Shenanigans from DNC ahead of Legislative District caucuses

[Flying Squirrel]

I'm a delegate, and I just attended a training session. The DNC has rammed through a rule change designed to prevent what happened in Nevada and Missouri from happening in Washington.

Up till now, if a delegate doesn't show up at the Legislative District Caucus (tomorrow), they could ONLY be replaced by an alternate from the same precinct. Otherwise that candidate loses the delegate slot and it goes to the other candidate.

The new rule, designed to help candidates with lackluster support (who could that be?) is that a no-show delegate can be replaced by any alternate from ANY precinct.

For example, in my district (46, North Seattle), where before a Hillary delegate from my precinct could only be replaced by an alternate from the same precinct, now they can be replaced by an alternate from ANY of over 220 precincts in district 46.



This obviously gives a huge advantage to Hillary and virtually assures that she can't lose any delegates due to lackluster attendance tomorrow.

There will be objections to this rule tomorrow, just for the record, but it is expected that they will be ruled "out of order."

And so it goes....

[daleanime]

1. ......

[Dragonfli]

7. It is to be expected, "it's all she seems to do" /nt

[SoLeftIAmRight]

13. In Colorado the Sanders supporters moved into every slot possible at every level

we controlled everything that was possible - and what is better - we have taken control of all future decisions

It is up to us to keep what we have taken and make good use of it. I will say this DNC we are your future!!!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. That was reported as a good thing by a Sanders supporter the other day

Starting at post #7

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10825342

None the less it's reminded me to make sure to attend tomorrow's caucus since I'm an alternative delegate for Hillary.

[rpannier]

12. Question, since you are also a delegate

If a delegate for HRC does not show (for whatever reason) aren't you or another HRC alternative delegate first in line to replace that delegate and same if it's Sanders?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. No it doesn't work that way

Each candidates supporters caucus separately.

&feature=youtu.be

[pugetres]

29. I didn't report it as a "good thing"

I was actually very neutral about it. I'm learning more about the process as I go along and do not want to share anything that is incorrect nor do I want to blatantly lie about what I read.

[Scootaloo]

3. Her "supporters" couldn't even be bothered to show up to caucus

So I can understand why the party is super-worried that they'll just stay home watching Friends reruns

[malokvale77]

4. It seems the rules are set in stone...

until their not.

[DemocracyDirect]

31. The rules are the rules...

... until they hurt the establishment candidate.

[redwitch]

5. Just so wrong!

I hope the protest is loud and insistent!

[Dragonfli]

6. Just like the good old days of Tammany Hall, the DLC getting back to the earlier roots of the party

will there be box stuffing? I was promised box stuffing and I don't want to be disappointed!

[840high]

10. yep

[Geronimoe]

8. Another word for changing the rules

is cheating.

[glinda]

30. The DNC called our home and acknowledged my husband was a Delegate

"in order to fundraise from him". I was also listed as an alternative but she did not have me listed. I think they are doing fishing expeditions on the phone.

[ConsiderThis_2016]

9. Liars gotta Lie...

and cheaters got cheat. It's the Clinton way!

[Autumn]

11. Chicken shit action by the DNC but not surprising,

Clintons numbers must be really bad.

[Bubzer]

15. Fuck the DNC

[polichick]

16. More Clinton corruption.

[Enthusiast]

43. Plus one for truth!

[ConservativeDemocrat]

17. You mean PREVENTION of shennanigans. PREVENTION of Sanders corruption.

Where Sandernistas abuse the system to try to leverage additional support they don't deserve to their candidate.

If regular Democrats did this to Sanders, you'd be outraged... petulantly whining, saying you'd be sitting out the general, all that standard pap. Here though, all that happens is that the rules get changed to prevent you from cheating, and you call that cheating.

