Caucuses suck? Now they tell us

Yes, the Gleaner has already freely stipulated that caucuses are undemocratic on the face of it and basically totally suck. And now Clintonista forces within the Nevada teacher's union, along with their political advisers, really really suck too!

They're suing to stop the big at-large caucus locations at hotels, designed to let hotel/gambling employees caucus even if they're toiling that day, on the grounds that the locations are unfair to, um, somebody (Ralston broke this and the suit's on his blog; also Sun, NYT).

Don't look now, but caucuses are unfair to a whole bunch of people, like people whose job takes them out of town next Saturday. Or people who hold the secret ballot and the principle of one-person one-vote sacred. Or, you know, people who won't be able to make it to their caucus locations because they're serving their third or fourth tours in an endless Iraqi fiasco that Clinton voted for. The Clintonoids shouldn't sue to thwart the at-large caucuses. They should cuddle up to some consistency and sue to put a halt to the whole shebang.

It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: Suing to shut down the at-large caucus sites at this late date is of course blatant and bald politics that has nothing to do with fairness or concern for the process and everything to do with a fear within the Clinton camp that Official Nevada might not be able to drag the Borg across the finish line.

The suit seems absurd, but there aren't any lawyers at Gleaner HQ so obviously we don't know what the hell we're talking about. But this is Nevada, and politics, and Nevada politics, so the law might not have the influential role in the issue that people normally expect law to have in a lawsuit anyway. Instead, it might come down the Harry Reid Factor.

Yes, as Harry will tell anyone who will listen, just because Rory Son of Harry is a Hillbot doesn't mean that Harry is. Harry's neutral and not endorsing a candidate, Harry says, blahblah.

For the sake of argument, let's believe the words that are coming out of Harry's mouth, and that he really is neutral. If all the paid Democratic staffers, Democratic elected officials, party volunteers and government employees who may owe some portion of their livelihoods to a nod from the Reid machine secretly think Reid secretly likes Clinton, the effect can be the same — whether Harry's genuinely neutral or not: Lots of attempts, perhaps most if not all of them small or meaningless, by party apparatchiks and apparatchik wannabes to swing a micro-component of the system here and an indecipherable element of the system there in a way that they think, rightly or wrongly, might help Clinton.

But, but, but ... why oh why would any of those people think that Harry wasn't really being sincere about political motives and intentions?

Right. Moving along...

What if a Harry-friendly personage in the judicial system makes sure the the teachers' union suit is assigned to a Harry-friendly judge, as Harry-friendly people rush to do what they think will make Harry happy on the assumption that it will be good for their careers?

Yes, that sounds crude but Byzantine at the same time, and ridiculously petty. In other words, it sounds exactly the like the kind of shit that happens 'round here.

State Democratic Party officials told the Sun that the suit is bogus, or words to that effect.

Now would be a good time for Reid to echo that sentiment. You know, if he's really neutral.

Now would also be a good time for the Borg, if not through Clinton herself than through Rory Son of Harry, to publicly say they do not support the suit, and on the contrary want people to be able to caucus at the at-large locations, as has been planned all along. You know, if the Clintons are really not behind the suit. 

Comments

What a dissapointment you are Dina Titus. For this ridiculous stunt led by you and your pals, Dwayne Chesnut, John Cahill, Vicky and John Birkland, and Patricia Montgomery.

Seriously folks? You want to kill the at large caucus locations because Clinton didn't get culinary's nod? What a bunch of hypocritical bull-shit!

Is Karl Rove secretly running the Clinton campaign in NV? Nothing says George W. Bush like trying to crush the voice of the working class because it is politically expedient.

Way to go fellow “Democrats.” You are a bunch of duplicitous sell-outs.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

The correct term (I coined) is caucusux.

[MikeZ]

If this isn't reason enuf to change to Primary for 2012...

The plaintiffs were made fully aware of this on 11/3/2007 a their State Central Committee meeting and said absolutely nothing.

Most think we didn't provide enough delegates to the 9 Strip sites. The Strip sites were actually announced way, way back at the launch of the Nevada Caucus Commission, and all of the plaintiffs were in attendance and silent and the DNC approved.

Lynn Warne admits not talking to any of us first before filings. That alone will toss this.

This is a party meeting, not an election, where the US has no jurisdiction to provide injunctive relief. They may have had more success in District Court here, but still this will be tossed.

This has HRC minions all over it using persons in elected party leadership, all on the SCC, who could have voiced their concerns on 11/3/2007, or way back when this was announced at UNLV launch!

HRC is made to look bad on this and I for one, can hardly wait until this caucus is over and we can focus on Nov.

