LAT: CAMPAIGN '08
Clinton, Obama supporters wrangle over delegates
The acrimony is evident at district conventions in Texas this weekend, with each side accusing the other of underhandedness.
By Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
March 30, 2008
HOUSTON -- Less than a month ago, Texas Democrats turned out in huge numbers for the presidential nominating contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, confident that, no matter who won, the party would have a popular, well-financed candidate. But that exuberance is gone now. Across the state this weekend, tense confrontations -- even shoving matches -- erupted as partisans for Clinton and Obama battled over how to interpret the March 4 election results and how to choose delegates to the Texas Democratic convention.
At one particularly raucous session Saturday at Texas Southern University, a leading Clinton backer, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, was booed by hundreds of Obama supporters, and police were called later to break up heated exchanges that left some in tears.
"It's bedlam," said Houston lawyer Daniel J. Shea, a Clinton backer....
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The acrimony was on sharp display Saturday in Texas as Democrats met in 280 district conventions, part of the complicated system the state uses to determine the makeup of its delegation to the national convention. Clinton won the primary in Texas, but Obama won the caucuses that followed after the polls closed. It was those caucus results that were being challenged Saturday at conventions that drew thousands of boisterous participants....Both the Clinton and Obama teams encouraged supporters to get to Saturday's conventions amid reports that dirty-trick e-mails told delegates the conventions had been canceled or moved. Thousands of Texas households received a recorded phone call from former President Bill Clinton reminding delegates of the importance of attending.
Definitive results were not available Saturday evening from the often chaotic district conventions. Nonetheless, both campaigns declared victory....
During the day, supporters of both candidates said they were disturbed by what they considered intimidation and cheap tricks from the other side. Valerie Zavala, 38, said that as soon as she identified herself as a Clinton supporter, Obama backers demanded to know why she had even bothered showing up. "There's a lot of hostility," she said. "I see a lot of tension." Adib Faafir, an Obama supporter, suspected that trickery by Clinton backers had blocked his chance of participating. He held up his cellphone to show a text message telling him to show up for the convention at a local school miles from the actual location. By the time he arrived at the correct address, he was out of luck. "Only two of the people from my precinct have showed up, and they wouldn't let me register," he said.
The Clinton campaign had announced last week that it would not be officially challenging delegates. But behind the scenes, Clinton staff encouraged and counseled individuals in the challenge process. Each side accused the other of gaming the system to its advantage. (Clinton field organizer Michael Trujillo) didn't bother with diplomatic niceties, charging that the "abundance of pure cheating from the Obama side escapes the imagination."...
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-dems30mar30,0,6913658,full.story
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