We had a very good — and productive — day today in our first day here in Annapolis. This afternoon was dominated by the business meeting of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC), and that meeting was dominated by … Denver.

There was a lot of issues besides the Democratic Convention under discussion here, but the most exciting part of the meeting was about Denver. Before I get to that, let me briefly recap some of the other issues we discussed. The day began with officers’ reports and committee reports. The ASDC has three active committees currently working on projects for the state parties: campaign finance, election reform, and redistricting (I serve on the redistricting committee). Each of the committees has been working hard to ensure that state Democratic parties have a good voice in the future of each of those issues.

We also heard a presentation on technology from the DNC’s Technology Director, Ben Self. He quickly outlined the areas that State Chairs and Vice Chairs should be focusing on when it comes to technology. We had an extensive discussion, some of it in executive session, about the voter file and the many advancements we’ve been able to make over the past few years to the program.

But the excitement of the day was the presentation by Leah Daughtry, who leads the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC). I preceded Leah by giving a very brief welcome to the state party leaders on behalf of Colorado. Leah then gave a wonderful presentation meant to introduce the states to Denver, and to primarily explain the housing selection process.

The state parties were understandably very focused on the housing process, and how hotels would be assigned to each delegation. It is a very complicated process, with many variables. Fitting states into hotels at a national convention is like a multi-dimensional puzzle, with the need to match the number of rooms available with as many delegations as possible, while taking into account what hotels each delegation wants. Some may want a lower-cost hotel, even if it means further distance from the Pepsi Center; others may want to sacrifice price for location and amenities. Every state is different. (Note that while Pat, Sherry, and I have briefly discussed this on a few occasions, we’re a long ways away from deciding what we want for Colorado’s delegation.)

One of the big variables in the process is a state’s “priority”. The states are randomly placed into numerical priorities, from 1 to 56 (there are 56 delegations, as the DNC treats the territories, DC, and Democrats Abroad as separate state delegations). Today was the day we each learned our priority — the housing lottery was held this afternoon. In keeping with the “Western” theme, a different number was placed in each of 56 cowboy hats, which were then randomly placed on a pair of tables. One by one, each state went to the front to “pick a hat,” and thus learned their number in the lottery.

Pat had not arrived from Denver yet (she didn’t leave until today due to her attendance at the Mesa County dinner in Grand Junction last night), so Sherry and I went up to pick for Colorado. Because we’re the Host State, the DNCC invited us to be the first state to pick. Alas, our “first in the nation” status didn’t help greatly, as our lottery priority is right in the middle at 24. Then, each state went, in reverse alphabetical order, after Colorado.

24 isn’t horrible. But it isn’t Utah. Utah Chair Wayne Holland and his crew went to the front and pulled out hat number 1. Since Utahns are expecting to have some stiff competition to attend the Convention next door, this is quite a coup for the Beehive State Dems. The jubilant Utah Democaratic leaders were soon getting offers (semi-serious) from the Hawaii Chair to exchange all sorts of things, including trips to Hawaii for State Party leaders, in exchange for Utah’s Number 1 status (Hawaii picked number 30).

But when you consider where Alaska got stuck — having to pick between the two hats left, and picking the one containing the number 56 — Hawaii’s position doesn’t look too bad. Thankfully for Alaska, they have a relatively small delegation, so they should have some flexibility in terms of finding a place to stay.

In reality, the lottery position is only one of many variables that will be used in determining housing placements. But its definitely the most fun variable! After the meeting, the chairs got together and took a picture with everybody wearing their own cowboy hats. I didn’t have my camera, but I will see if I can pull it off of the DNC website once its up and share it with you.

According to the DNCC plans, there are still a lot of steps before we find out who gets what lodging. State Party leaders will be trekking through Denver individually to tour and inspect hotels during June, July and August. Then, in September, they will be submitting their preferences to the DNCC, who should have some assignments ready for the state parties by November. In any event, if you’re in a Denver hotel this summer, be sure to be as welcoming as possible — the folks on the elevator could be state party chairs or executive directors on their tour of the Mile High City!

Finally, after the excitement of the lottery, we split into our regions to fill a couple of vacancies. Each region has two members on the Executive Committee of the ASDC, which handles the job of representing the state parties between these bi-annual ASDC meetings. One is designated for a State Chair; the other is designated for a State Vice Chair. I was selected today by the Chairs and Vice Chairs in the West to serve as the Vice-Chair representative to the ASDC Executive Committee. It wasn’t a flashy election. The Arizona Chair nominated me. The Alaska Chair, who was running the meeting, asked a few times if there were any other nominations. Nobody else stepped to the plate. So I’m it.

I’m hopeful I can continue to represent Western Democrats well in this new additional position. There remains much work to be done within the DNC to advocate for electoral attention to the West. I’m proud that I can represent Colorado in this way, but I’ll continue to work hard as your First Vice Chair at home, as well.

Tonight, we have a Welcome Reception hosted by the Maryland Democratic Party at a restaurant along the Annapolis docks (of the Chesapeake Bay). Should be fun. I’ll write more later.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2007 at 3:41 pm and is filed under CDP, National Convention, DNC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.