Lessons From the Democratic Battle of Nevada: In the Campaign Home Stretch, Organize, Don't Agitate

Before this second vote, two people wearing “Team Bernie” shirts addressed the delegates in our section. They told us to watch a woman wearing green and red arm bands for an indication of how to vote. If these organizers wanted us to vote “yes”, she’d raise the green arm; “no,” she’d raise the red. No information was provided at that time about who these organizers were, but it was easy to assume they were affiliated with the official Sanders campaign, especially considering that they claimed to give us “the most beneficial response to each vote” according to a flier they had placed on the seats of Sanders’ delegates. In fact, this was a grass-roots group from Clark County called Clark County NV for Bernie. These volunteers had circulated petitions to amend the rules of the convention. Their flier said it was “imperative” for us to vote “no” on these rules and that their strategy had been developed by “key, experienced individuals” including “activist legal professionals, campaign professionals and experienced convention veterans.” I tried to contact the only legal professional listed prominently on this flier, but have received no response by publication time. The nine petitions in circulation took issue with the authority granted to the chairwoman, which they perceived as draconian. I signed some of the petitions and declined to sign others. When Chairwoman Lange moved to adopt the temporary rules, the Bernie delegation shouted “no” before the motion was seconded. Bernie delegates marched in the aisles and surrounded the stage. Here, Lange did initially follow procedure when she allowed three arguments for and three arguments against adopting this document. Neither group gave a convincing pitch. Clinton delegates all echoed some variant of the sentiment that without rules, society devolves into chaos. None of the Bernie organizers made a concrete case, either. Instead of outlining precisely how the rules allegedly disadvantaged Sanders, we heard arguments against a separate document and appointees to the Electoral College. There seemed to be no strategy from the organizers to articulate a case on the floor. I was and remain surprised, embarrassed, and flabbergasted. This period of discussion was also the moment when “Team Bernie” organizers had an opportunity to present their petitions to amend convention rules. I’d added my signature to many but not all of these. If one of their representatives had approached the microphone and introduced the petitions, we would have had the opportunity to discuss them. Under convention rules, we also would have had the opportunity to vote on them as a body. The organizers had more than enough signatures to be heard on the floor, provided they were presented at the appropriate time. The group’s speaker was overtaken by other delegates, however, and was unable to reach the mic before three other people used up the allotted positions. She literally had to try to elbow her way through the crush of delegate-protesters she helped create. Not only was this group taken off guard when the time came to make their case, but their purpose fell prey to obstruction by the throng they themselves had rallied. When Lange again put the motion to a voice vote there was another thunderous “no!” from the Bernie delegates. In clear defiance of the rules she had just approved, Lange declared the motion passed. In response, Sanders’ delegates chanted “No means no!” and “Feel the Bern!” and surrounded the stage, but their behavior remained nonviolent. Some hurled off-color insults at Lange and the party officials, but it stopped there. Absolutely no acts of violence or destruction of property were committed. You may have watched videos of California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Nina Turner addressing the convention on behalf of the two candidates. Both went viral. Boxer, who represented Hillary Clinton, antagonized the delegation as boos of protest drowned out her address. “Boo yourselves out of this election,” she said, clearly failing to demonstrate leadership or even the civility she called for. In contrast, Nina Turner, who spoke for Bernie Sanders, was the first to take the stage and effectively diffuse the heat of the convention. She spoke movingly of Bernie’s “heart-soul agreement,” but more importantly, she brought attention back to the issues facing Americans. Imploring us to “remain calm, but remain committed,” she embodied the spirit of the movement Bernie has inspired and mobilized. At this point most delegates returned to their seats. With the exception of the announcement of the delegate totals (which was way behind schedule), the next several hours were relatively uneventful. There were speeches from candidates running for positions within the state party, the state Legislature and U.S. congressional seats, and we broke into county groups to hold elections for positions within the party. The final delegate totals were announced at 6 p.m., and they were deeply disappointing. According to the count, Clinton had 1,695 delegates present and Sanders had 1,662. We came up 462 short of the 2,124 we had earned at the county convention. Although we stood to pick up as many as eight additional national delegates for Bernie when we went into the convention, we lost the advantage we scored with our high turnouts in April. Clinton ended up with seven more national delegates, while Sanders only got five. That’s crushing at this point in the primary process, when we know every delegate counts. I’ll come back to these numbers a little later. The next significant event on the floor occurred at 6:08 p.m. Leslie Sexton (a member of the credentials committee, which is responsible for registering delegates) took the mic to say she had a “minority report” about the delegate counts from her committee, but was told she wasn’t allowed to deliver it. Immediately afterward, Democratic National Committee (DNC) member Andres Ramirez, a Clinton supporter, ceded his time to Sexton so she could share the contents of the report. Video of this speech circulated widely. Sexton contended that 64 Sanders delegates were refused their credentials and deprived of an opportunity to appeal to the committee or demonstrate that they were registered Democrats. On this ground, members of the credentials committee challenged the delegate totals. Ramirez pledged to present this report to the DNC. Though the current count had Sanders losing to Clinton by 33, the minority report seemed to assert that Sanders should have won by 31. Your support matters…

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