Veteran pols mixed with newcomers like Andrew Livingston (pictured) as presidential campaign enthusiasm returned to New Haven for one night and delegates were selected to the summer Democratic convention.
The occasion was a brief, uncontested process that nevertheless gave people excited about the presidential campaign another night to get to work — on the next hotly contested primary, in Pennsylvania.
Nearly 200 Democrats from the Third U.S. Congressional district filled Hill Regional Career High School Wednesday night to elect four delegates — two men and two women— to represent the Barack Obama campaign this August at their party’s national convention in Denver, where the presidential candidate is picked.
Across town at Fair Haven Middle School, Hillary Clinton’s campaign picked three delegates: State Rep. Juan Candelaria, East Rock activist Debra Hauser, and James Howell of the AFSCME union. About 100 people showed up.
Obama crushed Clinton 2 – 1 in New Haven in last month’s Connecticut primary, which energized people throughout the city.
At the gathering at Career, Obama supporters selected Jen Just, a bookstore clerk who has been organizing Obama brigades in her spare time, as one of the four delegates. The Obama campaign had insisted that one of the delegates selected be a community organizer; Obama was a community organizer in Chicago before running for political office.
“She was doing this before it was cute,” said Christine Bartlett-Josie as she nominated Just to go to Denver. “When we talk about community organizing, we talk about Jen Just.”
The three delegates Just will accompany to Denver are Mayor John DeStefano Jr., State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, and State Rep. Toni Walker. All four ran on the ticket without any opposition.
“These are the delegates who are going to fight on the floor for Obama in Colorado,” said Chrissy Bonanno, an Obama volunteer and city economic development official.
Democratic Party establishment veterans mixed with political newcomers at Career not just to elect the delegates, but also to influence the outcome of Pennsylvania’s primary election, which takes place April 22. Attendees were given a list of names and numbers of Keystone State Democrats. Some started making the calls right then at the event.
Andre Livingston, the 37-year-old IT project manager from New Haven pictured at the top of this story, said he was “always on the fence” about politics until he contributed a little money to the Obama campaign in the fall, and was put on Just’s mailing list.
“To make a long story short,” Livingston said, “this is the first time I’ve gotten motivated to get involved. And it’s not so much about the candidate as it is my involvement with Jen Just.”
Livingston said he has not done anything on the local level, but just scheduled a trip to Pennsylvania to help the Obama campaign.
It is this power people are finding in themselves to influence the outcome of political elections that Just said drives her to work for the campaign.
“The fact is, the country has made a huge step forward,” Just said.
Deborah Chernoff of SEIU 1199 [pictured] was there with a contingent of “purple people” to support DeStefano, Looney, and Walker: “people we have long-term political relationships with, people who we know where they stand,” she said.
When asked how important the Obama campaign is to the union at large, Chernoff said she has seen many people who turned cynical over the years recharged with the feeling that they could make a difference.
Fair Haven Alderman Joey Rodriguez nominated DeStefano to attend the convention. “He is the only mayor in Connecticut to lead his city to a two to one victory,” Rodriguez said.Looney and Walker both said they were honored to be chosen to go to the convention and as participants in “an historic event.”
Just “New Haven Democracy”
Not everybody was pleased that three of the delegates were elected officials.
Although she was happy that Just was elected to go to the convention, Bartlett-Josie said she was unhappy that a sheet of paper with the four “Obama Campaign Approved” candidates was passed out and that there was no slate running against them.
“I have a serious problem with that,” said Bartlett-Josie, pictured holding a list of all the people who were eligible to be nominated.
As she was talking, Bartlett-Josie overheard a woman say it was just “New Haven Democracy.”
“You see that woman? She’s joking about ‘New Haven Democracy,’” Bartlett-Josie noted.
That woman was New Haven State Rep. Pat Dillon.
“I was just making a wisecrack,” Dillon said a few minutes later, “but usually there is fighting at these things and people are actually running against each other. That’s all I meant.”
Looney didn’t find anything wrong with his victory.
“It’s nice when you can get elected by acclamation,” Looney said. “It shows unity.”