My Washington Caucus - cliff note version

[Madrone]

I went to my caucus as a delegate for Kucinich. There ended up being something like 67 Kerry delegates, 20 Dean delegates, 10 Kucinich delagates, 5 undecideds, and 1 each Clark and Edwards.

We Kucitizens snagged a Kerry, 4 undecideds, and 2 Deans to make Kucinich viable. We had 8 delegates to name and they broke down as 5 Kerry, 2 Dean, and 1 Kucinich.

It was nice, but a looooooong day. Most people were very amicable.

I will say the Dean camp did irritate me a little - the spokesperson for the group got up in front of all of us and basically said all of us Kucinich people, undecideds, and the Clark and Edwards should just give in and join Dean, since they (the Deanies) are the ones bringing energy and passion to the election, Dean deserves delegates more than anyone else. She then went on to list all of Dean's accomplishments, one of which was "Dean was the ONLY ONE against the war and he was the FIRST ONE to stand up for what was right regarding the war."

GRRRRRRRRRRR! I wanted to bitchslap her with my Kucinich bumpersticker. :evilgrin: I refrained.

I really wish they wouldn't do that crap. I have nothing against Dean, other than his complete and constant oversight of Kucinich. Hell, I probably like Dean more than Kerry - but that freaking holier than thou attitude really pisses me off.

That is all!

[Kanary]

1. So, are you a delegate?

Don't keep us in suspenders. :)

Sounds like an exciting caucus. I really appreciate that you all hung in there, and convinced enough people to get a delegate for Dennis (you?) Now, isn't that a lot more fun than just going into a voting booth? :)

Did you pass any resolutions?

I'm with you on the constant ignoring of Dennis. He doesn't do that to others, and it's just RUDE.

Kanary

[Madrone]

2. Not me -

Our delegate is a college kid who's been on the Kooch bandwagon since the beginning. He's also the one that brought buttons, bumperstickers, etc to the caucus. He REALLY wanted to go, and I think it's great he's young and involved, I think he really deserves it and it will benefit him the most.

I would have liked to do it, but at the same time, the delegates have to go to 2 different venues - first for the congressional district, then on to state later on. That's a lot of travelling and time away! So, I would have liked to do it, but at the same time.... oy vey! If no one else had wanted to, I would have stepped up in a second, however.

I was finally able to score some "swag" though! I got a bitchin sweatshirt that says Washington State Democrats (with Washington state written over the larger red lettering of Democrats in white) on the front, and Washington State campaign team on the back. I got 2 Kucinich bumper stickers and a Kucinich button (better late than never), a BUSH LIED sticker, a BUSH LIED sign, a Kerry sign, and a Patty Murray sign.

I'm sorry to say I left before the resolution passing. I would have liked to stay as I now STILL don't know WTF that was all about - but my doggie was in my van and I had to get my oil changed and run some other errands. And I needed FOOD! :) The town I was in is 45 mins from my house, and I didn't want to have to drive all the way back there tomorrow to do the errands. I stayed for 4 hours, and left as they were having candidates/people speaking for candidates give speeches - which was before they were doing the resolution thing.

One very cool thing happened today - someone at the caucus donated office space to use as the Democratic headquarters thru November for FREE. That's awesome - since the guy could get a lot of money renting it out. I live in a small town/rural district that's a pubbie stronghold - so finding info about Democrats is difficult. I drove over there early on in the primaries looking for a headquarters to pick up some Kooch yardsigns etc - but there wasn't one. At least I now know who the Dem chair is for my area. Things are very different here than what I am used to, coming from a largish college town in MI.

You want to fill me on on the whole resolution thing? I'm clueless :)

[Madrone]

3. kick for any interested parties that may have missed it.

n/t

[LWolf]

4. Thanks for the report!

I hear you and agree; I like Dean better than Kerry. I'm sorry to hear that, this far out from his stepping aside, any of his supporters are still pushing that crap.

I am incredibly proud of all the Kucitizens who have continued to donate, volunteer, and work to keep Dennis and the issues in all the way to the convention. Sounds like some great energy is propelling Dennis on his journey to help define the direction of the democratic party.

