Trust, and fairness, will be in short supply at the convention

Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

The moment perfectly encapsulated the potential for a donnybrook this weekend at Bally’s, when the scariest group of marauders will invade the Strip since the NBA All-Star Game.

During an interview on “Face to Face,” I asked Helen Foley, a co-chairwoman of the Obama campaign here, if she trusted Clark County Democratic Party Chairman John Hunt, who was sitting next to her and will preside over the party convention this weekend, at which thousands of delegates are expected.

Foley paused for a moment and then answered. “I want to,” she said of the man who defied the state party during the caucus and sided with a lawsuit that challenged the at-large caucuses right after the Culinary Union endorsed Barack Obama.

“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt now,” she continued in a very controlled voice. “This convention is too important not to. We’re going to put the past behind us, and we’re going to have a successful convention.”

In politics, as too often in life, the past is never really forgotten. And I got a sense from Foley that she and the other Obama folks remember Hunt’s vehemence in defending the lawsuit and his unbridled attack on “Face to Face” of Culinary boss D. Taylor, whom he called a “bully.”

That came just a few days before the Clinton campaign divided the Culinary, won most of those at-large precincts the unsuccessful lawsuit had sought to erase and carried the New York senator to a popular-vote win although Obama won the potential national delegate count by a 13-12 margin because of the party’s unorthodox apportionment rules.

Perhaps another reason the Obamaites are not sure they can trust Hunt is that he brings to mind one of the cardinal rules of life: Never trust anyone who is perpetually happy.

Of all the party chairmen I have known in two decades-plus of covering politics, Hunt is the most effervescent, a veritable geyser of ebullience.

“I will tell you from every inch of my being that this is fair-handed,” Hunt gushed on the program Thursday. “It will be fair. I don’t care who steps out of line, we will try to do everything humanly possible to make sure our most precious thing, the right to vote, is protected. That is my paramount obligation, and I take that dead seriously.”

Ah, the right to vote. Precious indeed. But what will occur at Bally’s on Saturday will be about the right to be a convention delegate and then express a preference through a Byzantine process that makes those caucus rules look transparent.

I would like to be as optimistic as Foley feigned and as Hunt may very well be. But the county chairman also said Thursday that of the two campaigns, Obama’s seems the more paranoid about Saturday’s events a statement that surely won’t make the Illinois senator’s troops feel, well, less paranoid.

That’s because the backdrop has changed dramatically since Nevada was the center of the Democratic Party’s political universe Jan. 19. As all of the speculation has revolved around the near-guarantee that Obama will have a lead in pledged delegates after the last primary, in Puerto Rico on June 7, it’s no wonder that everywhere, including here, his campaign wants to protect those pledged delegates.

Why? Because the labeling is incorrect the delegates are not officially pledged until after the state convention in May, so anything could happen Saturday.

That’s why the Clinton campaign chairman tried to boost attendance by his candidate’s supporters with an e-mail pitch this week and why the national Clinton folks are importing people from outside Nevada to participate in the convention process. “We are looking for folks to make their own way to Vegas on Friday the 22nd to be there for the organization meeting at night, and then help with the convention in the AM,” the e-mail from the campaign reads.

Maybe they just want help manning phone banks to get people to Bally’s. But the chances of questions being raised at the convention about who should be inside the hall and who shouldn’t be are pretty substantial, I’d guess.

And if that happens, questions also will be raised about the presidential preference results, which could mean a recurrence of the internecine bitterness that exploded after Jan. 19. Just when the Democrats thought it was safe to be friendly again, along comes a convention to screw it all up.

Which leads me to yet another question, this one about John Hunt:

Why is that man smiling?

Comments
Print
E-mail
Share
- Facebook
- Fark
- Digg
- Reddit
- Stumble
Tweet

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

By CynicalObserver

Feb. 22, 2008

10:10 a.m.

Flag

Hey John, trust is also in short supply right now, at the County Board of Equalization Hearings.

I had an interesting time at the County Board of Equalization's hearing yesterday. The Board members are 4 local appraisers and 1 bank president. They were hearing the cases of people who had appealed the 2008-2009 assessment of "full cash value" of their homes. I was very surprised at the way the board members were verbally hammering the County Assessor's staff.

Apparently the Assessor's staff appraisers insist on using "old comps" to justify their refusal to reduce assessed values of homes. The board members were showing actual disgust at the staff's work product in the hearing I watched. The Board members believed that the term "full cash value" meant what a house would sell for as of January 1st...or yesterday. Not what it might have sold for last Fall.

Of course, the Assessor's policy must be a desire to maximize assessments, and thus maximize tax cash flow, especially in times of State and local revenue downturns. One of the Board members made a comment about the possibility that the Assessor might appeal ALL of the Board's decisions to the State Board of Equalization.

As an FYI you may want to send an intern, young reporter, or even yourself to the County Board of Equalization's hearings on Monday and Tuesday in the County Commission's chambers. Apparently their calendars are going to be very full, and based on the Board Chairman's comments yesterday, I suspect that the level of "displayed disgust" at the Assessor's staff's competence may rise.
By Johnathan_Abbinett (Johnathan Abbinett)

Feb. 24, 2008

10:01 p.m.

Flag

I can remember my Grandfather showing me a one dollar bill and telling me why it says "In God We Trust" - because only a fool would trust anyone else that hasn't earned it!

No one in their right mind should "trust" anyone that has not earned it - and though I know a few good people in the North - we give each other the benefit of the doubt but really don't trust one another simply because we haven't had a long enough time to earn each other's trust - too many of them just want the revenue from the South and too many think the North and Rurals are trying to hang on to the good old days of 1864 - what's a good Democrat going do?

After Bush? TRUST NO ONE!
By dagasaur

Feb. 27, 2008

1:23 p.m.

Flag

Looking back on Saturday the 23rd's shootoui at the Bally Coral it is amazing any of us escaped with our psyches in tact. My wife and I are alternately drooling and rolling our eyes as we attempt to take stock of what occurred. Shame on the incompetant fools who led us down the Yellow Brick Road to disaster
Myron Meisner
Disillusioned Delegate in Limbo