When I decided to run for the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee two years ago, I never expected to be at the center of such an important campaign. At our June 7th meeting, we will select 58 delegates to the national convention: 35 at-large pledged delegates, 20 Party Leader and Elected Official delegates, and three add-on superdelegates. Philly.com wonders if Clinton supporters on the state committee will able to to swing a few more delegates her way at that meeting:
Three of the state's superdelegates and 55 of its pledged delegates will be chosen in June at the convention of the Democratic State Committee, which is heavily influenced by Gov. Rendell and whose chairman is T.J. Rooney. Both are strong Clinton supporters.
Could party leaders stack the deck, handing Clinton the three superdelegates, and assigning Obama pledged delegates whose loyalty is questionable?
Absolutely not, says Rooney.
"This is not a situation where we can sneak in Clinton delegates," Rooney said. He noted that the lists of pledged delegates to be voted upon by the state committee are submitted to the campaigns for approval.
"The onus is on the candidates to ensure that the people they've slated stay true to the cause," Rooney said.
What about the three superdelegates to be chosen in June?
"A lot of people will make requests [to be superdelegates]," Rooney said. "We play things straight. And the fail-safe for anybody who's concerned the deck is stacked is that they have to be approved by members of the state committee, many of whom support Obama."
Clinton and her campaign officials have insisted they're not trying to talk Obama delegates into switching, and Rooney said he's heard no such talk in Pennsylvania.
As a member of the state committee, I'd like to set one thing straight about this story: while T.J. Rooney is incredibly influential over the state committee, Ed Rendell holds virtually no sway whatsoever. During my two years on the committee, I have repeatedly seen every single request Rendell make to committee members go entirely unheeded. In fact, back in 2002, the state committee endorsed Bob Casey over Ed Rendell in the gubenatorial primary, an endorsement that requires two-thirds support on the committee. Congressman Bob Brady holds far more sway over even how the Philadelphia caucus votes than does Ed Rendell.
Power on the Pennsylvania state committee resides mainly with the chairman, the eight regional caucus chairs, and the other 50 or so members of the executive committee. Since I would like to eventually be a member of the DNC, I'm strongly considering running for Obama at-large pledged delegate, of which there should be 15 or 16. As a white dude from Philadelphia, I don't do much for the affirmative action clause in the delegate selection plan, and as a general committee gadfly I'm not sure if the executive would go along with that. However, at this point, there is a 100% chance I would vote for Obama at the convention, and I'm not sure how many other state committee members can make that claim as strongly.
Right now, I really wish that I hadn't chickened out at my very first state committee meeting, and that I had taken the spot on the executive committee when it was briefly available. At my first state committee meeting back in June of 2006, I discovered executive committee members in the Philadelphia caucus are chosen by the majority vote of the committee members from each state senatorial district. My senatorial district, the 8th, had only three members in attendance at the meting: myself, my write-in partner Kevin Scott, and the one committee member who had actually been on the ballot. As such, Kevin and I could have elected one of us to the executive committee had we thought of it in time, but at our very first committee meeting we weren't quite ready to rock the boat like that just yet. Had we done so, now we would have more say over how 58 delegates to the convention are selected.
I'm not really sure what the point of this anecdote is, except that perhaps one should seize upon opportunities when they arise. While I honestly believe that power in the Democratic Party is there for the taking, it does require actually grabbing hold of it when the moment arises. As such, it occurs to me that I would be an idiot not to run for Obama delegate when I have a chance--and this might be my only chance. All I have to do is decide whihc type of Obama delegate to run for, at-large, PLEO or add-on. I'll will provide update on my campaign over next two months.
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