[:)]

Read the suit and like Gleaner, I am not an attorney, but I think the suit will fly. There could be other ramifications, aside from Obama v. HRC, to having freely created delegates come platform voting time.

I'd be surprised if there is a "connect the dot" line from Titus and these people to Reid...........never were bedfellows before (remember Reid in the Gibson v. Titus dust-up?), but it is "politics, Nevada politics."

[anonyMOUSE]

John Cahill doesn't like Hillary morons

[MikeZ]

John is a member of the SCC and a NSDP sanctioned Caucus Chair, I think. He, Dwayne, Vicki and John are all SCC members too. Dwayne and Vicki are duly elected officers of the Clark County Democratic Party.

All knew about this many, many months ago and said nothing. I consider them all friends, but their joining this suit is inexplicable to me and I do not support this, or their efforts in this regard.

Your venue was months ago via the SCC folks.

One week before the caucus seems disingenuous to me...and futile, and I expect the US District Court judge to toss this Monday as frivolous and outside his/her authority.

[Buzz]

To the plaintiffs:

Dwayne Chesnut, John Cahill, Vicky and John Birkland, and Patricia Montgomery, THANK YOU.

How refreshing, Democrats who want to put democracy back into our Nevada political system. One culinary worker with ten votes is NOT DEMOCRACY!

Thanks for standing up against another fixed Nevada Democratic party election. When elections are decided in closed meetings with rigged rules and not in the caucus rooms or voting booths we should all be outraged.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Well, well, well... It appears that the infamous 11/3 SCC coverup has even further ramifications....

But, :), the dots to connect here are not with Dina Titus but with the Clark County Democratic Central Committee and the NSDP SCC.

Among the 'plantiffs' in the suit are Dwayne Chesnut, John Cahill, and Vicky and John Birkland who I believe are mucky-mucks in the CCCC and the NSDP SCC. Not sure about Warne but somebody can check that out.

So connect the dots between the 'plantiffs', the CCCC, and the NSDP and it looks like an ugly mess which has nothing at all to do with Titus.

This process was completely open. And the plantiffs were at the meetings all the way from March. Quit whining cause your candidate didn't get the endorsement. The delegate plan was selected in March

[NVMojo]

And I say Hillary insiders crafted the plan but are whining now that the plan might not work for Hillary. Obama got the Culinary endorsement and 3 days later they file a suit against a plan Hillary insiders worked on.

What's the matter, borg groupies? Is it hard to believe that minimum wage casino workers might not support their corporate hack employers? Let's take the Jan Lafferty Jones "Harrah's" for example.

Rory Reid, Hillary campaign chair, works for the law firm that represents Harrahs.

The dots just keep connecting.

Keep beating down the working fools in this country, you corporate jerks!

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Hmmm.... "the plantiffs were at the meetings"?

Then it sounds like NSDP SCC insiders members are suing the NSDP. ? Now this IS interesting.

[KidFromVegas]

NV Mojo has nailed it!!! The Borg must win NV at all costs!!!

Its not about the nsdp texex, they want hillary to win.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

What I want is somebody to do is peel off the layers of the onion here and tell us who the "plantiffs" actually are, what their connection to the CCCC and the NSDP SCC is, and find out if they have endorsed HRC.

Once we understand who the actors actually are we can get into the plot of this melodrama and who wrote the script.

[Kickboxermomma]

Dwayne Chesnut, John Cahill, Vicky and John Birkland, and Patricia Montgomery were all Dina supporters. BUT are they Clinton supporters? One individual on this board says John Cahill is NOT a Clinton supporter. Dwayne, John, Vicky you owe it to people to clarify this. I agree with MZ on this one. The parties to this suit had months to do this if they were disgruntled. To do so now is disruptive and injurious to the Party.I also believe this suit will be tossed out because a greater injury will occur by not allowing the super caucus to go forward on the Strip. Thousands would be disenfranchised who would otherwise be able to participate.

The CCCC is not monolithic. So don't lay the blame at their door.Dwayne and Vicky in their individual capacities have been at odds with the State for months over the caucus.

[MikeZ]

Tex, the plaintiffs all connect back to the Titus Wing of the party and all are in county and state leadership positions today--each has known for months of the formula we adopted. They all voted in the affirmative at 4 consecutive SCC meetings in 2007 on caucus related matters.

Senator Titus is a HRC Chair and may have OK'd this to counter her nemesis, fellow DNC Rep Steven Horsford who is a 226 guy and an Obama guy who delivered the 226 to his guy, not hers.

Titus, as a senior elected official here and a DNC Rep, said nothing to any of us about Strip site concerns. We worked all year to iron out the Eboard's concerns and all sites will have senior party people running them and not average voters, or even 226 Chairs.

226, delayed its endorsement of Dina in 2006, and she may be returning the favor.

