One of the two Ventura County CA 24 Caucus selected delegates wrote a report about their experience and what it takes to become a delegate to the national convention. Click on continue reading to see her report.
Sandy, what must Barack Obama do to convince the remaining superdelegates that taking it to the convention is bad news for the party? Have you tried to contact Lois Capps to get her to endorse Barack Obama?
Thanks for writing your report.
Caucus Report from Sandy Emberland
Sunday, April 13 was a very exciting day for me. I packed up & headed to Foothill Technology High School in Ventura for the Obama caucus for the 24th congressional district. The February 5 presidential primary decided, by congressional district, the number of delegates each candidate could send to the National Convention in Denver . Obama was allowed 1 woman and 1 man.
I was overwhelmed by the number of club members, friends, neighbors & the people they brought all the way to Ventura . Jay Kapitz and I teamed up to run as Obama delegates, and we handed out flyers as people were in line to vote.
At 3:15 the doors were shut and the one minute speeches began. There were 23 candidates for the 2 spots - several candidates did not show up. Several asked for voters to support someone else. David Ettinger, who attended the convention in 2004, threw his support behind Jay and me. Deborah Dent was represented by her husband as she is in North Carolina working on organizing precincts there. After the speeches ended, the voting was finalized & the counting began.
When the results were announced, I was so excited. Jay had left, but a lot of our friends had stayed for the results. It was just like electricity was in the air. Photographers, reporters, friends with hugs - it was a HIGH.
I am thrilled to be representing Senator Obama at the convention. I feel sad for the hard-working Democrats who have been such strong Obama supporters & who have worked extremely hard on his campaign locally. They came in second to us.
After arriving home, I sent out a Constant Contact Blast to our supporters thanking them for their support & vowing never to waiver in our support of Senator Obama.
"It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today." Barack Obama.
What remains to be seen is if these delegates can do anything to get Lois Capps to endorse Barack Obama and end the campaign!
I was sent a letter from Lois Capps that says some people are voting how their state voted ( Ca was won by Hillary Clinton) or how their district voted ( Lois Capp's district voted for Barack Obama).
But she said she is planning on staying neutral for the time being.
I guess she likes watching the candidates drag it out.
People like Lois Capps could end the campaign for the good of the party if they wanted to in the next week!
Does she think it is better to go on fighting with Hillary Clinton and John McCain both using the same lines against Barack Obama?
Brian, I know that Lois Capps has a lot of pressure from both the Obama & Clinton people in her office & district. I hope she will soon see that Obama is running the "higher road" campaign and that he would be the superior President. I feel he is the Kennedy of our time.
The Obama for America team is putting together a nation-wide Vote for Change voter registration drive on Sat. May 10. Roni Flowers is heading up the effort here in the 24th CD, with my help and that of other enthusiastic Democrats. To get involved, contact Roni at roniflowers@msn.com. We will train volunteers on voter registration rules & send them out in teams to busy locations to register voters. They will have a chance to purchase an Obama hat to wear and will have buttons & bumper stickers to sell.
Let's show the country that we back Obama on his journey to the White House. Remember - we are what we have been waiting for. We have to make it happen. We're fired up & ready to go!!
What, Brian? Nothing about the latest rants and raves from the Rev. Wright, who's becoming an increasingly heavy albatross hanging from Obama's neck?
This guy is going to cost him the nomination and he's so far out there it isn't funny. AIDS was created by white people to destroy the black race? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??????
Yes, I'm really thankful for the Rev. Him and Hillary have done more for John McCain's candidacy than all the money in the world.
As Newt Gingrich so aptly put it recently: "The Democrats are working hard to figure out a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!" You go Rev! We're liking you a lot on this side of the aisle.
I think the Reverend Wright has been hanging out too much with Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan. Good news for McCain.
Looks like Sandy is a little out of touch with the voters of the 24th Congressional Distict, since Hillary beat Obama by almost 10% here. The majority of Democrats in the district don't think that Barack would be a superior president.
I agree with Clinton Fan (although I'm not a Clinton supporter). Obama is starting to lose a lot of ground in the campaign. And it's mainly because of poor judgment issues, which are very relevant in a presidential race.
I mean, this guy could be President, and he's not aware of the views of the guys who's been his "spiritual advisor" for the last 20 years? Who would he nominate for Secretary of State - Louis Farrakhan?
Somebody,
Did you miss the debate where Barack Obama rejected and denounced Louis Farrakhan?
Too bad John McCain hasn't done that with Hagee, the man he asked for support from.
Bubba,
Welcome back!
Brian, I saw Obama's denunciation of Farrakhan, which was a good move, since they do have some ties going back to their days together in Chicago.
I don't actually believe Obama would appoint him to a Cabinet position. That was pure sarcasm on my part just to highlight how poor a judge of character he seems to be.
Somebody,
What ties?
Somebody he knows knows him?
Have they ever met?
John McCain is proud to have Hagee support him. A man that said God will allow America to be incinerated for our policies towards Israel. Does that bother you also?
Congratulations are in order, Sandy!
This is primarily for Sandy and Jay--remember that I worked with you on the Kerry campaign. And I ran, unsuccessfully to be a delegate. But now I live in Lois's District, which is very blue. On April 13 we had about 500 voters for Obama delegates and selected two plus an alternate, all really great people whom I know.
I have become a member of the SBDCC and remained on the Platform committee. In 2006 I worked hardest in the 24th CD areas in the northern part of SB county, which is red, as Gallegly is such a disgrace.
Now I read about an large effort, complete with meet-ups, for Obama in the 24th. But I find nothing for the 23rd. What with all that is going on, we need to keep the Obama torch burning. Who can I contact to find out what is going on and maybe help? I am a bit unwell right now but still hope to be useful.
I had some experience with national security issues in the Carter and Reagan administrations, and later as a consultant on space surveillance and arms control verification and feel strongly that Obama plus Biden or Obama plus Edwards, with Biden as SecState, are by far the best hope for our country. I worked fot the Clinton's for many years, but feel that Obama can make a huge diference. Study the details of the Cuban Missile Crisis and what Kennedy was able to accomplsih. Obama is the same kind of person.