DNC in Philly – RI Future

July 31, 2016July 31, 2016

Life as a local Bernie delegate at the DNC

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As it was for many Bernie Sanders delegates, last week’s Democratic National Convention was the first convention for me. I had an idea of what to expect, but I was less prepared for the dynamics associated with our underdog movement.

Throughout the campaign, I followed Bernie far and wide. I believed in his positions on trade deals, fossil fuels and regime change. Many of us gave him $27, many of us more than once. Bernie was not just a candidate, he was our political savior. To me he was the last hope for the future. He was our leader, our salvation, our messenger who represented the disenfranchised, the left wing, the Greens, the progressives, independents, those who were anti-Hillary and those who were anti-Trump and those who just liked him for his honesty, integrity, grit, humor and unbelievable energy.

Some 1,900 of us followed him into the Democratic National Convention. He wanted our voices to be heard. He wanted our votes to be counted. He did not want the DNC to be a convention of just the haves, the rich and famous and the 1 percent. We chanted “NO TPP”, “NO NEW WARS”, “BERNIE” and more. We protested, we walked out, we remained faithful to Bernie and his message and it was not easy.

Logistically, Philadelphia was challenging to get around. Each day was spent waiting for buses to take us from destination to destination. On an average day, delegates from Rhode Island were spending 3 or more hours waiting for, or in, buses. Roads were closed, bus drivers had no idea where to go, UBER drivers were clueless and it was HOT. For some of us, this impeded our ability to attend protests and to organize effectively. It was difficult to say the least.

At the convention, delegation after delegation complained about how the states were organized on the floor. The RI delegation had similar issues. We were placed in 2 different rows in 2 different sections which hurt the ability for our 13 delegates to look united for Bernie. Other states had similar issues, the DNC obviously wanted the delegations to have the look and feel of all for one and one for all for Hillary and this was absolutely not the case. The convention, in my opinion, was designed to be a talking piece for the super delegates, No one else really mattered.

Tuesday night was especially staged. It was impossible to tell which states went for Bernie as the superdelegate votes were counted in with the pledged delegate votes. Our 12 percent victory was not even mentioned as we were silenced and not allowed to speak up on the convention floor. The chair of the party, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, got that honor as that is the tradition. This is just another way in which we as Bernie supporters were marginalized. After the roll call count which was not shown on any screen on the floor of the convention MANY WALKED OUT. None of us believed that Sanders wanted a voice vote by proclamation the majority felt that there had to be an intimidation factor in his decision.

Throughout the rest of the convention there were many good speeches and some not so good ones. One of the most emotional speeches was delivered by Bernie’s brother Larry as he announced the count for the international vote. Of course, Bernie’s speech nominating Hillary was both inspiring and depressing at the same time. On Thursday night The Reverend William Barber seemed to be channeling the Bernie Sanders message. He was dynamic insightful and everything that the convention needed.

On the other hand there were those channeling the Republican mantra with Leon Panetta and General Allen. The war and imperialist message was alive and well and living inside the DNC. Chants of “USA” drowned out calls for “no new wars.” The true issues facing the people of this country were merely a blip. Indigenous rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, homelessness, poverty, hunger, the environment were glossed over by a speaker here and there and were just a distraction in the coronation process.

On the plus side most of RI superdelegates were readily accessible. I had conversations, with senators Whitehouse and Reed, congressmen Cicilline and Langevin and Mayor Elorza regarding my opposition to the Clear River Energy Center in Burrillville. They all received packets on our grassroots efforts to stop the power plant. They listened with open ears on that issue and other concerns different delegates had.

A highlight of the convention was when Bernie Sanders spoke to us at our hotel breakfast and thanked us for our efforts in his primary win in the state. Bernie spoke about unity to us and to all at the convention and he reiterated how important it was for Trump to be defeated.

A shout out goes to the convention organizers for RI – Susan Della Rosa, Ann Gooding and Annie Pease who did a fabulous job putting it all together for us. On a sad note the Clinton delegation lost one of their own during the convention as Mark Weiner passed away on Tuesday our entire Bernie delegation expresses our deepest sympathy to the Weiner family.

July 29, 2016

Clinton’s nomination speech: Stick it to the king

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It was an odd phrase to hear in a nomination acceptance speech, so odd that it immediately made me wonder why it was there — and with a speech as fine-tuned and brushed down as Hillary Clinton’s last night, one can be assured there are no accidents.

