ladder. He deserves the support of California Young Dems. Note: I'm not endorsing in any other CYD races, mainly because I can't generate the necessary enthusiasm for those races. Sorry.
So, those are my recommendations for the CDP and CYD offices. Feel free to offer yours in the comments - and I'll see you guys at the convention on Friday!
As far as an overall take on the convention I would pretty much associate myself with Robert's remarks. Ultimately these events are more important for the time-honored political practice of networking, of meeting and gathering impressions on colleagues and candidates for the future, not in a formal speech setting but one-on-one. While these endorsement fights and resolutions and platforms get the attention of the activists and insiders, and as well you can pretty fairly judge the activist/establishment gaps in the party in this fashion (the activists got virtually everything they wanted in this convention, particularly with respect to the platform), ultimately it's about people. And at Calitics we were determined to bring that experience right to you by collecting audio and/or video of some of our most promising Congressional candidates.
First up are Charlie Brown and Russ Warner, but before that I wanted to sketch out some of the other candidates I met over the weekend:
AD-40 is up first. Blumenfield got 65% yesterday, but the cards just went up and it's gonna be tight.
[Update by Lucas] Endorsement fails, endorsement is vacated. Art Torres is noting that a substitute candidate can come from the floor, would need 75%.
SD-03 will be coming next. The Leno signs are out in force, not seeing the Migden troops yet.
[Update by Lucas] Migden supporters are now swarming in as well. UFW representative speaks in favor of Migden, pitching on her union connections and support for farmworkers. Sen. Migden reels off the endorsements.
[Update by Lucas] Speaking for non-endorsement is Speaker-Elect Karen Bass (nice!). And Mark Leno speaks next with Kamala Harris doing her best to establish her star.
[Update by Lucas] Here come the cards. The voice vote was a deafening support for "no." Everyone has to get back to their seats before the vote can begin.
[Update by Lucas] "No" cards just went up, it's a stomping. It looks like the whole room.
[Update by Lucas] Final Tally: Yes 298, No 742. Wow. That's 71.3% for No. Motion from the floor to endorse Leno- he'd need 75%. Quick speech now.
[Update by Lucas] Voting now on Leno- cards are up.
[Update by Lucas] Final Tally: 979 total votes. 591 Yes, 388 No. 60.3%, motion fails. No endorsement.
Perhaps not surprising, but certainly striking nonetheless, is the explosion of press and outside-the-center activity now that Bill Clinton's arrival is near at hand. Where once the blogger riser was empty, now there's no room for everyone. Leno/Migden and Blumenfield/Healey/Waldman will apparently be kicking things off this morning- presumably catching everyone while they're half asleep and/or hungover from last night. Frank Russo kinda stole my headline before I could write it, but it's a good one- Migden-Leno Endorsement Fight May Overshadow Bill Clinton Speech at California Democratic Party Convention Today. As a few of us were discussing earlier, it'll be a story for the ages if Carole Migden manages to steal the spotlight from Bill Clinton.
...and we're off.
[Update by Lucas] To clarify how this vote is going down, a "Yes" vote would be for the initial winner of yesterday's endorsement (Migden and Blumenfield) while a "No" vote would mean no endorsement of anyone.
[Update by Dave] ...the Hillary visibility extras are massing on the floor. Incidentally, I heard that Phil Donahue's movie, which screened here last night, is uncompromising on Hillary's war vote, and during the time when she talks about it in the film she was booed. The reaction from the audience here to the Big Dog should be interesting.
[Update by Dave] ...Christine Pelosi is talking about the party platform. Marriage equality is in there, which is awesome, as well as the party's commitment to a safe and orderly withdrawal from Iraq and single payer healthcare. That's a good platform. And it passed without any incident. Fantastic.
[Update by Dave] ...Inola Henry on the Resolutions Committee reports that the party endorses a no vote on 98 and yes on 99 for the June election, and endorses the recall of Jeff Denham in SD-12. That's great, though I hope that the party will put some muscle behind the racall. Prop. 98 would end rent control throughout the state, and it must be stopped. Art Torres says "that's the easiest resolutions report we've ever had."
[Update by Lucas] San Francisco DA Kamala Harris is taking the stage now, speaking on behalf of Obama. Suddenly people have energy in the room.
[Update by Dante]Debra Bowen is talking about her review of the state's voting systems. Meanwhile, both Robert and Brian are looking at Debra Bowen's Facebook page.
[Update by Lucas] Video montage of the Convention just ended. Clips of Willie Brown being awesome, candidates, Pelosi, activists, on and on. Pretty cool, if with a bit of an 'end of summer camp' vibe.
[Update by Brian]: And we're killing time. This has got to be the longest secretary's report EVER.
