Stateside: California Democratic Party Convention

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The California Democratic Party’s state convention was held in Los Angeles over the weekend. I was only able to be there for Saturday. The convention hotel was the FW Marriott at LA Live—LA Live being the part of downtown that is home to various entertainment venues and the convention center. I started the day at the General Session, which was held in the convention center.

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One of the first speakers is Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who runs through the list of things she hopes to accomplish and has accomplished thus far. Top of the list was a review of voting systems, which she checked off as having been done. No-one in the convention hall challenges that statement, and I didn’t run into any delegates at the convention who had a bone to pick with that assertion, although I know that many activists won’t be satisfied until paper votes are hand-counted in public. Ironically, that is exactly how the votes are counted when local party delegates are deciding which Democratic candidate to endorse in primary elections, except that each vote is called out and tallied on a paper sheet at the front of the room, with candidates there to observe that all is done correctly.

“Restoring confidence in democracy is what this [to-do list] is all about,” Bowen says, “I ask you to hire me for the job for another term.” At which point CDP Chair John Burton intoned “We respectfully ask that Debra Bowen be endorsed for Secretary of State by acclamation.” There was no objection. Bowen is the only Democratic candidate running in the SoS primary. (There are two candidates in the Republican primary, one of whom is Birther Supreme, Orly Taitz.)

Next up to speak was Obama’s Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, who received a standing ovation. Then came Maxine Waters, who represents 55 square miles of urban Los Angeles in the US House of Representatives. “We won’t support a too-long war in Iraq,” said Waters, who was one of only 11 in the US House to vote against the March 2003 resolution to support the troops in Iraq after battle began.

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But these are only the warm-up acts. The orange blur in the center of the picture above is Senator Barbara Boxer, who doesn’t come from backstage, like everyone else, but makes a triumphal march from the back of the hall, surrounded by supporters, gets to the podium out of breath and gasps, “Will you stand with me?” The elderly parliamentarian seated stage left gets to his feet, along with everyone in the hall, and he even takes a picture of her with his cellphone, a tool he seems to be fascinated with throughout the proceedings. Once things quiet down, Boxer gives her speech, also mentioning the war: “It’s time to bring home the troops!” Pause. “From Iraq.” She declares she’s working to make the state the hub for new clean, green energy, and that the products made here will be exported to the world and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. “Made in America!” The union delegates roar their approval. “I need you to be excited,” says Boxer near the end of her speech, “As excited as the Tea Party people.”

We got a little break from all that excitement when the next speaker came on stage. It was Betty Yee, who is chair of the Board of Equalization, which collects California state sales and use tax, as well as fuel, alcohol, and tobacco taxes and fees that provide revenue for state government and essential funding for counties, cities, and special districts. The theme song for her entrance was “She Works Hard for Her Money”—and yours too, any business-first flat-earthers might gleefully have added were they present. Besides declaring she’s going to send a couple of Texas oil companies packing, and trying to drum up donations for the Dem2010 grassroots fundraising effort, Yee rather inexplicably took on Sarah Palin. “Next time Sarah Palin says ‘How’s that hopey-changey thing working for ya?’ say ‘Just fine! Hope and change are alive and well. You betcha!”

Party Chair Burton calls for the convention to endorse Boxer by acclamation, and then calls for “the candidates for the Board of Equalization” to be endorsed by acclamation—which is rather confusing because in two of the four BoE districts more than one Democratic candidate is on the primary ballot. Someone in the hall calls out an objection, so Burton amends it to “with one exception”. “I am the voice of God,” Burton continues as videos of the two main candidates in the primary for Lieutenant Governor begin to play.

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Neither of those pictures from the video flatters Hahn, who is a Los Angeles councilwoman. Later in the day, she came to the room where the Rural Caucus was meeting to ask for their support, and I asked what she would do if she lost out to Gavin Newsom when conference delegates made their endorsement vote later in the day. Hahn replied she’d keep on fighting to win the primary without the party’s endorsement.

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Supporters in the lobby of the convention hall, both of them from LA, hold up signs for what they hope will be the Democratic ticket for Governor and Lt. Governor in November. When Burton introduced Jerry Brown, he listed Brown’s many elective offices over the years, then laconically added “etcetera”. Although the news coverage would have you think that Brown is running unopposed for nomination in the primary, he actually has six challengers. On my way into the convention, a delegate from Bakersfield sang the praises of Richard Aguirre, a businessman who thinks that California’s energy needs can be satisfied entirely by solar and wind-power. And at the same Rural Caucus where Janice Hahn spoke, Peter Schurman, who was the founding Executive Director at MoveOn.org, touted his own credentials and plans for Governor. Only Brown got to speak to the General Session. Following Brown was a video about the healthcare reform battle, by way of introduction for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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And there I shall leave it, until Werewolf time, when I’ll be writing about the smackdown between two candidates in the primary for California’s Congressional District 36.

--PEACE—

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