It was near the beginning of the speech, in a section nominally connecting the present to the Philadelphia of the American Revolution, which in most such addresses would be a pleasant historical callback, but here becomes freighted, almost overdetermined:

“When representatives from 13 unruly colonies met just down the road from here, some wanted to stick with the king. And some wanted to stick it to the king. The revolution hung in the balance. Then somehow, they began listening to each other, compromising, finding common purpose.”

The “stick with/stick to” phrase jumped out at me. It’s so pungent, so colloquial. And, I began to sense as her speech progressed, so central to her dual rhetorical mission: to disarm the attacks focusing on the “cartoon” Clinton as dynastic one-per-center and at the same time redirecting that populist ire at the true shill for the oligarchy (whether American or Russian remains to be seen) Donald Trump.

There were a number in the Wells Fargo Center last night who still wanted to stick it to Hillary. About 200 die-hard Bernie fans (coming from science fiction fandom, it’s easy for me to understand the depth of their loss; I still mourn the cancellation of Firefly) wearing their high-visibility yellow “Enough is Enough” t-shirts and occasionally trying to interrupt speeches. Nor were they alone. I spoke this week with less visible but equally disappointed folks who deeply disagree with Clinton as a matter of principle on a range of issues: foreign policy, trade, education, militarism.

For this audience, Clinton’s challenge was to position incrementalism as progressive, as she did when she explicitly reached out to Sanders, his delegates, and his fans:

“To all of your supporters here and around the country: I want you to know, I’ve heard you. Your cause is our cause. Our country needs your ideas, energy, and passion. That is the only way we can turn our progressive platform into real change for America.”

That’s the first half of the speech’s mission: to inoculate against the meme of a Clinton “coronation” by leveraging the most powerful positional advantage against Trump: I versus we. Kings, by definition, rule alone, by unassailable right. By divine right in some cases, or in our version of divinity, by virtue of their visible status as one of the Elect in surreptitiously Calvinist America. When Clinton (mildly mis-)quoted Hamilton en passant late in the third act of her speech, “We may not live to see the glory/let us gladly join the fight” she knew that HamFans would automatically supply the next line: “And when our children tell our story/they’ll tell the story of tonight.”

And that story is about a scrappy group working together to turn the world upside down. In Lin Manuel-Miranda’s incisive retelling, we see Alexander Hamilton — who in the rear-view mirror of history is an engraved profile on a bank note, the picture of a Founding Father one-per-center — as an outsider determined to rise above his station, deeply committed to serving the cause of his young country. It is no accident that the video history of Clinton’s life lingered so long on her family’s early challenges. Kings do not come from families where a parent is all but abandoned; witness the prominence of the story of her mother having to walk alone to the cafe on the corner for food. That’s not the parent of a king. That’s a “founding father without a father” riff, an origin story for a hero.

So who, then, is King George? Ah, yes, of course. Clinton supplies the answer with a “stick it to” clause, explicitly connecting the actions of the colonists at Independende Hall to the actions of the delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention:

“Then somehow, they began listening to each other, compromising, finding common purpose. And by the time they left Philadelphia, they had begun to see themselves as one nation. That’s what made it possible to stand up to a king.”

Listening (a major theme in all the “why I support” speeches and videos: Clinton listened and took action), compromising (as the Clinton camp did on platform and superdelegates and Sanders himself did on the nomination), and common purpose. Articulating that common purpose (turning our platform into change) will occupy the rest of speech, but first, Clinton drives the point home, cinching the present moment tightly to the Continental Congress and the true meaning of the Gadsden Flag, that coiled snake of unity ready to strike at all enemies foreign and domestic:

“Our Founders embraced the enduring truth that we are stronger together. Now, America is once again at a moment of reckoning. Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders, there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we all will work together so we can all rise together. Our country’s motto is “e pluribus unum:” out of many, we are one.”

And then she focuses all the weight of all the history she has brought to bear on the core question the country faces:

“Will we stay true to that motto?”

If we have taken on board the framing Clinton proposed, we of course can have only one answer to that question. Like the colonists sweating out an awful Philadelphia summer (an unplanned historical parallel) we know we must hang together to fight the king, the real king in this drama: Donald Trump.

After laying out a broad policy agenda in the first half of the speech, she turns to an exploration of King Donald and his failings (echoing the Declaration of Independence’s list of indictments — “He has refused, he has forbidden, he has constrained,” etc.): “He offered zero solutions,” “He doesn’t like talking about his plans,” “He just stiffed them,” “He also talks a big game about putting America First,” “He loses his cool at the slightest provocation.” And then the one that ties it all together: “He’s offering empty promises.”

Clinton returns to her central metaphor, pointedly, as she begins her close:

“Let our legacy be about ‘planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.’ That’s why we’re here…not just in this hall, but on this Earth. The Founders showed us that. And so have many others since. They were drawn together by love of country, and the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow. That is the story of America. And we begin a new chapter tonight.”