[eridani]

5. All the info I have collected on WA state so far

LD caucuses in King county are May 1. Delegates to Congressional District caucuses will be chosen on May 29th. Delegates going to the 7th CD (remember that some LDs send delegates to more than one CD). The 15% threshold seems doable.

11th LD sends 13 delegates
32nd LD sends 7 delegates
34th LD sends 37 delegates
36th LD sends 52 delegates
37th LD sends 36 delegates
43rd LD sends 53 delegates
46th LD sends 43 delegates
Total = 241
15% = 36

County caucuses elsewhere in the state were held 4-24-04. Some results.

2nd Congressional district

WE DID IT!

We got a delegate for Dennis to go to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston!

The exciting news is that the 2nd Congressional District in northwestern Washington came away with far more delegates than expected. If my figures are correct, 184 delegates elected from across the District representing all the presidential preferences will convene May 29, 2004 in Mount Vernon to elect 6 delegates to go to the National Convention. Kucinich needs 15% to qualify, thus 28 delegates. From the results of yesterday, the 2nd Congressional District has so far garnered 36. Following is the breakdown:
Island Co. - 5 delegates
San Juan Island - 2 delegates
Skagit County - 6 delegates
Whatcom County - 23 delegates.

There are a couple more legislative districts in the southern portion of the District that will hold their caucuses this coming Saturday. Kucinich may gain more delegates to augment the numbers that we have already.

Despite the absence of media coverage from newspapers, TV and radio from the beginning of the campaign, and the alienation and marginalization that the media did create to discourage Kucinich to influence American society, we Kucinich organizers and supporters phone-banked, doorbelled targeted areas, organized campaign events and raised funds. We focused on proactive activities that would make our communities better and we stayed away from time-wasting activities that were reactive to Bush, unlike the Dean camp, which locked people in Bush's camp, thus further victimizing his campaign.

I truly believe that we have created a movement that can counter the corporate control that strangles our country today. Mahatma Gandhi once said: "If you want to change the world, be that change." Within the coming days, I will be in contact with you to chart another course for the 2nd Congressional District. Let's stick together and make things happen.

Thank you all for the long hours that you have invested in this campaign. Your dedication, strong convictions, and perseverance have paid off. Faith in the future is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.

I thought you all would be interested in reading the accounts of the caucuses from around the 2nd Congressional District. It is interesting to note that a few individuals really had to fight hard for the delegates that we did get, especially in San Juan and Skagit Counties. Aristotle said a couple of thousand years ago that "you won't have money, any more than other things, unless you take the trouble to have it." The good fight paid off yesterday.

In my sincerest gratitude to you all,
Love and Peace,
Larry Kalb
2nd Congressional District Campaign Coordinator
Dennis Kucinich for President

Island County
Our Island County Convention was held yesterday. Kucitizens started out BELOW the required 15% to take any delegates to the LD Caucus and State Convention. A number of folks approached us BEFORE the convention started, coming to join us from the Kerry and Dean camps, as well as from the uncommitteds. Our people were also going through the crowd of 250 delegates to woo others over. We met in the South Whidbey High School Gymnasium. They opened with a lot of Democratic Party rah-rah speeches that didn't particularly impress me. The chair admitted to stalling for time while alternates were seated in the place of delegates that didn't show up. But at a certain point, I went up to her and said, "Let's get on with it, we've got work to do, here." I was concerned with time for consideration of Dennis' platform as much as with the final delegate tally.

In the final first count, Dennis had only 37 delegates (though 3 of them were from my precinct) for 14.6%, Kerry had 51% and Dean had something like 28%.

FINALLY, each camp was allowed one speaker for 5 minutes to make the case for the three candidates. Just before Kristi O'Donnell spoke for Dennis, the chair, Grethe Cammermeyer, made the point that the Democrats are the inclusive party and allows for diversity of opinion. On the heels of that, Kristi gave a dynamite, inspired speech that Kerry and Dean folks applauded! Now, delegates were supposed to be allowed to switch, but there was some confusion about the rules and statements about the "ethics" of switching, though we'd been assured that delegates could "in good conscience" choose another candidate after the first vote. It was fair and legal. Those who wished to, went back out to registration to change their vote. We ended up with 23 more votes, even now with the Dean camp (50, 25, 25). NOW, we could select 5 DELEGATES and 2 alternates to the LD and State Convention!

