NC Democratic Party State Convention Open Thread
Submitted by Betsy Muse on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 9:06am.
Here's a fresh clean open thread for those at the state convention who want to stop in and let us know what's going on. Thanks to Captsfufp for reminding me to put this up.
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Don't listen to your GPS
Follow the orange road work signs to downtown New Bern. There's a draw bridge closed close to the convention center, so don't listen to your GPS system if you have one.
I did and got here 20 mins late for my GOTV strategy training.
Stupid GPS lady...
Left on 49
Thanks for the advice
Hopefully others will check in and see this before they head to New Bern.
So very dissappointed that I can't go.
Too much work to finish up in time. I was really looking forward to New Bern and the Sanford-Hunt Dinner.
I hope you all have a splendid convention!
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Hey folks, I'm here!
I'll have a post up at my place in a bit; the main convention floor is beginning to fill up, and I have a table set up for me to blog over on the side near an outlet, since that was one of the little matters the NCDP didn't think about -- blogger "facilities" (thanks, Jerimee!). We do have wifi. If people want me to try and post a diary here (updated with a bit of a delay over the Blend), let me know!
--Pam
--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA
Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com
Pam that would be wonderful
Thank you so much.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
delegates
Speaker Joe Hackney and Pricey Harrison were elected to delegate slots.
Mike Nelson - PLEO delegate elected. Bill Bell, and Dan Blue as well. Jerry Meek's just rolling through this voice vote approval process extremely quickly.
--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA
Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com
Thanks!
Pam,
It's great to have your live reports!
Live on convention floor
Apparently 500 (!) filed to run for a national convention pledged delegate seat at this state convention. There's less than 50 seats available.
Left on 49
Hey Pam
I'm close to and in front of the projection screen on the right.
Left on 49
semi organized chaos
Chaos has ensued because we now need to have a paper ballot for delegate #31.
Voting by raising our voices was too close to call, so now we go to paper.
Left on 49
pro forma voting until now!!
Bradley Hardy, Yadkin County young Dem who has registered voters since age 16 (or younger?) is the first potential "upset."
Every candidate listed in Visit DebateScoop
Be the Democrat you want to see.
Go Bradley!
n/t
duuuuuuude
Are you here as well?
I'm stuck in Con-city.
Where fun goes to die.
Pic from the convention
Love to see the big turnout
And, with 500 applicants for 50 slots coupled with our record voter turnout in the primary, we can only assume that participation in the general will be very high. woot!
NCDem Amy on YouTube
NCDP blogger access learning curve -- :)
A squib from my blogging over at the Blend (for the general audience there):
When I entered the convention hall itself, there wasn't any set up area for the press to work (no tables or chairs in a convenient location to cover the activities). I fortunately ran into Jerimee Richer (R), who is director of online communications for the North Carolina Democratic Party. He quickly found the facilities coordinator for the center while I went out into the public area to check out the candidate and merchandise tables in the hall. When I came back about 10 minutes later, there was a table set up on the left side of the hall, convenient to power and a great view. You can't ask for better blogger accommodation than that. Thanks!
--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA
Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com
Awesome, Pam!
Always great to have a blogger on the scene.
Thanks to all our bloggers for their reporting.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
I love it!
Great, Pam! Two years ago I had to leave the convention hall to go to the hotel across the street in order to go online. I did have credentials, at least.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Wake county unified in presidential elector vote
Right now each county is caucusing for their weighted vote for presidential electors. With six female candidates and eleven male candidates, the vote for presidential elector could have been chaos. However, Wake county overwhelmingly supported motions (within our causus) to unanimously support Don Mial and Kara Hollingsworth. Short, sweet and solid.
It will be interesting to see how the full convention vote plays out.
Bev Perdue now on stage
Bread and butter speech with education as the main theme
Thanks BeGreen
Great to know what's going on.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Platform adopted as amended
A wholesale change of the section titled WOMEN by the Pro-Life contingent was roundly defeated.
Small amendment to add one word was approved. Sorry but I don't have the amendment.
Wow. Sure is different from 2004.
We added the word "age"
to the list of things (race, religion, national origin, etc.) we don't want held against potential employees in government hiring practices. It was in the platform section under Government.
It's so awesome you bogged this!!
I spent all but $4 of my budgeted money already ... but I have a couple of great t-shirts now and a few Obama buttons that are almost the size of my face. :) The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Democratic circles!!!
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry Truman
I have to include this
It's in my liveblogging thread, but hilarity just ensued:
2:40: The Report of the Resolutions and Platform Committee is being discussed now. Guffaws of laughter from the body resulted when a motion to change this section of the document occurred:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that this convention proposes that the following amendment be added to the Constitution of the United States: 1. The word "Person, wherever it appears in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, means natural born persons only, and does not apply to any other form of legal entity. 2. Any legal decisions or legislative action made or adopted following the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which purport to extend the meaning of the word "person" in said Amendment so as to include any entities other than natural born persons is hereby declared void and of no effect.