Yep. Rhetoric for the win. For those in the hall last night, the experience was electric, and the applause and whooping and banner waving was entirely spontaneous. It was a meticulously constructed speech, delivered with wit, grit, and passion, and my sense in the room was that many will have found it persuasive. When our children tell the story of how that garden came to be, my guess is that they’ll be telling the story of tonight.

July 28, 2016

Obama makes powerful case for Hillary

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On a night that began with vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine being nominated by acclamation, Democrats – and one high-profile Independent – squared off against Trump and built a solid affirmative case for a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Aiming squarely at the image that Trump projected in his convention last week, Obama offered a scathing dissection.

“The reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short,” he said. “We are not a fragile people, we’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.”

Obama spent a major part of his speech sharing his first-hand experience of Clinton’s strengths.

“For four years,” Obama said, “I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline. I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise, it wasn’t for attention, that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion.”

In a moment that was both self-effacing and a play to his popularity with the Democratic base, Obama offered himself as a point of comparison. “I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.”

When his speech wrapped up, Hillary came out to join him on stage for a brief hug and wave. The Wells Fargo Arena, which was packed to the rafters, exploded in prolonged applause and cheers.

Members of the Rhode Island delegation were still smiling about it this morning. “It was a terrific night,” said Rhode Island Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed. “The speech that President Obama gave was phenomenal, and I can’t wait for this evening when we see the first woman officially accept the nomination to the Presidency of the United States.”

“It was exciting to meet vice-president (candidate) Kaine for the first time,” said RI Rep. Deb Ruggiero. “I love his social justice agenda. I think what President Obama did was galvanize everyone, whether you’re a Democrat or you’re an unaffiliated to realize that we need to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President. We cannot have someone like Donald Trump. As Mike Bloomberg said, ‘Hillary Clinton understands this is not reality television, this is reality.”

Kaine gave a solid, largely introductory speech that saw him slipping into a Donald Trump impersonation, asking the audience if they accepted all the promises the Republican made when he said, “Believe me.” “I’m going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Believe me.” “There’s nothing suspicious in my tax returns. Believe me.” “Does anybody here believe him?” The attendees in the Wells Fargo Center thundered, “No!”

A high point of the evening, for many, was Vice President Joe Biden’s speech. In a fiery address that played to his middle-class sensibilities, Biden offered a blunt critique of Trump’s so-called populism.

Said Biden, “His cynicism and undoubtedly his lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in that phrase he is most proud of making famous: “You’re fired.” I’m not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child. No matter where you were raised, how can there be pleasure in saying, “You’re fired.” He is trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That is a bunch of malarkey.”

There were more pointed critiques. Former candidate Martin O’Malley chided the Republicans: “Anger never fed a hungry child.” Retired Rear Admiral John Hutson got in the first dig over Trump’s call for Russian hackers to try to uncover additional Clinton e-mails. “That’s not law and order, that’s criminal intent.”

Independent Mike Bloomberg, who made it clear that he was not there to endorse the Democratic platform, nonetheless endorsed Hillary and, in no uncertain terms, drew a sharp distinction between his own status and that of the Republican nominee. “I’ve built a business and I didn’t start it with a million-dollar check from my father.”

July 27, 2016

Bernie Sanders meets RI delegation

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Sen. Bernie Sanders met with the RI Delegation during their breakfast meeting this morning, and delivered a 6-minute talk thanking local Democrats for their support, urging continued activism, and stressing the importance of uniting to defeat Donald Trump in November.

July 26, 2016

RI delegation celebrates historic roll call vote

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At the roll call vote in Philadelphia this evening, the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Hillary Rodham Clinton as their candidate for president. The votes of Rhode Island’s 32 delegates were announced by Speaker of the House Nick Mattielo, who, in the tradition of nominating speeches, took the opportunity to sing the praises of the state.

“Rhode Island is the proud home of the great Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen David Cicilline and James Langevin,” said Mattielo. “Home of outstanding beaches and coastlines, some of the best in the world. Great companies such as CVS, Textron, Hasbro, and now GE. A state that has recently proudly elected the first female governor, Gina Raimondo. The smallest state in the union with one of the biggest hearts. Home of the best restaurants in the country, great quality of life, great people. Rhode Island proudly casts 13 votes for Senator Bernie Sanders, and 19 votes for the next President of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

When the roll call vote concluded, attendees in the Wells Fargo Center went into a prolonged celebration, cheering and waving Hillary placards.

