My experience as a Democratic delegate in Alaska , 2016

I skipped a lot of the dinners and I skipped the keynote speaker, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee or whatever it is.  I didn’t feel the need to invest an extra $150 to $200 for these festivities; I would not have been able to participate in most of Friday’s activities anyway.  What seemed the “meat” of the matter was making sure the delegate vote for the district I represented (32, Kodiak, AK) got counted correctly.  That is to say, that Mr. Sanders got the representative votes as mandated by the district.  As it turned out there was a Bernie rally later that evening at 6:30 that I should have gone to instead of visiting a friend; and I still could have gone after that visit, but I went back to the valley.   It had already been a long and emotional day.  And my Anchorage friend is another story entirely…

The Wells Fargo Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Alaska hosted the event.  For me this was a homecoming of sorts.  I had not been on campus for any real length of time since I graduated in 2011.  As an undergraduate I spent much time passing through here on the way to somewhere else.  Never really saw a hockey game with the Seawolves, or a basketball game even though the women’s basketball team has always been great.  I used the gym a few times and had a Tai Chi class one semester which was held in here somewhere.  And of course the bookstore and student union were in this complex so I was often in this building.  This part of the UAA campus is connected by a skyway and walkway that extends from this complex all the way to the other side of the campus, ending at the library.  It’s a nice walk; good exercise.  Our convention was in the lady Seawolves den next to the hockey rink.  You can catch Seawolf hockey on local access cable.

I thought I got there arly, at 9AM, but it was already packed.  Parking was no problem and was free.  I found the registration table for “Fan Out” only delegates and my name card and holder were there.  I was preregistered.  There was a one hundred dollar a ticket raffle next to the registration table that gave you a chance to win $10K, the proceeds going to the Alaska Democratic Party I believe.  There were bathrooms close by and a coffee stand with snacks.  Box lunches were provided.  Just down the way there were tables set up for Democratic candidates for various races:  Strock for US Senate; Lindeman for US House; Sanders and Clinton for president, of course.  And you could pick up your hand held posters for each candidate so you could wave it around in the delegate area when you felt inspired.  Generally everyone there was a likeminded Democrat and as it turned out 82% were delegates for Mr. Sanders.  And there were party “leaders”:  chairperson of the Alaska Democratic party; Alaska Democratic this or that.  These were also known as “superdelegates.”  Superdelegates are Democratic leaders in the state who, according to the one I spoke with, don’t have to vote according to the whim of the various districts.  So if Bernie won Kodiak by 70& the superdelegate could still cast his or her vote for Hillary.  I spoke with three different superdelegates before it was all over.  Alaska has twenty “pledged” delegates that must go with the will of the caucuses; I don’t know how many supers Alaska has.  Really I just stumbled upon the superdelegates:  they were identified by their name cards and it occurred to me I needed to learn more about how they were voting and why some of them were pledged to Clinton since before the race even started.

Superdelegate number one had a silver and brown ponytail and beard, looked like he was Hawaiian to me.  Typical Alaskan no doubt.  He informed me that he had been on record many times in the media that he would cast his vote for Bernie.  Hooray!  One for our side!  He was relaxed and confident in his choice; he answered my questions patiently and forthrightly.

Somewhere in there mayor what’s his name of Anchorage made a speech in which he actually said the progressive agenda needed to embrace rugged individualism again because the budget was broke.  Alaskans like talk of individualism since there is much hunting and fishing up here.  Alaskans like to tell themselves they want the government to leave them alone.  Alaska is a red state.  Yet Alaskans like getting the Permanent Fund Dividend, the oil stipend from oil revenues earning interest in a permanent fund for the people of Alaska.  And of course we were sitting in a State funded University which had just cut jobs and raised its prices due to the budgetary problems of the state.  On the outside you would not think the university had any problems, incidentally, from the Wells Fargo Sorts Complex, the Conoco-Phillips building somewhere on campus, the First National Bank wing, the Weidner Properties auditorium.    Even as an undergraduate UAA was known (notorious) for building new buildings and not knowing how to fund them in the long run.  Corporate sponsors would lay out initial funds for the right to attach their names to them and the legislature would match them and have to provide long term funding, which was short sighted of course.  We’re talking huge buildings with state of the art audio-visual classrooms and big electric bills, as well as professors to staff them.  Well, not anymore.  The professors were the first to be cut…Anyway, Alaskans like to tell themselves they are rugged individuals on the last frontier, so Mayor Berkowitz’s remarks were designed to cut both ways in the Democratic crowd.  Of course in 2016 and since the first Clinton presidency of the 1990’s, democratic is conducive to “neo-liberal” which actually means “conservative.”  Hearing talk of conservative values mixed more and ore with progressive lip service is fairly common in the party now, and is really personified in candidate Clinton.  

