So, here's the final chapter of my fun-filled descent into the madness that was the California Democratic Convention (See
Part I and
Part II if you missed 'em).
I had a great time writing this, and I appreciate the positive feedback you all have given me. I've lurked here for some time now, so it feels great to have something to say that I feel is worthy of this site. Thanks for listening!
Sunday 9:00 - General Session
Against her better judgment, my long-suffering LA friend whose guest room I'm sullying agrees to get up early on Sunday morning and drive me through downtown traffic to arrive on time. I don't want to miss this session, because it includes some of the stuff I'm most looking forward to. I take care of my need for coffee before I arrive (take that, Starbucks line!) and I'm ready and eager for more democracy.
First up is
Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also running for LA Mayor against Hahn, who spoke yesterday. See
Part II for details on that surrealist adventure. Villaraigosa has a posse as big as Hahn's, but either they're more genuine or he's got more savvy PR people, because they are all sitting among the delegates, blending in with the rest of the crowd, rather than swarming the stage like a cloud of upbeat, ethnically diverse locusts. Villaraigosa actually seems to excite the crowd naturally, and does a good job of sounding like a competent mayoral candidate. Clearly, the crowd favors him to Hahn. His speech, to my ears, seems relatively content-free, and I can't really remember much of what he said.
There are a few more speakers that I sorta wander in and out of. I do enjoy a typo in the agenda for this section, the `Radification' of Regional Director Elections. Dude, those elections are now totally rad. Damn pot-smoking liberal copy editors!
But now for my most anticipated event, the Communicate the Message Town Hall, featuring an outstanding panel of folks. Sadly, the panel does not include - as advertised - Wes Boyd of MoveOn.org, who I was really looking forward to seeing. Apparently he took his family to Disneyland the day before and came down with a nasty bout of food poisoning. Well, what else can you expect from an amusement park that puts its fanciest restaurant inside of an artificial swamp?
The rest of the panel makes up for him, though. First to speak was Ann Lewis, former White House Communications Director. She lays things out just the way I like to hear it, clear and to the point. In fact, this is what I came to this convention to see - smart Democrats telling us what we need to say and do to defeat the Republicans. She says that good messages are both policy-specific and values-based, and that there are two main messages the Democrats need to push right now:
- Democrats are in favor of an opportunity society, where people get what they have earned. Republicans are trying to create a "You're on your own society," but Dems believe that America is stronger when we all work together.
- Democrats are in favor of Democracy. We believe in fair elections in the Mid-East, and in the Midwest. We think the rule of law applies to international terrorists, and to Tom Delay, who is threatening to blow up the checks and balances of our government with the so-called `nuclear option'.
I love these messages. The framing is good, they appeal to red-state ways of thinking, they link Republican strategies to terrorism. Great, great, great.
Next to speak was Kevin Bleyer, a TV writer best known for his role as the token Democrat on the Dennis Miller Show. As a writer, of course he has some good sound bites, such as:
"Running the country is complex - It's much more like an episode of The West Wing than one of, say, Jag."
"We've got to show red staters that progressives aren't just worrying about the Earth, we're worrying about the world."
"We've got to keep saying that Democrats have values too. Why should we let the Republicans have all the no fun?"
Obviously, he's a clever writer, but he seems to be more concerned with getting the audience to laugh than with actually conveying useful information. Uh, Kevin, this is the Democratic Convention, not the Punch Line. Please try out your new material at some open mike on your own time. Thanks.
Then we have Sergio Bendixen, a pollster who focuses on the Latino demographic. He has some very interesting and frightening statistics about the Latino vote. We all know that Republicans have made some very strong inroads into the Hispanic vote, and he tells us how. In the early nineties, California Latinos associated Republicans with Pete Wilson and Prop 187. Needless to say, they despised these things, and hence tended to vote blue. In the last fifteen years, however, the Republicans have used what Bendixen called the "I love you" approach to woo Hispanics - lots of symbols, empathy, and emotional connections without a lot of facts or policies to back it up. Sadly, it's been working. Almost half of the foreign-born Latinos in California voted for Bush in '04. Half! Yikes! Bendixen's approach to messaging is to hammer on the actual issues: "With the Democrats, your life will be better". Specifically, Democratic positions on the economy, healthcare, education, and the minimum wage stand to benefit Latinos way more than the Republicans. Again, clear presentation with good action items. Ten points for Bendixen.
Finally, we get to Arianna Huffington. I have mixed feelings about Arianna, mostly because my mother, who is a loyal Democrat, refuses to trust her. She ascribes to the cheating husband theory of Arianna - if she switched parties once, she'll probably switch again. Sadly, this idea has wormed its way into my brain, so I can't watch her with a totally open mind. Regardless, Arianna is quite good. She doesn't offer ideas or strategies so much as she just acts as a rabble-rouser. But she is so good at it that I don't mind. Much to the crowd's delight, she talks about stating Democratic positions boldly and passionately, rather than playing yes-man to Republican goals. She actually refers to Republican-lite strategies as "Chickenshit", which is hilarious. I just want to hear her say that word again and again with her accent. The crowd adores her.
Saturday 10:45 - Environmental, Consumer, and Civil Rights Town Hall
I don't know why they don't just cut to the chase and call it the Everything Else Town Hall, or perhaps, in the spirit of Jeopardy, simply Potpourri. Cause that's basically what it is. Everyone just kinda talks about what they want to talk about. One interesting speaker was Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who is also running for governor. I'm curious to hear him speak, because while I've seen Angelides and Westly every-freaking-where in this convention, there has been no sign of Bill. The day before, I snidely asked a staffer at his table what was so important that Mr. Lockyer had to miss the convention for. "He's speaking at a funeral," she replied. Oh. Uh, right. OK. Nevermind.
