Becoming a Delegate

Since Denver, I have had occasional questions about the process by which one becomes a delegate to a national party convention. Obviously the next opportunity won't be here until 2012, but there are things you can do in the meanwhile to put yourself in a good position to be elected. What I mention below applies to Massachusetts; rules may differ in other states.

If you aren't already, register as a Democrat. That's a basic requirement, and the only one, really, to become a national delegate. In Massachusetts, you can change your party affiliation at any time at your town or city clerk's office, or (if you're unenrolled in a party or "independent") after any election -- just ask at the polling place when you go to vote.

Join your city or town's Democratic committee. If you live in Massachusetts you can look up the leadership of your town committee here. Each town committee, by charter, should have several meetings each year -- some meet monthly -- as well as holding other activities that bring Democrats together -- speakers' nights, community events, fund-raisers for local candidates. In Massachusetts, town committee members are actually elected to their posts on the primary election ballot during presidential years (the one just held in September). But in the interim, most towns have an open-door policy and welcome new members at any time. It's usually not competitive for those who want to join -- most committees will welcome you with open arms!

Attend your city or town's February caucus. In Massachusetts in early February each year, town committees hold caucuses to elect delegates to the annual state Democratic convention. Ask the chair of the committee when yours will be held in 2009 -- s/he should know the exact schedule after Jan. 1. You need only to be a registered Democrat (not a member of the town committee) to attend the caucus

At the caucus, run for delegate to the state convention. In most towns, this is a fairly casual event, but unlike other committee meetings there are rules, nominations, and a voting procedure. This is a good "dry run" and a less informal way of learning the convention-nominating process. Again, you need only be a registered Democrat (not a town committee member) to run and be elected a state convention delegate.

Attend the state convention, whether or not you are a delegate. They're usually held on a weekend in late May or early June -- usually it's just a one-day commitment (Saturday), but there are parties and activities to attend on Friday night if you want to make a weekend of it. In odd-numbered years, the agenda is mostly policy issues and party rules, but there will be interesting speakers as well.

In even-numbered (election) years, the state convention ratifies a party platform as well as, importantly, candidates running for statewide office. In addition to filing papers with signatures of registered voters, candidates for positions like US senator or governor must be ratified by vote of at least 15% of the delegates at the state convention in order to be put on the primary-election ballot. In 2010, there'll be a governor's race, and with Gov. Deval Patrick planning to run for re-election, it should very interesting. In hotly contested races, the campaigns for various candidates will try to elect "slates" of delegates committed support their man or woman. I was a Patrick delegate to the 2006 state convention, which was one of the most interesting political experiences of my life. I also got involved in the Patrick campaign (I was town coordinator), and I credit that experience with making me a believer in the democratic (small-d) process and getting me involved in Democratic (capital-D) politics.

If you understand how caucuses in Massachusetts select delegates to the state convention, you've already got a good grounding in how to run for national delegate.

Naturally, the national-delegate election process is more competitive but will be easier if you're on the radar screen of the Democratic organization in your area. Like the state-level process, it takes place at a caucus. The schedule of delegate-selection caucuses is determined by the national party and the state party in consultation with the presidential candidates' campaigns.

This year, I made the decision to run as a national delegate in March. I signed and filed a simple one-page application with the state Democratic committee declaring my intention to run. I have to say that it helped that I was a name familiar in some local Democratic circles. It also gave heft to my candidacy that I had worked on the Obama campaign in my area during the run-up to the Massachusetts primary. (Which see all the good reasons to become involved locally now.)

The caucuses were held in April: the one that elected me also elected a male delegate, Mike Wheeler of Gloucester, both of us pledged to Senator Obama. Caucuses are held in each Congressional District (there are ten in Massachusetts), one for each Presidential candidate who receives a plurality of the vote in the primary (this year, both Clinton and Obama). So, all told, there were twenty caucuses this spring, all taking place in different locations around the state on Saturday, April 5.

All caucuses are held at the same time precisely so that voters attending them must make a choice: in the 6th Congressional District (which is mostly Essex County, our Congressman is John Tierney), the Clinton caucus was held in Saugus on April 5, and the Obama caucus was held in Topsfield at the same time. Only Democrats registered in your Congressional District can attend and vote at the caucuses. As a delegate-candidate, the name of the game is getting as many of them there as you can muster: family, friends, neighbors and relatives all can attend the caucus on your behalf and vote for you. (That's called "getting out the vote," or GOTV. I learned the best techniques to do that by working on the Patrick campaign in 2006. You see the benefits of political involvement early?) GOTV is really a matter of making lots of phone calls. writing notes and sending emails -- using any method you can to ask people to attend the caucus and vote for you. Your town committee can become a nexus of this support. It's good to ask for help from others who are running as delegates too. This process is actually a lot of fun (in my view, anyway).

Once you've declared to run, you'd be surprised how willing other Democrats will be to help you get elected. Put me in that boat: going to Denver was such a fantastic experience that I've made a commitment to help other first-timers go to the next DNC, in 2012. The state party is a resource, too: they post useful information on their web site, including forms and deadlines. The state party also held a training meeting in March for people intending to run for delegate. It was a good way to get basic questions answered and meet other serious contenders for delegate seats.