Pan-Dem-onium! The 2008 Clark County Democratic Convention

The Bally's ballroom, site of the 2008 Clark County Democratic ConvetionLas Vegas- “Clown shoes” was how one delegate to the Clark County Democratic Convention described the scene Saturday, echoing the thoughts and words of many in the packed-beyond-overflow ballroom of Bally’s Hotel and Casino.

Trouble started before the convention even began as thousands of people waited in line for hours to be granted entrance to the ballroom.  The capacity of the room was only 5,000, according to a Bally’s spokesperson, but more than 7,400 delegates had been elected from the precinct caucuses last month, not counting alternates.  A fire marshal threatened to shut the event down only minutes after it officially began and when the doors were shut to all comers, hundreds of people still remained outside.

John Hunt, chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party, took the stage early to implore alternate delegates and delegates who had already cast their votes to move into an alternate room or leave to make space.  Despite his pleas, the ballroom remained above capacity, leaving those outside to slink away without an opportunity to cast their ballots. 

This was only the first turn in a rollercoaster of a day that had Democrats alternately loving and hating their own party and its leaders.  

Bloom off the rose?

Conventions are an opportunity for a political party to showcase its organization and unity, but failing with the first, Clark County Democrats next failed with the other.

Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, whose endorsement was eagerly sought by the Democratic presidential campaigns, was greeted by boos as he stood up to address the convention.  His speech was short and nearly drowned out by disaffected culinary workers, many of whom see him as a traitor to their union for his active support of N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

“Ruben Kihuen is a guy who forgets who got him into his position,” said culinary member Matt Knepper of Las Vegas.  “When he got an offer from Hillary, he sold us out in two seconds flat.  He took her into the heart of union territory and to our own people, the culinary members, he represented Hillary as the union’s candidate.”

“[Kihuen] is going to be left holding the bag and trust me; the culinary union is coming after him.”

Kihuen, for his part, remained true to his endorsement and tried to shrug off the signs of discontent.

“At the end of the day,” said Kihuen, “my constituents supported Clinton, so I supported her.  My responsibility is to my constituents.”

No Congressional District 3 primary?

There was unity in at least one element of the convention, however, and that was Democratic leaders’ assertion that Robert Daskas would face Congressman Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District in November.  Both Congresswoman Shelley Berkley and Nevada Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus were present at Daskas’ announcement in November, and today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked the assembled delegates to send Daskas to congress.  None of them mentioned that Robert Daskas is not yet his party’s nominee for that election.

Andrew Martin, a certified public accountant who spoke before Reid arrived today, is a Democrat who is also running for that seat and took issue with the Democratic leadership’s seeming coronation of Daskas.

“Daskas went off to Washington,” said Martin, “and raised $40,000 at breakfast.  I’m getting a lot of small contributions from here, so my question is, ‘is he representing them or us?’  I’m representing us.”

Neither Daskas nor Martin mentioned each other in their speeches to the convention, but PolitickerNV.com asked Daskas about the primary afterward.

“I’ve met Andrew,” said Daskas.  “He’s a great guy and I look forward to the primary.  I think it’s an opportunity to get my name out there sooner rather than later and I’m taking nothing for granted.”

Daskas disagreed with Martin’s assertion that his fundraising came from party insiders.

“If you look at our donors,” said Daskas, “over half of our donors have never given to a federal campaign and are from Nevada.  There’s something about either the race or, I’d like to think, the candidate that is energizing or inspiring people to give to this campaign.”

Recess?  “No,” say the delegates… loudly

By early afternoon, it was clear to both the convention organizers and the two campaigns that they had a problem. 

With so many delegates turned away at the door, the convention's voting was something less than fully legitimate and could thus be challenged at both the state and national conventions.  In an effort to fix this, convention chair Bill Stanley took the microphone.

“I will entertain a privileged motion to recess due to a pressing situation affecting the privilege of the assembly,” said Stanley, essentially requesting a do-over at a later date.

The delegates did not immediately take to the motion and the room was filled with boos and shouts of “No!”

“You are changing the rules!” yelled one irate delegate from the front of the room.

“Whose fault is it, you don’t have enough room?” asked another.

Having made the motion, Stanley opened the convention to debate—two people for and two against the motion for two minutes each.

“I say no,” said one woman into a microphone, drawing cheers.  “I say eliminate the formalities!  I say get the vote done!”

When the eight minutes of debate were over, Stanley called for a vote.  The motion was resoundingly defeated.

Now what?

A glimpse inside the Directors' Room where Rory Reid, Steven Horsford, Bill Stanley, and John Hunt frantically negotiateStanley quickly moved to the Directors’ Room where he huddled with Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid on behalf of the Clinton campaign and state Sen. Steven Horsford on behalf of Obama.