I'd ask "Have you no shame?" but it's already clear what the answer is.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[billhicks76]

20. Beyond Ridiculous

It pains me to even consider your hypocritical comments. Im realistic but you're version of realistic is sell out to corporations and allow military contractors to plunder our tax base and murder families in Latin America and the Middle East. Military Contractors For Hillary 2016!!!!!! I'm sure there's a few here so don't feel so alone.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

24. Hypocritical? Son, I don't believe the world has a projector as big as yours

You're the ones constantly harping on phantom DNC bias. Every time Sanders doesn't get every little tantrum of his immediately attended to, you think it simply must be because the DNC chair is nefariously making two million more people vote for Clinton. Somehow. In some unexplained fashion.

Long lines in Arizona? In minority districts? Set up by the Republicans? Where people don't have time to sit around like personality cult fanatics waiting to vote? In short, a system set up naturally biased to Sanders strengths (minorities of fanatic, disproportionately white, non-Democrats) and against Clinton (majorities of Democrats who actually look like Democrats)? Why, that must be a conspiracy against Sanders! And Hillary must be involved. Because reasons! And therefore!!

Oh, but when it comes right down to abusing the process, you're all in favor of it. So long as your guy wins.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[PCPrincess]

25. At One Time It Would Have Been An OxyMoron

to say Conservative Democrat. Apparently, it now means rude. I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised if someone were to come forward to claim election fraud on the part of the DNC or someone from the Clinton Campaign. I'm not too surprised by your use of deflection however, even though it is normally a tactic of the right wing. They take an unpopular trait of the Republican party and then attempt to accuse the Democrats of doing the same thing. Of course, its utter bull.

[TM99]

32. Enjoy your games son.

That is all you have right now. Play by the rules. Fuck us by the rules. Break the rules. And don't come crawling to us in November when you need our votes. 23% of the electorate are registered Democrats. Wonder how many will leave if these games continue? I wonder how the fuck y'all are going to win with even less?

Reality based my ass, but guess what, son, you will see reality back hand you in the face come the GE.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

37. Don't lie to me, child

We Democrats have never had your votes. You hate-filled Naderite screamers, who constantly vomit bile onto websites, have always been Republican allies. Nihilists who appear to be able to afford your petulant tantrums, because the only thing you value is sanctimony rather than progress.

Yes, we're well aware of how you gave us Bush, and your new threat to give us Trump. But here's something you don't know yourself. You sociopaths do not speak for more than a minuscule fraction of even Sanders supporters.

So threaten away. I can make up in one session of phone banking all the votes lost to people complaining that the Democratic party won't let them cheat. What I simply don't understand is why Skinner lets people like you, who so obviously hate Democrats, crawl all over this site.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[TM99]

42. You deserve a reply

that would only get me a hide.

You are not a Democrat. You are a conservative. That explains everything. Shit on progressives from FR. That is where you should probably go.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

49. I'm not the one threatening to not vote for the Democratic nominee

So I'm not the one who isn't a Democrat. Look in the mirror kiddo.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Divernan]

45. 23% are registered Dems. Let's parse that out further.

The Dems in the southern red states will be neutralized in the general election. Of the 23% of Dems in traditionally blue, "must-win" states for any Dem. candidate, so far over half of them have voted for Bernie in their caucuses and primaries. Conservatively, at least 1/3 of those will NOT vote for Clinton. Whether they just don't vote for the office of president and vote Dem for down ticket, or vote for Jill Stein, or write in someone else's name (including but not limited to Bernie), Hillary Clinton will not get their votes.

Should, by some debased miracle, Hillary squeak out a victory in November, it will be the last hurrah of the Third Way. As the younger demographics of voters age, they will oppose, as they do in this election the Third Way in even greater numbers.

With every progressing day, Hillary, Bill and their supporters increasingly wrong-foot their campaign. Their ridiculous attacks on this inspirational Pope, who is revered by people of all faiths, and the changes he is bringing about in the Catholic Church represent a new low for them. I'm happy to see it. It reveals them in all their greed-soaked, power-drunk glory.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

50. And 50% of Clinton voters weren't going to vote for Obama in 2008

Against McCain, who for all his warmongering, at least isn't pro-torture, unlike the current crop of Republicans.
Oddly enough, Obama won anyway.

