GRIEGO: Denver delegate day disorderly

By Tina Griego, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Monday, March 10, 2008

According to the odometer on my trusty 1997 Honda Civic (120,000 miles, thank you very much) at least one of the roads to Denver is just a hair shy of seven-tenths of a mile, starting and finishing, well, in Denver.

Six blocks separate the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention will be held in August, from the Colorado Convention Center, where on Saturday the Denver Democrats held their county convention and assembly.

From precinct to county to congressional district to state to national.

That's the path of conventions hundreds of Denver delegates are headed down in their campaigns to represent Colorado in August.

It's been maybe eight years since I've been to a county convention, and I remember only that it was held in a half-empty high school auditorium and that by the end of the day, I was ready for a beer. The beer part didn't change this time around, but the crowd . . .

O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! Hil-la-ry! Hil-la-ry! Five thousand people shouting at the same time, a deafening mishmash of fevered syllables flung high into the air of the convention center. Just outside the auditorium, campaign workers were passing out stickers and buttons and bagels, and a Clinton supporter was calling out, "Broad challenges require a tough broad," and I spotted Obama folks who'd apparently decided any bare spot of skin was a good one for a sticker.

All that early-in-the-day excitement reminded me of Coors Field when Rockies fever was raging. I didn't see anyone spitting. But there were hot dogs for lunch.

They're a rowdy bunch with their signs and their cheers. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a superdelegate backing Clinton, is interrupted a few times by the "Yes, we can," of the Obama crowd and by their calls for her to "listen to the people." "Superdelegates vote with the people."

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, a superdelegate with supertight lips on his primary candidate preference, draws some hisses from the liberal wing of the party.

The Clinton and Obama campaigns worked the phones all last week to make sure their delegates and alternates out of the Feb. 5 caucuses showed up for the county presidential poll, but in House District 4, a couple of Clinton delegates and alternates are AWOL, so two Obama alternates step up, which is one way a delegate vote for Clinton becomes one for Obama.

Given the caucus results, the county preference poll is no surprise: Obama, 1,977; Clinton, 941.

I am here to witness the start of the Great Winnowing.

The road to Denver has an on-ramp in every state - Florida and Michigan remain under construction - and thousands of people are jockeying for a place as national delegates.

To mix metaphors, think of a series of funnels. With each convention the number of delegates shrinks. A torrent of water goes in, a few drops make it out.

Years past saw a dearth of delegates. This year brings an abundance, many more than slots apportioned. It's a chance of a lifetime, people say. When it's time to choose delegates that could end up at the national convention, I expect fierce campaigning.

I expect someone like 31-year-old Anthony Graves with his suit and his handshake and his 200 brochures resembling passports. "I designed this bad boy," he tells me and opens it to reveal: "Elect Anthony Graves. Delegate. 'An ambassador for Colorado.' "

I expect to see first-time county convention delegate Corey Baker again. Still excited, our young Corey is, but also uncertain whether he should press forward. He approaches former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb for the scoop. Nearly 700 delegates are chosen at the county convention.

"You make it out of here and you go to the CD1 (1st Congressional District) convention where you guys will be vying for six (national delegate) seats," Webb says. "Three male, three female, one alternate."

"Oh, my God!" a flustered Corey says. "OK."

"Now, if you don't make it at congressional, you should be able to run at state, and there's 12 more delegates there," Webb goes on. "You just keep running. It's attrition. You gotta get out there and shake people's hands."

"Look at Anthony," Corey says, and we turn to watch Anthony work the crowd. "He's meeting everyone. He's crazy."

"No," Webb says. "He's running."

I zip back and forth between state House District 4, northwest Denver, and House District 8, northeast Denver. Hundreds pack the rooms. Most have never been to a county convention, a show of hands reveals. The size of the crowd, their newcomer status and confusion over process cause protracted and heated battles. People shout. Eyes roll. A few frustrated folks leave.

Democracy is messy, I overhear a dozen people say in those hours, and so it is. But after endless wrangling and the umpteenth suggestion on the fairest way to choose delegates to congressional and state, Benjamin Waters, the county delegate standing next to me, sighs and says to no one in particular: "I'm in favor of a dictatorship at this point."

HD4 ends up drawing names out of a box. HD8 sorts itself into precincts and selects from each. Anthony is off to the CD1 and state conventions as an Obama delegate. Corey, another Obama delegate, is on his way, too. "Yay!" he cheers and jumps up and down.

The Clinton delegates of HD8, led by Webb, aim for diverse representation and so it is that Christian Williams and Christina Hertel emerge triumphant from multiple coin tosses as representatives of young gays and lesbians.

The two, grinning, thrilled, tell me they intend to go all the way to national, and who am I to dampen their enthusiasm? All day long, ideals and process clashed, but, one way or another, most people seemed to work it out.

So, how did it go in your precinct, I ask Brad Wilkerson before I leave. Everyone wanted to go, he says. "So, we played rock, paper, scissors."

griegot@RockyMountainNews.com

• March 10, 2008

  10:26 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  cabo25 writes:

  Way to go Anthony! Denver citizens made an excellent decision in selecting Anthony as a delegate. Like Obama, Anthony offers critical thinking, a voice for positive change and inclusion (good ideas and solutions come from everywhere). We're all Americans and we can all prosper from change. Colorado super delegates should take heed and listen to the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE. Si se puede con Anthony y Obama.

• March 14, 2008

  9:54 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  T1anda writes:

  I think they ought to hold the convention in trailers scattered along Federal Blvd...thay way the Democrats could get to know the true nature of the illegal aliens that the Dems are breaking their necks to give an amnesty !!!!