The Massachusetts Democratic Party is excited to announce that we have completed the election of our delegation to the Democratic National Convention, and that Governor Deval Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray will lead the delegates to Denver as co-chairs of the delegation.
” We are tremendously proud to have two of our finest Democrats, Governor Patrick and Senate President Murray, as co-chairs of what is truly a representative and exceptional delegation.” Said Party Chairman John Walsh. ” Our delegates hail from diverse backgrounds and every corner of the state. They bring out the best in Massachusetts Democrats and will serve us well at the convention in Denver.”
“It is an honor to be chosen to chair this delegation with Senate President Murray” said Governor Deval Patrick. “I’m proud to join other proud Massachusetts Democrats who share a vision for change in Washington.”
” I am honored to be elected as co-chair of this delegation with Governor Patrick,” said Senate President Therese Murray. “This will be a historic election and I am proud to stand with my fellow democratic activists to nominate the next President of the United States.”
At a meeting of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103’s Freeport Hall, the committee elected 12 Pledged Party Leaders and Elected Officials, 2 unpledged add-ons, 20 at large delegates, and 6 at large alternates.
Party Leaders and Elected Officials:
Pledged to Senator Hillary Clinton
Andrea Cabral, Sheriff of Suffolk County
Joseph DeNucci, State Auditor
Salvatore DiMasi, Speaker of the House of Representatives
William Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Joan Menard, State Senator
Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston
Therese Murray, Senate President
Pledged to Senator Barack Obama
David Paul Linsky, State Representative
Linda Dorcena Forry, State Representative
Dianne Wilkerson, State Senator
Robert Haynes, President AFL-CIO
Philip Johnston, Former Chair MDP
Unpledged Add-ons:
Martha Coakley, Attorney General
Arthur Powell, Democratic State Committee
At Large Delegates and Alternates:
Senator Hillary Clinton At Large
Carol Anne Aloisi
Patricia Armstrong
Katherine Chang
Deborah Goldberg
State Representative Lida Harkins
Kathleen Healy
Mary O’Brien
Lois Pines
State Senator Karen Spilka
Lynda Tocci
State Representative Alice Wolf
State Representative Harold Naughton Jr.
George Barnoski, alternate
Cathy Dwyer, alternate
Lucy Rivera, alternate
Senator Barack Obama At Large
Thomas Barbera
State Representative Willie Mae Allen
Cathaleen Ashton
Hannah Banks
Ania Camargo
Sarah Compton
Christina Wu
Christina Yoon
Sara Aviel, alternate
Leon Brathwaite, alternate
Mushtaque Mirza, alternate
Also, the following individuals were appointed by the campaigns for Senator Clinton and Senator Obama to the three standing committees for the convention: Credentials, Platform, and Rules.
Credentials:
Rebecca “DeeDee” Edmondson, Cambridge
State Representative Marie St. Fleur, Boston
State Representative Daniel Bosley, North Adams
Rev. Miniard Culpepper, Dorchester
Platform:
Paul Giorgio, Worcester
Joseph Kaplan, Mansfield
Ann Roosevelt, Cambridge
Miriam Vogel, Brookline
Rules:
Bob Bower, Marlboro
Maria Buonaugurio, Medford
Alice Jelin-Isenberg, Boston
Paul Pezzella, Boston
Pages:
Kathleen Manning Hall, Malden
Eric Turner, Newton
Sue Thomson, Malden
No wonder this state is turning to shit….
The establishment politicians line up behind Clinton (see list above)as a result, the state Democratic Party was only able to come up with Sen. Wilkerson to pledge for Obama?
Come on!
Change we can believe in?
Not if that change comes from felon Wilkerson. This is so sad. The state party ought to be working to remove Wilkerson and her very compromised ethics from public service, not provide her with additional credentials. Of course Massachusetts will vote for whomever the Democrats select, so why play footsie with felons. This is an opportunity to clean up our own house.
If Brack becomes president, he will likely appoint Delegate Diane Wilkerson to an ambassadorshp. Then you will get you wifh that she is out of the state senate.
<
p>Oh, Deval will be U.S. attorney general and there will be new curtains on Beacon Hill. GMC leasing can transfer the Cadillac lease to D.C.
<
p>When Barack is in the Oval Office there will be lots of movement at the State House.
<
p>
I have to take issue with the statement about change and status quo. Wilkerson = change? T. Murray = status quo?
<
p>That grossly exagerates Wilkerson’s positives, of all the Obamacans in Massachusetts…..why?
<
p>Diminishing the first female Senate President, who is not only smart but an unbelievable work horse is bad form. From what I can see the Senate President is the leader and torch bearer for women’s issues in the state and I kid you not, asserting women’s issues is NOT the status quo.
I personally agree with your assessment of women’s issues, and the earlier comments about Wilkerson. My point in the promotion comment, however, wasn’t so much about the individuals as their titles: the Clintonites are a list of the Powers in the Massachusetts Democratic Party establishment. The Obamacans are outsiders, relatively speaking: not one of their PLEOs has a current position of power in the legislature, for example. That was the point I was trying to make.
