On the Obama Campaign's Cutting of Youth Delegates in the States

Many of you might already know about this - or at least some of it - but the last five days have seen something of an uproar in the youth community as young political activists and candidate supporters found themselves cut out of the state-level Democratic National Convention delegate selection process, first in California, and now apparently in other states as well.

I've refrained from commenting on it as youth advocates worked behind the scenes to rectify the situation, but now I think it's time to present a summary of what has happened, what is at issue, and where we stand.

What Happened
Young people running for delegate positions on behalf of their candidate at the Democratic National Convention in California were informed earlier this week that they had been cut from the process. This happened within both the Clinton and Obama campaigns, but the issue became particularly focused on the actions of the Obama campaign, which cut far more potential delegates and which relied heavily on young voters to secure victory in the primary contests held thus far.

To be clear, it is within the rights of the campaigns to make these cuts. I believe the technical term is that the campaigns are exercising their "right of refusal." Campaigns are granted this right in order to ensure that those delegates attending the convention are indeed hard core supporters of their candidate.

The Issues:

Nevertheless, this was problematic for several reasons:

• First, the criteria for being cut was (and continues to be) non-transparent and arbitrary. The campaign stated that it's purpose was to weed out potential Clinton supporters or all but the most hard-core Obama supporters, but a quick glance at the names of some of the youth who were cut put the lie to that claim rather quickly. Many were not only leaders in youth organizing, but solid Obama supporters as well. A second explanation that the campaign was concerned with the logistics of the nominating process and the sheer number of applicants was more reasonable, if still less than satisfactory.
• Second, the cuts showed a startling lack of recognition for the support that young voters gave to the Senator in his many victories and reinforced the worst tendencies of the Democratic Party in discouraging young people from participating within the party structure as a vehicle for change.
• Third, the move undercut the work of many youth groups, including the DNC Youth Council, which has actively run a campaign to encourage young people to run for delegate slots to the convention within their states.
• Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, the Obama campaign made promises to a number of youth leaders that the right of refusal would not be exercised against young supporters.

There is also another angle to this as well, having less to do with the Obama campaign than with how the DNC treats young people at the state and national level.

In 2006, the Young Democrats fought the DNC over affirmative action language in the DNC charter and mandatory goals for young people in each state delegation to the convention. You can read a write-up of that fight here, but in short it boiled down to this. YDA claimed that language in the DNC charter requires mandatory affirmative action goals for youth in each state delegation. The language in the charter mandates that young people be represented within the state delegations commensurate with the level at which they participated in the prior election (eg, if youth were 15% of a state's Democratic electorate in 2004, they should make up 15% of a state's delegation to the convention in 2008).

The DNC claimed that a rule issued at a later convention made those goals advisory/voluntary, and elected to ignore the language in the charter, which should supercede any committee rule. This has resulted in a hodge-podge or commitments/goals for youth delegates at the state level. Some states like California do have mandatory goals for youth in their delegation. Other's don't, creating the chance for young people to be underrepresented at the convetntion. And here's the rub. Whether states do or don't have mandatory affirmative action goals for youth, striking young people from the delegate lists can exacerbate the problem of unequal and nondemocratic representation for young people at the convention.

If too many young people are struck, it can make it difficult for the state party to meet its targets for youth delegates. The only way for the party to overcome that deficit is to use PLEO (Party Leader and Elected Official) and at-large delegate slots. Youth, particularly unconnected party activits, tend to get screwed over in this situation. Young people are are not, for the most part, Party Leaders or Elected Officials (though the latter is changing). And at-large delegate slots are more likely to go to the children of party leaders or donors than to Joe Activist who put in 1000 hours on the campaign trail.

On multiple levels, the system weeds out young people, particularly unconnected young people. The Obama campaign potentially made that situation worse by cutting so many young people from the prospective delegate pool.

Resolution?
Late last week, these concerns were all made known to the campaign privately by youth leaders, and publicly by Young Voter PAC , which released a statement echoing the concerns listed above. Not long after, the campaign relented and agreed to reinstate the cut youth candidates in California. At the time, they issued this statement:

There has been an extraordinary outpouring of grassroots support for Senator Obama among Democrats and Independents in all 53 California Congressional districts.

In recognition of this tremendous enthusiasm, our campaign has asked the California Democratic Party to allow all persons who have filed to be a district delegate candidate for Senator Obama at the Democratic National Convention to participate in the caucuses this Sunday, April 13, 2008.

We are confident that delegates elected from this pool will reflect the Senator's commitment to a diverse and unified delegation at the National Convention.

An overwhelming number of supporters have signed up to run for delegate, so there will likely be lines and tight space at the caucus locations. We ask for everyone's patience and cooperation.

Most of all, please enjoy this opportunity to meet other Obama supporters and elect delegate candidates to the Convention in Denver.

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager

The statement was bizarre in that it seemed to lay blame for the situation at the feet of the California Democratic Party, but it was a welcome move by the Obama campaign to rectify the situation, and it was applauded by the youth vote community. Unfortunately, it didn't end there. On Saturday, Kevin Bondelli, the YDA Southwest Regional Director, received this letter from the Obama campaign:

Dear Kevin Bondelli:

Thank you very much for applying to be an Obama At Large Delegate to the Democratic National Convention. When we started this campaign, we knew that our only path to victory was to inspire grassroots activism across our state, and we know you have made that possible. We are thrilled to have so much interest among Arizonans to represent the Obama campaign in Denver.

In compliance with the rules of the DNC, the campaign has opted to limit the list of candidates that have filed to run as an at-large delegate. The campaign understands the desire of all of our supporters to participate in this process, but to fully achieve the DNC’s goals of a diverse pool of delegates, and to accommodate the time this selection process will take, we have trimmed the list. Please know that we value every single Obama supporter and all of the hard work and energy that you have shown in working to make Senator Obama the Democratic nominee.

Our campaign understands and appreciates all of your tireless enthusiasm and commitment to Senator Obama. We thank you for your time and efforts on behalf of our campaign and we look forward to working with you in the upcoming months to elect Senator Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Sincerely,
(Staffer Name)

Kevin was gunning for one of those at-large delegate positions, different from those which were cut in California, but the letter raised the prospect that the campaign's reinstatement of youth delegates in California was not being replicated in other states. Which is where we are now.

Kevin wrote an open letter to the Obama campaign and the DNC in response to these cuts. He's knee-deep in this situation, as a rejected at-large delegate from Arizona, and he's been doing a play-by-play of his own situation as it unfolds.

To my knowledge, the Obama campaign has yet to issue a statement about the process and the status of youth delegates in other states. The DNC Youth Council is working to put together a guide for potential youth delegates to help maximize their chances of navigating the selection (and right of refusal) process. That guide should be ready later today pending DNC approval, and I will post it here after it is approved for distribution.