In light of all the rumors swirling about a possible last-minute change to the convention rules, I thought a call to headquarters might be a good idea. So I called Cyndi Roy, the state party’s communications director. According to Roy, there is “absolutely no intention” of changing either the 15% rule or any other rule at the convention.
To quote Stephen Colbert, “and that’s The Word.”
Please share widely!
I’m sure she said just that. Call me paranoid, but I wouldn’t assume that the statement was truthful. For one thing, a rules change passes only if there’s poor attendance by Patrick delegates, and announcing such a change would sure pump up attendance. By the way, I don’t expect the rules change to be tried, partly because the Patrick delegation will be there in force and partly because my guess is that the Gabber will get enough of the hack, er, ex officio, votes to hit his 15%. My point is just that assurances from party spokespeople in a context such as this one are pretty much worthless.
But Cyndi doesn’t dictate whether or not such an attempt will be made by others. Here’s the rule in question:
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Motion to Suspend the Rules
The Chairperson may entertain a motion to suspend the Rules, in order to allow a matter submitted in writing by at least 50 delegates by Noon of the second day of the convention to the Sergeant at Arms, to refer an item to the Democratic State Committee or to adopt a resolution relative to a sense of the Convention, which shall be decided without debate and which shall require a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all Delegates voting, a quorum being present.
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So, it doesn’t have to be party leadership which has anything to do with this.
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And my best prediction is that Gabby doesn’t get his 15%. I think he’ll be shy of it either by as much as 50% or as little as a couple percentage points.
How large must the quorum be on Friday night?
I believe the motion in question would be to amend the rules, not suspend them. I expect such an amendment would be debatable.
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However, the vote required is the same (2/3).
the Final Word?
There are never final words in politics in MA. If there were, the Dukakis/McGovern study recommendations would have been adopted in totality based upon public input. You see, it’s the public component that always been so bothersome. In some cases, the DSC is trying to stop the crazies. However, they seem to not understand that everyone, even crazies and the pulbic, have moments of complete sanity.