Arizona's district level delegates

...Edit to add a candidate that I had forgotten. Thanks to commenter Tim for the reminder...

...Edited on 23 March to correct some mistakes I made in the bio of Dritan Zela, a candidate for delegate. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Zela for the errors. No disrespect was intended; I just took poor notes at the meeting.

End edit...

Thanks are due to everyone who ran for a delegate spot, and congratulations to everyone who won -

CD1
Clinton - Jack Jackson Jr., Greg Kaighn, Dawn Knight, Nikki Basque (Alt)
Obama - Christopher Clark-Dechene, Angela LaFevre

CD 2
Clinton - Bree Boehlke, Debra Boehlke, Robert Boehlke, Matthew Miller (Alt)
Obama - Shirley McAllister, Eddie Smith

CD 3
Clinton - Jim Pederson, Lois Pfau, Howard Bell, Lisa White (alt)
Obama - Mark Manoil, Genevieve Vega

CD 4
Clinton - Dana Kennedy, Jose Rivas
Obama - David Gass, Kate Widland

CD 5
Clinton - Angie Crouse (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!), George Paterakis
Obama - Sean Bowie, Donna Gratehouse, Laren Kuby (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!) , Jim Brodie (alt)

CD 6
Clinton - Beverly Fox-Miller, Roman Ulman, Elizabeth Brown (alt)
Obama - John Chiazza, Kit Filbey

CD 7
Clinton - David Martinez, Gail Beeler
Obama - Paul Eckerstrom, Lisa Fernandez

CD 8
Clinton - Chris Campas, Elly Anderson, JoJene Mills, Bruce Heurlin (alt)
Obama - John C. Adams, Patricia Canady


I attended the CD5 Obama caucus where we had a diverse slate of enthusiastic candidates to choose from. The candidates ranged from an Albanian immigrant/Fulbright Scholar in Mathematics (who gave a moving speech on what America, democracy, and Obama means to someone who was born in and lived under one of the world's most repressive regimes - Dritan Zela) to a lifelong Democratic activist ("I campaigned for FDR as a fetus" - Jerry Gettinger).

When the balloting was complete, the winning candidates were people who were both dedicated volunteers for Senator Obama and long-time Democratic activists who were exhilarated over their selections.

Other notes from the caucus -

...Under caucus rules, candidates did not have to be present to win, which is a great ideal. However, future delegate candidates should learn from the results in CD5 - "no show" meant "no votes."

...A number of candidates for office showed up to work the rooms for supporters.

- Joel Sinclaire, candidate for District 2 Maricopa County Supervisor, was there, speaking passionately about the need for fiscal responsibility and accountability on the part of the County and all of its agencies (yes, he was definitely referring to a certain Honduras-junketing sheriff's office and a certain no-bid-contracts-to-favored-outside-law-firms-issuing county attorney's office.) His campaign website is still under construction, but the email works. Contact him at Joel[at]electsinclaire.com if you want to help out.

- Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for LD8 House, also was there. She's a small business owner and longtime community activist who's making a second run in LD8. She's running as a Clean Elections candidate, so she needs $5s and signatures. Her website is here, and she can be contacted at stephanie[at]stephanierimmer.com.

- Ed Hermes, candidate for District 1 Maricopa County Supervisor was present, bringing his energetic campaign to unseat Fulton Brock. He needs help with contributions, both financial (no Clean Elections at the county level yet) and time. Contact him at ed[at]edhermes.com if you want to help.

- LD17 state representatives (and candidates for reelection!) David Schapira and Ed Ableser were also candidates for district level delgates for Obama, but they graciously withdrew because they have the opportunity to gain delegate slots as party leader/elected official (PLEO) delegates. That selection process is upcoming. They're still collecting Clean Elections 5s and signatures.

Later!

Democratic Presidential Delegate Selection

Tomorrow, Saturday March 15, Arizona's Democratic PCs will caucus to select their district level delegates to this summer's national convention.

The AZDems' statewide information page on this event is here.

The CD5-specific info:

Caucus location -

CD 5 Arizona State University – Map
Registration: Social Sciences Building – SS (ground floor)
Obama Caucus: SS226
Clinton Caucus: SS229

Directions to Arizona State University, University Drive & Mill Ave. Tempe, AZ
Tempe Campus Map
From the 202, Exit Scottsdale Rd./Rural, Turn right on to Rural, Turn Right on to Rio Salado, Park in Lot 59, just North, Northeast & East of the ASU Sun Devils Stadium.

Drop off location:

CD 4 – 5: From Lot 59, head South to University Dr. Head West to Normal Dr., turn South in the parking lot nest to the Student Health Center. Drop off in parking lot.

All voting PCs must register before the caucus starts; registration opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes promptly at 10:00 a.m.


Delegates to be selected from CD5 -

2 Delegates for Hillary Clinton (one male, one female); 3 Delegates for Barack Obama (one male, two female, plus one male alternate).

In CD5, there are 11 Clinton delegate candidates; 25 Obama delegate candidates.

A list of all delegate candidates can be found here.