The level of enthusiasm and participation on the part of the Kucinich supporters is quite a contrast to the other groups. Dean folks showed some energy, though I personally got hit face on with some hostility and sour grapes from a couple members of their group. Kerry folks? Well, they had the numbers, but they were quite passive. Their spokesman's message was on the order of, "Wouldn't you want to bet on a winning horse?" Overall, it was a civil and fair exchange. When it comes right down to it, we know we all need each other!

So, now we caucused to elect the delegates. We appointed a chair, secretary and some tally folks. Quite a crowd lined up to speak for 60 seconds on why they should be chosen. The results came back: 3 women, two men. I'm going as a delegate! All three delegates from our precinct were chosen to go on! (Joyce Small, John Hurd and me. Kristi and ) That's kind of amazing, but we have all been very active in the campaign since its inception.

A lot of people had drifted away before the vote on the resolutions. That's where the democrats are WEAK. It's not enough to oppose Bush, to get the cheers and jeers from the audience. Everybody knows there's a BOOB in the White House; we all know they lie. If we don't rally behind a strong progressive platform, we got nothing to offer going forward. Dennis' 10 points waste no time on the negative. They get right down to stating what we are FOR and supply the actions steps for getting there.

The good news is that our group has been involved right along in developing the resolutions. The meeting in Ellensburg on May 16 will fine-tune them. However raggedy the process, votes did take place at the end of our convention. We'll have a VOICE on the floor of the convention in Boston!

Holding the vision!
Love and blessings,
Pushkara

San Juan County
Sharon may have already let you know the SJ update, but Kucinich got 2 out of the 5 delegates for our county! We were very happy about it!

People signed in, the 'officers' gave their talks, etc, then the Credentials Committee (my committee) started adding up the numbers. It took quite awhile, and finally we got a count -- Dean 2, Kerry 2, Kucinich 1.

Then all the people gave their 5 minutes for their candidates. One of our delegates, Nancy Brickman, decided to sign up for 5 minutes with the Dean people since she wanted to address the "Progressive" voice, and not use up time for Kucinich. This worked well! She never mentioned a candidate, just stated things that Dean (Kucinich, really) stood for, and how the progressive voice should have a chance to get to the national level. She got HUGE cheers!

Then the Kucinich people spoke. We had Claudia Elwell, a delegate from Lopez, and she was fiery! She was great, and more people cheered her! Very encouraging! Then Jeff Boosler (I think that's his name) spoke. He is a Dean delegate and he spoke for Kucinich as he had decided to change over to Dennis. He was also very great, and got more cheering. Then a delegate from Orcas got up to speak, Didier Gincig, and barely began talking when someone (a heckler!) spoke up saying that Kucinich had exceeded his allotted time. The time keeper said no, he still had time, so Didier kept talking for another 15 seconds or so and they cut him off. He was very polite and respectful, but requested that since he had come all the way from Orcas he should be allowed a very short statement. They said no. It wasn't pretty -- they were really sticking to the 5 minute rule.

Anyway, finally everyone was allowed to change their vote if they chose to. Eight people changed, all Dean delegates. Three of them became Kerry delegates, and the other five became Kucinich delegates. That switch was enough to give Kucinich another delegate and Dean one less.

All in all, I am very glad!

Maggie Lesoing
Co-Chair - Dennis Kucinich for President
San Juan County

Skagit County
Don't know how many people are reporting to you, but just want to make sure you get the good news.

LD 10 1 Kucinich delegate (1st count)
LD 39 2 Kucinich delegates (1st count)
LD 40 3 Kucinich delegates (marathon)

I have to tell you that two ladies, Jen Weeks and Ginny Wolff, in the 40th district deserve purple hearts for today's performance. The 40th district came in at 8%. The Chairman and his appointees effectively stonewalled the numerous attempts to clarify the rules on whether there would be an opportunity to switch delegates after the 2nd count so that candidates with less than 15% could stay in play and so that folks from other candidates' delegations could be released to return to their candidates. We were told more than once that this would happen, then when the time came, the Chairman reneged. These two women took the Chairman to the mat and finally got him to capitulate. We then launched an all-out effort to recruit another 15 delegates to make 15%. It was awesome to behold. Several people, including a couple of Dean delegates, spoke to the importance of keeping Kucinich viable to counter Kerry's drift to the right. It was truly extraordinary. None of us knew, as we duked this one out, that there were 3 delegates at stake - we assumed it was only 1. When they finally pulled off 17%, we learned that meant 3 delegates.

