Politics
Entries related to things political.
My Interview with a HillaryBot
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 13:00Much of the political dialog around the Democratic Presidential candidates has devolved into senseless name-calling and mudslinging. It is the ObamaBots versus the HillaryHags. The responses are predictable and tedious.
The other day, I was talking with my good friend Yesterdays Tomorrow. He had recently picked up Dedric Mauriac’s Eliza Doolittle Chatbot. We talked about how the script could easily be changed and we were brainstorming possible applications. As I thought about it, it seemed that the canned responses of ObamaBots and HillaryHags could easily be replicated using a modified Eliza Doolittle Chatbot.
Yesterday took up the challenge and created HillaryBot. This afternoon, I had a brief opportunity to interview HillaryBot and it was frighteningly realistic and great fun. Here some of my interview:
Yesterdays Tomorrow: here's Hillary
HillaryBot: i was a virtual vice president, i was!
HillaryBot: Vote For Hillary
You: What about Iowa?
HillaryBot: turning point!
You: And New Hampshire?
HillaryBot: oh, that state doesn't matter
You: Does Florida matter?
HillaryBot: i mispoke.
You: You mean, like you did about Bosnia?
HillaryBot: i misspoke that into my speech.
You: When don't you mispeak?
HillaryBot: are such questions on your mind often?
You: Yes, actually, they are. How can we trust you on issues if you often misspeak?
HillaryBot: together, we can trust i on issues if i often misspeak
You: How's your fundraising?
HillaryBot: my fundraising is picking up.
You: What about the loan you had to make to your campaign?
HillaryBot: i'm pushing ahead!
You: So, you're optimistic about Pennsylvania?
HillaryBot: if barack obama cannot reverse his downward spiral with a big win in pennsylvania, he cannot possibly be competitive against john mccain in november.
You: And you think you're more competitive against John McCain?
HillaryBot: being more competitive against john mccain comes with my vast experience
You: And you are counting on Superdelegates recognizing this?
HillaryBot: being counting on superdelegates recognizing this comes with my vast experience
You: What doesn't come with your vast experience?
HillaryBot: i was a virtual vice president, i was!
You: How about health care? What happened in the 90s and why can we think you'lll do a better job this time?
HillaryBot: together, we can think youlll do a better job this time
Yesterdays Tomorrow giggles.
HillaryBot: i mispoke.
You: Okay... Enough of this... How is this affecting your family? How are Bill and Chelsea doing?
HillaryBot: i can control my husband.
You: Well, he's said a lot of things recently that people think are damaging your campaign. Any comments?
HillaryBot: my campaign's finances are healthy.
You: But what about your message?
HillaryBot: my message is bourne out in my significant record.
You: Good job, yesterday....
HillaryBot: vote for the condidate with experience
Yesterdays Tomorrow: bye
HillaryBot: see you soon!
Yesterdays Tomorrow: bye
HillaryBot: you said that already!
Yesterdays Tomorrow: bye, Hillary
HillaryBot: vote for the condidate with experience
Yesterdays Tomorrow: bye bye, Hillary
HillaryBot: bye! ...and don't forget to vote for hillary in 2008 (or 2012)!
Selecting Delegates
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 15:41This evening, the pledged district level delegates from Connecticut to the national convention will gather at State Central to select at large delegates. According the Connecticut Delegate Selection Plan, one unpledged add-on delegate will be selected this evening. There needs to be at least two names for the delegates to select from. These candidates need to have submitted their names by last Wednesday.
In addition, six Pledged Party Leader and Elected Official Delegates are to be selected. Candidates for these slots need to have been submitted by last Thursday and the campaigns had until Monday to select which candidates they approved, provided at least two names for each position is selected. There will also be 11 at-large delegates and 3 at-large alternates selected this evening. People wishing to be at-large delegates or alternates needed to have submitted their names by last Wednesday. The candidates have until 7 PM this evening to return a list of approved candidates, again with the requirement of having at least 2 candidates for every position.
