Lots of Crying

A lot of folks were crying at the convention. Some tears of joy and some tears of sadness.

I would start talking about Hillary getting the nomination and I would start crying. Spontaneously. I truly didn't expect that.

Gen from Annie's List and I were talking about the upcoming election and when they would be endorsing candidates. Our conversation turned back to former state representative Carol Kent. We were both totally in awe of her. How wonderful she was as a candidate and a legislator. She was the perfect candidate. I think we both cried reminiscing about her.

My neighbor Kim was crying the first night because of the disruptions of the Sanders delegates. She was crying that this convention had meant so much to her and they were ruining it for her. On the last night she had a long talk with one of the Sanders supporters and they come up with an agreement. It seems that the Sanders supporter broke the agreement, I think it was not to interrupt during one of the speeches. And Kim was crying again. I told her to ignore them, don't let anyone ruin the moment for us.

I cried during some of the speeches.

However, the moment I really lost it was during Chelsea's speech. When she said that she knew that her grandmother was looking down on her mom and how proud she is. And I was thinking about my mom and hoping she was proud of me. I was initially hesitant about running for national delegate during the mourning period after her passing. But knowing her, she would have wanted me to run. Thank you mom for giving my the courage to go after my dreams.

The Bernie delegates - final night of the Convention

The Sanders delegates were quieter on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The pro-Palestinian signs from the first night were gone.

They did walk out Tuesday night after Bernie asked that the convention ratify the nomination of Hillary Clinton by acclamation. Honestly, we were happy to see them go. But they did come back. Some had taped their mouths shut. I guess that symbolized they had been quieted. The Clinton delegates were happy - no more interruptions! But some were talking through the tape.

The final night of the convention, the fringe Sanders supporters appeared in day glow shirts, ensuring that they stand out in the crowd.

We had a handful in the Texas delegation. The largest number were in the California delegation which sat across the arena from us. The empty seat in this picture to the right of James (in the sunglasses) was my assigned seat for the convention. To the left of James sat Kim, a "Super Volunteer" for Hillary.

I did notice the Sanders supporter behind me had a cowbell in her lap. Oh now, I thought to myself, the last thing I wanted to hear was a cowbell in my ear during Hillary's speech. I sent a text to two of my contacts with the TDP. OK - they were watching. Was cowbell on the banned list? We weren't sure.

Our instructions were texted to us by our Whip. Hold our signs high to cover any anti-Hillary signs and shout over any anti-Hillary chants with our own chants. The disruptions came during Leon Panetta's speech "No more wars" to which we chanted over "USA". It was silly. Nobody wants any more wars. During Bloomberg's speech, people were chanting "Stop and Frisk" I can't remember what we said to drown that out. James turned around and said de Blassio got rid of it. Maybe we should have yelled "Super Gulp!"

Unlike people watching at home, it was often difficult the hear the speeches well.

During Hillary's speeches, chanting was coming from the California delegation. Our Sanders supporters were relatively quiet. An out burst here and there, not when you expected it. A young man with a beard was very angry. Others look resigned. When the anti-Hillary chanting occurred, we changed back Hill-a-ry. I know we missed a lot of the speech. When I have time, I will need to watch the speeches on You Tube.

I did turn around several times to see if the Sanders delegates could find any common ground with Hillary during her speech. They did clap at her mention of Sanders and her point of overturning Citizens United. I hope they realize that the best chance of getting rid of Citizens United will be the election of a Democrat.

A lot of us Clinton delegates. were very angry about the disruptions. But we were still joyful at the nomination of our candidate. I felt sorry for some of them, especially one skinny young African American woman who was sobbing at the end.

My understanding was that Bernie Sanders did ask his delegates to stop the interruptions. But some wouldn't listen. The "Revolution" had become more important than the candidate.

