by Brian Dungan 

I batted 3 for 3 at my precinct convention, but I fell to 1 for 3 at the State Senate District (SD) 8  Democrat Convention in northwest Dallas County as nitpickers torpedoed my resolutions.

Seven voters attended my precinct convention.  I offered resolutions to (1) immediately withdraw from Iraq, (2)  implement auditable, voter verifiable voting, and (3) enact the universal health insurance proposed by US Rep. John Conyers in H.R. 676.  Cutting and pasting from several different Internet sites,  I  used the standard resolution format with multiple “whereas” and “therefore” paragraphs and brought extra copies of each resolution.  A fellow voter used blank space on one of the copies to draft a resolution to impeach George W. Bush. My precinct unanimously passed all four resolutions.  Several other precincts meeting simultaneously in the same school cafeteria used my copies to pass those resolutions in their precincts.

The SD Resolutions Committee recommended 16 resolutions including the three I submitted.  The voting and health insurance proposals survived intact, but the Committee objected to some “unsubstantiated” Bush war crimes cited in the Iraq withdrawal resolution and deleted several paragraphs.

The SD convention took place in a 140 seat auditorium.  Not quite 100 delegates attended.  Resolutions were shown on a small overhead projector.  All resolutons were at least one page long and many were longer.  Committee members sometimes read the entire resolution and sometimes only parts.  The convention considered resolutions for 2 ½ hours beginning at 12 noon.  The process was briefly interrupted two times for candidates making the rounds to the different SD conventions and mostly running for judgeships.  By the time the resolutions started, the audience had dropped by about one half.  At the end, there were about 20 delegates still seated.

Most resolutions evoked quibbling about grammar, “facts” in the “whereas” sections, and details of the action proposed.  The health insurance resolution had a short one sentence “therefore” to pass H.R. 676.  Anticipating that people might want more information on H.R. 676, I brought along a separate summary to the precinct convention.  The summary was included with the resolution and triggered the eventual demise of the proposal.  It was tabled after delegates questioned working details such as coverage for illegal aliens and no copays.  Discussion of Iraq bogged down when people asked whether  “occupation” was more appropriate than “war”, whether the President or Congress could order the withdrawal, and whether repeal of the Congressional authorization for force is required. One delegate claimed that it was obvious that the war in Iraq should be ended and no resolution is needed.  At one point, the convention restored the original wording, but later tabled the proposition without considering any alternative to support ending US involvement in the war in Iraq.

Both the process and the content of resolutions fall short.  Resolutions should focus on big ideas, e.g., Democrats should support single-payor, universal health insurance or US withdrawal from Iraq with the Bush administration held accountable for war crimes and deceit.  Delegates shouldn't be arguing about details, squinting at illegible projections, or struggling to hear tedious readings of resolutions.  The larger unexamined issue is whether the party platform serves any genuine purpose.

I'm a glutton for punishment!  My precinct was allocated one State Convention Delegate and one Alternate, but all four SD delegates from my precinct wanted to be state delegates.  I withdrew from the precinct contests, but I just couldn't refrain from completing an application to be an at-large delegate.  The Nominating Committee punched my ticket to Ft. Worth in June.  I'm amazed and pleased that I batted 1.000 at my precinct convention and authored 3 of 16 resolutions considered at my SD convention.