Democrat convention yields unexpected results
Not sure what I expected from the Democratic Convention at U Mass Amherst today, but voting on three major resolutions wasn’t it. It was only my second convention as a delegate and my first during a non-election year, so I hadn’t given much thought to what was going to happen exactly. (There were many other newcomers there from Lowell who first became delegates, like me, to support Deval Patrick’s grassroots campaign.) During today’s convention, the Massachusetts Democratic Party voted to send three resolutions to Congress. All three passed, but I personally would have liked more time to research the issues before voting on them. For instance, the first resolution addressed the housing debt crisis. It seemed to be calling for a reorganization of our banking system and a freeze on delinquent mortgage debt. I understand that predatory lenders have caused record numbers of people to lose their homes, but this resolution seems about punishing all lenders. I’m also concerned with accountability on both ends. (Would love to have our Registrar of Deeds, Richard Howe Jr., weigh in on this one–hint hint.) The second resolution was to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney for deceiving the American people and Congress about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction and relationship with Al Qaeda, and also for openly threatening Iran without them posing a real threat to the U.S. The third resolution called for complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within three months. I’d love to see us out of Iraq, but I’m concerned about the tight timeframe because I think we have a responsibility to deal with the mess we helped create there. In addition to voting on the resolutions, I heard speeches from Martha Coakley, the state’s first female attorney general, who was surprisingly funny with quips such as “Under President Bush, No Child Left Behind left the funding behind;” and “the EPA forgot to protect the environment;” also, “the Federal Emergency Management Agency is itself a disaster;” and “the Justice Department puts partisan politics over justice.” Bill Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth, also delivered an interesting speech. Galvin noted that our foreclosure laws are antiquated and have not been updated since 1857—before the Civil War! He also said: “We have to protect public education from the ravages of the current tax system. Both public education and local government are at risk because of reliance on property taxes. That’s no way to run a government or an education system.” Receiving before and after standing ovations, Lt. Governor Murray spoke to the delegates regarding his administration’s accomplishments in four months compared to the prior administration’s lack of accomplishments in four years.
There were also many workshops offered at the convention during the afternoon, such as using technology to mobilize supporters, grassroots campaigning, and crafting the democratic message, but I had to be back in Lowell so I only went to one briefly. The 5th district congressional candidates were in attendance, though, and I chatted briefly with Jamie Eldridge and Niki Tsongas before heading home. I also stopped by Eileen Donoghue’s table, but was told the candidate was at another commitment and hadn’t attended the convention. As a candidate myself (re-election to the school committee in November), I know how difficult it is to make every event, but noticeably absent at the convention (unless I missed it) was any information on the other democratic candidates for the 5th congressional seat, namely Barry Finegold and James Miceli. Because I had to leave early, I also missed the reception and speeches with Senator John Kerry and Governor Deval Patrick.