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Strater

Tuesday Morning Texas Delegation breakfast

The Bernie Delegates - Part 1

Unlike the 2008 convention, Hillary and Bernie delegates seemed to be in distinct separate camps. Perhaps it was the fact that the Bernie delegates were new people, most of us didn't know them . The two Bernie delegates from my district were both in their 20's. I had only met one of them at the SD-16 Senatorial Convention and the other after she was elected at State Convention. I do have a lot of friends in my activist circles that did support Bernie over Hillary. But they didn't run for National Delegate.

I knew only a couple of folks in the Bernie camp, Jacob Limon, the state leader and Kathleen Thompson, who I got to know eight years ago in Denver and have gotten to know better since we served on the SDEC together. It seems that all of my other SDEC friends were pledged to Clinton. Every elected official that I personally knew was pledged to Clinton.

The Hillary camp has bent over backwards to engage all of the Bernie supporters. The only thing that would have made some of this extreme element happy would have been for Hillary to step down and given the nomination to Bernie. That's it. Personally, I think she gave away too much and I consider myself to be very liberal.

It seems that only two of Bernie's platform proposals were not accepted - a proposal against the TPP and one for Palestinian Rights. I am personally against the TPP and would have liked to have seen that on the platform. Hillary Clinton has come out against the TPP. However, President Obama is for the TPP and it would have been a personal affront to him had it been included. The other was Palestinian Rights (I will be writing a separate post on anti-Semitism).

My friend Katherine saved a bunch of seats for us at the convention. She specifically said, "I don't want to sit near Sanders supporters." She grabbed two rows of seats. The aisle seats were already taken. Unfortunately, I wound up directly in front of a Bernie fringe supporter.

To clarify, not all Sanders supporters were the fringe supporters. The disruptive ones were definitely in the minority. But those were trying to do whatever they could without having their credentials pulled.

The first evening was embarrassing. There were boos even during the invocation. A frequent chant was "No TPP". Speakers were disrupted. It was awful and embarrassing. Staff members had to come up and tell them to stop. This was after our first delegation breakfast when we were clearly told that booing etc. would be grounds for removal of credentials.

Tuesday night was calmer. After the breakdown at the Tuesday morning breakfast and the removal of the leader's credentials, there seemed to be a calm down.

Tuesday at the convention I wound up talking to another Bernie delegate at one of the many charging stations in the arena. Cliff from the TDP also joined us. He was from Arkansas and very involved with the party. Although he was a Sanders delegate, he was fully supporting Clinton and would be working for her. He shared that the Sanders delegates were planning to behave the next two days and then be disruptive the final night of the convention. He refused to be part of that. I was cringing just thinking about them.

To be continued......

Flag waiving during Hillary Clinton's speech

Flags

We were so very busy that it was difficult to keep up with the news. However, I did hear that the Right Wing Media (aka Fox) was also complaining that there weren't any American Flags on the stage. Seriously? We displayed the flag during Pledge of Allegiance and on the jumbo tron on stage.

Well the flags appeared. Just like when Candidate Obama started wearing a flag pin in response to complaints that he was not patriotic.

Wearing flag pins and putting flags on stage doesn't make you patriotic. Do you know what makes you patriotic? Voting each and every election. And knowing who you are voting for. It is not patriotic to vote for Grady Yarbrough thinking he is a relative of Ralph Yarborough. Knowing what each candidate stands for and voting for the one that most closely aligns with your principals. Visiting or writing to your elected representatives also makes you patriotic. Volunteering on campaigns is patriotic.

That is how democracy works. That is what democracy looks like. Flags are a symbol. The person with the flag pin is not more patriotic than anyone else. The people in this country that PARTICIPATE in the democratic process are the patriotic ones.

But they looked great at the convention when everyone was waiving them.

https://youtu.be/_IK7ZLcy5HE

The Mystery Whip

In the Clinton delegation, each member is assigned to a Whip. A Whip's responsibility is to ensure his or her delegates are present when important votes come to the floor. We expected several potentially contentious votes, therefore it was important that we had enough delegates on the floor for the vote.

A group of Dallas delegates were assigned to "Kebran Alexander". Our form of communication was through a group text message. Kebran tested our response time to ensure that we were continuously responding to our cell phones.