Rep. Jim Langevin (CD-2) with RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea at the DNC.

“It was so exciting to be in this convention hall,” Langevin said, “When it became official that Hillary Clinton is the first woman to be the Democratic nominee, of any major party, for President of the United States. I’m glad it’s under the Democratic banner. I’m so proud to be a long-time supporter of Hillary Clinton, and I look forward to working so hard for her throughout the election cycle.”

Democratic Party Chair Joe McNamara echoed those sentiments.

“It was great to see the delegation come together and a tremendous experience,” he said. “I’m very proud of every single member of our delegation. The speaker did a great job promoting the positive attributes of Rhode Island versus the negative speech that happened last week in Cleveland, Ohio. He got the coastline, he got our corporations, he got GE moving in — it’s all about jobs and the economy and quality of life, and I think it came across very well.”

July 25, 2016July 26, 2016

Roll call vote for Sanders anticipated at DNC

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With Sanders organizers fanning out to all the convention hotels to collect delegate signatures supporting a roll-call vote, there was reaction from both the Clinton camp and among local delegates at their daily breakfast meeting this morning.

“We anticipate there will be a roll call vote tomorrow night and that every vote will be counted,” said Brian Fallon, Hilary For America’s national press secretary, at a media briefing this morning. “We’re happy to have it. It is exactly in keeping with our philosophy that every vote should count and that means every delegate being counted on the floor of the convention.”

At the Rhode Island delegation breakfast this morning, a volunteer from Pennsylvania was circulating among the tables collecting some of the required 600 delegate names. “It’s so that there can be a roll call vote, so people can actually say if they’re for Bernie Sanders” said Lauren Niedel, a Sanders delegate and one of the leaders of the Sanders movement in Rhode Island.

“No one would ever ask them not to,” said RI Democratic Party chair Joe McNamara. “But I think the important takeaway is the inclusion of those Democratic ideas and ideals that Sen. Sanders promoted in his campaign into the platform. We can see and hear the party uniting behind Secretary Clinton.”

John Hamilton, Sanders delegate and committee co-chair, acknowledged the direction that the floor vote seemed likely to head. “I don’t think there is going to be a second ballot. I don’t see it happening.”

Also at the breakfast, McNamara reported on their walk-through of the hall. “We checked out the Wells Fargo Center yesterday, and Rhode Island is positioned exactly where we should be, in the middle of the convention hall, slightly elevated above the rest on the floor, approximately 220 feet from the podium.”

Speaking to an RI Future reporter, McNamara praised the efforts of Aaron Regunberg in representing Rhode Island on the Rules Committee and helping to work out the Unity Commission compromise on superdelegates.

“To have a young, talented state representative like Rep. Regunberg on board gives a great deal of credibility to that,” he said. “I think everyone agrees that there has to be some adjustment in that process.”

McNamara called Regunberg “A great asset and a great role model for millennials.”

In a not-so-subtle dig at Brandon Bell’s remarks at last week’s Republican Convention, McNamara reported that “Speaker Mattielo will have a positive message tomorrow when he reports the votes, and we’re looking forward to a great convention.”

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

DNC Sunday: Tours, protests, preparations

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With no committee sessions today, there was time to take a tour of historic Philadelphia organized for the media (called “Breakfast and B-roll”), cover a couple of the marches (March For Bernie and March for a Clean Energy Revolution, and explore the press spaces in the Pennsylvania Convention Center (where the delegates will hold caucuses in the mornings and afternoons) and the Wells Fargo Center (where the evening speaking program will happen.) Here’s some pictures from the day.

About twenty members of the media took a tour organized by Visit Philadelphia that included Independence Hall and the Libery Bell.

US Park Service tour guide Larry McClenney:"There are no words to describe the privilege of introducing visitors to our history." — US Park Service tour guide Larry McClenney:”There are no words to describe the privilege of introducing visitors to our history.”

The Rhode Island delegation (Stephen Hopkins and others) would have been at the second desk from the left in the front row.

March getting organized at Philadelphia City Hall.

Marchers carry an anti-TPP "octopus." — Marchers carry an anti-TPP “octopus.”

The Wells Fargo Arena from the press entrance at the edge of the frozen zone.

Directory of press organizations in the media tents (and this does not include the networks, which had their own tent city in a different parking lot.)

The media tents (smaller outlets, like RI Future), have space in a common filing area in the middle tent.

Inside the Wells Fargo Arena; view is from the unaffiliated press seats in section 221.

The view from the RI delegation’s seats.

The RI delegation’s seats. Across from and slightly to the left of the podium, in the second bank of seats up from the floor.

