From www.pdamerica.org


PDA "Swarms" California Democratic Convention

April 1, 2008, San Jose, CA



Photo Credit: Linda Sutton--copyright 2008
Historic Iraq-Withdrawal Language Added to Party Platform

The California Democratic Party held its annual convention this past weekend in San Jose, and PDA fielded a huge presence there, covering the full spectrum of the political process. From state organizers and PDA-endorsed Congressional candidates to chapter leaders, volunteers and some very special friends, scores of PDA members blanketed the three-day event with banners, flyers, stickers, speeches, platform language-and their influence. One result was some of the strongest movement yet seen in the state party's official stance on withdrawal from Iraq, including support for the repeal of the Authorization to Use Military Force, submitted in a platform amendment written and introduced by PDA members. (See more, below.)

Before delegates even entered the convention center's main hall, they were greeted by PDA members handing out flyers and stickers touting our campaign for “Healthcare NOT Warfare” (“HNW”). For those who may have missed the message, a ten-foot-wide color banner displayed the same slogan in the lobby and in the hall, with another banner (courtesy of PDLA) declaring, “Education NOT Incarceration!” California state coordinator Dr. Bill Honigman, CD point coordinator Mervis Reisig and chapter leader Matt Gerbasi worked tirelessly, along with a rotating team of dozens of other dedicated PDA members and volunteers, to bring this message directly to the delegates. (That includes Anna Givens and the PDA Sonoma crew, who took the lead on materials management, and Terry Dillon and his contingent from the East Bay, who were the self-appointed heavy lifters for the bannering.) A new PDA convention strategy was implemented to systematically target and attend every party caucus, where our volunteers actively introduced PDA to delegates and also gathered signatures on petitions for “Healthcare NOT Warfare.” (You can sign the HNW petition here as well.) Gerbasi and Clothing of the American Mind (COTAM) partner Carly Miller provided gorgeous “HNW” PDA t-shirts, which were a big hit with progressives. Party caucuses also saw special presentations by our members on such PDA priorities as election protection, single-payer health care and sustainable business practices. Dr. Bill Honigman made a presentation to the Caucus of the California Democratic Council, an umbrella organization to coordinate the more than 250 Democratic clubs statewide. (Later in the weekend, CDC President Henry Vandermeier-himself a PDA Orange County activist-announced from the dais of the main convention hall that our own Dr. Bill had been chosen to head up a new CDC committee on "Politics and Policy.")

The very start of convention business on Friday morning saw PDA introduce numerous amendments to the party's platform committee, most of them having been authored by PDLA Chair Marcy Winograd, with additions from the delegates of the 41st Assembly District and other local progressives. Winograd, who two years ago ran a strong grassroots challenge to Rep. Jane Harman, secured the adoption of several of these amendments, especially on the criminal justice plank, which saw the addition of support for a bipartisan sentencing commission to review inequitable sentencing laws, and language about the inequity between public school funding and prison expansion. Michael Jay, also of PDLA, succeeded in adding to the political reform plank an amendment to encourage candidates not to concede until all ballots are counted, and, above all, the inclusion of language establishing the paper ballot as the ballot of record. Member Dale Axelrod (PDSonoma) was also part of the effort to strengthen the platform language regarding the concept of “tangible” ballots.

Friday's progressive caucus (one of the largest caucuses in the Party) saw a cavalcade of PDA leaders (as well as a special address by Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass). Co-chaired by member Dr. Jo Olson, with a board that includes PDA members Ahjamu Makalani, Karen Bernal and Brad Parker, the meeting had addresses by PDA advisory board member Norman Solomon (on War Made Easy,) PDA board of trustees member Wayne Williams (Clean Money,) and PDA members Don Goldmacher (Election Integrity,) Susie Shannon (Poverty) and Ricco Ross (Education). Dr. Joye Swan reported on her continuing effort to bring an amendment to the Party's rules committee which would level the playing field between party incumbents, who need only 50% to be endorsed, and challengers, who need 60%. (The caucus adopted a motion in support of this amendment; the rules committee tabled the matter until June.) Michael Jay gave a special report on the party's inappropriate opposition to the grassroots effort to censure Senator Feinstein and the promise he elicited from party Chair Art Torres to rectify this by supplementing the official party spokesperson with delegates more aligned with the party's progressive consensus. The caucus also distributed bright yellow “Progressive Swarm” badges (courtesy of Parker's club, Valley Democrats United), which served throughout the weekend to indicate our growing share of the party membership.

The end of the evening session saw a large grassroots meeting, including a de facto PDA table. PDA members also joined the pre-determined Party issues tables, furthering the progressive message. At a table on foreign relations, PDA member Colleen Fernald (herself a former candidate against Senator Dianne Feinstein) began crafting an amendment (“To End the Undeclared War in Iraq”) intended to strengthen the Party platform's position on withdrawal. Co-creators of this amendment included members John Ashbaugh and other several delegates and citizens, with additional input from Brad Parker.

The convention's second day saw a town-hall style discussion on immigration, initiated by members Parker and Makalani in coordination with the labor caucus. This was historic in that it was apparently the first time all of the Party caucuses were invited to a collaborative meeting, encouraging the voice of the membership. Meanwhile, Fernald, Ashbaugh and Jay approached platform chair Christine Pelosi in order to assess the viability of the Iraq amendment. With the agreement to ultimately add one additional phrase (assuring funding for a safe and orderly withdrawal; see below), Pelosi signed on as a co-sponsor. The PDA team had just a few hours to gather the 300 delegate signatures that would compel the platform committee to consider the amendment. (Special thanks to Maureen and Genevieve Cruise, Susan Haskell, Maggi Koren, Doug Ambort, Tighe Barry and all the others who scrambled to help Colleen and Michael complete this petition.)

Saturday evening saw the reconvening of the platform committee (which also includes members Olson and Parker) in order to hear the new Iraq language. After about a half hour of debate, mostly centered on the change of just one word, the amendment was passed unanimously, with one abstention. The pertinent section (with amended language italicized) now reads: “The new Administration must bring our troops home from Iraq starting now. To this end, we support the repeal of the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq; oppose further appropriations except those necessary for a safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops from Iraq to begin without delay; and call for an international conference to implement a cease-fire in Iraq.” This is now part of the Party platform, adopted by the state Central Committee. (The entire platform can be viewed at the Party's site, here.)

The final day of the weekend featured speeches in favor of the Democratic presidential candidates. Barack Obama was represented by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, followed by former President Bill Clinton speaking in support of Hillary Clinton What much of the crowd saw was that Clinton was flanked by PDA's banners at the front corners of the hall, including the “HNW” banner and a 14-foot banner declaring, “Out of Iraq!” This second banner was held by none other than Code Pink founder and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Medea Benjamin, along with Tighe and many others.

In a meeting following the convention, nearly 50 members of the PDA team committed even more time for a debriefing of what went right and what will be upgraded for the next Party executive board meeting. This group included several of PDA's nationally endorsed congressional candidates, including Mike Copass (who made a very respectable showing in his effort to thwart the Party endorsement of incumbent Susan Davis, after boisterous displays of support from a PDAers on site), Dr. Bill Durston and Mary Pallant. The gathering also included key members such as PDA NorCal State Coordinator Karen Bernal, Bill Lackemacher and Judy Hess. Also attending was Santa Monica City Councilmember (and PDA member) Kevin McKeown. Medea Benjamin of Code Pink described her decision to travel to San Jose for the weekend just to help with this PDA convention effort, and all present celebrated the huge achievements of the weekend and the evidence of our organizing skills-inside and outside the California Democratic Party.