The three top leaders in the Massachusetts Democratic Party, our Governor and two US Senators are all Obama, but have superdelegate status and did not need to be elected by the DSC.
<
p>It seems strange to think of it now, since Bill Clinton is our only Democratic President since 1980, but he was elected as a Washington “outsider”, that, the early travails of his Administration, which led, in part, to the loss of Democratic control of the Congress (although that might have been a historical inevitability, given demographic changes, etc), and the impeachment process have created a dynamic where the “Washington” wing of the Democratic Party has always held them suspect. And hence, I believe, some of the bandwagon superdelegate shifts, despite the conventional wisdom that superdelegates should have been all hers from the get go.
<
p>The Clintons have always been stronger in the hinterlands, among governors (who are superdelegates), mayors (most of whom are not), and other state and local electeds. Hillary, for example, has been a regular speaker at US Conference of Mayors meetings for years and several of her legislative initiatives have focused on their issues such as getting public safety funds to localities, rather than federal and state bureaucracies. Senator Obama, by contrast, has never appeared there, to my knowledge (they are trying to get him to speak to them at their June annual meeting).
<
p>So this “cake” that is the Democratic Party has at least three layers, the Washington “establishment”, the state/local electeds/party folk (who are also more apt to remember the Clinton days, the invites to the White House, etc), and the “grassroots”, who lean towards Obama. There are exceptions to these generalizations, of course, but thems my views.
in part, because she has the experience that Barack Obama does not have, i.e., she knows how Washington, D.C., operates having been through the gauntlet of having everything thrown at her and coming out unscathed. She also knows the people in public office in around the coutry that can help get this done. That is important; it is not a negative.
<
p>This whole “change” argument for why Obama should be president is quite frankly ridiculous. First of all, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both represent change, and everytime a male commentator, in particular, ignores that fact by only referring to Barack Obama as the candidate for change it just confirms the rampant sexism that has been epidemic this past year. Second, it is incredibly ignorant to actually think that someone who has had no or little experience with Washington, D.C., politics (or in local politics) is going to do a good job as President, at least for the first couple of years. Just look what happened to Jimmy Carter during his whole term and Bill Clinton during his first year in office, and both of them had a Democratic Congress while they fumpered around trying to figure out how to govern. It is time that voters stop acting like Pavlov’s dogs everytime they hear the words, “Washington outsider” and “change” and start thinking with their heads about what those words mean exactly.
But the campaign was too top down, especially in the early days, and that, in part, led to the problems in caucus states and smaller states that generally do not go Democrat. That, plus overwhelming support from African American voters, particularly in the South, but also critically in Missouri, one of his few “swing state” wins, has give him that small edge at present.
Your post was complete and informative. I had not realized that there were also committee assignments. The credentials committee could be a VERY interesting assignment, what with “Florida and Michigan” as problems.
<
p>I really appreciated that you listed everyone with such clarity.
<
p>Every single person on those lists worked hard to get chosen – and has solid skills to offer.
First, could we get a breakdown as to which campaigns appointed which members of the standing committees?
<
p>Second, how is Robert Haynes a “Party Leader/Elected Official”? Being President of AFL-CIO does not appear to qualify as either one.
<
p>Third, why are there legislators among the at-large delegates? I thought the whole point of giving PLEOs their own category was to make room for the “commoners” on the at-large slates.
IMO, are in a tough spot, if you run in a district caucus, you could win, and annoy some grassroots workers, or you could lose, and be embarrassed. (this is one reason why superdelegates were created, so that congresspersons, etc, wouldn’t be in that spot).
<
p>Getting picked as a PLEO depends on the amount of “traffic” there is for those slots, the Clinton folks had a lot more prominent electeds headed that way than the Obama folks, as has been noted, so they probably had more reason for “overflow”, though one might debate specifics.
<
p>I would love to see some limitations, either by rule or limitation, on how many times people can go as delegates if they are not major electeds. I served as a delegate in 1992, and that’s fine for me. I can always say that I was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. We should constantly be looking to give new people a chance to participate, and if you look at the two Boston districts, almost everyone from both campaigns is a first timer. That’s good.
I’ve had a busy weekend and just saw this question. Here’s the breakdown to the best of my recollection.
<
p>Credentials:
Rebecca “DeeDee” Edmondson, Cambridge Clinton
State Representative Marie St. Fleur, Boston Clinton
State Representative Daniel Bosley, North Adams Clinton
Rev. Miniard Culpepper, Dorchester Obama
<
p>Platform:
Paul Giorgio, Worcester Obama
Joseph Kaplan, Mansfield Clinton
Ann Roosevelt, Cambridge Clinton
Miriam Vogel, Brookline Obama
<
p>Rules:
Bob Bower, Marlboro Obama
Maria Buonaugurio, Medford Clinton
Alice Jelin-Isenberg, Boston Obama
Paul Pezzella, Boston Clinton
<
p>Pages:
Kathleen Manning Hall, Malden Obama
Eric Turner, Newton Chairman
Sue Thomson, Malden Clinton