The problem was that either campaign, if they didn’t like the way the votes came out, would be able to challenge the results, so a solution had to be reached that would both would be amenable to.

“It’s both of the campaigns that are going to drive the decision making for the party,” said Mike Zahara, who sits on the executive board of the state Democratic Party.  “They need a resolution and it’ll be one both campaigns agree to.”

Complaints, at this point, were beginning to pile up and rumors were flying wildly about ballot boxes found in a men’s room and dirty tactics to disenfranchise voters.

“There are a lot of people, especially on the Hillary side, who were in the back of the line, and the Obama people were bussed in to the front of the line,” said delegate and Hillary supporter Carl Corcoran.  “That’s why they want to adjourn because they realized, after denying it, that Hillary people were stuck outside.”

“Really it’s a shame.  It’s the closest I’ve seen to anything in this country of somebody actually stealing a vote.”

Assemblyman Harvey Munford, who supports Obama, saw things differently.

“Not only did they not plan on the size,” said Munford, “but delegates weren’t contacted.  This is a regular pattern by the opponent of Barack Obama of sabotage and unjust actions.”

Munford also mentioned the rumors of ballots being lost and not counted.

The one thing that nearly everyone could agree on was who deserves the blame.

“The county Democratic Party was in charge of this,” said D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union, “they have no one to blame but themselves.  I think that what we’ve seen today, unfortunately, is a disconnect between the county Democratic Party and competence.”

A comedian to the rescue…

Candidate for the U.S. Senate Al Franken“I started today at a county convention in Minnesota,” said keynote speaker Al Franken, “and I flew here and I just want you to know, that none of this is my fault.”

Franken, a Saturday Night Live alum and author who this year is challenging Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota, gave a heartfelt speech riddled with humor and poignant anecdotes that got the crowd laughing again and, seemingly, proud of their party.

“It’s your fault for caring and turning out and having two great presidential candidates,” said Franken.

While Franken’s speech didn’t change anything substantive, interviews with delegates afterward turned noticeably more positive.

“It’s a surfeit of riches,” said Herman VanBetten, a Dutch émigré who has spent the last forty years in Las Vegas, referring to the problem of the large turnout.  “Before, if we had a hundred people for a Democratic convention we were lucky.  It’s just unbelievable.”

VanBetten was only one of many to trot out a line made famous by another comedian nearly a century ago.

“I don’t belong to any organized political party,” said VanBetten, smiling.  “I’m a Democrat.”

Caucus again?

After Franken and Sen. Reid addressed the convention, Stanley returned to the stage, this time moving for the campaigns to caucus separately so their representatives could discuss recommitting the motion to recess.  Obama supporters dutifully filed into the Bronze Room while Clinton supporters remained behind.

“Believe me folks, we don’t want to be here,” said Obama advisor Billy Vassiliadis in the Bronze Room referring to the situation, not the convention.  “We—not me—you worked so hard to do what you did not only in the caucus but since the caucus.”

“The process was not handled right.  So what we’re asking for is please support the motion [to recess].  I commit to you, on behalf of the Obama campaign, we will take a very active role in planning what happens next.”

Vassiliadis was followed by other senior Obama supporters and they quickly won over the crowd to the idea of a recess.

Meanwhile, in the ballroom, Clinton senior advisor Karen Hicks was making a similar pitch to Clinton supporters.

“We had hundreds of our supporters turned away,” said Hicks.  “We need every single Hillary Clinton supporter to stand up and cheer loudly to get that motion passed.  I know it’s not a perfect solution, but we’ve been in consultation all day with the national campaign.  We feel like this is going to be the best shot we have.”

Hicks thanked the crowd as they roared their newly determined approval and, shortly afterward, the Obama supporters returned to the room.

So how did this whole thing end?

Well, technically, it still hasn’t.

When everyone was back in their seats or filling the space in front of the stage, Stanley moved to recommit the motion to recess.

“I will call for the question,” said Stanley.  “All those in favor of the motion as previously stated, signify by saying ‘aye.’”

The crowd roared its approval.

“All those opposed, signify by saying ‘nay.’”

The “nays” were loud but clearly now in the minority.  When Stanley next moved for recess, the “nays” were even fewer and the crowd cheered as vehemently then for the recess as they had only two hours earlier against it.  The motion approved, the convention recessed, never having officially voted on a candidate.

“This is the best advantage and disadvantage for both camps,” said Johnathan Abbinett, a columnist and Clark County Central Committee member.  “It’s the fairest solution.  Four years ago the previous leaders of the Clark County Democratic Party couldn’t get 250 Democrats in a room.”

“I can tell you, John Hunt, Billy, everyone wanted to do it right.  The enthusiasm went beyond everyone’s expectations again.  So this is part of dealing with a phenomenon.”

Clark County Democrats can only hope that the enthusiasm will still be there when they reconvene.