The San Antonio Shuffle
March 29th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
(Update below)
The line outside the Memorial Auditorium in downtown San Antonio snaked around the auditorium and down the street. The historic auditorium was the meeting place for two Bexar County Democratic conventions, Senate Districts 21 and 25.Despite the chaos, confusion and party rules that could only have been written by a group of Democrats under the influence of some powerful fermented elixir, people were surprisingly upbeat.
“I waited in line for five hours for the caucus, so I’ll wait here as long as I have to,” said Maryann Blue, a delegate from District 25. “It’s important to be counted.”
Michael Stephens, a convention volunteer for District 21, summed up the convention in one word “chaotic.”
“A lot of people showed up whose names were not on the lists,” he said. “Their paperwork for the caucus was not turned in correctly.
“In Kansas we learn how to do this at school in civics class,” Stephens said. “This is a bit more chaotic.”
People milled around in the lobby looking for familiar faces as they tried to scout out their precincts. A woman complained loudly on her cell phone that she had gotten into the convention as a delegate but her husband was not allowed in. “He signed up as a delegate and he has witnesses,” she huffed into her phone.
More than 2,000 people showed up for the district 25 convention — the biggest turnout out in decades.
At 11:00 a.m., Laura Flores, 29, had been waiting in line for nearly two hours. She held a Hillary Clinton sign in her hand. The line wrapped around the outside of the auditorium and down the street. “I feel like I’ve been in the same spot for the past 2 hours. I came to the convention four years ago and we signed in met and it was over like that,” she said. “There were about 30 people here.”
Downstairs at the auditorium, the District 21 convention plugged along. Only one-quarter the size of the convention upstairs, it was like an oasis of calm compared to the craziness on the first floor.
All was not calm in the Credentials Committee room, however. This is where delegates are challenged for faulty paperwork, shoddy interpretations of the party rules and the like. In a side room, approximately 15 volunteers tried to decipher chicken scratch handwriting and the arcane Texas Democratic Party rules.
“This precinct paperwork is so screwed up we can’t even read it,” said Linda Allen, a precinct chair and part of the Credentials Committee. Allen said the precinct would have to re-caucus and nominate their delegates over again. The problem was no one could get into the convention downstairs unless they were already a delegate or an alternate. To make things more confusing, a parliamentarian from Austin said they would have to post notice for 10 days before they could have another caucus.
Throughout the day, people grumbled about not being on the list of delegates even though they had signed up. Other precincts were told they would have to re-caucus on the spot but they couldn’t find enough precinct members to form a quorum.
“This is pretty dismal,”said Michael Gordon, a member of the SD 21 Credential Committee. “You can’t enter the convention without a delegate or alternate badge, so the precincts can’t re-caucus if they need to.”
Gordon said a lady had sneaked down the fire escape to get into the convention, because they wouldn’t let her in. “There’s no way this will represent the actual will of the precincts,” he said.
There was no luck in trying to figure out the Credentials Committee for SD 25. It was total chaos with at least 57 precincts challenged. To make matters worse it was located next to the line for BBQ. Time after time hungry people got in line for a chopped beef sandwich and potato salad only to be asked which delegate they were challenging.
After about seven hours, the convention convened. Hillary Clinton sent a celebrity to speak to the masses — Sean Astin, otherwise known as the Hobbit Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. Astin made an appearance at the Travis County conventions as well.
“I love you Samwise Gamgee,” someone shouted from the audience.
“I love you too,” replied Astin.
The love plummeted from there, however. And Astin probably would have preferred the Dark Lord Sauron to the amped up convention crowd. As Astin started to stump for Clinton and speak about her virtues as the first woman President, a chorus of boos erupted from Obama supporters.
“Let me just say something,” said the flustered hobbit. “Despite the way you are receiving me. Whichever candidate wins even if it’s not my candidate I will be a fierce campaigner for that candidate.” With that Astin quickly disappeared from the stage.
By 5:30 p.m. the District 25 convention was still waiting for the Credentials Committee to announce the challenged delegates. The convention chair asked his daughter and another woman to sing an a capella version of God Bless America to keep the crowd entertained. Finally, a preliminary count of delegates was announced: 559 for Clinton and 617 for Obama. The Obama supporters erupted into loud applause and celebration.
When the merrymaking finally settled, Ian Straus, the temporary chair of the convention, had some wise counsel for the convention delegates.
“We are Democrats because we have so much in common,” he said. “This delegate count is very close with 47.5 percent for Clinton and 52.5 percent for Obama. Only five percent divides us — don’t make enemies of your fellow Democrats.”
At 5:30 when we slipped out, delegates were still trying to figure out if they would need to re-caucus.
Update
Burnt Orange Report listed the District 25 results late last night as 57 delegates for Clinton and 62 delegates for Obama. Sunday, District 21 results were reported as 13 for Clinton and 27 delegates for Obama.
