Reporting from Maryland… (And a Caucus Date Change?)
(Cross Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)
Sherry and I flew in to Baltimore this afternoon / evening, on our way to the Spring meeting of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) in Annapolis beginning tomorrow (Pat will be arriving tomorrow afternoon).
We’ll be here through Wednesday, and there is a lot on tap. We’re going to engage in discussions and training on a lot of topics important to running state parties, as well as having a chance to talk with Governor Dean tomorrow night, and enjoy some hospitality from our Maryland Democratic Party hosts. We’ll hear some of the preliminary plans from the DNCC side for the national convention (including our hotel lottery tomorrow), and discuss the complicated process of delegate selection. There are some vacancies in the administration of the ASDC and other organizations that need filling (I’m running for one of those spots - more about that tomorrow), and we’ll hold elections to fill those vacancies.
There are a lot of new chairs and vice chairs (as well as new executive directors), and they’ll be here to get a primer on their jobs from more veteran folks. I’ve already met one of our new Chairs, the Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party — Dr. John Millin. Dr. Millin has previously served as the Party Secretary and Treasurer, so he’s got a lot of experience with the State Party. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Dr. Millin on the flight out here from Denver (he lives in Cheyenne, so his drive to DIA was actually shorter than mine). He’s a quiet fellow, but he certainly seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and I’m confident our neighbors to the north will be well-served by his term.
I’ll write more as the week progresses, although I don’t know what kind of Internet access they have at the hotel where we’ll be tomorrow. I’ll also take some photos and be sure to post them when I get the chance.
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On another front, although there was some confusion about this, it appears that one of the last-minute acts of the Legislature was to pass a bill that could change our caucus date to the first date available to Colorado under DNC rules — February 5. There was a flurry of last-minute activity, with the Senate passing the bill Friday on third reading, with amendments, only to have the House reject the amendments (the Senate amendment would have made the change mandatory in Presidential years; the House version left it up to state parties). In the end, the House version was adopted.
Assuming the Governor signs the bill, it will now be up to each of the two parties to determine whether to keep the March caucus date or to adopt the February 5 date. In our discussions with county chairs, the vast majority support changing the date to February 5, and the State Party staff and officers have been working to push this bill through the Legislature. Accordingly, it is expected that Pat will likely call a State Central Committee meeting in the next few months to adopt the date change to February.
I’ve already spoken with a couple of Presidential campaigns about the change — the potential for Colorado Democrats to vote on February 5 is sparking national interest, and we’re going to continue to get attention from national campaigns if we adopt the change. So, keep this issue on your radar screens, and watch for the State Party to announce a meeting to discuss the possible change.