Category Archives: Democratic Party Chatter

I’ve been so busy on my trip here in Seattle that I didn’t realize until recently that July 21st marks the one year anniversary of Schadlemann.com!
I suppose some sort of profound reflection would be in order for said anniversary, but to paraphrase Col. Jack O’Neill when they were about to detonate a nuke on Goa’uld ship…nothing comes to mind.
For fun here’s my VERY FIRST entry…

This is a TEST of Journalspace.com
posted 07/21/2003
Category-
Testing to see if this kicks Blogger’s backside…

Ok, not that profound. But it has been fun to use this site to develop and expand upon my work and have a good time getting to know people like Nancy Rommelmann, Tiffany Stone, and other cool bloggers I’ve been reading. It is also nice having folks like A Fly on the Wall, the Queen of Sky, Cinema Minima, LAObserved.com, and many others post links to this site too. There are many others I’ve talked to or who have linked to me since starting this site up – so many in fact that any list I make will inadvertently leave out someone, and I hate doing that. It’s kinda like an Oscar speech….
I am due to attend a special screening of The Hunting of the President with Governor Gary Locke as one of the many honored guests in attedance so I’ll be posting more later. Until then, browse the archives and feel free to email suggestions and comments on the one year anniversary of Schadelmann.com!
UPDATE: The special screening of The Hunting of the President held at the newly restored Cinerama Theater in Seattle was a lot bigger than I’d expected.
Gov. Gary Locke and his wife Mona Lee (a former TV news anchor) addressed the crowd. It was unusal to see the usually placid, non-partisan Locke fire up a very partisan crowd in one of his last appearances as Governor. Also in attendance were filmmaker Harry Thomason, Susan McDougal, and the producers of the film.
The audience featured many Democratic candidates for office, including former state Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn who is now running for Attorney General, as well as nationally reknowned political advertising creator Frank Greer, who served as media consultant to President Clinton, South African President Nelson Mandela, Senator Barbara Boxer, and others. Currently Greer is working on the gubernatorial campaign of Christine Gregoire here in Washington State.
It was definitely an interesting gathering, and I had fun talking to folks in the audience as well as various candidates for office.
The film itself was interesting, if a bit predictable. Many people like to malign Sen. Hillary Clinton’s “vast right wing conspiracy” comment for fun and profit. Such people tend to ignore that there may not be a “conspiracy” but there were a lot of people who peddled a lot of nonsense far less truthful than that Michael Moore movie the other side whines and cries about, who made a lot of money.
The combination of partisan Ken Starr’s’ $80 million fishing expedition, and the millions and millions made off of crank conspiracy books and videos dwarfs any money that Fahrenheit 911 made. And yet, the other side caterwauls on and on about how “negative” Moore is. Whatever.
This film wasn’t so much about the “conspiracy” in the end as it was more about how people who claim to be reporters tend to be more interested in “the story”, regardless of how true it is, and how feeding the 24 hour news cycle is more important than thinking things through and making sure that if you’re going to go with some big story, the ducks are all in a row.
It was also interesting to see how Peabody award winning news people were tagged as “Clinton apologists” the minute they did not report 100% what was expected of them by folks like Richard Mellon Scaife, Jerry Falwell, and the like. In other words, you’re only objective if you report what Those Who Know Best want you to say.
It’s also clear that the wacky 90s gave us the Post Truth era we have today. It amazes me still that snarky, chain-store sponsored, faux bloggers who make up stories and freely admit it are called “witty” and get to report for MTV.  
It’s definitely interesting to watch, although I’d’ suggest it’s a better DVD rental than theater film, if only because I’d rather go to the theater to escape current events instead of watch them. When is that new Stargate movie coming out?
© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