What's inexplicable is that John Cahill, an elected Clark County official and a nice, quiet man affixed his stature to this. He probably wrote his own political obituary with this.

Your Eboard was not aware as we conf called yesterday at noon, and did not know this was coming later in the day.

The US District Court will find no harm to the US, nor any violation of the Voting Rights Act etc, nor any US Code reasoning for its intervention-- none has any connection to a state party meeting which is what a caucus is...it's not an election.

I expect the case will be dismissed Monday morning.

Did anyone see the language in the suit where the teachers union is claiming its members will be disenfranchised from voting on get this a SATURDAY by the caucus sites? Are you kidding me? What teachers work on a SATURDAY. That is the definition of frivilous.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Thnx. I think there are more layers to the onion than I thought.

I learned that Vicki Birkland is Second Vice Chair and Dwayne Chestnut is Third Vice Chair of the CCCC which also puts them on the SCC (I think). Cahill - until he was purged by Derby - was also on the SCC as head of the Outdoor Caucus.

Are Lynn Warne, John Birkland, and Patricia Montgomery also on the SCC? What exactly are their Democratic Party positions?

Inquiring minds want to know....

[MikeZ]

John is an SCC member and a good man, Vicki is his wife and a good lady, I don't know Lynn, she is Teachers Union. I don't think I know Patricia, and I don't think either is on the SCC...Cahill is, and his Caucus is in a suspended state, sort of, until we get things ironed out on by-laws etc...

It was completely unnecessary for these party leaders to affix themselves to this lawsuit...they had their venues long before one week before the caucus and none came to me with anything, nor did they ask my motions for any of their concerns.

Had they asked, I certainly would have rep'd them long ago on these matters. I'm not especially shy about these things.

This all points back to Dina Titus and her Wing today, and she may have shot herself in the foot on HRC's behalf regardless of who is supporting whom.

There is no merit to this case, nor actionable conduct...the plaintiffs were all part of the decision making.

Are they suing themselves?

[KidFromVegas]

All politics is local...I like reading that MZ is defending an official position of the SCC while the detractors are publicly denouncing the party. Usually, it is the opposite, no? But, we agree, go figure. In fact, it is one thing most of us agree upon... This is a dirty and desperate move that Titus (who I use to love) instituted. Dirty because it disenfranchises caucus goers, and desperate because she knows that Hillary's "Best Mexican Restaurants Tour of Nevada" might not be enough to break the wave of a movement that is Obama.

[MikeZ]

Kid, I understand you may not like me, or have issues with my temperament, at times, but often times leadership requires you not be the nicest guy in the room, and I have worked my ass off during my term to steer us in the right direction and be candid and open with everyone...that's what my mandate was when I was elected the only non-slated person to this board.

I've butted heads with old friends and foes alike and am willing to be the whipping boy if that makes this party stronger.

Most who know me here know my funny side, but being a classic Gemini, there is the other serious and business side too. I know what I'm doing and talking about.

I needs folks like you to help jar this operation into the real world...you don't have any idea what's gone on this past year behind the scenes, but know I have never laid down or rolled over regardless if you've supported me, or not.

I predicted almost all of what occurred this past year, and much was avoidable, if everyone was engaged.

Please stand up for reform whenever the opportunity presents itself.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Hmmm.... So 3-1/2 NSDP/CCCC insiders are suing their own NSDP?

Sure makes Pahrump look even more interesting than just yesterday. Looks like Derby is going to have to buy more rope and build more than a one-man gallows.

This thingy now has legs over on KOS. But can't find anything on the wires from the SEIU about it.

I'm still reserving judgement on Titus until this unfolds further. This sounds more like a (Mark) Penn and Tell-Her deal to me.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

From Kid from Vegas on MZ:

12/28/07 9:47 am: "MZ reads like an LA Times expose...shit is just shit..."

12/29/07 11:28 am: "MZ, your tirade is getting redundant...Your resignation seems appropriate..."

Kid (and others), MZ has been a straight shooter all the way with you and for his trouble he has caught a lot of unwarranted flak and total bs. So until you can speak with an equal amount of authoritative background and knowledge why don't you and your roach friends just back off.

The NSDP is unraveling before your very eyes and all you can do is try to kill the messenger. There's a helluva more lot going on than just this.

So sit down, shut up, and hold on.

[anonyMOUSE]

Hmmm....Birkland, Chesnutt et al do the deed and yet someone's hands stay clean. Nicely done, Mr. Hunt.

[KidFromVegas]

Wow Texex, I'm being quoted...and yes, when it came to those December issues, I stand by what I said. That was the same discussion when the Fact Checker bitch slapped you into submission. This is not about the party, this is about a campaign, there is a difference.