The Nevada Democratic Convention

I attended the Nevada Democratic Convention Saturday, not as a reporter but as a delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders. This was a new experience, and it felt awkward. I felt a little like a neutral observer and a little like an advocate for Bernie, whom I support, but not without reservations.

If anything surprised me about the covention, it was the strong feelings of antipathy between the Sanders and Clinton camps. The national news media may consider this race over, but the Bernie people do not, and seem willing to fight to the finish.

I was able to talk with only a few of my fellow Bernie delegates, but I was surprised that two of them said without being asked that they would not vote for Hillary. One said, "The lesser of two evils is still evil."

This strikes me as crazy. Clinton certainly has her faults, but she is infinitely preferable to Donald Trump, who is utterly unqualified to be president. I hope the Bernie people come to their senses and, if Hillary gets the nomination, devote their energy to pushing her and the party to adopt the most progressive positions possible.

The state convention was the third step in Nevada's process for electing delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Each step of the process could not have been made less conducive to participation by average citizens.

The first step is the caucuses, which require personal attendance. This process took more than two hours and accomplished nothing more than a primary election. The next step was the county convention, which elected delegates to the state convention based on the numbers for each candidate who showed up. This somehow took all day. The state covention was basically a repeat of the same process, with votes on candidates for positions with the party as well as delegates to the national covention. I felt that my participation was not meaningful in any way except as a showing of support for my candidate. After 12 hours the convention was still going but I called it quits. If I ever choose to get involved in politics again, it be working for a candidate and not as a participant in the nominating process.