Well, it's convention time and the Democratic Party is off and running choosing its delegates for the various elections that are coming up this November.

Now for those not used to the whole delegate process (it's a bit confusing), here are the details.

Based on the February 5th results, Obama and Clinton are splitting Connecticut's 48 "pledged" delegates 26 to 22. (The other 12 are "unpledged" or superdelegates.) These are actually 26 (Obama) and 22 (Clinton) supporters who are selected and pledge (basically sign a document) to support that candidate in Denver. On Wednesday, 17 of Obama's 26 delegates will be selected at 5 caucuses across the state, one in each congressional district. (There are 5 caucuses happening at the same time in different locations selecting 14 Clinton delegates.)

Each congressional district has a certain number of delegates, again split based on the February 5 results. On Wednesday, 4 Obama delegates (and one alternate) and 3 Clinton delegates will be selected in the 1st CD. The rules are amazingly complex, which should be no surprise to those who have spent this primary season watching TV and thereby getting a PhD in the elaborate Democratic party rules, but if you want to read about them, they're here. For Obama, there will be 2 women and 2 men selected, as well as one male alternate, from a list of eligible Democrats who submitted their names to the Democratic State Committee by February 17 (?). I am part of the slate supported by the campaign in the 1CD. (If you're interested, the entire slate is: Larry Charles, Sophia Danenberg, Val McCall, Shawn Wooden, Alternate: Mayor Scott Slifka.)

[...]

So some of you may have noticed that we are still short 9 pledged delegates for Obama and 8 for Clinton. Those delegates (6 party leaders and elected officials and 11 "at-large" delegates) will be selected a week later on March 26 by the people selected at the congressional district caucuses. (By the way, if you want to get in on all the fun, you can still submit your name to be considered for an at-large delegate slot until Monday, March 17 by faxing this form.) The final delegate decisions must take into consideration the diversity of the delegates (including a certain number of African-Americans, Asians, Hispanic, Native Americans, People with Disabilities, LBGT, Veterans and Youth.)

Then there are those 12 unpledged or superdelegates. 11 are already named. There is one more (an at-large unpledged delegate) who will be elected at the same time as the other pledged delegates.

Finally there are 8 alternates. 5 (3 Obama, 2 Clinton) chosen on Wed and 3 "at-large". My understanding is that the alternates participate in every part the convention the same as the delegates (meetings, etc.) except they don't vote. If something happens to one of the delgates, the alternates should be fully prepared to step in

Your head stop spinning yet? Good, lets move on..

For the Democratic National Convention, Danbury played host to the 5th Congressional district caucus for the Clintion campaign, while the 5CD caucus for the Obama campaign was held in Meriden.

Here's a list of the candidates for each campaign in the 5CD:

CLINTON
Mercedes Alonzo, Jason W. Bartlett, Audrey Blondin, Benjamin Chianese, Deborah D'Agostino, Lori Kaback, John C. King, Sal Luciano, Jimetta Samaha, Michael Shea, Leslie Siegel, Joseph Walkovich

OBAMA
Shane Allen, Shirley Black, Eric Brown, Jennifer Carpenter, Rhona Cohen, Joe DaSilva, Donald DeFronzo, Christopher Donovan, Sarah Esty, Elizabeth Giannaros, Demetrios Giannaros, Jimmie Griffin, John Kardaras, Julie Kushner, Michael Long, Jeffrey Nicholas, Tim O'Brien, Hilda Santiago, Sharon Sherman, Mildred Torres-Ferguson, William Tyszka, Elizabeth Velez

From each caucus held in each of the five congressional districts, 31 people are picked to go to the convention in Denver. Also, remember, the 31 people picked last Wednesday will gather together on March 26 at State Central to pick 17 more delegates (pledged) and one unpledged delegate.

To make things a bit easier, I made the trip down to the Elk's club on Main Street last Wednesday where the Clintion caucus was held and interviewed newly elected pledge delegate State Rep Jason Bartlett about the process.