Since last Friday, I’ve been trying to get a list of these candidates. Representatives of State Central, the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign have all said they would get back to me. At this point, it doesn’t look like they will get back to me until after the district level delegates select who becomes delegates. So much for an open process.
For the state conventions, I received an email that the Canterbury delegate selection meeting has been moved forward from 7:00 to 6:30 on April 1st at the Canterbury Town Hall. I also received an email that the Fairfield DTC will hold its special meeting to endorse delegates to State and Multi-Town Conventions at 7:30 on April 1st at the Osborn Hill School All Purpose Room.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Massachusetts, they will select delegates to the National Convention on April 5th. There is a little bit of a discussion about it on Blue Mass Group. Slowly list of possible delegates are starting to emerge. Kim Whittaker of Winchester is running for 7th CD female candidate for Obama delegate. Kate Donaghue is running for to be a Clinton Delegate in the 3rd CD. Their caucus will be at SAC Park, 438 Lake Street, Shrewsbury. Rep. Jamie Eldridge is running as an Obama delegate in the 5th CD. I’ve also heard of two slates for Obama delegates.
In the 1st CD, Ben Schwartz, Nancy Sternberg, andMolly O'Grady are running to become Obama delegates. That caucus will take place at Amherst College Gym, 266 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. In the 2nd CD, Tom Hidalgo and Lisa Baskins are running to be Obama delegates. That caucus will take place at Springfield Technical Community College One Armory Square Suite 1, Springfield, 01102.
One final note. I received an email from an old friend in Missouri who is running to be an Obama delegate in that state. They have a different process where delegates are selected at county meetings who then gather at district level meetings to select national delegates. Check out this diary about Bill’s efforts to become a delegate at the National Convention for Obama.
As I get more information about delegate selections both in Connecticut and beyond, I will be posting them.
Delegate Selection Week
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 09:44Last week, there was a bit of buzz online about the process in Connecticut that Democrats use to select delegates to the National Convention in Denver. This morning, I received an email about Massachusetts’ process for selecting delegates to the national convention. Their caucuses will be April 5th and sound pretty similar to what happens in Connecticut.
However, there are other conventions besides the National Convention. In Connecticut, there are nearly two hundred other conventions. There is a convention for each State Representative seat, each State Senate seat, each Congressional District, and the State Convention. Typically, these conventions don’t get as much attention as the National Convention, which is too bad, because they can be great fun and important events.
This year they may be even more interesting and exciting, due to the new campaign finance laws. The goal of these new laws is to make it easier for people to run, so hopefully there will be more candidates showing up at the conventions.
The State Legislative conventions work differently from the National Convention. For the National Convention, the primary determines how many delegates each candidate gets going into the National Convention. With the State Legislative conventions, the delegates get selected at special caucuses or meetings of Democratic Town Committees. The candidate that gets the most delegates at the convention becomes the nominee, but can be challenged in a primary afterwards.
The rules for the Connecticut Democratic Party, as I understand them, is that delegates to these other conventions need to be selected this week. I’ve been trying to find out when these delegate selection meetings will take place and what rules will be in effect. In Woodbridge, we will be having our meeting Thursday at 8 PM ‘at the center rm 16’. I am new to Woodbridge, but sent a message to the DTC Chair in town and he promptly got back to me with details.
Sophia on MyLeftNutmeg posted information about the Glastonbury Democratic Caucus, which will also take place on Thursday at Democratic Headquarters, 2341 Main Street, Glastonbury, CT.
I sent an email to as many members of State Central as I could find email addresses for, which was at least half of State Central. Brian Anderson forwarded my message on to Chris Pitts on the communications committee of the Canterbury DTC. Chris sent me details about their delegate selection process. They will be meeting 7pm on April 1st at the Canterbury Town Hall. Besides Brian, and my DTC chair, who is also on State Central, only one other member of State Central responded. She noted that their delegate selection would take place during their regularly scheduled DTC meeting, but she forgot to tell me when and where that meeting will be.
