I Attended a Texas County Delegate Convention

March 30th, 2008
By PAUL SILVER


Democratic_county_convention_2008.jpg

I participated in one of the largest Texas County delegate conventions and I am mystified by media reports that the gatherings were contentious

No doubt there are examples of conflict and rude behavior but in no way did these exceptions define the overall tone and conduct of the gatherings.

Our Travis County gathering of 8,000 was important enough to attract dozens of speeches by local candidates, elected representatives and included Terry McAuliffe of the Clinton Campaign. State leaders of the Clinton and Obama campaigns participated in our convention. The credentials committees that deal with disputes resolved scores of issues . My particular precinct had 60 delegates: 45 for Obama and 15 for Clinton and we were as warm and accommodating to each other as I can imagine. I saw no fights or loud arguments. It was in fact as cooperative and tame a gathering of passionate adults one can imagine in spite of the jury rigged processes set up to deal with a delegation crowd at least ten times larger than any in recent memory.

I had the opportunity in recent years to be involved in some news worthy issues in my town of Austin. So I could compare what I knew was happening with what was being reported. It was depressing to see how lazy and uncreative the reporters and editors were about trying to convey the truth of the issues. Invariably they opted to over simplify complex issues.

It frustrates me that collaboration and cooperation is just not news worthy. This is why I increasingly tune out Main Stream Media that focuses on breaking news because it is addicted to accentuating the inflammatory and ignoring relevant distinctions.




This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am and is filed under Newsweek Blogitics, Democratic Party. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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