I knew a couple of the other whips. Pam Dunham was a Tarrant County Whip and sat directly behind me. Another Whip was a good friend of one of my roommates. I told them both that I never met our Whip. They were quite surprised.

Each night we were getting orders via text message from our Whip. We were asked to check in when we arrived at the convention and were seated. We were given instructions on how to vote.

Unlike other delegates, our group had never met our Whip. This was quite odd. The Texas delegation wasn't that big that our Whip couldn't reach out to each of the 15 delegates he was responsible for directly.

My seat was surrounded by several of us who had Kebran as our Whip - James, Lynn, Becky, Katherine and Kenneth. None of us had met him. On Wednesday I added to the group text "We are sitting on rows 19 and 20 in section 118. No word. No "I'll try to stop by" or "I want to meet you too". It became a running joke between us. Every morning the delegation was together for breakfast and every evening at the Wells Fargo Center. Certainly our Whip could have made the effort to meet us.

Becky also wanted to find out what was going on. She asked him to send a picture of himself so that we could recognize him if we saw him. He did send a picture. We joked that maybe it was photo shopped, or someone else stood in and took a picture. Here is what he sent.

I still think it was someone sending texts from the Clinton campaign. Nothing has proved me wrong. See below for photos of some of the group texts. One thing for sure, other delegates got better more concise instructions than we did.

The Minyan

As mentioned in an earlier post, I mentioned that I try to say a daily prayer for my mother. This is a Jewish tradition, to say Kaddish for a parent for eleven months on a daily basis after they pass. At home, I typically attend services a Congregation Shaare T'filla, a modern Orthodox Synagogue where I am a member.

I was in line at the restaurant above - an actual Kosher vendor at the Wells Fargo center. I started talking to two gentlemen behind me, obviously Orthodox men who were reporters for a Jewish on-line news paper in New York. All food lines in Wells Fargo were long on Monday evening. Close to the end of the line, the men said to each other about getting a Minyan that evening. I chimed in - could I join them, I'm saying Kaddish for my mother who passed six months ago. They were a little skeptical. I pulled out the siddur I brought with me on the trip, the Koren Ani Tefilla Siddur. They saw it and nodded - it passed muster.


My friend Rosalie got wind and wanted to join in too. She recently lost a loved one and wanted to say Kaddush too. She got their contact information. At 8:10 Rosalie grabbed me, minyan now! We followed the men to a private room for catering underneath a stairwell, near the Kosher vendor.


10 men, Rosalie and I prayed together in a food prep room. Rosalie and I in a corner behind the men. The 10th man was Texas Rep. Elliott Naishtadt recruited by Rosalie. There was a man who lost his brother a few days earlier. It was important to the Orthodox men that the man in mourning was able to say Kaddish and it was necessary to have a minyan for him.

A fellow Texas delegate heard about the minyan and wanted to join Tuesday night. Another delegate from Arkansas I met at the charging station also heard about the minyan while we were being interviewed by WWHY. He wanted to join us. Back into the supply room under the stairwell. at 8:10. 

That same night a woman received the Democratic nomination for President.

Texas Delegation Breakfast Tuesday Morning

The chairman started off at 8:35 and was allowing the heads of each campaign to speak. Jacob Limon, head of the Sanders delegation gave a few words. The Sanders delegates came in linked arm and arm and walked on the stage. A member of the delegation, Russell W, Lytie, was allowed to speak for the group of delegates on the stage. He spoke about being a Democrat first and how we all wanted to work together. He also said that the Sanders delegates wanted to sit down with the Clinton delegates and talk about working together.

Mind you, the Clinton delegates were still angry from the prior night's behavior. The booing. The interrupting of speeches. His words were fine, until the end.

"I condemn the presumptive nominee."

As the delegation is 2/3  Clinton Delegates and 1/3 Sanders, all hell broke out. The Chairman shut him down as soon as that came out of his mouth.

Russell came around to our table and apologized for his poor choice of words. He said that he would be voting for Clinton, if she is the presumptive nominee. He also gave us his card.

