Pics from Collin County, TX convention (Sunday). Pic heavy

[rainbow4321]

Went to our county convention as an observer this weekend. Didn't find out til Monday on the radio that there was some sort of mass "confusion and chaos" so the thing went TIL 7 AM MONDAY MORNING. Still have not found out the details on WHAT happened. So help me if this was HRC screwing with our county....

Some of what happened when it first started: The convention was called to order 2 hours late (3300 people there as opposed to 4 yrs ago when there were only 400).
The **very first speaker** that they offered up was some soap opera actress to speak as a HRC supporter. I'm sorry, but when they have to spend 10 minutes giving us the number of awards she has won, EVERY single show she has been on (including guest appearances on prime time shows), it is a sure sign that you KNOW that no one in the audience is going to know who the hell she is. She went on and on about supporting HRC for her pro-choice support, how HRC met with this actress and Planned Parenthood in DC, on and ON. She ended by saying basically "oh, yeah, and she has a solution for the war and our economy, thank you, goodbye". Exit left.

Next up are local Dem pols running for office...like a lot of them. Then recess. Us Obama supporters were a tad confused cuz they didn't give us an Obama speaker. Rumors flew that it was supposed to be Emmitt Smith.
It was kinda an awkard part of the convention cuz I personally felt like I was time warped into a HRC pep rally. Apparently, one of the local office runners thought the same cuz when he got on stage after the soap lady first thing he yells was "Uh, are there any OBAMA fans out there??". We all responded..loudly and for a long time. I went back in during that first recess to find 3 delegates giving pro Obama speeches..much more passionate and convincing than the soap lady, BTW.

Found out later that when an Obama delegate found out that Smith was going to be a no show, he said he went and found a few "ordinary people" (his words) in the audience and they all went up to talk about Obama..said "it didn't seem right to not have anyone representing Obama/his supporters and we don't need no soap opera star or NFL player". Keep in mind it was done during the mini recess...it was NOT planned by the county organizers (many of whom sported HRC gear).

Here's some pics from "early on" in the convention..i.e between 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm. I say early NOW cuz no one at the time dreamt that it would go on til the NEXT morning.

Keep in mind most of the people in the pics are the delegates and alternates who were there til Monday morning (though in these pics they ahd NO idea was laid ahead of them...my daughter's classmate said HIS mom got there at 7 am Sunday and didn't get home til **3 am**)

Because I was only there as an observer I could come and go as I pleased. When it started looking kinda dismal about 7 pm (30 min to and hour break they said), I came home. Got there at 1:30 and it was worth going. When I left the alternates and the delegates were starting to look a little weary.











Food/drink mini cafe they had...Bet they went thru the Red Bulln pretty damn quick after midnight.




No one knew what the fire truck was there for but the ambulance drove away quietly, didn't seem to have any one in it.

[thevoiceofreason]

1. Ya'll did great. And about 2-1 Obama!

[powergirl]

2. Thanks for the pics, Rainbow! I was there too!

I helped "man" the Obama table. Obama kicked butt in Collin County - in a greater margin than the day of the primary. And yes, the Clinton supporters are responsible for the delays. They are the only folks who made challenges and they did so with impunity. It offends me that they were deliberately wasting the time of these earnest and dedicated voters. Here are the official results - from the Obama national worker:

Good morning, troops!



We did it. After bearing the Frisco Conference Center and Hillary
supporters

for 13+ hours, we won Collin County by more than 2/1. For those going to

state, the best of luck to you. I will be hitting the road tomorrow, but

please email me if you are ever in a pickle.



So after waiting around until 4 am, here are the long awaited results:



Presidential Polling:

Senate District 8

989 66.33 Obama

501 33.6 Clinton

1 Uncommitted



Senate District 30

106 54.92 Obama

87 45.07 Clinton



Precinct Caucus:

SD8

D:

99 obama 84%

19 clinton 16%

A:

72 obama

46 clinton



SD30

D:

8 obama 67%

4 clinton 33%

A:

4 obama

8 clinton



Final At-Large:



SD 8

BO: 108

HRC: 55



SD 30

BO: 9

HRC: 7



Congratulations, everyone! Keep up the good work, stay in touch.



--

Julie Niemi

Field Organizer

Obama for America
:toast:

[rainbow4321]

4. Thanks, Powergirl!!!

GREAT numbers!!!

I nearly died when I was driving to work at 8 am and hear when it ended...first part of the reporter's sentence was "and Collin County's convention ended"....(I was expecting midnight, silly me)..."at 7 AM THIS MORNING"
WTF?????????????????????????? I nearly spewed my diet coke all over the windshield!! Those poor delegates/alternates and workers!! As nice as the Embassy Suites was I cannot frigging imagine being there for what, 20 hours???? Sounds like the Obama delegates did everyone proud!

I had a feeling it was do to her challenges. Lot of good it did them. Pretty much knew they had no respect for voters, keeping them hostage for 20 hours pretty much proves it.

[Cha]

3. Thanks rainbow..very important

works these people are up to!

[powergirl]

5. This also supports the Rush Limbaugh support for Clinton

There were far fewer Clinton delegates at this county convention than there were at the precinct conventions. In my particular precinct, we had ten delegates to divide. Based on support of the precinct, Obama got 6 of those delegates and Clinton got 4. Clinton had a bunch of no shows in my precinct at the county convention and we ended up with Obama getting 8 to Clinton's 2 delegates.

So, your Rush Limbaugh voter will not commit to standing around for 14 hours. And these numbers bear that out.

[rainbow4321]

7. Oh, fuck....DMN headline: Collin County Democrats' convention violated Texas law

OK....WTF????? It was WELL known that we had to have our convention on Sunday to meet some laws federal laws including the American Disabilty laws per news and county Dem reports. And what ARE the HRC people up to by not contesting the convention?? Are they waiting til state or national credential committees? Are they going to try and void the entire state?????????


------------------------
Collin County Democrats voting:

Barack Obama, 65%

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 35%



http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-collin_01pol.State.Edition1.3862844.html

Collin County Democrats apparently violated state law by holding their convention Sunday, and as a result, their delegation to the state Democratic convention could be in danger of losing its seats.

Texas law requires that the convention be held Saturday, but Democrats said they could not find a proper venue for that day, opting instead to hold their convention Sunday at the Frisco Convention Center.

"We advised Collin County that if they moved the date of their convention it would violate a state statute and leave their delegation open for a challenge," said Hector Nieto, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party.


<snip>

Garry Mauro, Hillary Rodham Clinton's Texas campaign chairman, said the campaign would not challenge the Collin County delegation

[powergirl]

9. It won't be challenged - Clinton won't challenge it b/c she would lose too many delegates

The Collin County Democratic party guy, Shawn Stevens, had cleared this through the Texas Dem Party and both campaigns. The end of the article states that Clinton will not challenge it. She would lose all of her delegates from that county (it's a big one) and she cannot afford to do that. See the quote:

"Garry Mauro, Hillary Rodham Clinton's Texas campaign chairman, said the campaign would not challenge the Collin County delegation."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-collin_01pol.State.Edition1.3862844.html


So, the Collin results stand.

[Catherina]

6. Thanks for your work and report

:toast:

[crispini]

8. Yay for Collin County!

Good job peeps! :toast:

The nice thing about NOT being a delegate -- you can blog! :D