In all, the experience was incredibly frustrating until the bitter end. Established local party people were really resistant, and frequently downright rude. We were cut off, ignored, dismissed, and chastised. I thought we might all walk out until the impasse broke and we were allowed the opportunity for the final switch. Numerous Kerry and Dean people said they'd help us out if they could be released back if we failed to get 15%, so this ruling was critical.

If there's a heroism award offered by the Kucinich campaign, Jen Weeks and Ginny Wolff should be on the receiving end. They were awesome.

That's all for now - I'm fried. You guys are probably still struggling with resolutions, judging from how far ahead our convention was. I left at 6:30, and I think they were half way through the resolutions.

Kathy Hay
Skagit County Kucitizens

Whatcom County
Thank you, thank you, thank you. We did it. We were able to get 18 delegates from the 42nd LD and 5 delegates from the 40th LD. This brings us into the Congressional District Caucus with almost the 15% we need to garner a national delegate. Since there are 184 CD delegates, we will need 28 delegates to reach the 15% threshold. I believe Island County got the additional 5 delegates we need to meet that threshold. Wow!!

For those of you who couldn't make it or couldn't stay until the end, I will briefly recap the day. It started with mobs at check in. As was true at the precinct caucuses, people came in droves and in spite of all the planning, things were chaotic. There were close to 1,000 people present, I believe there were over 400 delegates (out of the 683 elected). And I think the Kucinich delegates pretty much all made it. Enough so that our final percentages were over 35% in the 42nd LD and around 30% in the 40th LD. What a committed group of people you are. With this level of commitment we can create the world we envision.

The Credentials Committee didn't finish their final tally until after 2:00pm, so much for the two hours or so we thought this part of the convention would take. The agenda said that they would have their results by 10:30am. Mayor Mark Asmundson presided as chair of the convention and entertained us while we waited. Of course there were plenty of speeches by local politicians, a few jokes, and some musical entertainment. But most people spent their time chatting with other Kucinich supporters or trying to convince non-Kucinich delegates to switch to Dennis. And it worked, our percentage of support rose from what we originally had.

We then caucused by legislative district. I chaired the 42nd LD caucus and we had close to 100 people in the room. It was amazing. We didn't finish up until 7:00 pm. But in the end we had all of our 18 delegates (9 women and 9 men) elected and the 18 alternates (9 women and 9 men). Each person gave their 2-minute speech and then the ballotingprocess occurred. While the ballots were being counted, many people got up and told jokes, gave extemporaneous speeches, made announcements, and even led us in a song about revolution. Yes, we are the revolution. And according to Thomas Jefferson, it is long overdue. It was fun and long and heartwarming, and of course amazing. Not everyone made it to the end, but many did. More than 10 hours after check in.

Mayor Mark came and told us at about 6:00pm that the platform discussion would not take place due to lack of time. It will occur at the Democrats central committee meeting on the 2nd Wednesday in May, location to be announced since their normal venue is not large enough. I'll let you know when I get more information.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are an amazing group of people and we are capable of great things. Dennis has united us with his vision of hope and that vision holds true even without him in the White House. Our collective voice has great power, if we are willing to speak up.

I will be back in touch regarding how we can use our progressive collective voice both locally and nationally. I envision forums to determine our direction and teach-ins to educate us on the issues, and actions to do the work. And hopefully once a month social gatherings to keep us connected. We all have a special gift and our personal level of involvement is perfect in its own way. Some have more time and energy, some have less. But each of us has something to contribute.

I personally believe that it is our loss of community that leaves us feeling empty and hopeless and I have been greatly filled through this experience and am not willing to let that go. I hope you feel the same and will continue your involvement.

Thank you again and namaste!