And if you're expecting kids to all hate the Democratic party come 2020, after they've grown up a little, got a job, and started paying taxes, you're dreaming. Hell, most Sanders supporters right now don't want to pay what his proposed programs will cost.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[JDPriestly]

41. I am a Bernie supporter who really does not like Hillary.

I have worked very hard to elect Democrats in every election in which I possibly could.

A few of the Hillary supporters revel in using this kind of aggressively offensive language. There are many lifelong Democrats like me who strongly support Bernie.

I was born while FDR was still in office. I am, I repeat, a lifelong Democrat. Your post is quite insulting to me and other staunch, lifelong Democrats who support Bernie.

To borrow the words Hillary claims to have said to the bankers, "Stop it."

Thanks.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

48. So you can bash Hillary, but we can't point out hypocrisies...

...and calumniates of your side.

Got it.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[gregcrawford]

21. Just shut up.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Wow #FeelTheMeltdown

Have any posting here ever caucused before?

This is my second time. First was in 2004. Didn't in 2008 or 2012 because I knew for certain a Democrat was going to be elected.

Don't think I've seen this much vitriol before in the 13 years I've been a member of DU.

[2naSalit]

22. +1!

[hoosierspud]

23. I'm an alternate delegate in Eastern WA for Bernie.

We were told to report in case pledged delegates don't show. I got an email today from the Sanders campaign and it looks like they're well-organized and ready for anything improper.

[dchill]

26. Protect the lackluster!

Reinforce the unenthusiastic!

!

[rhett o rick]

27. What are you talking about tomorrow? The State convention isn't until June. nm

[Mike__M]

34. Legislative District caucuses are tomorrow

for those who have them separate from the County conventions. Most areas are having combined LD/County conventions on May 1st.

[eridani]

28. Please! That rule will benefit the candidate whose delegates are most likely to SHOW UP!!

Now who do you suppose that will be?

[Blue Meany]

33. This seems like a reasonable rule to me, since it reflects the will of

the voters--at least as well as that can be determined from this mode of election.

I'm a Bernie supporter, but I want him to win fairly. That said, I have a long list of shenanigans that disadvantaged Bernie supporters which, I have culled from local newspapers around the country, some of them quite reminiscent of GOP-style dirty tricks. With the exception of long lines, and the voter registration problems in Arizona, none of these have made the national press. But the fact is they occurred in almost every state outside the South, and there were a few reports of them there.

[montanacowboy]

35. My sister is an alternate For LD 32

And she will be attending - good to know this

[KPN]

36. How do you spell C O R R U P T???!!!!

This will ultimately bury the current D leadership.

[highprincipleswork]

39. We have a corrupt system in the Democratic Party. This has to change NOW!

[JDPriestly]

40. If you can, please report back on how many of her delegates don't show and how often this rule

is invoked. Thanks if you can do that.

[pengu]

44. I don't mind this rule change, it's fair

My problem is, why are the rules allowed to change mid process when they benefit Clinton? Sanders went into this with all the rules stacked against him and has lived with them. While this rule is perfectly fair, I don't believe the rules should be changed mid process unless all parties agree. THAT is not fair.

[INdemo]

47. How is it fair? Debie Wasserman

can now pick the precinct/s where her candidate was strongly favored and go with that.

[INdemo]

46. Yep...Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the Kathlen Harris

of the Democratic Party..and I will bet there are Democrats supporting Hillary that was made as hell in 2000 when Bush/Cheney/Rove cheated to win the election, Now however when its Hillary and Debbie Cheating to win in 2016 its ok.

