The All-Important Rules and Bylaws Committee Meeting

I was extremely fortunate today to sit in on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Meeting, concerning the delegates of Michigan and Florida. After arriving at 7:30am and running some errands for the campaign, I finally went inside and found a seat in the third row, right behind the presenters.

AND Mark Shields sat right behind me! No joke! The real Mark Shields! We chatted, and I told him how I loved watching his analysis of the Convention, which I do. He joked that by me saying that I brought his demographic down by two generations. :) Then I was telling him how I wouldn't be able to watch it this year because I would be in Denver as a delegate. He was very excited for me, and we continued our chat, saying we'd see each other again in Denver. I hope I do. He was a very nice guy.

Then the meeting finally began. It took forever (as I'm sure those of you watching on TV can testify), but by 3, we had finally heard from both Florida and Michigan. It was very interesting watching the dynamic of the crowd throughout the proceedings. Hillary definitely found her most radical supporters and sent them there. There was a lot of anger, and silliness if you ask me. All I can say is, Harold Ickes is more slimy in person than any newspaper or magazine article can depict. I hope politics never corrupts me like that.

We broke for lunch at 3, and were supposed to return by 4:15. But instead, the Committee decided to debate in private (probably a good idea considering the crowd that was there), so they didn't come out until 6. This gave me a chance to catch up with Evan and Christina (two other 8th District Delegates) and learn a bit about the politics of the 8th District and the history of its, shall I say, "moments". All very enlightening.

As all of you know, when the Committee returned, they voted to reinstate both Florida and Michigan in full, with votes counting 50%. Florida's allocation would be based on the actual results since both candidates were on the ballot, and Michigan's would be allocated 69 Hillary-59 Obama to account for Uncommitted voters, those who did not come to the polls, and the 5% who wrote-in a candidate whose votes were not counted.

Overall, I think it was a fair decision. Regardless of how the Clinton people will claim they will take this to the Convention, I'm confident that this was a compromise that both camps agreed to and I'm confident that the issue of a nominee will be settled by next week.

Now all that's left to deal with is Hillary's radical supporters that claim they will vote McCain in the fall. She really needs to do something about them. I mean, what Democratic woman would vote for a candidate that would overturn Roe v. Wade in a heartbeat? They need to see the light and realize that it is more important to elect a Democrat than to elect Hillary. Now that that's my job as a Field Organizer, I need to start brainstorming ideas... Any thoughts?