When I first decided to do some investigating of the CDP convention it was with the idea I’d find a lot of bizarre, interesting, or humorous things to exploit for the sake of a good story. True, there were the funny incidents, and there were plenty of parties to attend and people to meet. Yet throughout the proceedings, even as people committed themselves for the work ahead, you could feel the sense of uncertainty amongs folks when one asked them how they thought things would go this year.
This year is going to be a very difficult year for the political system in general, and a tough one for Democratic partisans no matter what happens this year. The McCain-Feingold laws, changing economic divisions, and changes in technology make it clear that even if somehow a Clark or a Dean, or whomever manages to win in 2004 up against CNN, FOX News, and a half-billion dollar re-election effort, they’ll still be stuck with a GOP Congress (thanks in part to gerrymandering in Texas and Colorado) and the incredible burden of debt and ongoing administration in Iraq and elsewhere is going to make the next four years very tough for anyone.
It’s also clear that most Congressional Democrats (with some notable exceptions) still seem to concentrate on re-electing themselves, and despite talk and money for “taking back Congress”, folks like Sen. Joe Lieberman and assorted similar insiders are more worried about keeping their niche, doing what it takes to stay in, and really don’t have much incentive to change things. And frankly they’d rather see a non-DC insider lose to Bush than risk a win with Clark, Dean or someone else who isn’t beholden to the DC culture of risk aversion and personal profit.
It just kills me when Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who has the fighting spirit and the organizational and fundraising skill to pull off some wins is demonized by the press and the DLC Democrats as “too liberal” and paint her as some kook from San Francisco. This charge is usually made by people who write “paint-by-the-numbers” hit pieces and news articles – if they’d ever met Rep. Pelosi in person they’d realize she’s probably one of the few politicians in DC who has this habit of telling the truth and keeping her word. That’s a rare trait that deserves to be praised, not attacked by hack politicians from the Old Confederacy.
Certainly the changes in the party and the electorate needed to really change Congress would mean that the DLC status quo would need to be moved aside, or at least have to power-share with others. And to pro-corporate interests, that’s just unthinkable. Work with people they may not agree with 100%? Bah! Better to demonize them and kick them out of the “Party” (whatever that means) and then whine when they vote elsewhere. Such is the “logic” of the DLC/DC insider crowd.
I suppose the real story coming out of the CDP convention isn’t that the “Democratic Party” is in a state of flux but rather the whole political system is in a state of flux, and whether there is a Democratic (or even a Republican) party in 10 years is highly debatable. Moreover what does survive will have to bear little resemblance, organizationally, to the parties of the past.
It may be that the Dean, Clark and Kucinch folks may be able to find a way out of the wilderness just yet with the new people, tactics and ideas they’re bringing in to the system. There is certainly more hope there than with than the corporate, pseudo-middle politics of a bunch of DLC insiders who do not know, and could care less about what regular people really need and do not need in their day to day lives.
I’ve lived in one-party systems before and they’re not good for the majority apparatchniks nor for the people who have to live under such a system. It also is incredibly boring to write about! Besides, we’re in too much trouble as is to devolve into Brezhnev-like stagnation brought on by right and left wing ideologues with no clue as to what to do to actually run things in this country today.
Monday’s column will be posted late as I will be spending all day in meetings up north – but we’ll post something a bit more lighthearted for y’all to check out!

The only real fun at any convention, GOP, Democrat, Green, Whig, whatever party are the many parties held after hours at the convention hall and elsewhere. Many candidates hold events of their own, as do many supporters. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve seen so far this evening:
-Treasurer Phil Angelides had a squad of eager young folks promoting his big party this evening and true enough it had all sorts of Greek food. But the room they picked was incredibly small – so small it made it almost impossible to get a chicken kabob, much less talk to anyone or see anyone. Memo to Phil: if you promote the hell out of a party, get a room big enough to hold everyone – or at least most of ’em! For people like me who hate crowds, it was a bit difficult to manage.
I did have the good fortune of meeting an Assembly candidate from my home district, Mike Gordon who is not only the mayor of El Segundo – he’s running against the Mayor of Redondo Beach who appeared on Blind Date. No I am not making this up.
-The Kucinch Campaign’s suite at the Fairmont had a great selection of food and had the most political of all gatherings. Delegates and supporters gathered to have a drink and have some very animated conversations about Big Issues. Very much in line with the campaign itself, and worth popping in to check out for a little while.
-Best Party Crowd Award goes to the Clark ’04 campaign’s suite at the Fairmont. I find that the Clark campaign seems to attract an interesting, laid back, cool crowd that’s fun to hang out with, both in LA and up here. A good friend of mine from college, Chris O’Sullivan, was a delegate from Sonoma County for Clark, and told me where the party was. Very quickly it was the one with the most beer, the most going on, and the most fun energy of the ones I attended. If they could somehow broadcast this, I think Clark would win in a landslide.
-Biggest Invisible Group Award goes to the Howard Dean campaign. For a group that had huge representation amongst delegates, it seemed like they just vanished at night. No one ever seemed to know where they were or what they were doing. I can’t believe they all just went back to their rooms and slept – surely Dean’s people know how to party once in a while, don’t they? Baffling.
There were some others but they were just so so. AIPAC had free ice cream (nice respite from the overpriced convention center drinks everyone else had to serve) and many delegates started having their own parties to liven the mood up since it seemed that unlike past years, the political “party” scene was a bit dry.
Look for a wrap up of the CDP proceedings later tonight!

