Jun
26
Written by:
Andy Hogue
6/26/2010 11:31 AM
CORPUS CHRISTI -- Members of the rules committee of the Texas Democratic Party convention took a short break this morning so that delegates may vote in the chairman's race.
At the time of writing, it doesn't appear that anti-Texas Two-Step forces had enough steam on the committee to affect a change to the method of nominating a presidential candidate. The Two-Step -- the nickname for a system by which 65 percent of delegates are selected by primary voters and 35 percent by after-election caucuses -- created problems for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supporters last year.
Texas, which was still a player on the national presidential election scene by March (many states moved up their primary dates to gain prominence), featured a neck and neck race between Clinton and Obama. Understandably, each primary voter wanted his/her vote heard, as delegates nominate the state party's choice for presidential candidate from the floor. This meant long lines at otherwise sleepy precinct convention sites of Obama and Clinton devotees and "an overwhelming of the system" in the words of Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), a rules committee member.
The committee voted to retain a rule that allows 30 percent of the delegation to introduce a rules amendment from the floor. With that, and judging by a petition being circulated at the American Bank Center (the site of the convention), a floor battle on the Two-Step is likely.
We'll keep our readers posted.
UPDATES:
(2:25 p.m.) A minority report from rules committee suggests making caucus delegate selection proportional to primary votes, but without dispensing with Two-Step. Floor fight on the minority report commences -- most arguments against the minority report state that the existing Two-Step method protects (racial) minority representation in the presidential candidate nomination process.
(3:06 p.m.) Voting, by senatorial district, has commenced. See next blog post for outcome.