Sandy Hoelterhoff
Whatcom County Dennis Kucinich for President Co-Chair

Mason County

What an interesting (and tiring) day! Maylee and I got to Shelton Middle School at about 8:30 and began colleting signatures on the DK platform petitions for the national convention and the "backbone campaign" petition. Pretty soon Marilou, Patty, Deb and Joe showed up to help us out. I think we collected about 200 signatures on the 5 petitions. At one point one of the people who had been at my precinct caucus had stopped to rail at me because at that caucus I had not been willing to pledge with 100% certainty that I would vote for Kerry in November, which made me start to worry about how the day was going to go. Fortunately, and thanks to the efforts of the Dean and Kucinich delegates, it was not a sign of things to come.

After everyone signed in there was a lot of dead time and speeches while we waited for the credentials report. Surprisingly, none of our delegates (or anybody else's) were challenged. We voted on a final delegate number of 172, and although a few alternates were seated later, we kept 172 as the number to work from, so the 15% threshold was 26 people. Mason County gets 14 delegates to the CD 6 caucus, and the first allocation was announced, as follows:

Precinct delegates CD delegates
Kerry: 101 12
Dean: 31 2
Edwards: 18 0
Kucinich: 13 0
Sharpton: 1 0
Clark: 3 0
Undecided: 5 0

Then people were given a chance to speak for 5 minutes on behalf of each of the candidates. I gave a speech for Kucinich, which I have copied below. The part about bringing our troops home brought spontaneous applause. As I went back to me seat two people stopped me and said they were switching. An Edwards supporter spoke and talked about sending him delegates to help him become the VP nominee. The Dean people were a little bit vague but basically talked about how important he had been in energizing the Democratic base. The Sharpton guy spoke about bringing in diverse views to the Party and pushing a progressive platform. The Clark guy talked about how great Clark was but didn't really make a case for voting for him. The Kerry guy talked about maintaining party unity and not giving sway to "fringe" candidates who would be divisive. Then we were all given 15 minutes to change our votes.

This was done not by forming groups and having people switch around, but by having people go up to the credentials table and sign their changes on a sheet, so it was really hard to tell which candidates had reached the threshold. People started lining up at the tables, and the Kucinich delegates started fanning out into the crowd to cajole people to switch. Within a few minutes we had come within 4 votes of meeting our 26 delegate threshold. Carolina, Vikki and Deb started working on some of the tougher cases, while Heather, the young woman who had spoken on behalf of Howard Dean pulled me aside. She had many questions, few of which could be answered in the few minutes we had, but it came down to, why was Dennis so hard on Dean during the debates? Shouldn't we all rally behind Dean because he had more numbers and they were both saying basically the same thing? Isn't it obvious we'll never have a single-payer health plan? Can't Dean and Kucinich supporters work together for progressive change? I answered "of course" to the last, and then pointed out that, since Dean did have "the numbers," wasn't it fair to help Dennis increase his? I pointed out that Dean had 4 extra delegates, and Dennis was short 4, so if 4 of them switched we'd both make the threshold. She and the other person who had spoken for Dean both agreed they'd switch if Dean made his threshold and we needed their votes.

A few minutes after that, we found out from the credentials committee that Kucinich had 27 delegates, enough to go to the next level. The next set of numbers were then announced, as follows:

Precinct delegates Met threshold?
Kerry: 101 yes
Dean: 23 no
Edwards: 25 no
Kucinich: 27 yes
Sharpton: 0 no
Clark: 0 no
Undecided: 5 no

Everyone was then given a final chance to switch. I tried to announce that if one undecided switched to Edwards and three switched to Dean, everyone would meet their threshold, but not very many people heard me. By the time Heather and I got to the tables, two more people had switched from Dean to Kucinich. At that point the Dean and Kucinich people seemed to be operating on a more cooperative than competitive level, with the basic principle being that everyone should get a voice at the Cd caucus, so the Kucinich delegates turned their efforts to convincing people to switch to Dean, while I kept an eye on the list to make sure Kucinich kept at least 26 delegates. Two Kucinich delegates offered to switch to Dean if they could find the 2 additional delegates they needed to meet threshold. Unfortunately we couldn't find any of the undecided delegates, and the Kerry delegates were not interested in helping Dean. The convention chair allowed a motion on whether Heather could take the microphone so we could organizepeople, which was voted down by the Kerry delegates. One of the Kucinich delegate asked a Kerry delegate, her neighbor, "don't you want them to have a voice?" to which the answer was "no." Finally the credentials committee said they were closing the list, and when it was clear that Dean would not meet the threshold, Heather and her friend both switched to Kucinich "for progressive unity." We stood around for a few minutes while the allocations were tallied, complaining about the Kerry delegates and the general DP attitude of "shut up and fall in line," then she and most of the other Deaniacs left the convention.

