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Edited on Wed Jul-28-04 10:54 PM by gmoney
in my district, probably 500 people showed up, crammed into a school lunch room. When you signed in, you had to declare what candidate you supported (I registered for Dean). Then they divided up the big group into smaller groups by candidates. Then about 10 people who had registered with the local Dem party as candidates to be delegates stood up, introduced themselves and gave maybe a two-minute speech. Based on the population of my district, they picked three women, two men, and one man as an alternate. So, the Dean attendees selected six people to be Dean delegates, the Kerry people picked six Kerry delegates, etc. Then, based on the result of the primary a few weeks later, the winning candidate's delegates would be the ones to attend the convention representing our district. Of course, in Ohio, the point was moot, because everyone had basically dropped out by the time our primary happened. (Of the 500 people in the caucus, I'd bet 400 of them stayed in the Dean room... Oh Howard, we hardly knew ye...)
Word is that around here, the candidates for delegate are usually honchos within the local party, or frequently the unions would pick somebody and then bus in a bunch of union people to the meeting. This time, at least in the Dean group, the guy who ran the Dean meet-ups managed to get enough people there to be selected as a Dean delegate.
It was a little arcane, but if you do want to be a delegate next time around, it doesn't seem to be TOO difficult, if you really want it. Oh, and I think the delegates have to pay their own way to the convention and for their own lodging. (One candidate dropped out because he doubted he'd have the money to attend.) Delegates also have a say in determining the local and even state party platform, hence the heavy union participation.
Of course, the arcane rituals where you live may be different, and your mileage may vary.
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