The person wanted to change "natural born persons" to "human beings" to supposedly to avoid confusion regarding people who born via artificial insemination, surrogacy, etc. I sh*t you not.
Needless to say, the proposal went down in flames. Ah, democracy in action.
--
Pam Spaulding
Durham, NC USA
Pam's House Blend
www.pamshouseblend.com
How bizarre
Hillarity and absurdity! lol.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
Maybe that poor dear
is still worried about those animal human hybrids........
Manimal
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
lol
I have met a couple of manimals. They do exist.
Oh, wait, better not say that lest I get accused of being one of those radical "man hating BlueNCers." lol!
NCDem Amy on YouTube
Ahhh....yes
...we are such man haters around here.
Resolutions
now being pulled from consent agenda.
About a dozen or so were attempted, but only number 50 was moved to the debate agenda.
Resolution 50:
"A Resolution to Create Statewide Pre-Release and Post-Release Programs to be Represented in Each County to Assist Prisoners Completing Their Terms in the Transition to Stable Jobs and Healthy Relationships their Communities"
That was amended to include
That was amended to include a section on restoration of voting rights after the sentence has been served. Apparently, many persons convicted of felonies are not aware that their citizenship rights, including the right to vote, are automatically restored once they have served their sentence.
Presidential electors chosen
David Crawford and Kara Hollingsworth are chosen.
IRV resolutions both tabled
The two resolutions dealing with IRV (both pro and con) were tabled in order for the state chair Jerry Meek to appoint a commission to study election reforms like IRV and others. He had said earlier this morning that he would do so.
This was about the most sensible action from the session.
I was ready for mud wrasslin' to break out over this issue, but lo and behold a sensible compromise was reached without any loss of bodily fluids. (and without any loss of time by the assembled delegates.)
A hat tip to the great compromisers of '08.
Person County Democrats
As the author of the resolution opposing IRV which passed....
...in 4 districts, I was also ready for the mud wrasslin' over IRV. But one thing that I learned is that few people really know that much about IRV - enough to make an intelligent decision about it.
Under new business, there was a motion for Jerry to appoint a commission to study IRV. I believe that both sides of the issue should be heard, so that the party leaders can make an informed decision about IRV.
which four districts did it pass in?
Only one district was listed in the resolutions packet.
"jump in where you can and hang on"
Briscoe Darling to Sheriff Andy
I was there with our Randolph County people
saw Pam in her blogger galleria and liberalNC over in Cabarrus County.
Progressive Dems had a caucus in the hotel before it all started; maybe BlueNC ought to have a caucus, too, next year.
I thought Bev Perdue sounded kinda tentative and whiney... N&O says she was "nervous" later at the Bar Assn. debate, and McCrory was "confidant." One of her people brought along a wooden step that the slipped up to podium for her to stand on while speaking; they took it away with them after, though everyone looked for it when Kay Hagan spoke- the podium was set up for Jerry Meek's 6'7", I think- the only other one who fit was Daniel Johnson's brother, who used to play b-ball for Carolina.
Off today to the SEC meeting- scheduled to be over at 11:30 but that seems too good to be true!
I'm sending my foster son off to Atlantic Beach with my sister, so I hope I can meet up with them before dark... ;-)
Next time I hope the PDNC gets a room closer to the main meeting
Starts earlier, and also has more chairs. I went to that meeting and worked out a compromise on the competing IRV bills, and by the time we hiked back from the motel, the convention had already started.
If we want the PDNC to be more relevant in the state party, it would be a good idea to make sure that no one had to miss the start of the convention to attend this meeting.
today i had the pleasure of speaking from the podium
At the SEC meeting to second the nomination of our friend, Phillip Gilfus, to the DNC. The votes came in seconds ago and we now have a BlueNC member on the DNC!!!
Good Job, Sam
and congrats to Phillip!
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
it was all Phillp
I ♥ NC General Statute § 163‑211.
Heck no...
I feel horrible b/c I don't remember her name, but my victory was due to the older woman who second-ed me. When I say "change" and "new leadership", it sounds like one thing to some people. But when the older generation says, "It's time to pass the torch," people tend to hear that message better! I need to track her down...she did a great job for me, and if I may be so bold, to our state and the DNC.
Thanks, Sam, for the help! Send me a PM if you don't have my contact info...
EDIT: Also, I'm very lucky to have the "people" I do who helped work the room for me. I just came in (as dorky as this sounds) with a message and a dream. Luckily I have smart women around me (and Sam and some guys or two) who made that into a tangible victory!
Big Congratulations. Your election was one of the
highlights of the weekend as far as I'm concerned. I was all about shaking things up and getting new ideas and a fresh perspective on the DNC. The current bunch has left us with some rather undemocratic ways of deciding things.