She cheated in Iowa by not allowing a complete audit of all precincts even when 14 precinct revealed Bernie Sanders gained by the audit
She cheated in Nevada with the cluster fuck by allowing people to caucus that did not even register and left before their eligibility was confirmed.
She Cheated in Mass. especially with Bill blocking the polling site and campaigning within 50 feet of the entrance.
...Then the facts about the delegate misalignment and the super delegates is another one of Debbie's scams.
Super Delegates at this point in previous elections didn't mean diddly squat until the convention. Now a candidate can win by a landslide in a particular state but Super Delegates go with their choice,because or previously agreed upon choice with the DNC..
Thats also Bull Shit

Hillary Clinton thought it was going to be a cake walk to win her crown but other real Democrats think different



Thanks for your post that is very interesting.

[Matt_R]

52. +1 the fix is in.

[onecaliberal]

51. Th certainly are working hard to elect trump or cruz

[felix_numinous]

53. The DNC is trying to sway the election

which should be illegal hands down, even Hillary supporters should not tolerate this, no American should. People on the left have been too nice and this is not a time to be polite, it is a time to call them out.

[cui bono]

54. Changing rules in the middle... I see... mmkay...

FUCK THE ESTABLISHMENT!

The DNC is going to break the party and then they and all their fake Dems will blame it on Bernie.

.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

55. Just returned from my Legislative District Caucus

Do you know the rule helped Sanders supporters too? Basically it's there to maintain proportional representation.

Yes it seems weird to have someone else step from another precinct and I was skeptical about the rule at first. It's the next level where it makes sense. We were spit up by congressional district then by which candidate we supported.

Delegates for the Congressional District caucus were picked. In mine Sanders received 19 delegates and Hillary 6.

There was an attempt to overturn the rule by vote of the delegates which to my surprise was unsuccessful.

[pugetres]

56. Just returned a while ago from my own LD caucus.

There were enough alternates to cover Sanders MIA delegates using alternates from the "pool". Clinton ended up having three unfilled delegate positions but I don't think that affected anything in the math.

I've never been to an LD caucus before and I don't know if they are always so poorly run. The chairs told people they could go home during a break period if they were not interested in running for a delegate role in the next leg. A lot of people left and then the chairs realized they still needed more delegates from the alt pool. There weren't enough Clinton alternates there any longer and that is why she lost three.

There were many complaints about how unorganized and unready the event appeared to be.

My own personal complaint is from the precinct level caucuses. We (precinct voters) were getting started and had selected a captain who was in line to get the packets when a man showed up last minute and said that he was already the captain and had lots of experience since he has been to state twice. He then proceeded to tell us we were county delegates and we had to show up on May 1 at the county convention. He neglected to tell us that today's LD caucus was what we needed to show up for. I wouldn't have known about it except for the a phone call from a Sanders' volunteer a couple of weeks ago who let me know that many people were given absolutely incorrect information regarding the process.

The final tallies were 17 for Sanders, 5 for Clinton.

[liberal_at_heart]

57. We voted on this at my LD caucus. I have to wonder though if the results where

influenced by the fact that the Democratic Party leaders were threatening to take all of our delegates away if we voted to overturn it. This is one of many reasons I am an Independent. This has been one of the most undemocratic elections I have ever participated in.

[eridani]

58. This came from the state party and not the DNC

Their reasoning is very simple--they don't want to send alternates home if they can be persuaded to hang around for the membership and fundraising pitches.

In the 34th LD, the delegate ratio was exactly the same as for the precinct caucuses--70% to 30% in favor of Sanders. We elected 27 Sanders delegates and 11 Clinton delegates to go to the 7th Congressional District caucus. The biggest snag by far was that the number wanting to run for national delegate was far larger than we expected, and we didn't have enough laptops on hand to get them all registered in a reasonable amount of time. Nearly 200 people competed for the 27 Sanders opeinings.

A newbie Sanders delegate challenged the LD chair to be permanent chair of the caucus--unbelievably stupid, as the chair has ZERO influence over the delegate allocation. An hour and a half was wasted while the ballots were counted for that. (Jacob Simmons--if you are a DU member, you are an ASSHOLE!!) Of course part of that was the chair's fault, as she refused to make delegate contact info available to the Sanders campaign. The more experienced attendees might have gotten some education done for newbies which would have prevented this delay.