Confusion over Texas delegates spurs talk of change

Now that Sen. Barack Obama has won the lead in Texas delegates, snatching it away from Sen. Hillary Clinton this weekend after the precinct causes, the state’s Democrats are calling for a process that is much more simple.

“What I’ve heard from people is that the Texas system has to change,” says Linda Chavez-Thompson, a super delegate and long-time political activist who formerly served as executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO. “We’ve got a (presidential) primary and a caucus, and people are saying it’s just too confusing, that we need to have one or the other.”

After Clinton won the popular vote in the March 4 primary, she walked away with 65 delegates to the national convention, compared to 61 for Obama. But at the precinct conventions held this weekend--where precinct caucuses elected delegates to county and state senate district conventions—Obama won another 38 delegates, while Clinton won 29.

This put Obama ahead by five delegates, 99 to 94.

Even this lead is uncertain, however, because there’s yet another party convention to be held on June 6 and 7—the state convention, where a shift in support for the candidates could tilt the numbers in the other direction.

All this fuels the fierce fight for super delegates in Texas, and the telephone of Chavez-Thompson—a vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee who is forbidden by rules to endorse a candidate—is constantly ringing.

“I’ve gotten calls from Ted Kennedy and the Clinton camp and the Obama camp,” she says. “My daughter got a kick out of the call from Ted Kennedy, when she answered the phone, and I wasn’t there.”

In 1992 and 1996, the life-long Democrat was elected she was elected as a Democratic delegate pledged Bill Clinton, and she also served as an honorary co-chair of his re-election campaign. She won’t break the rules to endorse a candidate, although her feelings about this are mixed.

“For a person who’s very opinionated and out there in front leading the pack, it’s somewhat uncomfortable,” she says. “But with the two great candidates that we have in the Democratic Party, not having to make this decision is somewhat comfortable too. I’ve got friends in the labor movement in San Antonio, and they’ve taken one or the other side, with great passion and conviction. I’m hearing some great arguments on both sides.”

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