3 Heros of Convention Weekend

So, this past weekend was a busy one for me, between the Democratic State Convention and events at EnergySolutions Arena, so I had zero time to post.

However, I wanted to highlight a few heroes of this weekend.

1. The Utah Democratic Party Staff and especially volunteers for putting together a great convention. I was amazed at the number of people who came up to me and said that they hadn't signed up to volunteer that shift (if at all), but they wanted to help.

2. Christine Johnson. Representative Johnson's speech was easily my favorite of the weekend. (disclosure: Because of responsibilities elsewhere in the Salt Palace, I didn't catch any speeches on Saturday.) She stood up and talked about how there were many people running who had given much time to progressive causes on the grassroots level. She then said that because she had other opportunities to run for delegate this weekend, she was dropping out and endorsing those who have worked tirelessly for progressive causes. I was glad she got a PLEO delegate spot.

3. Misty Fowler. Misty showed what many of us should learn: Losing with purpose. From her blog:

I think the real reason I didn’t win was because I was too busy doing more grassroots organizing for Obama, and didn’t spend enough time campaigning for myself. Saturday at 2 PM was the kickoff for Vote for Change, and there was a ton of prep work, on top of recruiting people to come find out more. When the state delegates were in line to vote, I didn’t go around asking for their vote. Instead, I went around with copies of Vote for Change flyers and asked everyone if they were coming. And honestly, that was more important than a personal honor of going to the DNC.

Here’s the thing, though. I believe that every one of the people elected as Delegates should feel personal responsibility to the campaign. And I believe that they should help with the grassroots efforts, such as Vote for Change. So, I plan to contact each of them, individually, to ask for their support. If they cannot help with Vote for Change, I hope they’ll offer alternative support of some sort - and not just a past example. And I’m going to post here to show the status of this effort.