Subject: [Homestead] Observations from my State Convention
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:24:37 -0500
Just got back from the Texas State Democratic Convention
were I served (first venture into politics) in my county's
delegation. [This means I was elected by all 19 democrats
here. Ha ha.] Anyway, it was an interesting experience.
Mostly, I enjoyed attending the meeting on energy, where
peak oil was discussed and the need to quickly develop
wind and solar alternatives. Although I see the large
arrays of wind generators every time I cross west Texas, I
did not realize if Texas was a country [as it is in many
Texans' minds] it would rank 7th in wind generation.
Unfortunately because of the oil and gas industry and all
the driving we do we also rank high in the amount of CO2
we are delivering to the atmosphere. They had maps showing
the potential for both wind and solar throughout the U.S.
The need for local food production was also brought up.
As for the actual caucus, those of us for Obama (who had
BTW already won the nomination) wore whatever we happened
to put on that day, and those in the Hillary camp had
matching bright yellow tees and caps and sat to
themselves, which seemed like an act of devisiveness. It
was kind of like walking into a wedding where you had to
choose between the bride and groom sides. It was my
observation that Obama delegates were diverse--every race,
age, sex and economic background, but the Clinton
delegates where largely comprised of older vociferous
white women. Then the staff decided to integrate us to sit
alphabetical by county, and that was chaos. Chelsea showed
up and spoke for less time than it took to introduce her.
I wondered what the purpose of the visit could be?