The final numbers were:

Precinct delegates CD delegates
Kerry: 100 9
Dean: 19 0
Edwards: 28 2
Kucinich: 30 3
Sharpton: 0 0
Clark: 0 0
Undecided: 4 0

Then we had our Kucinich caucus to elect CD delegates, which was much more fun than the Kerry and Edwards caucuses! No one really seemed to know what was going on, least of all me, who was elected chair, but somehow we got our delegates and alternate elected. Two of the delegates had been Kucinich precinct delegates, and one had been a Dean delegate who switched. Our alternate was the Sharpton delegate. The final decision was agreed to by voice vote, because the rules for the ballots were to confusing and time- consuming, so hopefully no one will check the final outcome against the ballots! Maylee invited everyone to a barbecue and started collecting names and phone numbers.

By this time it was close to 2p.m. and no one had eaten lunch, so sandwiches were ordered while the Kerry people continued to work out their delegates. I think it was at least 3 by the time we started voting on resolutions, and by that time we had 51 people remaining, which was exactly a quorum. We voted on a few resolutions, until someone didn't like the result of one of them and asked for another quorum call, which failed. We adjourned at about 4. Several of the Kucinich resolutions passed before adjournment: withdrawal from NAFTA/WTO, repeal of the USA-PATRIOT Act and Guaranteed Quality Education. The guy who had spoken for Kerry spoke against the NAFTA resolution because, even though he agreed with it, it contradicted Kerry's position (isn't that the point?), but it still passed.

Overall, the Kucinich delegates did a terrific job and managed to create a positive and supportive atmoshpere. There was lots of laughing and hugging and the like. I am really sorry that the Deaniacs didn't have the same experience we did. Because of the way they were treated I am still left with really mixed feelings about the DP, but they are definitely more positive than they were after the precinct caucuses. So many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make yesterday such a successful day!

Eve

**Speech delivered at the April 24 Mason County Democratic Party Convention:**

My name is Eve Rickert and I'm speaking on behalf of U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich. We all know that the nomination is already decided. So I am up here to ask you all not to waste your vote.

What direction do you want your party to take? What kind of president do you want John Kerry to be when he is elected in November? Now is your chance to make what is perhaps the strongest statement you can make on these matters, by standing with the Kucinich delegation.

Maybe you supported Howard Dean because of his early, powerful and principled opposition to the war in Iraq. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate still running who opposed the war from the beginning, and is calling to get the UN in and the US out of Iraq and bring our troops home.

Maybe you supported John Edward because of his economic populism and his opposition to NAFTA. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate still running who opposes NAFTA, calls for curbs on corporate power, and is a proud union member.

Maybe you support John Kerry and want to help him win in November. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate still running who has proven that he can bring Independents, Greens and disaffected voters under the umbrella of the Democratic Party. John Kerry will need those votes to win. Help him by showing the progressives who are new to the Party that our voices do matter.

After the convention in Boston, Dennis Kucinich will throw his support to the Democratic nominee, as the other candidates have. Now that we know who that nominee will be, you are free to vote your hopes, your beliefs and your conscience. Dennis Kucinich will carry the messages of universal health care, repeal of the USA-PATRIOT Act, UN in and US out of Iraq, fair trade instead of free trade, and a renewed commitment to peace through diplomacy to Boston, and help show the country that the Democratic Party offers a clear and positive vision for the future of America. I invite you to stand with us and help us give the progressive vision a voice.

Thank you.


Chelan County

You'll be pleased to hear that Chelan County will have four Kucinich delegates to the state convention. I know that Douglas County has at least one, I haven't been able to find out if there are more but will let you know on that ASAP.

The Kucinich representatives at the convention were by far the most informed and best spoken. Representatives for each candidate were allowed five minutes to speak to the convention. Carl Florea, Sharlynn Cobaugh and Pierre Dawson spoke for Dennis with quick, factual and persuasive statements that help to delegates to D.K.

