There are four Democrats running for County Supervisor in District 2. Over the last three months the Club heard from Jan Perry, Sharis Rhodes, and Herb Wesson. This month we will have State Senator Holly Mitchell as our featured speaker.
Ranked choice voting
Members attending the September general meeting had a long discussion of ranked choice voting as the Executive Board envisioned it working in our candidate endorsement process. We decided to have a mock election at this month’s meeting on October 16. We will vote on various flavors of ice cream and mark the ballots with first, second and third choices. Then we’ll count the ballots, so that we all have a better sense of how it works.
Can we endorse Bernie Sanders?
Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chair Mark Gonzalez was scheduled to attend the September 11 general meeting of the Club, to answer the question of whether the bylaws of the Culver City Democratic Club prohibit the endorsement of Bernie Sanders because the Club may only endorse “registered Democratic candidates.”
On the day of our meeting I got a call from Devin Osiri, the Executive Director of the county party. He apologised for the fact that Mr. Gonzalez would not be able to attend our meeting because an emergency situation had arisen. He asked if we would like Mr. Gonzalez to attend a future meeting.
I told him that the question we wanted to ask was whether the Club could endorse Bernie Sanders without risking the loss of the Club’s charter or violating the Club’s bylaws.
Mr. Osiri told me that we are free to endorse any candidate on the ballot in the March 3, 2020, California primary because all the candidates on the ballot have been approved by the Democratic National Committee. They have also been approved by the national party to participate in the presidential primary debates.
Impeachment time has arrived
As I sit here putting together the Club newsletter, Nancy Pelosi was just on the news announcing that the House would launch a formal impeachment inquiry in response to the dispute over Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
I was in my late twenties when Watergate happened, and I was able to listen to almost all of the hearings on the radio while I was working.
I think the impeachment of Donald Trump is going to happen, probably before the end of this year. The hearings, if they are anything like the Watergate hearings, will be historic and complicated. I hope millions of people watch.
Will he be convicted?
The United States Constitution requires a two thirds vote in the Senate to remove from office a President who has been impeached. This vote is supposed to come after a trial in the Senate. The judge in that trial will be the Chief Justice of the United States.
As I write this online, Mitch McConnell told reporters yesterday “I would have no choice but to take it up. How long you’re on it is a whole different matter, but I would have no choice but to take it up, based on a Senate rule on impeachment.”
It sounds to me like he left himself some wiggle room when he said “how long you’re on it is a whole different matter.” But I’m beginning to think there’s at least a slim chance that 67 Senators will vote to kick Trump out of office. That would take every Democratic Senator and 20 Republicans.