Why I am not running for delegate in my California Congressional District

I ran across a post that bemoaned the Obama campaign's decision to eliminate some people from the list of potential delegates to Denver. As the AP reports it, "Barack Obama's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns are purging potential California delegates to ensure that only their loyalists vote at the national convention that will crown one of them as the Democratic presidential nominee. Locked in a race with an uncertain outcome, representatives for both camps this week directed the California Democratic Party to remove dozens of names from the lists of more than 2,000 potential delegates. Party caucuses scheduled for Sunday will elect a slate of delegates for each candidate."

The poster complained that "The ostensible rationale for the cutting of delegate candidates is to prevent "Trojan horse" delegates from making their way to the Convention floor and then switching allegiances. The vetting and removal of delegate candidates is expressly allowed by party rules. But could the 30th District really have had 73 such turncoats, and was I really one of them? I was a Precinct Captain for the Obama campaign for the California primary; I've donated several hundred dollars to Senator Obama's campaign (the first politician I've ever supported financially); and I've boosted the campaign in numerous posts on this website." (I've included his links in the quote).

I tried to post my response in the comments section, but apparently I wrote too much (a common problem for me). Here is the full response, as I would like to have posted it:

Like you, I would love to be a delegate in Denver. I maxed out my campaign contribution to Obama. I flew across the country to volunteer on his behalf. Under the old school rules -- say if I did the same for Clinton -- I would have "earned" my space on the delegate list. Yet when the opportunity to run for Obama delegate arose in my California congressional district, I did what best serves the campaign: I volunteered to run ("convene") the caucus in my district where the delegates were chosen. In so doing, I made myself ineligible to run for delegate during that caucus. Why? Because this election is more important than my personal vanity or ambition. Because this is not some fun and games election, but rather one where we choose between war and peace; between misplaced priorities and prosperity; between a government that runs right, and one that doesn't run at all.

But to get there, we have to navigate the old system. A system where "superdelegates" cast votes worth more than entire states; where a nominee is selected not on the basis of popular vote, but on the basis of the few who convene in Denver; a system, in short, that is as tenuously tied to the will of the people as the electoral college. But we cannot change that system from the outside. So yes, the Obama campaign may have cut out many diehard supporters. But his supporters will come to understand his true message: This campaign isn't about any one person or group of people, but rather it is about all of the people.

They don't need me in Denver. They need me on the ground, here in my Congressional District, making sure that the delegates are selected according to the rules, and that the Clinton campaign cannot make good on its threat to subvert our democracy by poaching delegates. My only role at the convention would be to vote Obama. Others can do that role as well as I can.

I would urge you to find a way that you can make a unique contribution. Whether by convincing your friends to become active; by putting some unique skills to use; or by simply being part of the team that makes up the campaign. Corporate America did not buy this campaign. The Democratic Machine politics of the past do not fuel this campaign. And our individual egos must not derail this campaign.

You have a unique skill: You are a compelling and interesting writer. Recognize that you do more for the Obama campaign with a single blog comment than you would ever accomplish as a delegate in Denver.

I would close by quoting Barack Obama from one of the debates. This is the language that inspired me to put my skills to their best use not for my own vanity, but so that my children will enjoy the prosperity that an Obama presidency will leave in its wake:

"You know, there is a vanity aspect and ambition aspect to politics. But when you spend as much time as Senator Clinton and I have spent around the country, and you hear heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story, and you realize that people's expectations are so modest.

You know, they're not looking for government to solve all of their problems. They just want a little bit of a hand-up to keep them in their homes if they're about to be foreclosed upon, or to make sure their kids can go to college to live out the American dream.

You know, it is absolutely critical that we change how business is done in Washington and we remind ourselves of what government is supposed to be about."

Now of course, if I can run for delegate some other way, I will. I'd love to do it. I an unshakable supporter. But nobody is owed this. And certainly, anybody with the skills to help the campaign in another way should choose to help the campaign first, and let the delegate seat take a, well, back seat.

So you're off the candidate list. You should still go to the caucus. You should still bring your friends and family into the picture. You should help organize it if you can.

Its not about me. Its not about you. It is about all of us.