So, yesterday was the big day and the snow held off, making it easy to get to Manchester to pick the Dodd-dedicated delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Presumably, the same was true of Concord, where the second District contingent met.
The caucuses were all scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM under the supervision of representatives of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and, after the moderator read all the applicable rules and regulations, the delegate applicants who'd submitted their paper work by December 5, proceeded to introduce themselves and explain their support for Chris Dodd in two minute speeches. I don't know how other campaigns, which had as many as fifty applicants handled this part, but our speeches went on just long enough. And a couple were definitely video worthy.
A couple of students from Harvard had come as part of the CampusVoices project to interview participants and capture some moments on video. I'm hoping that Mrs. McKinney's heartfelt explanation of how she came from faith to active participation will be available soon.
In the end, the delegates with the most votes (4 men and 3 women was our assigned total) were also the most representative, covering the First District, north, south, east and west. Machester, where the bulk of the District's population lives, came away with four delegates (1 woman and 3 men). But, the highest number of votes went to Mark Mitchell from Barrington. So, if Dodd breaks the 15% barrier, Mark's sure to be on his way to Denver.
I should note that three of the delegate candidates in our caucus are members of our DFALink group and, along with the majority of the candidates, first-time participants in this process.
Jim Craig, former minority leaders in the New Hampshire House stopped by, but I'm not sure he was in time to fill out a ballot applicat! ion and participate in the vote. Once the paper ballots were tallied and the delegates announced, our NHDP operative packed everything up and departed with the ballot boxes under his arm. Pen, paper and a couple of card-board boxes--nothing more is required to conduct a vote. Well, other than candidates willing to put themselves out on behalf of their fellow citizens. Whether or not they were selected this time around, they deserve our thanks. They are what makes democracy work.