We heard speeches form Leticia Van de Putte, Wendy Davis and Cecile Richards. But everyone was distracted by what had happened.

At least two other Sanders delegates were allowed to speak after the dignitaries and said the views of Russell do not support their views and they would be supporting Hillary 100%.

The head of the Bernie delegation, Jacob Limon came up and said that the Russell apologized and had returned his credentials.

See below for video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G291x_-BI44&feature=youtu.be

Bernie Sanders is the scheduled speaker for Wednesday's delegation breakfast.

Day One

Day one started with an 8:40 am flight to the Philly. Julie was non-reving but easily made the flight. At the gate we saw many other delegates from the RGV and Austin. See below.

After an uneventful flight, we were greeted at baggage claim by many friendly volunteers offering Tasty Kakes.

One thing nice about staying at the Airport Marriott we could walk over a sky bridge to the hotel.
Julie and I picked up our tickets to the evening party and our welcome bags from the TDP office. Some of the staffers seemed a bit worn out as they had travelled by van from Austin.

Julie, Carol (one of my roommates) and I headed off to the Barnes Foundation. If you ever go to Philadelphia, it is a must see. The impressionist collection is on par with the Musee D'Orsay, The museum is full of Matisse and Van Gogh.

While at the museum, I received a text that DWS had resigned. I shared the information with my friend Julie, who was quite startled and somewhat upset. Julie works for the APFA and knows DWS personally. I was relieved.

Carol and I at the Barnes Foundation

They shooed us out of the museum at the 5 pm closing.

After dinner, it was off to the DNC opening reception. We took an Uber from dinner and were greeted by Glen Maxey, Crystal Perkins and Manny Garcia.

Here's a group of Texans at the bottom of the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

The party was for multiple delegation and was quite nice.

The DNC has come up with some sort of game/app where you collect donkeys (each representing a state of territory) throughout the city of Philadelphia. This is the Guam donkey on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. They are probably trying to capitalize on the Pokemon Go craze. Well, not really interested in collecting donkeys, thank you. It isn't Pokemon Go by a long shot.

Leaving the party. The city looks beautiful in the background. One building had DNC in blue on the side.

Getting Ready

Tomorrow is the big day. I took Friday off from work to ensure I had enough time to take care of everything I needed to take of prior to my Sunday morning departure. Unfortunately, we had a showing scheduled and much of the day was spent getting the house ready. And preparing for Friday night dinner.

I did collect certain buttons to bring with me to Philadelphia.

My 300 pin from Denver (see previous blog post). TDP sustaining member pin, Texas flag pin from Carol Kent, buttons from causes that are close to my heart and of course a Hillary logo button. I will be carrying Far North Dallas Richardson Democrats pins too.

My friend Julie is coming! She will be trying for the same flight as mine. Julie only knew for sure that she was coming a week or so ago. Here is another picture from Denver.

I'll share in a later blog post her story.

Today I was figuring out where and when each event is, how I can squeeze in a visit to the Barnes Foundation and how long a walk it was to attend afternoon prayer services during the convention. The delegate guide had information on Muslim services but nothing about Jewish services (or for Christian services either). There is a prayer room at the convention center but I would be surprised if a scheduled Minyan (10 Jewish men) would be part of it. I'm pretty sure we have an Egalitarian minyan in the Texas delegation but not too sure about a traditional one. Well it isn't AIPAC right? I wonder if they had information for Jewish, not to mention Christian services for the RNC.

I did find two locations in downtown Philadelphia where I could attend afternoon services. As some of you reading this blog might know, my mother passed six months ago. I am in a period of mourning and do try to say Kaddish for her at least once a day. And that requires praying in a group with 10 Jewish men. Wish me luck on accomplishing that goal while I am in Philadelphia!

Friday night dinner is usually spent at my Dad's house with my sister and brother and our families. My dad, although he typically votes Republican, is really proud of me that I am going to National Convention. He did share with me something quite unexpected before I left. He said there were only two Presidential candidates that he had voted for that he loved. He made me guess - Nixon? LBJ? Kennedy? Nope - it was Adlai Stevenson and Hubert Humphrey. And this is from someone who hasn't voted for a Democrat for President since 1972. But he will be voting for a Democrat in 2016.