While coffee and water will be provided, and box lunches will be available for purchase, the ADP recommends that caucus-goers bring drinks and snacks, as the caucuses may take several hours.


Note: I've decided to caucus for the Obama delegates. I'll be voting for uber-volunteer (and LD17 PC and vice-chair) Lauren Kuby.

With her activist resume starting with volunteering for the McGovern campaign in '72 and continuing through her dedication to the Obama campaign, she epitomizes the grassroots heart of the Democratic Party.

In addition to her work as vice-chair of the LD17 Dems, including serving as both the Communications and Fundraising chairs, she organized for Obama in AZ even before he had an AZ campaign. She's both opened her home to out-of-state volunteers and volunteer to travel to other states for the campaign (IA, NV, TX) herself.

If there is anyone is the state that can be said to have *earned* a trip to the national convention in Denver, it's Lauren Kuby.

As for my other choices, I've got no bleepin' clue. :)

There are a number of other wholly deserving candidates; I'm going to have to wait until their 3 minute presentations tomorrow to decide.

Later!

Short Attention Span Musing

...In the most telling indicator of where the Republicans' heads are at, during yesterday's hubbub surrounding the NY Times' revelations that John McCain had an affair with a lobbyist and gave preferential treatment to her clients, Republican pundits seem to be most concerned with the "marital infidelity" allegation, not the "blatant corruption" allegation.

From Bay Buchanan, campaign advisor to presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-WD) and sister of Pat Buchanan, speaking on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 -

But going to the point that David [Gergen, a CNN political analyst] raised, I will tell you there is a problem. This is not the Democratic Party. This is the party of values. And we assume that our candidates have been loyal to their families. We assume that. We don't ask them that question.

But, when the issue is raised, when somebody suggests you haven't been loyal to your wife and your family, then we expect them to be outraged, to be out there saying, for one thing, "I want you to know, without question, I have always been loyal to my wife and my children. And that I want to be understood clearly."

And, so far, I think John McCain has not made that strong enough. He is going to have to make that point very, very public, if he wishes to galvanize Republicans.

Umm, folks, let's be clear - any issues relating to marital fidelity are issues to be resolved between John and Cindy McCain, and no one else.

However, if the allegations of preferential treatment for lobbyists are true, the story could (and should!) really play havoc with the political ambitions of someone who has positioned himself as an icon of ethical propriety in D.C...

On another note, the McCain campaign has derided the Times' story as a "smear campaign" but the timing of the story actually benefits McCain - it has come out too late in the election cycle to influence the primaries and early enough that the story will fade and have no influence on the general election.

McCain and his supports may not like the story, but the timing is almost a personal favor to him.

The full NY Times' story here.


...A few short weeks ago, the inevitability of Hillary Clinton's nomination seemed unquestionable; today, Barack Obama seems to be the 'inevitable' one, with his jump into the fundraising lead and winning 10 states' primaries/caucuses in a row.

It's not about who receives the most donations or who wins the most states; it's about who wins the majority of delegates.

The Democrats' practice of awarding delegates on a proportional basis make it unlikely that, short of a serious blowout in Texas or Ohio, either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will pull away.

Having said all that, Clinton needs big wins in Texas and Ohio, and needs them far more than Obama. She's starting to hemorrhage superdelegates; another big win for Obama would only inspire more defections.

Expect both campaigns to continue operating at full throttle through March 4 and on to the convention...


...In a move that is sure to surprise no one, the New Times has made the preliminary moves to a lawsuit against Maricopa County and the various actors (Joe Arpaio, Andrew Thomas, Dennis Wilenchik) in October's arrests of two New Times' founders for publishing stories critical of Arpaio and Thomas.

A lawsuit is necessary and deserved, but since the taxpayers of Maricopa County are the ones who will pick up the tab for any settlement/jury award, they'll keep doing what they want to do to stifle dissent.

The best way to teach Arpaio and Thomas that their desperate tinpot despot tactics are wrong is to vote for Dan Saban for Sheriff and Gerald Richard (or possibly Tim Nelson) for County Attorney.

Later!

Two facts becoming clear...

1. Mike Huckabee won the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination tonight - whoever wins the Rep nomination for President (and more and more, that's looking like McCain), they're going to need Huckabee's ability to deliver in the southern states.

2. Hillary Clinton can spin this as a big victory for her, but "it could have been worse" isn't really a "victory." Barack Obama has more momentum, and even if he doesn't win in California (it's too early to call as I'm writing this), he's walking away from Super Tuesday with a significant amount of delegates. Depending on super delegates, he may have the lead in delegate count.

This race is still so close that we could end up a convention that means something...

More after actual delegate counts are in....

Sometimes hardball is the wrong game to play...

Whatthehell are they thinking?

In a move that I sort of predicted a couple of weeks ago, the Clinton campaign has requested that the DNC change the nomination rules.

From Reuters via Yahoo! News:

Sen. Hillary Clinton, in an about-face, said on Friday she wants the Democratic Party delegates in two states that were barred by the national party to be reinstated and counted in the race to determine the party's U.S. presidential nominee.

