Dreams and Dems: A Tale of Newcomers at the California Democratic Convention

Dreams and Dems: A Tale of Newcomers at the California Democratic Convention (Part 1)

Carey Wheaton
May 23, 2017

My husband Jim and I returned last Sunday night from our first Democratic Party state convention in Sacramento, our psyches still pulsating with the thrill of it, barely disembarked from the wild roller-coaster ride of a contested election for party chair, so controversial that results are under audit to validate a 60-plus vote difference between two candidates.

We are long-term hosts of phone banks at our home for many Democrats and especially for Bernie Sanders, but we are new to party politics. After the drama of the primary and devastation of the November election, we thought Dems must do better.

Realizing it was no longer enough to just discuss, we decided to join up. I was inspired by the Vermont senator’s crusade for the nomination as well as by my dad, a union man, a Social Democrat and advocate of single payer health care, who died shortly after the election at age 99 1/2.

Trump’s win seemed to knock the last wind out of his sails. I told him not to worry; promised him we'd fight hard for our democracy and we’d survive this.

Jim and I ran on a slate of seasoned activists from Marin and Sonoma counties, and were voted in as Assembly District 10 delegates on a stormy and rainy Sunday in January. We were evidently part of a wave of new California progressives: the #DemEnter response to #DemExit.

We attended along with veterans of Democratic Party politics in the West County like Lynn Hamilton, former mayor of Sebastopol; Don Frank, longtime treasurer of the Sonoma County Democratic Party, and social justice activist Alice Chan.

The primary duty of delegates is attending state conventions and caucuses, voting on party leadership, resolutions and the platform. It may sound dry, but it was thrilling.

Some highlights:

1. We had our first experience lobbying our state senator’s and assemblyman’s offices in the beautiful Capitol building as part of an organized day of lobbying for Single Payer Health Care Senate Bill 562 with allies from the California Nurses Association, Progressive Democrats of America and other groups. Our reps’ offices are open and friendly!

2. In a stroke of luck, I was invited to be part of a small circle of Bernie people meeting with new national chair, Tom Perez. He was a respectful and compassionate listener, despite some rough moments. He was asked for more transparency, support for universal health care, and candidates that speak to the hearts and minds of Americans.

3. We found ourselves not only meeting State Sen. Mike McGuire and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, but also having conversations about universal health care and a fracking ban. Meeting your elected reps really brings political narrative to life. These men are no longer two-dimensional figures for us, but human beings, and caring ones.

4. Countless inspiring speeches espoused ethics and just causes we deeply believe in. In every area but the chair race, thousands cheered. We heard a passionate speech from our U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (much discussed as a presidential contender some day) about the resistance, civil rights, immigrant rights and more that melted skeptics. We learned about Josh Newman, the first Democratic state senator from Orange County in years. (If the recall effort against him succeeds, he should go into standup comedy, but we hope it won’t!)

Next week: The effect on the Democratic Party’s future of the nail-biting race for chair and the passage of resolutions that matter.

Carey Caccavo Wheaton is an Assembly District 10 delegate from Sebastopol.

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Dreams and Dems: A Tale of Newcomers at the California Democratic Convention (Part 1)

Carey Wheaton
May 23, 2017

My husband Jim and I returned last Sunday night from our first Democratic Party state convention in Sacramento, our psyches still pulsating with the thrill of it, barely disembarked from the wild roller-coaster ride of a contested election for party chair, so controversial that results are under audit to validate a 60-plus vote difference between two candidates.

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PART 2
by Carey Wheaton

This week, I thought I’d be discussing the results of the race for state party chair. But the vote audit wasn't finished, so party leadership was unresolved as I wrote this. The ups and downs of that process--moments such as seas of pink-clad voters chanting “Tell me what democracy looks like?” “This is what democracy looks like!”--rallies, and a comparison of the candidates is its own unfinished story. But there’s also much to say about California’s role in what we face as a nation. For now, I believe the split Dem vote has raised greater awareness of the need to work in coalitions in order to move forward and be our best. Half a party can’t be ignored. We see the provisional winner has reached out to initiate a more democratic process in the party, and to open up the conversation statewide. May he, and we, rise to the occasion here, and mine the opportunites. Ideally, with malice toward none.

I’ll give a quick mention of the resolutions, the fruits of a sometimes painstaking process. The California Democratic Party endorsed these:

• opposition to money bail
• a call for the impeachment of Trump (via emoluments clause)
• single payer health care
• peace and justice in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians, including opposition to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
• abolition of the Electoral College
• protecting federal budgets for arts and culture
• internet privacy
• rejecting Sutter Health’s anti-competition practices
• protecting renters
• restoring affordable housing funds
• public education not for profit
• calls for state boycott of Koch products
• opposing off-shore drilling
• opposing Trump’s agenda
• reversing Citizens United
• regulation of election financing

So...some mighty goals worth fighting for, and now they are official party prods that may be used to help politicians remember to serve their constituents!

What a week of alternate realities: while the horrors of the nation and Trump continue, our state Senate votes this week on SB 562 for Single Payer Health Care. If it passes the Senate, it could still face a veto by our governor, who seems sadly out of touch with Californians on both health care and fracking. This may require a massive mobilization of citizen lobbying, and that means us. An old button of mine said “When the people lead, the leaders, eventually, follow.” Let’s hope so!

California can be a beacon for the nation in dark times, if we fight for it. Many who have walked away from engagement are in great pain, and have understandably lost hope in the political process.

California can be a
beacon for the nation
in dark times

Yet now is when our voices are needed most, to stop the slide into deeper doom, and gain ground again in 2018. For all their warts, Democrats are the ones working hard to push legislation to protect and care for California’s people, while wielding lawsuits to resist ICE’s actions. Whatever family feuds exist, let’s remember we are family, facing common threats. Unless you happen to be a billionaire.

At a time when Trumpcare (ScroogeCare?) could kick 23 million of us off of health care, California is seeking to cover us all. At a time when financial corruption and deception of the public is worsening, we are working to pass AB 14, the California Disclose Act, to lift a curtain on dark money and identify top donors to political ads. At a time when undocumented citizens whose hard labors subsidize our agriculture, food supply and construction are being ripped from families and deported, we are fighting to pass SB 54, the California Values Act, standing up to illegal deportations.

If we in the Golden State pass these, if the leaders follow, we will lead the country in shining acts of compassion and defiant acts of democracy--against the attempted destruction and undermining of our Constitution. We will care for our citizens. We will not cooperate with would-be dictators or be held hostage by this temporary aberration. We will hold the line-- here in California.

Bernie says: “When we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

Make it so... engage.