On the Road to Philly

Dear readers,

For the next few weeks I will be writing about becoming a Bernie Sanders delegate and my trip to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia at the end of July. As you may know from my previous blog, I was chosen as an elected delegate in the election held locally on May 1st, but as the third woman in the line, which per Party rules, alternates between male and female candidates, I was out in the cold on Election Day when Bernie and Hillary were neck and neck in my Congressional District, California's CD 2, stretching from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. I even had a nice handout made up which explained why you should vote for me.

Me campaigning on May 1st

So then I applied for the other two delegate types, Party Leader and Elected Officials (or PLEO) and At-Large. When our State Executive Board met and the names of who had been chosen for those slots, my name was on that list either. I was hugely disappointed. My good friends, Mayme and Ruth, the first two women were going and I was not. I decided to just hang on to the money I had set aside for the Convention (not inconsiderable, since the hotels jack up the room rates more than three times the regular prices for these events), and plan a fun trip somewhere later.

Then this happened: Two days ago, I get an email from Party asking if I was registering at the Convention hotel. I replied, "I wish, but I am not a delegate, unless you know something I don't."  Well, guess what. She did. "Yes," came the reply back. You are on the list."

Still not believing this, I checked with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) liaison to our State Party and the answer was the same. "You are on the list." Later I found out that at least one person on the original list is no longer on it. Why I don't know. I still keep hoping it's not all a big mistake.

I have now registered at the Very Expensive Hotel (VEH) and purchased the Very Expensive Airplane Tickets (VEAT) and have signed up on every list-serve for Bernie delegates, and some for all Califonria delegates. In the end, we are all Democrats and committed to beating He-Who_Shall_Not-Be-Named (HWSNBN) in November. At least most of us are, and that's a story for another installment.

MWPAC members and speakers from NARAL and PP

For now, good news from the Supreme Court, which just struck down the odious Texas laws that had shuttered most abortion providers in the state because they did not meet some arbitrary and irrelevant standards set up to thwart a women's right to choose. An unexpected 5-3 decision. Three local delegates joined the Marin Women's Political Action Committee (MWPAC) last evening to celebrate.

We ate very unremarkable food, but the mood was hopeful, and gave us that warm united feeling.

Next time: What to eat on the road to Philly!

Me with one Hillary and one Bernie delegate