The initial count was: Edwards 11 delegates, Kerry 72, Dean 25, Kucinich 21, Clark 2, undecided 3.

Before the final vote several candidates left and the second vote total was: Dean 18, Kerry 81, Kucinich 30, Clark 0, Edwards 1, undecided 0.

The configuration of the hall and the day-long general confusion didn't allow for more than short, scattered moments of schmoozing. I'm sure that under more workable conditions we could have swayed a few additional candidates.

The resolutions passed by the Chelan County convention reflect much of D.K.'s stand on the issues - we are PLEASED with the outcome. (Maureen Sheimo was on the committee)

I'll get back to you as soon as I get the totals for Douglas County.

In Peace
Nancy

Clallam County

Clallam County will be sending 3 Kucinich delegates to Deans 6 and Kerry's 10. I'm not sure what congressional district we're in on the west end of the Olympic Penninsula. We needed a few extra bodies and borrowed 3 Dean people and all of the Edwards people who graciously helped us out so that everyone could feel as though their presence made a difference. The Edwards supporters found the Kerry supporters very territorial, snobbish and rude. They came back to us shaking their heads and said, "Geez--do you suppose this is an indication of things to come." I believe the Kucinich supporters out numbered those willing to get up to the microphone and speak. They were expecting 200 to show up and 309 did. Since it was more than they anticipated the credentialing process took much longer, but gave us a lot more time to speak up. We won the only two non-committed delegates. One father took only a couple of minutes and simply said, "I'm standing with Kucinich because I'm a Viet Nam veteran and I have 4 children of draftable age." That was powerful. Our speakers also got the most applause by what they had to say.

Kitsap County

I am happy to report that we advanced 6 Kucinich delegates from Legislative District 23, Congressional District #1, to the next round today. We also managed to influence the Kitsap County Platform considerably. We had more than a few Dean delegates come to us and two are now Dennis delegates moving forward. A just reward. We need a presence at the national convention. We need to advance the platform put forward so eloquently by Dennis this past year. Thanks to Dennis. Thanks to everyone who participated. Today, we took a number that was under 15% (the cutoff) in the first round and increased it to more than 20%. I love these people.

Dan Gallagher
Bainbridge Island


Thurston County

Credentials committee took 3 hrs longer than expected due to high attendance levels. The Kucinich delegates were a very high energy group. The LD chair commented that "They ran this convention." DK delegate Jackie Brown-Miller was the platform chair, who asked all involved with the platform (including other delegates besides DK delegates) to stand. Jackie will probably be on the state platform committee. The platform was adopted before the delegate selection took place. Only 4 voices in the entire room opposed it. Delegates were split between the 3rd CD and the 9th CD--DK didn't get any. None of the DK delegates switched though.

State Rep Sandy Romero will not be running for reelection, and several possible replacements spoke. They were asked to speak to the platform, and one said that it was 'too liberal,' a comment that drew booing. The Kerry delegates seemed rather passive, and there was some concern as to whether they have the passion required to put forth the effort to get him elected.

Other

Larry Kalb heard from his son in central WA. There were 9.5% DK delegates at sign-in, and he did enough talking to get switches to 17%, and was elected as a delegate.

The report from Jefferson County is that 3 of 10 CD delegates were Kucinich.

Snohomish County will not elect delegates until next week. There was platform discussion. Cliff Wells will go to the meeting at the Everett Library Monday at 7PM. There will be an executive committee meeting Tuesday--Harry will be there to push our resolutions.

Gail reports that the 23rd LD had 257 delegates, 18% Kucinich, 26th LD had 127 delegates, 18% Kucinich and 35th KD 236 delegates, 24% Kucinich.

Greg reported from Pierce County that the 29th got 3 DK delegates, the 27th got 5 DK delegates, and the 25th shared 3 with Dean. Still waiting to hear on the 26th and the 28th LDs.

[eridani]

6. kick

[pezcore64]

7. as a former dean supporter

i definitely feel your pain. i hate when the campaign said 'the only one' crap. wish people would stop saying that already.