Speeches by the candidates for Senate and House; speeches by party officials, one of whom sounded like Robert Kennedy.  He had a ponytail too, wore a suit. And as it turned out, was a superdelegate.  I met him when I was getting coffee after the speeches.  I asked if anyone ever told him he sounded like Robert Kennedy to which he responded in the negative.  Conservative shoes:  these are generally oxford style shoes with no frills.  Brown or black.  Not with pointy toes or flat ends; just a basic shoe, well-worn and functional.  A colleague of mine wears conservative shoes in his sports jackets and ties.  They don’t call attention to themselves.  Like a shoe a teacher would wear or someone who did a lot of standing and walking, but had to wear sport coat and ties a lot.  Flat.  I like a good, functional shoe that lasts a long time.  I like Doc Martin’s because they last a long time and are comfortable.  My conservatively shoed Democratic Party leader and superdelegate had comfortable, functional shoes.  Later while he was conducting some party business at the podium I had a chance to ask him where he stood on his superdelegate vote.  He said he was still undecided.  My standard line was “Please consider what you see here.  If 80% of the state casts its votes for Bernie I think it is reasonable to ask superdelegates to follow suit and give 80% of their votes to Bernie.”  I didn’t press him too much because Bobby Kennedy is a hero of mine.  At the behest of one someone sitting next to me I did ask him to mention that there were recycling receptacles at various places in the complex so us progressive democrats could put their plastic Coca Cola bottles in them.  This bothered the person sitting next to me a lot:  that us liberals didn’t emphasize recycling at these events.  A good point.  Bobby Kennedy made the announcement in all of his undeclared glory.

A third superdelegate told me "Sanders can't win" which is why she would not cast her vote to reflect the will of the Alaskan people.   Again, according to the outcome of our caucus, 82% of Alaskan registered democrats favored Sanders as democratic nominee. With her adamant “no to Bernie”, and the undeclared one and the Bernie one the Alaska superdelegates were anywhere from 33% to 66% for Bernie.  This superdelegate was very sure with the surety of someone who is angry at having to defend herself, and the righteousness of not needing to know anything more than she already felt.   She was adamant:   "I want to see a woman president in my lifetime" and "I don't have to follow what the Alaskan people want; I am a national delegate" and "Sanders has no experience;" and “Sander’s has experience but he has only sponsored three pieces of legislation in his lifetime!” 

I surmise many super delegates use the same lines. Talk to one and find out. I did. Bernie is a Democrat too, I don’t get it.  My adamant superdelegate informant told me he hadn’t been a Democrat long enough and was really an Independent.  It’s very sad to me that many in the "party" refuse to support one of their own or embrace the independents, who bring the promise of revitalization to the party.   Apparently superdelegates are in place to make sure no new candidates can gain widespread party support.  

"Sanders can't win" is why many of them pledged their support to Hillary before Sanders was a known candidate. "Sanders has no experience" is the national mantra of superdelegates and Democratic Party insiders who, after Sanders’ thirty five years as a mayor of a major city, member of the House of Representatives and US Senate say he knows nothing of how government works. Or is it closer to the truth to say "Only Hillary is allowed to be the democratic nominee in 2016 because we made a deal with her?" It’s possible that after Hillary dropped out of the race in 2008 against Obama (and subsequently got appointed Secretary of State by Obama after he won the presidency…) the Democratic powers that be pledge their support to her as part of an agreement:  “If you run in 2016 we will pledge all the superdelegates to you, which will give you an insurmountable lead even before the first primary, and virtually eliminate any other candidate.  You can’t lose in 2016!”  

From what I saw there are a lot of great democrats, delegates and super delegates in Alaska who either support the will of the people (82% for Bernie) or say they haven’t made up their minds yet, or are “all in” for Bernie, or who support Hillary for their own reasons.  There are Democrats who are embracing both youth and independent voters, are less concerned with backroom deals and more concerned with growing the party to reflect the will of the people and embrace the independents it used to want to represent. And there are people in the party who have clout and tenure and can’t be told something new.  They are righteous; and the will of the people is furthest from their minds.  Or they have compromised their progressive views to embrace conservative ideals that have never worked well for the many; only for the few.  I met some of both.  Mostly I met many wonderful and likeminded Dems who support Bernie, “the 82%”, and had a wonderful time!