I'm running for National Delegate - Part 2, Counting Ballots

Upon landing in Denver eight years ago, I made a new friend in baggage claim. We were both Clinton delegates looking for the shuttle to the Texas delegation hotel. Julie and I were together the whole convention. Over the past eight years we have kept up our friendship. Four years ago at state convention in Houston, Julie helped work the check in line while I was running for SDEC. In Houston in 2012 we caught up one of our other Denver convention buddies, Kathy from Fort Bend, and said that we should all run again in 2016.

Kathy, me and Julie 2012 State Convention

I sent Julie a text that I was thinking about running again when I returned from the SDEC meeting in Austin. Within 30 seconds the phone rang, "You are running, well I'm going to run too!" Now I'm in - Julie is running and now I am running. The goal is for both of us to go.

During the weeks leading up to the convention, Julie did everything she could to earn votes. She called delegates, sent out a mail piece and sent out several emails. Unfortunately for her, there was only one Clinton female spot in her Senate District and she was running against the current SDEC Committeewoman. 

Unlike previous years, elections to National Delegate were done on paper ballots. As a result, winners were not known immediately. Ballots were taken down to counting rooms on the bottom floor of the Alamodome in separate rooms for the Clinton and Sanders delegates. Several Senate Districts, including 16, also voted on paper ballots for all Committee positions, Committeewoman and Presindtial elector. As Committeewoman I helped count the ballots. David and I recruited several counters to help us. The Clinton Counters, Sanders Counters and the SDEC counters split up and counted ballots. 

Counting seven separate elections was quite tedious, especially that we had slice up close to 300 ballots on a paper cutter. I took a break and went out into the hallway and ran into George and Theresa, our Clinton counters. I was greeted with "Congratulations"! And Theresa gave me a cookie! Hooray! I was happy!

And then I saw Julie in the hallway. She had not won. That's all she was told. I told her to try to run as an At-Large delegate. I knew that she wouldn't have much of a chance, but it was worth a shot.

To be continued.....

I'm Running for National Delegate Round 2 - Post 1

I'm Running for National Delegate, Round 2 - Part 1

Eight years ago in Austin, I ran for the one Hillary Clinton female delegate spot in Senate District 8 and won. On a coin toss. This year in San Antonio, I ran for one of the two female Hillary Clinton delegate spots in Senate District 16 and easily won.

Eight years has made a huge difference.

Since 2008 - I helped flip HD 102 and elect Carol Kent. Became President of the Far North Dallas Democrats Club and took it to the next level. Was elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee ("SDEC") in a contentious election in 2012 after redistricting.

2008 in Denver was awesome! Sorry I'm sounding like my 13 year old daughter here, but I can't think of a better word to describe it. I always thought it would be a once in a lifetime experience. I had not planned to run again until recently. Why did I change my mind?

My mother passed away on January 9, 2016. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the past 5 years but it was especially pronounced during the final year of her life. Although we were all ready for her to pass, we were never really ready. But her passing forced me to take a closer look at how I was living my life and my relationship with my children. My son was a High School Freshman and my daughter was in seventh grade. They would be going off to college soon. And here I was running to club meetings and Austin as a Committeewoman. I could have remained on the SDEC for another two years, and shown up to less meetings and events. But I didn't want to stay on without doing the best job possible. And I wanted to spend more time with my kids.

At the April SDEC meeting, Glen Maxey announced that if we were considering running for National Delegate, he had the forms and would have them notarized. At the March 19 Senatorial Convention, I had already announced that I wasn't going to run again. I filled out the form. One of my SDEC buddies, Carol Wheeler, was also filling out the form. Wouldn't it be great if we were in Philadelphia together?

Thank you

Many thanks to SD-16 Delegates for electing me to represent you in Philadelphia. I can hardly wait to be part of another historical convention.

Looking forward to learning a lot, being energized and most of all having fun!