Go kick some @$$.
Person County Democrats
Good job today, Phil
you came across confidant and straightforward and refreshing, especially after the long tiresome list of elderly women who wanted to read their resumes into the record. Over and over again. It's always surprising how some people come with an agenda for promoting themselves and don't deviate from it, even when it's obvious to almost everyone that the crowd didn't want to hear the same speech the second or third time they were in nomination.
The first woman who nominated you did a great job, and that older woman who seconded you the last time did you a world of good. You also helped yourself by seconding Mr. Parker, and a couple of the ladies talked themselves out of the job by not knowing when to shut up.
Parker won in part because he used BlueNC to keep in touch with the SEC members- more than a few told me that they felt good that he had asked us by email how to vote as a superdelegate.
Now take the ball and run with it!
Impact of BlueNC
New blood in the “Oldest Political Party in the World”
Congratulations to Phil Gilfus on his election to the DNC. I believe that he can bring needed energy to the process. Although many of you were somewhat underwhelmed by Muriel Offerman, you should know that she got her start as a precinct and county organizaer for Jim Hunt's gubernatorial campaigns when he was the Progressive upstart. Her energy level, intelligence and perseverence was rewarded with positions of responsibility in the Hunt administrations.
Keep in mind that a lot of we the windy warhorses were once activiists banging on the doors of an older establishment until we forced our way in! Believe me, if you think we are Mossbacks, you should have done battle with the old Democratic power brokers that held sway before the Hunt campaign broke through. Those were the battles that the Muriel Offermans and the Carol Petersons waged to keep NC as relatively Progressive as it is in the South.
Ironically, I had told the Mobile, AL Southern DNC meeting that there might be “new blood” coming out of NC because of the new political reality presented by blogs such as BlueNC. My advice to them was to embrace the new blood and new energy when it arrived – frankly, I thought it might be me that would not be coming back!
Thanks for the support and encouragement that I received during the event. I met quite a few new Blue friends and thoroughly enjoyed feeling the energy and excitement. It is true that after some 32 years of doing campaigns (my first campaign was as Jimmy Carter’s Youth Coordinator in 1976 while I was a Senior at Carolina), its hard not to get a bit jaded.
I certainly never took my DNC re-election campaign for granted and am delighted that in the process I discovered this vehicle and community. I have come away refresshed and pumped for the Fall campaign.
As promised, I will be posting a report from Mobile on this site in my blog.
David Parker
Wonderful, David
Thank you.
Thanks also for the reminder that we are not the first to crash the gates. Many have come before us and we need to be mindful that we are setting the example for those who will follow.
P.S.......James, the two of us had better clean up our acts. :D
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Thanks, David
Nice to meet you. I look forward to hearing your updates.
Go Phil
You will be an awesome addition to our DNC membership. I'm also thrilled that Susan Burgess won one of those seats.
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry Truman
My roll call for today....
was baby's first birthday.
Thanks for the updates, I'm just unwinding and enjoying going through all the threads!!!
Awww, Robert she's beautiful. What a smile!
....and dark hair!
Yes, she is!
Such a beautiful baby. Congrats Robert and Happy BDay to your little one.
Our daughter just graduated from Middle School. I can't believe how fast time has flown by.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
Our daughter just graduated from.......
Driver's Ed. Nooooooooooooo.
And my youngest from
high school.
That is just the sweetest, most joyful smile, Robert. Happy bday, little one! Hope they all find you as happy and beautiful. :)
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry Truman
And, that is her little smile.
I couldn't post the big smile because it uses up too much wattage, some cultures believe it is her morning smile that lights up the rest of the day.
Alright, well, maybe it's just ME that believes that.
yeah, I finally got one that looks like my side of the family.
She's awesome.
awesome
- - - - -
Congrats Phillip!!
You forgot to add gorgeous to the smart women around you :0)
All hail the Madame Elector...
n/t
My first convention impressions were rather negative.
Some of my initial, poor impressions moderated as time passed, but one aspect of the business of electing delegates still rankles. Many people applied to be delegates. That number was whittled down by 3 people, the instate appointed representatives of the Obama and Clinton campaigns. They left two people for each slot, a "chosen one" and a presumed lightweight picked to be a patsy for the chosen one. Candidates who had a real chance at bumping off one of the "chosen" were, of course, left off the ballot. Good democrats with strong resumes and high levels of committment were ignored because they weren't "in the club". This part of the delegate selection process needs to change.
Kudos to the SEC for sticking with the lengthy process of selecting DNC members. The delegates did run out of patience on Saturday as they refused to consider some rather worthwhile business at the end of the session. The one that really should have been considered concerned the National biological research facility planned for Granville county. Perhaps a few less speeches by candidates next time.
Person County Democrats