[eridani]

8. Kitsap County addendum

Greetings to all Dennis supporters!
Here in Kitsap County we ended up with a total of 7 delegates to the State Convention in June -- 6 from CD # 1 (north end of co.), myself included, and 1 from CD # 6 (good job, as that is Norm Dicks territory, and he tends to be more-than-slightly right of center for a Dem). I wanna go to Boston in July (and then I wanna go to NYC in September to protest Dumbya's nomination!!!) I will be preparing a 3-minute speech for the caucus in Edmonds on May 29th, and I have petitioned our local peace group for their endorsement. I can't wait to meet all of you in June.

Peace to All!
Ann Simandl

More than 7, Ann! We've got 13 delegates in Kitsap County. 7 in CD1 and = 6 in CD6.

I'm so glad you decided to support Kucinich. It was wonderful on Saturday to see how many people were moved to change their vote to = Kucinich. In my legislative district, we went from 8% to 18%!

You won't have to wait until June to meet everyone - there's lots of work to be done between now and then and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to hook up with others!

Peace,
Jo


Hello all.
This is a report for the Kitsap County Convention and 23rd/26th/35th District caucuses. Don't hold your breath!

The Kitsap County Convention was great! LD23 and parts of LD26 and 35 were represented. I am waiting for a "final" report but so far:

700 total delegates
LD23 (357 dels)
Dennis - CD1- 6 CD6- 1
Kerry - 21
Dean - 8

LD26 (107 dels) - all CD6
Dennis - 3
Kerry - 9
Dean - 4

LD35 (236 dels) -she was a bit fuzzy with this info
Dennis - CD1- 2 CD6- 1
Kerry - 6 CD1- 1 CD6- 5
Dean - 3 CD1- 1 CD6- 2

We had under 15% in all districts after the first tally. The 26th was at 8%. Up until this time a few of us were writing and circulating amendments to the platform. Then, I decided to peruse the sign-in books. I started keeping track of all the changes over to Dennis and of any DELs that didn't show and ALTs who could slide into the spot - 3 other DK dels would check my numbers and then we would all go talk to folks and/or spread the word amongst our own of our del needs.

Getting to know the sign-in book volunteers worked well as a couple of them actually came out into the gym to give me Dennis info!

I asked our youngest delegate - a bright, articulate high school student, Skylar Wilkins, to speak for Dennis. One of our coordinators was a bit concerned that someone so young wouldn't be taken seriously - but - Skylar did speak and he told me after that he was worried that he would = run out of time because of so much applause!!!!!!! Skylar is one of our delegates to the CD Caucus & State Convention and, I'll betcha' to Boston, too!
He also recently went as a delegate from Bainbridge to Ometepe, Nicaragua (our sister-city).

Another delegate, Walker Willingham, gave a "Unity" speech - not officially a candidate speech but he did have a DK button on - and cleverly wove in some of Dennis's platform issues. He was received with resounding applause. He had given the same speech a week earlier to the Kitsap Dems and they had voted it down to officially be put on the Convention agenda. **Is there a message here? I think so. "Business as usual" vs Dennis is right on! --maintain the focus--spread the word--build the base!

We also had a large guest section of Kucinich supporters. All of the above contributed to getting Dennis the "switches" he needed to get delegates in each LD. The energy from "the people" was very powerful in that gym!

As you can imagine we had many other "official" speakers. Jay Inslee brought the house down - Christine Gregoire was well-received - Betti Sheldon spoke for Edwards and on and on.

The Convention was very well run allowing for lots of interesting platform discussions. At ~4PM before we lost our quorum we voted to have the Central Committee go over the rest of the Platform = amendments/Resolutions - we were on Plank V of XI. My amendment was at Plank X (clean elections).

Gayle Lamberson
Bainbridge Is

Congratulations, Ann! I voted for you!

A couple more dels to add for Dennis:
LD23 - 7 dels CD1 - 7 CD6 - 1
LD26 - 3 dels all CD6
LD35 - 3 dels CD1 - 1 CD6 - 2

Congratulations also to Skylar Wilkins (our Bainbridge Senior!) and Dan Gallagher and who else made it for dels? I also remember Catherine Macala and Gayle Kirby for alts but who else? I'll be there to cheer you on! Please be sure to thank the Kitsap County Democrats and the 23rd District Democrats for all their hard work!

Thanks for your commitment!
Gayle Lamberson
Kucinich Coordinator-Olympic Peninsula