Renewed interest in delegate process

When I first became a delegate to the Republican convention in 1996, people I told about my selection asked "What's a delegate?" "huh?" or (to my amusement) "Does it pay?"

It was a process of which many were ignorant, perhaps due to the relative political apathy of the 1990s. But today things are starting to change. With heated primary races in both major U.S. parties, much attention has been given to the delegate selection process, and the state parties' role in selecting presidential electors.

Ron Paul supporters in the GOP have brought in scores of new voters to our ranks, and have shaken things up on precinct, county and senatorial district levels. The neck and neck Hillary vs. Obama contest in the other party has resulted in national press attention -- so much that "superdelegate" has become a household word.

(Sidenote: It used to be fun telling Democrats they're with the party that encourages you to "vote early and often," and watching them get offended! But now the joke's not as funny, as everyone knows that the Democrats have a way for voters to vote twice: during the precinct election and at the precinct caucuses!)

With all this added attention, we are most likely going to see a new mix of delegates and alternates that what we've seen in previous years.

Three factors to consider:

Carole Keeton Strayhorn's independent run for governor narrowed down delegate counts in counties across Texas (as the number of delegates allotted is based on the number of voters who voted for the GOP candidate for governor in the last election) and many who signed Strayhorn's petiton to run were surprised to find that they were ineligible to serve.

Ron Paul's run for president has drawn in many delegates who were attracted by his "lower-case l libertarian" views and opposition to the Iraq War. There's certain to be some ideological conflict between anti-war Paul supporters and Iraq War supporters. Many chairmanships were challenged at the precinct and county/senatorial district conventions by Paul supporters.

My opinion: Many would be supporters or Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, Paul or other candidates, left the Republican Party to vote in the Democrat primary to keep Hillary Clinton from getting/not getting the nomination. Conservatives who jumped parties were ineligible to serve as delegates. This also shaved down our numbers a bit.

To review:

Faithful GOP stalwarts + Ron Paul supporters - Republicans who switched parties to keep Hillary out/in - Strayhorn petition signers from the 2006 gubernatorial race = One interesting convention.

We'll keep you informed on how it all pans out.