Seeking guidance from BMG’rs. My town’s Democratic caucus is coming up. Wondering if I should run for delegate to the state convention. I’m a lifelong registered Dem but disenchanted with our national party. I’m OK with our state party, although not with the malfeasance of some of our elected officials. With strong left-progressive views, what could I contribute as a convention delegate?
Please share widely!
To have a voice, one must use that voice.
Attending the Convention is a great way to meet other Democrats both from your community and across the state. Each year is different and in an “issues” convention year, there are seldom actual counted votes so whether you are a voting delegate or alternate or come as a guest, there is a good chance that you won’t be called on in an actual vote.
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p>I’d start by contacting the Chair of your ward or town committee. Let him or her know of your interest in running. Chances are that you will be told that there is an opprtunity to serve as delegate. If you are told that there are a number of regulars interested in attending, then you have a choice. You can try to get enough people to attend so that you can defeat the regulars, or you can just attend the caucus and see it as a chance to get to know people in the community. My personal feeling is that it is important to respect the culture of your community. Others may have a different feeling.
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p>But please do attend both your caucus and the convention.
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p>Delegates and alternates are seated together by senate district at conventions. In nominating years delegates vote in a roll call vote to determine who gets the endorsement of the Democratic Party and to determine “ballot access.” Any candidate running for statewide office needs 15% of the vote of the delegates to appear on the ballot.
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p>In some years BMGers have gathered, usually at one of the existing events that are open to delegates, alternates and all convention goers.
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p>My advice is to go for it! Please let us know how it goes. If you need further information, of a general nature, just let me know and I will answer here. If you have a question around your specific community or a situation that is not of general interest, please contact me off-line and I will try to answer your questions.
I decided to jump in with both feet, wanting to make more of a difference. I went to the caucus as one of the two new people in a room of old hands. Someone asked me if I wanted to run as a delegate, I said yes. We were asked to make a short speech, and I’m now going to Lowell with a vote! I knew no one when I walked in, but when I left everyone knew my name. It does depend on how entrenched people are, but one of the stated goals is to bring in new people, so you never know. It doesn’t hurt to bring a posse, though.
It’s great that your involved and I’m thrilled that people were welcoming.
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p>Some chairs make a real effort to encourage enough people to run for all the delegate and alternate positions. I recruit aggressively and it works well in my community. I have a really good group of people and most tell me that they are willing to defer to someone who is new and wants to get involved, especially in an issues year. But by the time we are sitting at the caucus, it is harder to fit new people in. That’s why I stress calling the chair in advance. If I know that a new person wants to get involved and I have someone who could qualify as an add-on, I can suggest to a younger person for example, to maybe run for alternate and apply for the add-on position. It can be challenging to make these adjustments on the day of the caucus.
Here’s what you should do. First, contact your town’s Democratic Town Committee Chairperson and indicate your interest. Some towns/wards only have a small number of delegate spots open and a slate gets formed ahead of time. The chairperson will be able to tell you if there’s a slate and if there’s space for you on it.
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p>If there are a lot of spots open or no slate, you can probably just show up to the caucus. If there’s a slate and you’re not on it, you’ll need to bring some friends and try to get elected with their help.
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p>What you don’t want to do is show up to the caucus expecting to give a big speech about how much you want to go to the convention and win over the crowd with your enthusiasm. It just doesn’t happen that way and you’ll leave feeling worse about the process.
Because Kate is awesome.
What sco says about expecting to give a big speech and expecting it to influence people is correct. Especially in nominating years, people go to the caucus to run or to support someone who is running. While it is very Democratic in the sense of getting out your vote, decisions are not made at the caucus itself. But as has been stressed, issues years are typically non-competitive or less competitive.
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p>PS sco, thanks for your kind words!
in my town. Short straws go to the convention.
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p>I’ll be going this year, however, because the MTA is interested in increasing our presence as teachers and union members.
I can see the headline now.
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p>”MTA looking to take over Democratic State Committee” oh wait they already did, didn’t they?
for that one!
Then join the town committee.
If you haven’t been to a convention before, this is a great time to get started. Typically a LOT of people want to go to the nominating conventions where they nominate Governor etc. But this year is an issues convention and in many places fewer people show up to run and it is an excellent opportunity to get in the door, run and win and meet the “regulars” from your city and town. When the next big nominating convention comes around, you will be known.
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p>It is a great opportunity to meet other active Democrats from all over the state, connect and share and learn. Organizations of all kinds have tables where you can learn about their issues and find out about volunteer opportunities and actions you can take for their causes. Senatorial Candidates will be there to line up the real activists for their 2012 campaigns.
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p>Plus you can get Free Stuff, like tote bags and condoms and candy from the tables. đŸ™‚
The Party expects to have a strong training component, similar to what we did on 2008. BMGers and other members of the BlogLeft community played a strong role in that effort. As the “Call” states, there is always the potential for Charter changes.
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p>The Convention will adopt an Action Agenda. The Action Agenda has taken many forms from a general statement, as in 2007 to a more specific list of actions, as in 2003.
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p>I believe that there will be a relatively brief opening session at the Tsongas Arena. Then there will be training sessions. The MDP is planning on conducting the training sessions at UMass, Lowell. This model was used very successfully in 2004.
I appreciate the comments and encouragement. I’ve been in touch with our town coordinator and let her know I will attend and want to be a candidate for delegate.
After hearing the GOP will attempt to bastardize greenhouse gas regulations tomorrow, steam started coming out of my ears (no pun intended).
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p>That, along w/ your question, has stirred my interest in participating too, Hubspoke! I will explore it.
There is the opportunity for people to attend as guests for a guest fee. You just need to be a registered Democrat. And there is always a need for volunteers. The biggest need for volunteers is in the AM, leaving you free to attend the training sessions after the general session has ended. Kate
So I went to my town Caucus this year. There was little contention — 8 women running for 10 slots. 12 men running for 10 slots. Plus, it sounds like they have bonus slots to give.
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p>So, I got elected. I’m looking forward. On the other hand, the cynical side of me feels like it’s mostly a fundraiser ($75 per head), a pep rally (I’m already exciting about a lot of positions/candidates) and opportunities to volunteer (my volunteer opportunities already exceed my volunteer availablity.)
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p>So, I don’t know. In a nominated year, my vote would matter. This year, I feel like I’m making a donation — which I’m okay with, I don’t mind giving to the Mass Democratic Party. And I’m gonna hopefully learn some stuff.
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p>We’ll see – possibly I come back from it telling you the experience was fantastic.