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In 2012, how about a new head for our delegation?
This year, the head of the New York delegation to the convention is, as he has been every four years since 1996, Sheldon Silver, the Speaker of the Assembly.
The man can't give a decent speech to save his life. How well he represents a state on the cusp of real change, given his ironfisted control of the Assembly, with all that implies - abysmal approval ratings, legislative gridlock, unaccountable legislators, the most dysfunctional state government in the union - is open to question. Whether Sheldon Silver is really the face we want to present to the world, when we have real superstars - Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer - really isn't debatable. He's not. If it's possible to exude stasis, Silver has managed it.
The head of the New York State Democratic Party is David Paterson, the governor. He should be the one to lead the party to the next convention.
The good news
I didn't fall asleep while he was talking; I consider that a victory for Silver.
Okay, so I set the bar kinda low.
Just Maybe
Maybe Paterson asked him to lead the delegation this year because he sees something in Silver you don’t. Maybe he just did some budget belt tightening with the legislature and saw Silver would have taken it a little further. Maybe he sees in him someone who would dare to lead the state on such issues as legally sanctioned gay marriage and protections for gender identity.
Maybe he sees in him someone who defies the gun lobby and takes on millionaires without fear and without question. Maybe he sees in him someone who champions prison closure and Rockefeller drug law reform not because it is popular but because it is the right thing to do.
I’m not saying Silver is perfect but no one is really. Maybe not everyone sees the flaws you see to the degree you see them.