In those states, Michigan and Florida, Clinton could stake claim to nearly all the delegates to the nominating convention in question -- more than 350.

Is the Clinton campaign deliberately trying to alienate the grassroots of the party? Do they really believe they can win the general election (presuming that she wins the nomination, a possibility that stunts like this could jeopardize) without the votes of the supporters of the other primary candidates? Do they even care about the damage such a move could do to the party's (and the eventual nominee's) image?

Are they supremely arrogant, or just supremely foolish?

For the sake of the party, Governor Dean and the DNC should respond to the request with a firm and final

"No."


More coverage -

Rolling Stone (critical)

New York Times (critical)

Palm Beach Post (not so critical)

Detroit News (not so critical)


Later!

Democratic Convention Hotel Assignments announced

The Democratic Party has announced the hotel assignments for the various state delegations to nexts year's National Convention in Denver.

The 76 delegates from Arizona will be joining the Oregon delegation in the Hyatt Regency Tech Center Denver. It's located approximately 12 - 15 miles from the convention site at the Pepsi Center (downtown Denver). While that's not a prime location, because the trip downtown is mostly a straight shot on I-25, it's only a 15 - 20 minute drive.

Of course, I'll be applying for press credentials as a blogger. If those come through, I'll be staying 2 miles from the Pepsi Center at my sister's house, and will be able to walk to the convention in 20 minutes or so. :))

The most interesting part of the hotel assignments? Florida's delegation didn't get one.

As of right now, Florida has been stripped of its delegates because it moved the date of its primary to one earlier than allowed by the Democratic National Committee.

Expect some drama and angst over this, leading up to the request by the eventual nominee that the Florida delegation be seated at the convention.

Where they'll stay until then is anybody's guess.


Denver Post coverage here.

The complete list of hotel assignments is here.

Thanks to the Burnt Orange Report in Texas for the heads-up on this story. (Texas isn't entirely happy with their hotel assignment, approximately 10 miles from the convention site - apparently they don't like Aurora. :) )

Later!

Another Dem convention, another Udall as a featured speaker??

From DenverPost.com:

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2008, retiring instead after completing his second term in office.

{snip}

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall [D-CO2] of Eldorado Springs will seek the seat. While others, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, are likely to be mentioned as possible contenders, so far Udall has the field to himself.

Whether the nominee for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat is Udall, Hickenlooper, or someone else, expect that nominee to try to get a boost in the polls from the presence of the Convention in Denver next year.

From his official bio on his House website:

Congressman Udall is in his fifth term. He was born is Tucson in 1950; his father was former U.S. Rep from AZ and Presidential candidate, Mo Udall.

ColoradoPols.com has a lot of info on this particular race; right now, it rates Udall as the favorite and former Republican Congressmen Scott McInnis and Bob Schaffer as the frontrunners for the Republican nomination. There is some speculation that they might try to get former Broncos QB and current car salesman John Elway to run. He's an active Republican.

I don't care who gets the Rep nomination, but does anyone know if Udall is a decent public speaker? It'd be great if someone with strong AZ ties (born here, graduated from Canyon del Oro, dad was Mo Udall!) was featured at the Democratic convention.

Especially since we may get stuck with "John McCain this" and "John McCain that" ad nauseum at the Republican convention. :(

Later!

2008 Democratic Convention: Denver

In an announcement that isn't all that surprising, Denver won out over New York City as the site of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The official announcement from Democrats.org is here.

I'm pretty enthusiastic about this, and am tentatively planning on volunteering/blogging from the convention (a cheap week for me - my sister lives in Denver. Don't have to worry about hotels and stuff :)) ), but I am a little hesitant - it looks like a union local was screwed over in the deal.

"The union has grave reservations," said Dave Minshall, who handles public relations for the stagehands. "I mean the Democrats ought to act like Democrats."

In this case, the "union" is International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local No. 7.

The event will be held in the Pepsi Center, a non-union facility own by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton.

Yes, that's "Walton" as in the Waltons of Wal-Mart.

The journey of the 2008 Democratic Convention to Denver hits a snag

From DenverPost.com:

Dems put city pick on hold until '07

The union official at the center of Denver's stalled bid for the 2008 Democratic convention said Tuesday that his opposition has been clear for months.

Denver's stagehand union leader, Jim Taylor, explained his entrenched problem with holding a political convention at Denver's Pepsi Center as Democrats headed into the holiday recess with bids from both Denver and New York in doubt.

The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday delayed its decision between the two cities in light of Denver's union problem and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's continued concerns about raising enough money.

Taylor, Business Agent for Local No. 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, expressed concerns over the proposal to hold the convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, which has a history of being anti-union.

Discussions in Denver are ongoing, with an announcement of the final choice by the DNC in early January.

Personally, I hope that the convention is in Denver; my sister lives there and has volunteered to be a host for volunteers if space is needed.

That would be an awesome opportunity, both to witness the selection of the nominee and for a few of the denizens of the AZ blogosphere to cover the event together.

Good night!