If you’ve never attended a party convention (Democrat or Republican, or even Green, or whatever) you’ve probably never been exposed to the maze of rules that govern the convention, and the party itself. While years of media campaigns and self-funded candidates have reduced the influence of convention meetings, there are still times when a dramatic intra-party contest can provide some entertainment, and teach a lesson about grassroots organizing.
The 21st Assembly District in California is located in Silicon Valley, made up of the cities of Palo Alto, Redwood City, Woodside, Menlo Park and other cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The seat is currently held by Assemblyman Joe Simitian who is now running for the State Senate in District 11.
Four Democratic candidates have filed for the primary: John Barton, Palo Alto School Board Trustee and architect, Ira Ruskin, who serves on the Redwood City City Council, Barbara Nesbet, a Monte Sereno Councilmember, and John Carcione, who serves on the West Bay Sanitary District board.
Polls currently indicate that Barton is the front runner, and records indicate he’s the only candidate who’s raising money (versus loaning money out of his pocket) and has no campaign debt. The question for delegates from the 21st AD was to decide to recommend whether or not the state Democratic Party should make an official endorsement of one of the candidates.
This is where things get interesting. The rules were pretty simple – one had to get 60% of the votes cast to win the endorsement. However, votes for “No Endorsement” would count against anyone in the lead for the nomination. This meant that even if one got the majority of votes, the “no endorsement” votes essentially counted as votes against whomever was the front runner. And here’s where the bargaining and politicking began.
Ira Ruskin, although not the front runner in polls, did have some advantage with the people who actually attended the convention. John Barton had a significant block of support as well. Barbara had the least amount of support, and told delegates who supported her to vote “No Endorsement” instead of for her – thus possibly blocking the endorsement for one of the others.
There was added buzz because Assemblyman Joe Simitian is locked in a tough battle with former Assemblyman Ted Lempert in Senate District 11. The overlap between the 21st AD and the 11th SD ensured a high amount of attention being paid by delegates by many campaigns and the lobbying and organizing began in earnest.
One of the most important things you can have in a situation like this is a person who can count. Now that may sound simple to you, but it really isn’t. One has to count not only how many votes one has, and how many the others have, but also how many people are actually in the room when the votes are cast since you have to get a certain percentage (or deny someone else a certain percentage) of the vote. You also need someone who’s good at corralling people and make sure they stay. Many votes in legislatures and conventions have been lost because someone went to the bathroom for “just a minute” – only to return to find that their candidate or bill lost by one vote.
I hung out with the Simitian/Barton crowd and listened as Assemblyman Simitian told assembled supporters the stakes for his campaign – he had the votes but needed them to be there! Most of Simitian’s supporters were also Barton supporters, so the work Simitian was doing to get his people to the convention floor would have some impact on who showed up for the vote on the 21st AD endorsement.
Simitian’s people had a very sophisticated operation, with no less than six “whips” who were in charge of 10 delegates each to make sure they knew what was happening and what to do. Very fun to watch and the sign of a smart camapign.
It wouldn’t be a Democratic convention without at least some confusion and once again, the CDP proved dependable on this point. The actual location within the convention hall where the delegates were to meet changed from what had been announced previously, and there was no longer any amplified sound for candidates to make their 2-minute speech to delegates with.
It proved to be quite disoriented and confusing to all involved, but the Simitian and Barton campaigns quickly made sure that assembled delegates knew where to go. I decided to make a quick sign out of my notebook and point people in the right direction, just so there’d be a fair shot for everyone.
Each candidate gave a short speech and it was clear Barton was the best speaker of the four. Ruskin has more supporters attend the meeting, and in fact at a pre-convention meeting on this same endorsement he’d landed 56% of delegate votes. Now it was time to see if he’d get the 60%, or if he’d fall short once again.