The main stage at FDR Park, where the marchers ended up, and which will host rallies and events all week.

The security fence separating FDR Park from the Wells Fargo Arena.

The Secret Service seems to have literally inspected and tagged every panel on every lamppost within and near the frozen zone.

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016

DNC will retain but reform superdelegate process

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It was, at times, a tense afternoon on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia as the party publicly questioned its superdelegate process.

Rhode Island Rep. Aaron Regunberg had the honor of introducing the first amendment to the Rules Committee meeting that would have eliminated superdelegates outright. It won 58 votes, not enough to pass but enough to keep the conversation alive.

Neither side ended up with everything they wanted, but by nightfall a compromise that seemed acceptable to the vast majority had been hammered out.

Sanders and Clinton delegates eventually agreed to create a “Unity Reform Commission” – it passed 158 to 6, with 2 abstentions. The commission is tasked with returning recommendations on reforming both the caucus and superdelegate process, specifically calling for a 2/3 reduction in the number of superdelegates. It would be a commission with teeth, charged with finding the best way to keep the elected superdelegates but explore mechanisms for keeping them from weighing in on the primary process too early.

Given lopsided vote totals earlier in the day, this marked a clear coming together of the two factions in the room. There was significant applause, cheering, and a sense in the room that progress had been made.

Regunberg was optimistic, calling it “a compromise made significantly better by the pressure exerted at the grassroots.” He admitted that the language of a “commission” could sound off putting, but he stressed that the amendment specified end products as well as process. “What we passed instructs the commission on what it will be recommending.”

There were moments of drama even before the DNC Rules Committee got fully underway this afternoon at the Democratic National Convention as more than 100 would-be spectators chanted “open the doors” in the hallway outside room 120 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The space, which had room for approximately 200 delegates and about another 160 or so press and other attendees behind crowd control barriers running down the back third of the room (which were tastefully draped in black vinyl) had run out of seats, and Philadelphia police swept the space outside the room, moving reporters to the end of the hall.

After about 20 minutes, DNC staff began letting the press in by ones and twos. Some of the would-be attendees had been admitted, but there was still a line stretching back toward the front atrium of the convention center, and the folks in that line were not happy with the situation. While the Rules Committee took care of some housekeeping items — adopting the rules for the meeting, voting for the officers of the Convention (which included RI Gov. Gina Raimondo as a co-chair) — chair Barney Frank had to fight at times to be heard over the chants of “open the doors” from outside.

Once the preliminaries were out of the way, the Committee took up a series of amendments to modify the superdelegate system – which, as we’ve all become aware in this cycle, creates a class of party leaders and elected officials who are automatically delegates and who are not bound to vote for a particular candidate.

“I’m a Democrat because I believe in democracy,” said Regunberg, when he introduced the motion. “I believe in the promise of one person, one vote, that so many of our fellow Democrats have struggled and bled for. There is currently absolutely no rule keeping superdelegates in future cycles from overturning the will of the people. Creating a perception for many of our voters that the system can be rigged.”

The motion was debated for 16 minutes, and failed, 108 to 58. The good news for Regunberg’s amendment is that he had 54 delegates who signed on, enough for a “minority report” that will bring it up for discussion on the convention floor.

A second motion that would have reduced the power of superdelegates failed 107-57. A third motion to reduce the number of superdelegates failed 111-61. A fourth, which would have kept superdelegates but given them no voice in the first ballot failed 106-60 A final motion, which would have created a new class of superdelegates bound to the popular vote failed 110-60.

Crowd control, tastefully accessorize do. — Crowd control, tastefully accessorized.

As each vote was taking place, activists in the back of the room shouted encouragement – and the occasional warning like “Don’t split the party!” A succession of speakers in support of each motion implored their fellow delegates, with one noting that the American people were watching – “On TV and even out in the hall.” The numbers on each side of the issue stayed remarkably stable.

After about two hours of discussion and voting on the sequence of the amendments, the committee recessed. And it was a long recess — long enough that the DNC relented and opened the bar in the lobby for the thirsty press corps — with several of the delegates involved in the superdelegate fight seen disappearing into a smaller conference room across the hall. More than an hour later, the committee — while still in recess — asked all the Sanders delegates to huddle in another room. The buzz in the room was that there were some high-level negotiations going on, and when they returned it was with a substitute amendment.

In a genuine show of unity, no one spoke against the amendment, and the chair even dispensed with the rules to allow Clinton supporters another 8 minutes of supporting speeches. Typical was that of Newton, MA mayor Setti Warren, who said, “What we’ve done this evening will make our Party proud and our country proud.”