[Update by Lucas] Well, here comes Bill. And everyone's gettin excited. Also, I could do without ever getting shushed by Art Torres again.
So Francine Busby has been working the convention for the past two days passing out literature to announce her campaign for CDP Chair in 2009. I don't have a horse in this race, but that also of course means that the other rumored candidates haven't exactly lit me on fire just yet. Speaking to San Diego delegates earlier, there was notable support for the idea. The candidacy at the very least would be a nice break from the traditional Bay/LA power structure.
We'll try to catch up with her for a few minutes tomorrow and find out what she has to say.
Well, Day 1 of the CDP convention is pretty much wrapping up at this point, well, save for the hospitality suites. The caucuses went pretty much as you would expect them. Steve Westly was at the computer caucus, Karen Bass made an appearance as the Speaker-elect in the Progressive Caucus, and Carole Migden was pretty much everywhere with two people with signs following her everywhere. It was all rather royal entrance-ish (Disclosure: I do some work for Mark Leno).
The progressive caucus recapped all of the committee work for the past few months. The election integrity is working hard to have the back of Secretary of State Debra Bowen as she fights for elections we can trust. Marci Winograd discussed the massive prison bond package, and the subject of Bob Mulholland came up again. In fact, the ProgCauc passed a resolution urging the party to distribute a list of alternate press contacts, including several members of the ProgCauc's board.
Mulholland must be loving life. I think for Mulholland, every time somebody talks about him, he grows another fraction of a millimeter. And if nobody talks about him? He slowly shrinks in his own eyes. Yup, Bob does the job of attracting fire, and he's pretty darn efficient at the task.
Other topics at the ProgCauc included education, the war (of course) and the normal litany of bills and legislators. Dave Jones talked about a new healthcare bill, which Shiela Kuehl called the "2nd most important healthcare bill". Not bad praise, really.
I stopped by the Youth Panel, although, at least one of the presenters didn't get a chance to talk. But, I learned some interesting facts, like Asian-American youth are now going, in vast numbers, to Democrats. Over 45% are registered Dems, while only 16% are Republicans. Or something like that. (Sorry, Claire, if I messed that up). At the LGBT caucus, we saw several LGBT candidates and electeds. Some are either termed out, or otherwise not returning. It should be interesting to see how many LGBT officials we have next year to continue the fight for full equality and civil rights. I'm hoping that the marriage fight will already be concluded by the time these new officials get sworn into office, though.
Enjoy the video of the rally cries. Even 2 months after the election, a few people still have lungs to scream "Yes We Can" and "Hill-a-ry." Good times. Save some of those lungs for the general, my friends. And for yelling "NO ON 98!"
I'm sitting in the lobby with Congressional candidate Mary Pallant. There's no WiFi in the caucus rooms, which blows. The crowd appears to be very pro-Obama; when Speaker Pelosi obliquely referred to him at the welcoming event there was a huge cheer. More later as I'm off to a blogger hospitality event.
OK, so a lot of us will be out in San Jose for the convention this weekend. And we've learned that Drinking Liberally San Jose is doing a special event on Saturday night near the convention site. This will be a good opportunity for Caliticians and their friends to meet up and connect during the festivities.
Here are the details of the event:
What: Special California Drinking Liberally
Who: Hosted by San Jose Drinking Liberally
When: Saturday, March 29 6-8
Where: South First Billiards
420 S 1st Street, San Jose 95113
Phone: (408) 294-7800
Questions?: Mia from San Jose DL at sanjose-at-drinkingliberally-dot-org
There's a California Young Democrats event afterwards, but us old fogies can linger around at DL.
All your energy and imagination is rejuvenating to us old party hacks. I want to be in contact with more of you.Thanks for welcoming Garry Shay and John Hanna to the dialogue.I hope they have deflected some of the paranoia that resulted from the events of Sunday afternoon. There will be a special Rules meeting in June where both the resolutions procedure and referrals to committees and caucuses will be discussed. Input is welcome ,email to robert@cadem.org.
I agree with most of the commentary and assessments of the presidential candidates.John Edwards got me. All the others seemed like they were giving their standard stump speech. Edwards talked to us with passion and sincerity and managed to include quite a few specifics. I'm sold.
Although I occaisionally post on Calitics and the California Progress Report I am very new to blogging and could use a tutor. I have no idea how to get exposure for my diaries and comments or do a whole list of other things. Any volunteers? I am more than willing to be a resource for all on Rules,Bylaws and the process in general. I also moderate the CDP Rural Caucus newsgroup and invite all to join at 1. http://groups.yahoo....
-OR-
2. send email to CDPRuralCaucus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Judy Hotchkiss
Member,CDP Rules Committee