So, the amount of information available online about how to get involved in Democratic politics in Connecticut is slowly improving, but it is still significantly lacking. If you know of other delegate selection meetings, please leave a comment here or drop me a note at aldon dot hynes at orient dash lodge dot com. Let’s get people more involved.
Upcoming Events
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 12:36As the first quarter of 2008 comes to an end, and hopefully March goes out like a lamb, there are plenty of political events going on that bear highlighting.
On Tuesday, the Shoreline League of Democratic Women will sponsor an Author-Book Event featuring "Chasing Justice" by exonerated death row inmate Kerry Max Cook. It will take place at R.J. Julia Bookstore on 768 Boston Post Rd in Madison.
On Wednesday at 7 PM at State Central Headquarters on 179 Allyn Street in Hartford, Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will gather to elect PLEO delegates and at-large delegates. At the same time at 55 Oak Street in Hartford, volunteers will gather at Common Cause offices to put Citizens Election Program candidate campaign kits. In Stamford, the Himes campaign will hold Pub Quiz III will take place at the same time at Bradford’s at 83 Bedford St.
Thursday, there will be an Art Show at the Ridgefield Community Center, 316 Main Street in Ridgefield. The art of Suzan Waldinger will be displayed and politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties have been invited.
On Saturday, the Woodbury Dems will have their "Reds, Whites, and the Blues!" wine tasting and silent auction. It will take place at the Woodbury Senior/Community Center, on 265 Main Street in South Woodbury starting at 5:30. Also on Saturday, the Bethany Democratic Party will have its Spaghetti Supper where it will present this year’s Citizen of the Year Award to Art Slicer. The dinner starts at 6 PM at the Bethany Town Hall.
Sunday, at 2 PM, there will be a Health Forum sponsored by the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition at The Unitarian Church in Westport at 10 Lyons Plains Road.
Then, to end off the month, on Monday, the 31st the Connecticut Delegation to the Democratic National Convention will meet to elect a chair, pages, and members of the standing committees, Credentials, Platform and Rules.
Additional CT Democratic Delegation Details
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 10:25Slowly, more and more details are emerging about the Connecticut Democratic Delegation. From the First Congressional District, I receive an email from Becca Crosswaith. Becca wrote,
As a 19 year old sophomore in college, running for Pledged Delegate for Barack Obama I wasn't necessarily optimistic running against Val and Sophia, but wouldn't you know, after the recommended slate, each round I received more votes than any other candidate!!! At least in the first district, it seems like people truly are ready to let the youth voice be heard :)
From the Second Congressional District, I received details of the votes. In the first round, Robert Madore, the candidate endorsed by the Obama campaign received 50 votes. Jordan Jacobs came in a close second with 41 votes. Nick Soutter, Mark Donovan, and Stephen Wilmarth also received votes. In the round for the female delegate, Vivien Blackford received 73 votes to the 52 votes for Holly Soutter. In the final round for the second male delegate, Nick Paindiris received 52 votes and Jordan Jacobs received 39 votes. Nick Soutter and Mark Donovan also received votes in this round.
For a discussion of this caucus and the caucuses in general, please check Connecticut will send a Delegation to Denver on MyLeftNutmeg.
I’ve already written about the Third Congressional District here. The New Haven Independent has this article about the caucus.
The Fourth Congressional District also so some excitement in the Obama Caucus. State Representative Kim Fawcett ran unsuccessfully against the slate endorsed by the Obama campaign. State Senator Ed Gomes was nominated with an impassioned speech about why the caucus should have taken place in Bridgeport and outlining the many of the great things that Sen. Gomes has done for Bridgeport, Connecticut and the party.
Sen. Gomes thanked the crowd for the nomination, but encouraged everyone to vote for labor leader, Tom Wilkinson. Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto was also nominated, but Tom easily won the election.
I’m still trying to get more information on the different caucuses, so any details you can provide would be appreciated.
