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Jerry Brown by Ruth
On February 10, 2012, California Democratic delegates picked
up their credentials for the election year convention in San Diego, California. The goal of the convention was to prepare
for the re-election of Barack Obama and to work to restore a Democratic
majority to Congress. The theme was Battleground California.
In Memory Esther Theresa Hull by Ruth
Starting with a
personal note, on the final morning of the convention, the name of my mother,
Esther Theresa Hull, was presented to the delegates along with other former Democratic
delegates who had passed since the previous convention.
My mother was the greatest lady I have ever known and she was my best
friend when I was growing up. She died a
domestic violence victim. Her abuser
stole her money and literally tortured her.
Even though my mother was a Democrat and a former delegate to the state party, no Democratic official came to her
rescue. My mother helped bring down two
top Orange County Republican officials and she got no assistance from anyone in
a position of power within the Democratic Party, a party that seemingly has abandoned domestic violence victims. The one leader who came to her rescue was
former Republican Assemblyman, soon to be an Orange County Supervisor Todd
Spitzer. After my mother, a forty year postal worker, died with all her money stolen, I had to beg
for funds to bury her. There are no funds to bury domestic violence victims or former civil servants in the State of California. It was Todd who cared enough to donate money to
help me bury this beautiful and kind woman.. Seeing her name on the
screen at the convention, today, brought me to tears, but I would like to see my party and California leaders do more than just recognize the name of peacemakers who suffered the ultimate penalty for their generosity and kindness. I'd like to see our leaders actually do something to save the lives of people like my mother.
Stepping into the convention was like stepping into an
alternate universe in which the last four years had been redesigned by Orwell's
Ministry of Truth. Though Bush was a
terrible President who committed crimes against humanity and destroyed
America's economy, there was a pretense that Americans were somehow better off
now than four years ago. Despite a complete
lack of any populist reforms during the two year period in which the Democrats
controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency (2011 -- 2013), Democrats
expect Americans to trust that something populist and miraculous will happen if
they are given another chance. Could
the illusion carry the election or is will the Democrats be jarred awake in
November?
Much of the motivation is the fear factor. Even though the Democratic incumbents are mostly corporate-owned relics of an archaic system of elections, the Republicans are far worse. The Democrats always say they will help the people. The people have learned that the Democrats go back on their promises and then destroy human rights and give the people's money to the corporations and the war machines. The excuse of the Democrats is always, "The Republicans made us do it." The Republicans say, up front, they will destroy human rights and give the people's money to the corporations and war machines. People are actually stupid enough to vote for politicians saying stuff like that. When Republicans win by a margin of one vote, probably through vote rigging, they treat it like a mandate to institute an extremist, anti-populist agenda.
To listen to speaker after speaker, one would think the Wall Street Bailouts hadn't occurred and that Barack Obama had personally led the labor protests in Wisconsin, a movement he boycotted. Even more disgusting to liberal delegates was listening to what they called "robot" or Obamabot delegates utter comments that bombing innocent black people in Libya was a good thing and that America needed more troops in the Middle East to make the world safe. This disconnect from reality was very similar to that of the Bushies of 2000 to 2008, who often spoke as if they had been lobotomized, unable to comprehend the difference between war and peace.
Maxine Waters by Ruth
There were some highlights that made the convention worth attending. A great many speakers focused on changes that
needed to be made in America. Maxine Waters was the keynote speaker at the
African-American Caucus, where she spoke to frequent thunderous applauses. She later spoke to a standing ovation at the
convention. If the Democrats take back
the house, she will be the Chairman of the Committee that regulates Wall
Street. As always, she was
courageous. Barbara Lee, the only member
of Congress to vote against the war on Afghanistan, was a highlight of the Saturday
morning session, giving a rousing speech that constantly brought delegates to
their feet cheering. Jerry Brown, Hilda
Solis, Kamala Harris, John Chiang and others also gave rousing speeches. Van Jones spoke at the Chairman's reception and was much more popular than Nancy Pelosi, who also spoke there.
Barbara Lee by Ruth
Though there was repeated mention of Nancy Pelosi returning to her position as Speaker of the House, a sub-discussion of delegates among themselves revealed that there is a common hope that someone more liberal will replace her in California's 8th CD. Under the open primary system in California in 2012, two Democrats could run against each other in November in Pelosi's district.
The Progressive Caucus, founded by Natasha Hull-Richter and others on Natasha's inspiration, had one of the more awake meetings, wherein the delegates spoke out against the influence of money on Democratic and Republican leaders. One of the speakers had denied previously the Armenian Holocaust, and Armenian delegates stood facing the walls with their backs to the speaker. It ended with members going in mass to Congressman Brad Sherman's hospitality suite to tell him what they thought of war with Iran.
Most of the action surrounded pre-endorsement caucuses, where, almost two months before the filing deadline, the party tells the voters which Democrats are more Democratic than others. Some consider this a sort of election-rigging for party insiders. Some voters specifically vote against pre- endorsed candidates.
On Sunday, John Hanna (chairman of the resolution's committee) again violated Robert's Rules of Order to force his choice of propositions for endorsement on the convention. There was no actual opportunity for the convention to have a say as he rushed through his statement of what was being endorsed and his statement that it was adopted. John Hanna often endorses Republicans and it is a little surprising that he hasn't slipped an endorsement of some of the more right wing Republicans through the convention in that fashion.
Occupy Wall Street, a populist movement, has given a voice to the majorities of Americans who have victimized in one way or another by the harms done by both parties. So why were the OWS protesters sadly missing from this convention? In 2007 (the last California Democratic Convention in San Diego), protesters were thousands strong outside the convention center. This year, delegates looked and looked in the hopes of seeing at least one OWS protester. Some delegates feared that their own party had taken over and minimized OWS as it did the peace movement and other populist movements that lost their footing when Barrack Obama was elected. This is despite the fact that Obama has placed more troops in the Middle East than Bush and was more responsible than any other recent President for the redistribution of wealth through his Wall Street Bailouts AKA rich man's welfare. He even reneged on his promise to repeal the Bush tax cuts. One glint of hope at the convention was a signature gathering effort for a millionaire's tax. Petition gatherers were also out in full force getting thousands of signatures against the death penalty, three strikes and female trafficking.
The general feeling expressed by the delegates was that this was the most boring convention the party has ever had. Attendance was very low. The after-hours parties were muted. The energy was almost non-existent, compared to prior conventions. The chocolate-covered strawberries were the highlight of the hospitality suites. The excitement was so low, that some of the party leaders headed off for the closest bar on Saturday night. Maybe, OWS's failure to show was a sign that then considered the Democratic Party to be old news.
