How do you get to be a convention delegate?

[midnight armadillo]

All the free parties at the convention sound like fun. How does one go about becoming a delegate for 2008? :-)

[Killarney]

1. You run and you're elected at your local caucus.

Contact your local Democratic Party (state or town level) and they usually have the info on how to run on their website. :)

[democratreformed]

2. Go to your state's Democratic party website.

It usually has instructions on how to become a delegate. Mine (Arkansas) does.

[midnight armadillo]

3. Sounds great

Party on folks, see you in 2008! :party:

[jjmalonejr]

4. Any eligible voter can run

I ran, but I didn't do enough to bring supporters to the caucus in a HIGHLY competitive congressional district.

You REALLY gotta work it. Go to EVERY friend and neighbor you have, call in every favor you can, hand out fliers, work the people coming in to the caucus (they're usually coming to vote for someone else, but they often have more than one vote.)

Also, run on a slate with a group of other people (they promise to get their supporters to vote for you as well as them and you do the same). That way you all share the support you can muster.

I came in 4th. Sigh.

[genius]

5. Sell out

An article came out yesterday talking about who most of the Kerry delegates don't like Kerry but jumped on board at the last minute and got in because they knew the right people.

[Kanary]

6. Yup, I was thinking it, but wasn't going to post it...

This place is a powder keg when it comes to anything the slightest questioning of Kerry.

Glad you said it.

There's a lot of this crap going on.......... I hope people are able to regain the use of their arms after this. :)

Kanary

[jobycom]

9. That's not how conventions work or what they are about.

First, if you've ever seen a legitimate candidate who agreed with you 100%, you are a lot luckier and a lot more mainstream than me. It would be stunning to find a candidate that the majority of party voters agreed with on the majority of issues. All candidates are compromises, that's what Democracy is about.

But even so, that's not what being a delegate is about. You take part in forums and committees to help shape the platform and other issues, and you vote on the platform, so even if you don't agree with Kerry 100%, you go to try to have your opinions heard. The presidential candidate is the main show, but he's not the only thing going on.

That story was just another Republican PR slight to make Democrats look disengenuous. The Republican message this election is going to be that the Democrats just hate Bush and have nothing else to offer, and this is just another brick in that wall. That's why they are claiming Kerry flip-flops and has no message. Remember back when they were claiming he was too consistently liberal? That one didn't pass the focus groups, this is their new attempt.

The media is the PR department for the Republican Party. Look past them, always.

[democratreformed]

10. So, I thought the platform was already done.

I'm a novice so please forgive my ignorance. But, wasn't there links on here to the official platform last week? How can delegates have input if it's already written? Or, is what was posted last week just a prelim? Will the platform, perhaps, change?

[jobycom]

11. I didn't see that.

I don't know if that was kerry's platform, or the 2000 platform, or a preliminary platform, but unless they've changed things, the platforms are worked out at the conventions.

No telling, though. Maybe they have changed the system. I've been too involved in local politics lately. (Avoid local politics if at all possible! It's all the dirty, sleazy politicking with none of the importance!).

[democratreformed]

12. Thanks for your answer

even though you don't know for sure.

About local politics, I was beginning to learn that too. Then, we had two unexpected deaths three weeks apart and I have kind of gotten out of it. I need to get back in.

[bobbieinok]

13. my understanding...delegates are chosen and assigned to

committees ca at one month before the convention

the national platform is written by delegates in this month

in IA, ideas for the platform are voted on at the precinct level, and the county level, and the state level.......and then the state suggestions go to the national platform meeting with the suggestions from all other states

wasn't there a DU discussion some weeks ago about a DK national delegate at the democratic platform meetings?????

[Zidane]

16. No

Each state has a platform. Delegates work on that at the state level.

National delegates vote on planks for the NATIONAL platform as well. The platform you saw was a draft. Delegates at the DNC will be voting on planks.

In Texas they screwed us over (a bit) by not having a vote on all of the resolutions. They were also not very controversial. There was one about jail time for hitting someone in a car or something. Don't even remember if we passed that one, but they certainly softball resolutions.

[Zidane]

15. Not really

In Texas the Kucinich, Dean and I believe another campaigns made a deal with the Kerry campaign in which some of their delegates would support kerry at the state convention and go to national as kerry delegates. (and they would not be rejected or anything like that)

This worked out well for us because we got more influence in the national platform (hopefully), even though kerry gets more delegates.

[jobycom]

7. You have to run for it, and the competition is usually tough

You start, at least in texas, by going to your precinct convention and becoming a delegate to the state convention. Sometime before the state convention you apply to run for the national convention. Our district had 97 candidates for six delegate slots. Some local political celebrities couldn't even win. If you want to go in 2008, you have to start getting noticed now. It's a bit of an informal rewards system. The candidates chosen here were people who had done a lot for the party in the last decade or so. There were a couple, too, who got hand-picked by a power broker (who really pisses me off), so sometimes sucking up to the right person works. Large donations couldn't hurt.

If you are serious, check into it. There are more than one type of appointment, and there are some ways to go by being connected to the right group. I'm not up on these ways, but I hear about them from time to time.

[liveoaktx]

8. I was at the state delegate meeting (first time) and

was amused by the speeches of people asking to get considered for the national convention. (If I understood correctly, even if one got picked in the state del meeting, still didn't guarantee they would be picked for national.)The one that sticks out in my mind was the lady whose husband had turned in an app which had apparently gotten lost in the mail. Her speech had a Pity Me tone. I was glad that the Yellow Dog man was chosen, hope he actually ended up going.

[Lex]

14. You really have to earn the right to go.

Work hard in your local Democratic party, etc.

You can't just waltz in and expect to be picked to go to the Convention.

[Zidane]

17. Actually

It ends up working that way sometimes... It did in my caucus.

[Logansquare]

18. I know delegates (and non-delegates) with differing stories

One worked hard for an influential Chicago alderman, and "fixed" a few things for him as well. She became a delegate.
Another person worked his ass off for a Republican candidate in the '92 election, and the daughter of one of said candidate's biggest donors got the nod instead. It's tough without connections. I'm sure that somewhere in the U.S., some ordinary person who has worked hard as a party volunteer has been selected, but not in my neck of the woods.

[Zidane]

19. Ordinary people

can become national delegates in Texas. That's how it worked out a lot this year because about 80% of the state delegates had never been to a convention before.

Basically you caucus with your seneate district. Then people in your senate district caucus (regular people) vote for regular people in the caucus who are easily (with a single nomination) up to be voted for.

From what I understand, every state has their own rules, and so this probably doesn't work out like it does in Texas in other states.