Anyway, I don't expect much from Lockyer, both because of his hopelessly lame Hospitality Suite invite (See Part I, ), and because of his campaign literature. Sigh. Every time I look at his brochure, I can't get around to actually reading about the no doubt wonderful attributes and experiences of Attorney General Bill Lockyer. You want to know why? It's because of the cover photo. I swear to God, the cover of his brochure features a shot where it looks like Bill Lockyer is wearing makeup and giving a Nazi salute to an image of George Bush. WTF? Did they hire Karl Rove as their graphic designer??? My Lord. The only thing they forgot was to photoshop a half-eaten dead baby into his other hand. Sheesh.
Surprisingly, Lockyer sounds good, talking about the environmental accomplishments of his office and how he's suing Bush to ensure reproductive rights. He's very down to earth, like a progressive good old boy. That's a type that seems like it could play well across the state. So now I don't know who I want for Governor. Angelides and Lockyer both sound good to me. In the real world, of course, I doubt that any of these guys can beat Arnold. I mean, who can compete with his star power? No matter how many people hate his policies and disagree vehemently with his tactics, the race is still going to be perceived as "Arnold vs. that other guy". Not to sound hopeless, but I think that beating Arnold is still a long shot.
The only other speaker in this group that really captures my attention was Assemblymember Fran Pavley, who I have never heard of. She's spot on for the environment, and has some great frames for this issue. This is something I frequently struggle with, since the environment so often gets presented from a `tree hugger' perspective. I'm sure you know what I mean by this. I always picture Julia Butterfly Hill saying, "We shouldn't cut down forests because it's bad for the ecosystem, and some owls will die." Now I have nothing but respect and admiration for Ms. Hill, and the spotted owl for that matter, but most Americans, like it or not, care more about their families and their mortgages than they do about an unwashed hippie and a bunch of birds. We've got to find ways of bringing ecological issues home to these people. Pavley, very quietly, does just that. She's got some great ways of linking the environment to national security ("Better mileage can change our foreign policy") and public health ("One out of every seven kids in Fresno public schools carries an inhaler"). That's the way to turn the tide in favor of environmentalism.
Saturday 12:00 - Resolutions Committee Report
Despite how procedural and potentially mind-numbing I had imagined it, surprisingly, this turns out to be my favorite part of the whole weekend. The point here is to approve, as a convention, the priority resolutions created in committee. Sounds thrilling, right? Yeah! Resolutions are basically policy recommendations for the overall party. They include everything from a gesture of support for Barbara Boxer to a statement of opposition to Schwarzenegger's Special Election, to a reaffirmation of a woman's right to choose. (Parenthetically, this strikes me as the way to go with abortion, rather than the green stickers I railed about in Part I. It's the difference between saying, "If you aren't pro-choice, you aren't a Democrat" and "If you aren't pro-choice, you disagree with the Democratic Party's position". The latter makes room in the Big Tent without compromising Democratic values.)
I absolutely love the trio of committee members that got up to lead this section of the day - a young, hiply dressed Asian woman, a tall, kinda geeky looking white guy, and a larger African-American woman dressed in traditional African garb. Man, I love being a progressive. Forget about "protecting real people". We are the real people!
The three of them do a fantastic job of running the meeting. Which isn't easy because, of course, we're liberals. And, as liberals, we aren't just going to rubber stamp all these resolutions without arguing them over first. Who do you think we are, Republican sheep? This is where I absolutely fall in love with the woman in African garb. She says she's a teacher, and it shows. She politely, but firmly, keeps all the argumentative progressives in line, and deftly avoids the liberal chaos we had at the progressive caucus. Every viewpoint is heard out and fairly voted upon. Even the delegates who start to get testy when she tells them they are `out of order' calm down when she explains clearly, and above all patiently, exactly how and when they can register their opinions.
The most interesting moment comes when a delegate raises an objection to the resolution titled simply "Iraq", which calls for a swift end to the Iraqi occupation, coupled with reconstruction efforts and the creation of an international body to help put a new Iraqi government together. Here, for the first time at this convention, I hear someone representing the Lieberman wing of the Democratic party. Finally! Where have you been all weekend? He says all the perfect DINO things about how freedom is coming to the Iraqi people, that America is so much safer with our forces in Baghdad, blah, blah, blah. Naturally, the rest of the room starts to erupt with irritation and outrage. Quickly, my new hero the chair sets us straight. "I would ask that you show some respect," she admonishes the crowd, "This man has a right to speak. You have a right to listen. And to deplore silently, if you wish." Perfect! Like obedient kindergarteners, we shut up in a hurry. Moreover, when he finishes, she teaches us all an important lesson. "I would just like to use my position as chair for a moment to recognize the bravery of what you just did. It's not easy to stand up in front of a room full of people who disagree with you and state what you believe in, but you did so. That was very courageous. And that's what democracy is all about." Hot damn! Can I get her to run every meeting I attend from now until the end of time? I love her!
Once the Iraq resolution finally passes, the meeting degenerates into some nitpicky word finagling in a resolution about steroids. I listen for as long as I can take it, and then move on out.
The convention is over, but I'm still flush from the feeling that I have watched, and participated in, the democratic process. On my final pass out of the General Assembly Room, I stop by the booths one more time to buy a pin saying "Proud to be a Democrat." Because, well, I am.