DNC 2016: Lights over Oregon delegation cut after chants of 'No More War' | OregonLive.com:And we PAY them to do this?
McKelvey said tension over that difference of opinion hit new heights Wednesday when the arena cut the lights over the Oregon delegation as they chanted, "No More War," during former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's speech. "It's a theme of the convention," McKelvey said, "that Bernie Sanders' supporters are supposed to be quiet and sit down and take it."...
After the lights were cut, the California delegation shined their cell phone lights toward the Oregon group and started chanting, "Lights," McKelvey recalled. Oregon delegates responded by turning on their cell phone lights and waving them as well.
"It's not an awesome look for the DNC," he said. "I understand aesthetically why they would want to turn the lights off so we couldn't be seen doing what we were doing."
Officials at the Democratic National Convention did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
LaFleur said she's been in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center "from gavel to gavel, everyday" and nothing like this has happened before.
It's not the first time Oregon delegates have protested during the convention. When Clinton was named the official nominee, many of the state's pledged Sanders delegates walked out of the convention.
If this goes on, pretty soon we'll see Democratic Congresspersons staging a sit-down strike!
(Huh? What's that? Really?)
Never mind.
5 comments:
West Coast delegates are very passionate and vocal in their beliefs. This is as good and as it should be. Central authority is entirely too strong and must be weakened, in favor of regional authority.
I would put the lights out anywhere the Oregon Dems were meeting. Knuckleheads!
Politicians, just doing their job.
This kind of thing actually gives me some tentative hope for the general Presidential election.
Hillary carried ONE county in the Oregon Dem primary; Sanders carried the rest.
If Sanders supporters are walking out of the convention over Hillary's nomination, then there's hope that many/most of them will stay home in November, or may even (gasp!) vote for The Donald. [insert dramatic "Dun-dun-DUUUUHHNN!" sound here]
While I don't believe that Oregon and the "Keep Portland Weird" crowd are representative of the nation, it goes without saying that Hillary will NEED those Sanders supporters to blindly hold their noses and vote a FULL Democrat ticket to win, and I don't think all of them will.
That's cause for some tentative hope.
If the California Demons had any knowledge of history they could have started singing, "When the lights go on again, all over the world." Symbolically better theater than merely "lights", but who am I kidding? If they knew history they'd be Republicans.
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