The ballot was taken by voice, kind of like when you’re a kid in school and the teacher calls your name for attendance. I provided assistance as an “auditor”, noting on a list of delegates how each delegate voted as their votes were cast, to provide backup in case there was a challenge as to who voted how. Then they started calling the names, while also providing a tally on an oversized notepad up front for all to see.
Each name was called and delegates shouted out their choice: “Ruskin!” “Ruskin!”, “Barton”, “No Endorsement, “Barton” and so on. Everyone was quiet and listening, and more than one person was keeping their own count like I was. High drama indeed.
Early on it seemed Ruskin was going to get it. As each campaign’s crew kept up their own tally, some were feeling good and some were starting to sweat. But just when it seemed that the great majority of votes were a runaway train for Ruskin, everything changed. The votes were starting to come in for Barton one by one, and the rest were for “No Endorsement.” Just as quickly as Ruskin had surged, he fell. Barton and No Endorsement were starting to dominate the vote tally.
The vote ended. After making sure everyone had their vote counted, the long division and multiplication began. Final count was as follows:
Total Votes Cast: 72
Ira Ruskin: 36
John Barton: 21
Barbara Nesbet: 1
John Carcione: 0
No Endorsement: 14
Thus, Ruskin fell short, getting only 50% of the delegate vote, a drop from his 56% in December. Barton, who had more community group and constituent support but not as much support amongst party regulars, moved up, and Barbara Nesbet’s bid for No Endorsement seemed to help – although one delegate ended up voting FOR her, even though she didn’t want any votes!
Barton’s campaign was clearly heartened by the news, since they’ve been leading in polling and organizing for some time, but like many campaigns, don’t always have the support of every single party regular who’s the type of person who shows up to these sorts of gatherings on a regular basis.
His surge in support, combined with many people who decided it was best to let voters decide who the best Democrat of the pack would be (and not the party), showed new strength for Barton amongst party regulars. Ruskin’s decline clearly caught his crew off-guard, since it is unusual for someone to decline in support like this.
Now the campaigns will all continue to raise money and recruit supporters. While some independent party organizations such as the Sil con Valley Democratic Forum (who have endorsed John Barton) may make endorsements, no one will be able to call themselves the 100% official party-approved candidate. In a crowded race such a label might help votes, confused by their choices, to pick a candidate. Now each candidate will highlight other endorsements and issues to help voters make the best choice on primary day.
The drama was over. The votes were counted and cast and everyone moved on to the Simitian/Lempert race. Simitian’s challenge was simple – he had 60% of delegates committed – but he had to get them all there and make sure they stayed.
I’d had my fill of delegate debates and counting strategies and took off for the convention hall to watch the latest LaRouche Loony Parade out front and take a break.
For those who think politics is dull – spend some time at a delegate fight like this and put your money on one of the contenders. Then you’ll see just how much interest these things can generate. Fun stuff.
It is unfortunate the Elders of Kobol or whoever is in charge of the Democratic Party in DC have spent years trying to make the national convention a coronation ceremony instead of a deal-making interactive process since it made participating in all these things more interesting – and more important. For a view of such a system, try renting The Best Man starring Henry Fonda. It’s worth a look!

Quick update: Sen. John Burton, the President Pro Tem, had some appropriate comments this afternoon I thought I’d reprint here for fun:
“We show up at these conventions , pass resolutions, stand around outside the hall bullshitting with each other, and when we leave we think we’ve done something, but we’ve done nothing. The only think that will win is for us to go out and work.”
Refreshing dose of reality in a convention setting. The state is all the poorer for losing this man to artificial term limits.
Ex-Gov. Gray Davis also made a very brief appearance to delegates who gave him a friendly welcome. “Last year I had a few ups and downs, as you might have heard. How was your year?” he quizzed delegates.
Still, as he mingled afterwards with the folks one on one, he seemed to have a genuine sense of relief he’s out of office and had a rare smile on his face. Carry on, Gray.