Tuesday is Precinct Caucus Night. I Guess You Should Go.

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from www.my-broadsheet.com.

We're fresh off of a municipal election that used ranked-choice voting to create a nearly endless ballot that nobody could comprehend.  And our statewide elections use what I consider a far superior model:  an incomprehensible process that begins way the hell in February that nobody cares about.  Candidates can't even officially file for another three months, and already we're taking the first steps to decide who gets elected.  And since we're basically a one-party town, the DFL precinct caucuses are where the action is.  So unless you want your next round of public officials chosen by a few dozen party activists, you better find your caucus now.  Isn't democracy great?  USA!  USA!

The local senate district DFL page describes the precinct caucus, in straight, non-sarcastic typeface as

"...a way to meet your neighbors and talk about issues important to you. It’s also a gateway to getting involved in the political process; if you are interested in meeting your elected officials, learning how to make a difference in your community or perhaps exploring running for office, a precinct caucus is the place to start. People also attend precinct caucuses to support specific candidates or specific issues."

Last year I wrote a tongue-in-cheek description of precinct caucuses, and although the particular statewide and county elections are different, the dynamic is the same.  Instead of rehashing that,

Parliamentary Maneuvers in 59A Fail to Block Endorsement

Post and video by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video from a previous candidate forum, not from the senate district convention.

The parliamentary order used to run meetings as small as neighborhood or church council and as large as political conventions has two guiding principles that participants too often forget.  First, it's supposed to make sense.  Second, people with a superior knowledge of parliamentary procedure are not supposed to use that knowledge to manipulate the outcome of a meeting.  Think of David Carradine's character in Kung Fu - a Shaolin monk who was a master of martial arts but never really used that to fight anyone.  The meeting or convention that uses parliamentary order might have plenty of drama, but the application of Robert's Rules of Order should have all the excitement of two people exchanging business cards in slow motion after they've taken an Ambien.

Clearly this is not what happened in the DFL convention for the house seat in 59A.  Joe Mullery did get the endorsement, but only after a series of convoluted parliamentary maneuvers.  I was in the midst of the 59B stalemate, and only heard snippets of how things were proceeding.  Challengers David Younk, David Boyd, and (surprisingly for a sitting elected official) Jon Olson were eliminated from contention after the first ballot, leaving Marcus Harcus to either claim or block a DFL endorsement of the incumbent.  In an ironic twist of fate, Mullery was at one time a single vote short of the nomination.  Had I already moved into 59A, I would have cast that clinching vote.  On two other occasions, there were enough spoiled ballots (the delegate did not sign the back of the ballot as required - even an x, or line, or anything that could remotely be construed as a signature would have validated those votes) that would have given Mullery the endorsement before the drama of the last vote.

I heard several versions of what transpired while at the convention itself.  Later on North Talk and on his own Facebook page, Harcus posted his version of the events.  After speaking with several credible sources, here is what I believe to be a fairly accurate recounting...

Parliamentary Roundup of Senate District 59 DFL (part 1)

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.


Note:  These two posts will deal more with the procedures of the convention, as the candidates themselves have plenty of forums to give their viewpoints, and as I hope to make the convention processes more accessible and transparent.

If you were to take your junior high experience and put it on steroids, then add a healthy dose of Robert's Rules of Order, throw that in a blender, and consume the concoction for twelve hours straight, that would give you some idea of what a local senate district party convention is like.  And last Saturday North Minneapolis, Bryn Mawr, and parts of downtown gathered to choose DFL endorsements for our newly numbered Senate district 59.  While the endorsement process itself had plenty of drama, the setup for the convention didn't help much either.

We were slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. and I arrived about ten minutes early.  Even if I missed the first few moments of the convention, this should have been plenty of time to register and find my spot.  For the uninitiated, local political conventions require you to know or find out the ward and precinct where you were elected as a delegate, and then find the corresponding table at the registration to sign in.  Once registered, you have to find your ward and precinct on the floor of the convention as well.  I've been doing this for years, and I often forget how disorienting even the registration can be for newbies.

And whoever did the set-up for the event must have thought to themselves, "If there were a zombie attack while everyone was registering, what would be the surest way to make sure the whole convention gets infected?"  Zombies, after all, are the epitome of groupthink, and would certainly make the endorsement process faster.  (I nominate the candidate who promises the most free brains!  All those in favor signify by saying "eeeerrrrrrhhhhhhmmmmm.")  Joking aside, the registration tables were set up in a narrow hallway right in front of the main entrance for the auditorium.  So we had people entering the school from both sides of the hallway, attempting to get to the registration tables, while other registrants were trying to leave, and while people already registered were trying to come and go from the auditorium.  Then when a few people in wheelchairs had to attempt passing through, that somehow added to the gridlock.

This had to be the worst placement of registration I have ever seen at a convention--unless the planners were inspired by Leonidas and the Spartans' battle against the Persians.  You might think I'm exaggerating here, but the 1:20 mark of the video below contains actual footage of the convention registration process.



It took me close to a half an hour just to get registered and up to my seat in the balcony area.  Even then we waited a while longer before starting the convention.  Why is the registration so important?  Because people with kids or pets can't be there all day.  Eventually you've got to go home and let them out of the kennel so they can go to the bathroom.  (The PETS, just to be entirely clear here.)  So the longer the day drags on, the fewer people are still around participating in the endorsement process.  We started almost an hour later than scheduled, and that was in large part due to the registration logjam.

The other unnecessary delay came when...