Although we have the national conventions to deal with, don't forget that they're also a series for state conventions for each of the Congressional, State House, and State Senate seats up for grabs.

Poster Unionieo over at My Left Nutmeg provided a list that breaks down the convention schedule:

Next week (March 25-April 1) Caucuses and Town Committee meetings will be held all over the state for the purpose of electing delegates to myriad conventions in April and May. Start making your calls if you want to get in the game.

Here's the event schedule:

EVENT SCHEDULE
1. April 15-25 State Central Election
2. May 10 - Democratic State Convention
3. May 12 - Congressional Conventions
4. May 19 - State Senate Conventions
5. May 20 - State House Conventions

The number of delegates is based on democratic enrollment in the town divided up among the different districts that overlie that town on a formula basis. Delegates must reside in the district in which they wish to become a delegate. Any registered democrat can be elected as a delegate. Once delegates are elected Proxies can be used for someone to take their place if they can't go to a convention.

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DELEGATE EVENTS
1. There are 72 members of the Democratic State Central Committee. A woman and a man are elected from each of 36 State Senate districts. Once elected, the state Central Committee chooses its Chairperson.
Delegates to the State Central election are the same ones chosen to represent the towns at the State Convention and are apportioned by the State Senate districts in that town.

2. The Democratic State Convention has 1500 or more attendees. This year the agenda may include by-laws, resolutions, platform, Presidential Electors. This would be a historical year to be able to cast your Electoral College vote for an African American or woman candidate. CT has 7 electors - 1 for each Rep and Senator in US Congress. All CT official parties choose their 7 electors at their respective conventions. The party with the candidate who wins the most votes gets to put their team to work on the real Election Day in December.

3. Most towns are entirely in a single CD - some are split so they divide their delegates accordingly. Quite often the Congress people have resources to ply the delegates with food and drink making these convention spots the most sought after.

4. Each State Senate District will have somewhere in the range of 40-60 delegates depending on Dem enrollment. Each town sends their delegates to convention. Often towns team up to support one candidate (driven by the candidate that wants to win).

5. Each State House Convention will have 5-25 delegates depending on enrollment. As you can see here - in some heavily Dem districts the real vote comes when the delegates pick the Democratic Endorsed at Convention - Imagine the power when 5 or 6 people at a convention are the ones who really make the decision about who the dem candidate will be.

BECOME A DELEGATE
Every Democratic Town Committee has its own process. First rule: call the local Town Chair and ask-
- What is the nomination process
- When is the meeting
State Central rules provide for nominations
from the floor.
It's usually better to have the local support
for your candidacy
- Do we have a Caucus or Town Committee Delegate
selection process
- Are there delegate open slots available
- If not, would you put me on a Proxy list so I
may go if the Delegate can't

*If you are a Caucus town, bring all your friends out, get nominated and vote the night away. These caucuses are not always well attended but candidates in those districts often put effort in making sure they have many friendly voters to choose friendly delegates. At Caucuses any Democrat may vote.

*If you are a town that let's its Town Committee pick Delegates, get your name in, find out how it works, go to the Town Committee meeting and get your name in nominated. Only Town Committee members can vote in these elections so do some homework, make a few calls - campaign for yourself.

All over Connecticut, Town Committees are looking for people to participate. They need democrats who want to work for candidates and issues, raise money, build the party and participate. If you are not active yet - spend some time to attend the local meeting, go to a fundraiser, volunteer to help. In no time (except for a few cities and towns with super active groups) you can be plugged into the system - and during delegate selection time - it's a great way to volunteer for a pretty important event that often needs participants. But don't just go to a convention and drop out - keep it going. The Democrats need more people willing to help - as do all volunteer organizations.

Here's info about the Dem Calendar and the link to Town Committee phone numbers.

More info on the State Dem Calendar
http://ctdems.org/

Town Chairs Phone Numbers
http://ctdems.org/officials.php

Town Committee Members Phone Numbers
http://ctdems.org/town.php

Welcome to the silly season...get involved and be a part of history.